Cooperatives & Condominiums

Supreme Ct., N.Y. Cty. (Moulton, J.)

Tenant-in-common in the shares associated with a co-op apartment moved to stay a sale of the apartment's shares pursuant to an agreement settling a prior partition action between the parties. The court denied the motion, holding that the moving tenant had defaulted under the terms of the agreement even if she was not to blame for the default.

Liu and Robak owned the apartment as tenants-in-common. When they broke up as a couple, Robak brought a partition action. The parties entered into a settlement agreement that would have resulted in transfer of the shares to Liu if the co-op corporation consented to the transfer. The settlement also included a confession of judgment given by Liu to Robak. The co-op refused to consent to the transfer without offering a reason for the refusal, and Liu has, in a separate action, alleged that the decision was the product of discrimination. Robak then arranged for the clerk of the court to enter a judgment directing sale, based on the confession of judgment Liu had executed. Liu moved to vacate the judgment and confession, and to stay the sale.

In denying Liu's motion, the court noted that the agreement provided that if Liu failed to obtain a new stock and lease solely in her own name, she would be deemed to be in default of the agreement. The court held that even if Liu's failure to obtain the transfer was not her own fault, it was also not Robak's fault. In light of the language of the settlement agreement, which contemplated Liu's potential failure to obtain the transfer, Robak was entitled to enforce the agreement's terms, and to compel sale of the apartment.

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