Co-ops & Condominiums

In condominium owner's proceeding pursuant to RPAPL 881 for a temporary license to enter neighboring premises to make improvements to a bathroom subfloor, neighboring owner appealed from Supreme Court's grant of the license with conditions. The Appellate Division affirmed, holding that RPAPL 881 is applicable to condominiums and that Supreme Court properly exercised its discretion in granting the license.

Condominium owner owns a unit in a 90-unit residential building. The building is concrete, and in connection with renovation of their unit, owner sought access to their downstairs neighbor's ceiling to obtain access to their subfloor to perform plumbing work. Downstairs neighbors, who had rented out their unit, objected, provoking this application for a license. Supreme Court granted a 10-day license, imposed a license fee of $100 per day, required that downstairs neighbors be named as additional insureds on the construction insurance policy, and required that unit owners indemnify downstairs neighbors for any loss. Downstairs neighbors appealed.