How to get board to extend 2-yr max rental period?

You live in a co-op not a condo. If you wanted to rent indefinitely you should have purchased a condo. Unlikely the board will waive the rule for you, what's in it for them?

buy a condo

If the Corporation takes a cut of OP's rent, they have some incentive and that'd be my angle to play, alongside of asking about owner occupancy in building at present.

I did not buy it intending to rent it out at all. I was forced to move out west for work and would like to keep the apartment, as I may be back someday, but can't afford the mortgage if I'm not renting it out.

What's in it for the board? The board collects a fee (though it's small) from me for renting the unit. Also, the board is happy with the tenant, and if I'm forced to sell they have to go through the hassle of approving a new buyer and potentially ending up with someone they don't like quite as much.

There have been renters in the building in the past, but they have not stayed for more than 2 years.

NYCTOB:

Unless you are able to excel in Monica Lewinsky's course in "How to Win Friends and Influence
People", you're just going to have to explain your situation to your Coop board and hope that
they will accommodate you.

There are other considerations as well.
Limits on renting are there to control how many total units in the co-op are rented at one time so as not to go over the owner occupancy threshold for lending into the building.

How about show the board one or two year rental agreement and have a separate rider with the tenant that you don't show to board that extends it beyond 2 years?

"I did not buy it intending to rent it out at all. I was forced to move out west for work and would like to keep the apartment, as I may be back someday"

As a co-op board president, "someday" isn't good enough.

This is why we have rules.

We understand that life situations change. That's why you're always welcome to SELL.

If you want your cake AND want to eat it too, next time buy a house or a condo.

There is a reason sublet limits (and other co-op house rules) are in place. The board may 'love' your tenant but what happens if they make an exception for you and then are flooded with requests to allow other shareholders to extend subleases? The whole purpose of time limits is to prevent exactly what you are trying to do, great tenant or no. If you cannot abide by the co-op rules then your option is to sell. As a board member myself I would far rather have a good shareholder living in my building than a long-term subtenant, no matter how nice and respectful that tenant happened to be.

You need to invite the Board President to Daniel or Per Se and discuss your need to pay a consulting fee for advice on dealing with boards in general.

Ask them for a waiver due to extenuating circumstances and keep your fingers crossed. Occasionally a building will do that for you. However, many people in a coop buy in just because they don't want renters.

I just moved into a coop just because they are very strict about subletting. After many years in a condo, I just got fed up with increasing number of owners who used them as rental properties. The tone of the building changed with the increase of renters.

Not much you can do, most boards are very strict on these types of rules, Maybe this is a gift, its a great time to sell now unlike 2 years ago when you rented it out

We used to rent in a coop with 2 year limit (at least on paper) but they have made exceptions over the years as coop management/shareholders gets 20% of the total yearly rent and we were good tenats. We rented close to 4.5 years.

You should sell now and buy back in when you're ready to move back.