Condominiums—Construction Defects—Suit Against Sponsor, Board and Manager—Alteration Agreements—Res Judicata

A DEFENDANT CONDOMINIUM board of managers (board), individual board members and a defendant management company (manager), moved to dismiss a complaint pursuant to CPLR 3211(a)(1); (5) and (7). The board and individual board member defendants also sought costs, sanctions and attorney fees. The plaintiff opposed the motions and cross-moved for sanctions against the defendants and their counsel and for attorney fees.

This action is “the latest in a dispute between the parties over alleged structural defects in the concrete substrate slab beneath the floor” of the plaintiff's condominium unit. The complaint alleged that the plaintiff and her husband purchased the unit from the sponsor for $3,075,000 in 2005. “They received property tax exemptions under the City of New York's 421-a tax exemption program….” The plaintiff asserted that the parties' relationship deteriorated after she had rejected a request “to pay a portion of the property tax abatement for the benefit of other unit owners.” The plaintiff further alleged that the defendants had “ignored repeated requests to repair and maintain” the cracked slab. The plaintiff also alleged that she and her husband had “been barred” from living in their unit for approximately seven years, “while continuing to pay millions of dollars for the unit.”