Condo residents locked out of their own parking lot
Habitat Weekly
Frank Lovece
27 October 2016
All was not smooth sailing at the Sailmaker at City Island, a 34-unit,
waterside condominium in the Bronx. Hurricane Sandy had lashed its
40-slip marina's seawall, boathouse, docks, gangways and bridges. When
the waters receded, the board belatedly discovered that two
unit-owners, including a former board president, had for years been
claiming one of the building's two parking lots as their own.
The Sailmaker has 18 parking spaces in a ground-level lot, plus a
lower-level parking lot adjacent to the marina. Married couple Paul
Laddomada and Maura Mandrano—who own two apartments and were among the
first people to buy when the former Ratsey & Lapthorn sail-making
loft converted to condos in 1990—also own four parking spaces in the
upper lot. As Schofield Marina LLC, they own all 40 marina units.
exclusive use of the lower-level parking lot
The two also had exclusive use of the lower-level parking lot. This had
been granted, they claimed, in a 1999 Amendment to the Declaration,
which passed when Laddomada was board president. For years, no one
questioned the claim.
But it began to unravel in the wake of Hurricane Sandy. During the long
cleanup process, the city's Environmental Control Board (ECB) fined the
condominium $1,200 because Laddomada and Mandrano had converted their
four ground-floor parking spaces into a storage unit without proper
permits. The ECB also fined the condo $800 for a crane the couple was
impermissibly storing in the lower-level parking lot.
several months of
arbitration
The condo board was not thrilled by the fines. After several months of
arbitration, the couple was forced to dismantle the storage unit and
clear out the crane, plus additional debris and two junked cars. But
the board had a question: Where's the documentation proving that the
condo gave Laddomada and Mandrano the lower-level parking lot?
the couple had "appropriated" the lot
As condo board president Dr. Enrique Davis would eventually testify in
court, the couple had "appropriated" the lot—with locked gates and
all. It wasn't until this past July, at a judge's direction, that the
board even received a key.
How did things reach this point? Laddomada claimed that at the October
1999 annual meeting, the unit-owners had voted to amend the
Declaration. He offered the court no documentation other than the
affidavit of a fellow resident who said she had tallied the vote and
that the amendment passed.
No amendment is effective until it is recorded with the City Register.
Laddomada did produce a document showing that the amendment was
recorded. But it was dated May 13, 2015—16 years after the
amendment was supposedly passed. As Judge Lizbeth Gonzalez drily noted,
"Defendants proffer no explanation for the extensive delay." She also
noted that amendment filings must contain the original executed
certification of the condominium secretary, but that this one was filed
by "mmandrano@yahoo.com." "An email address," the judge said, "is not a
person." She added, "Defendants' documents raise a question as to
whether a fraud upon the Court was intended."
The judge confirmed on Oct. 3 that the lower-level parking lot was
indeed a condominium common element. Though the board won the case, it
had squandered some 16 years of parking convenience—and potential
income.
lesson for co-op and condo boards
The lesson for co-op and condo boards is to take nothing for granted
when it comes to common elements—and demand documentation when an
apartment-owner makes claims to something that's not an apartment.
Especially if you don't have a key.
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