What is a cooperative?

A cooperative is a multi-dwelling community where each member has a part ownership of the community, and a lease (or contract or share of stock) enabling the owner to occupy a particular dwelling.

The cooperative association, consisting of all member shareholders, owns the entire community, including all of the individual dwellings. Each cooperative owner holds shares in the association - just like owning shares in any other corporation.

Management and financial decisions are made by the cooperative members through voting at regularly scheduled meetings and by an elected board of directors that oversees day-to-day operations.

All of this might sound complex but cooperative living has many advantages. cooperative residents generally get the same tax treatment as other homeowners. If they have a share loan that is secured by their membership certificate the annual interest paid on that loan is deductible.

Additionally, if the cooperative association has a mortgage, members can also deduct their proportionate share of the real estate taxes the cooperative pays.

Is a cooperative different than a condominium?

If you own a condominium, your apartment and a percentage of the common areas belong to you. A cooperative owner does not own their dwelling. In fact, you could call that person a tenant.

Perhaps the most important distinction between a condominium and a cooperative is that most cooperative associations require that a prospective purchaser be approved by a membership committee composed of current cooperative owners.

An application for membership may be rejected for several reasons.

  1. If an applicant does not meet any of the guidelines for membership approval we will not approve membership. Our Membership Approval Guidelines are outlined on this website under Procedures for Purchasing.
  2. If your income is not from a lawful verifiable source or we are unable to verify your income we will not approve membership.
  3. If the Board of Directors believes that a potential purchaser is unwilling to comply with the By-Laws or Rules or Regulations, it may reject the application.

Under no circumstances can someone be turned down because of age, sex, race, sexual orientation or religion.