Mitchell Lama Advice Needed

[jeremyg2k]

Hello. I am an attorney assisting a client pro bono and was hoping someone could help me out with the following issue relating to Mitchell Lama succession/transfers:

My client has lived in a Mitchell Lama apartment continuously since 1999. She moved into the apartment with her then-fiance, who handled the paperwork, and only provided his name as a shareholder (even though she paid for half of the deposit). Shortly after moving in, they were married. In the beginning of 2003, the husband was sent to jail. He has since been released, but he has never returned to live in the apartment since 2003. I spoke to the building's management office, and was told that my client has filed income affidavits every year of her residence.

My question is this -- what steps (if any) can I take to transfer the shares of the apartment to her name if the husband is refusing to transfer them voluntarily?

I believe she has succession rights pursuant to RCNY s 3-02(p)(3), which provides:

"if the [] cooperator has permanently vacated the apartment, any member of such []cooperator's family, who has resided with the []cooperator in the apartment as a primary residence . . . for a period of not less than two years immediately prior to the []cooperator’s permanent vacating of the apartment, and has appeared on the income affidavits for
at least the two consecutive annual reporting periods prior to the tenant/cooperator's permanent vacating of the apartment . . . ,
may request to be named as a tenant/cooperator on the lease and where applicable on the stock certificate."

Am I correct? Who do I apply to? What do I need to show to show he has "permanently vacated the apartment"? Any guidance is extremely appreciated. Thank you.[/i]

[Cranky Tenant]

My question is this -- what steps (if any) can I take to transfer the shares of the apartment to her name if the husband is refusing to transfer them voluntarily?

If a Mitchell Lama Co-op is marital property but If the husband is unwilling to transfer the shares voluntarily, then it probably would become subject to equitable distribution in a divorce proceeding.