Condominiums that want to give exclusive use of common space to a particular unit owner, often use a license agreement to do so. Selling common space requires approval by unit owners and sometimes all of them voting in favor of a sale because all unit owners in a condominium owns a percentage of the common elements. Boards get around this hurdle by using a license which is a legal instrument that has to be carefully drafted in order to comply with the law and avoid all sorts of problems for the condo.
A new case filed in the New York State Supreme Court in Manhattan shows how the devil is in the details of these license agreements and choosing specific wording in them can be problematic. In MGP 1011 LLC v. Condominium Board of The Citizen 360 Condominium, Index No. 654809/2022, the complaining plaintiff (identified as Mallory G. Parker, the sole member of the LLC in the complaint) bought a condo apartment in the defendant 82 unit condo from a prior owner who bought from the sponsor. The sponsor sold purchasers the exclusive use to parking spaces ($150k a space) and storage lockers as ancillary amenities, which were memorialized in license agreements by the sponsor controlled board to those unit owners. Parking spaces in the condo were licensed by the condo (because they are common element) to the unit owners.
In the license the condo specified that “Parking Spaces will be able to accommodate automobiles with a maximum weight of approximately 6000 lbs. and with maximum length of approximately 17 feet.” The condo could have left out that detail from the license, but didn’t. Well, Ms. Parker’s LLC bought a condominium unit from owners who bought the unit from the sponsor along with a license for a parking space, and is complaining essentially that the condo breached the license agreement because her Acura RDX SUV which is 3783 lbs. and 15.5 feet doesn’t fit in the parking space she licensed.
I am sure that the condo will defend the case or figure out a way to settle it, but one lesson from the dispute is that condo boards have to be very careful in crafting license agreements. Words really do have meaning and sometimes, like in the Parker – Citizens 360 Condominium dispute, it’s better not to use them at all and at other times being very specific it important. Here is the complaint for inquiring minds.
