When an apartment owner is in arrears/default with regard to his, her or its financial obligations to the co-op housing corporation or condominium association, boards and managers typically turn to counsel and request that a “lawyer’s letter” demanding payment be sent to the apartment owner (the Lawyer’s Demand Letter), in the not unreasonable belief that such a Letter would likely signal the board’s seriousness and commitment to collecting the unpaid and past due amounts and therefore produce a prompt payment by the apartment owner. This column discusses the impact of and guidance recently provided by the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) on the use of such Lawyer’s Demand Letters, and the issues which nonetheless remain. This column also discusses other steps that boards and managers can take when an apartment owner fails to pay its financial obligations to the co-op or condominium.

Lawyer’s Demand Letter

For lawyers who receive requests from boards to send, Demand Letters to apartment owners for payment of arrears, and further stating that if payment is not received within a certain number of days, legal action to recover the arrears may be taken and legal fees sought from the apartment owner, federal law has presented certain concerns.

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