The Disabled and the Co-op Approval Process

Co-op boards have become accustomed to having their process for approving prospective applicants significantly insulated from review. But boards and applicants must be acutely aware of the effect of the laws protecting the disabled as boards are subject to, and their particular building rules do not trump, the disability laws. It attracted front-page attention in the New York Law Journal (an affiliate publication of this newsletter) on June 20, 2007, when a Manhattan court concluded that a co-op board had exceeded statutory bounds by rescinding approval after learning of a prospective purchaser's disability. In Hirschmann v Hassapoyannes (NYLJ June 25, 2007, p.18, col. 3), it was held that a board may not inquire, directly or indirectly, about an applicant's disability. Nor may a Board punish an applicant by pulling its approval for not disclosing a disability ' even if the board argues that the disclosure of the disability was relevant to them during the board interview.