You Can't Spell Cooperation Without Co-Op

If my father taught me anything (and there are those in authority who will say he did not), it was to not be rude.

Being rude is unkind, and unless you are running for President, it is almost guaranteed to produce results other than what you intended or hoped for.

Well, perhaps the paterfamilias was wrong.

If you own a co-op unit in New York, and faithfully pay your bank loan, you still may not be able to sleep the blissful sleep of a child.  People who default on their monthly maintenance payments to the co-operative run the risk of having the co-op (or their counsel) contact their bank.

An aggrieved co-op, asserting a lien on the shares for unpaid maintenance, will often be made whole by the bank, who then adds that debt to the unit owner’s bank debt.  The bank then seeks to be made whole by the co-op owner.  It is a good gig if you can get it, and co-op boards do need their funds.

I represent a co-op board with such a defaulting unit owner: the kind that pays his or her bank charges but thinks nothing of stiffing the board.

I located the bank and sent them a letter, asking them to recognize our lien for unpaid charges and seeking to be paid in full.  Nothing.

I sent the letter again.  More nothing.

I located their phone number and called, and the machine I left a message with likewise ignored me.

I found an email address and….wait for it……….the bank failed to respond to me.

The other day, on a warm Sunday, I was sitting in my office feeling sorry for myself while all the other kids were out playing.

I came across that email.  The one the bank ignored.  Not once, but twice.

Feeling pretty powerful, hiding behind my computer screen, I hit “enter” again and again and again and again.  I must have sent that message to the bank a half-dozen times.

“That’ll teach them, “ I said (to no one) and did a victory lap in my office.

When I next looked at my computer screen, I found an apologetic email from the bank, assuring me they would contact me Monday, which they did.  Several days later, I was speaking with the bank’s lawyers, working on the fine points of getting my client paid.

So, I guess being childish and petulant pays off after all.  I wonder if anyone needs a running mate in 2017?