Dear County Legislator:

We will vote against any County Legislator that supports the “Intimidate Cooperative Boards” law currently under consideration. The so called "Fairness in Cooperative Ownership" law is nothing more than an attempt by the real estate brokerage industry to coerce cooperative boards into accepting applicants who may be ill suited to cooperative living. Cooperative shareholders join together to live under a single roof, share expenses, pool financial resources, maintain housing, share walls, laundry facilities, utility bills, and live in close quarters. Shareholders must rely on a common goal, strategy, and philosophy to ensure the success of the community.

Cooperative Boards of Directors are volunteers who donate their time and effort to maintaining their community and assuring that those who live in the Cooperative share the goals, strategy, and philosophies of the Cooperative. Cooperative Boards of Directors and Shareholder wish to live together in a close environment in a way that requires scrutiny of those seeking admittance. One wrong shareholder can cripple a cooperative financially and otherwise.

Cooperative Boards also try to move as quickly as possible in addressing all Cooperative matters, including application. There is no empirical evidence to the contrary. They do not delay unnecessarily and do not discriminate. The County Division of Human Rights has determined that there are virtually no cases of discrimination in Westchester County. Moreover, ample laws protect applicants from discrimination and if a complaint is made will disclose the basis for applicants being declined by the Cooperative. Finally, the statistics demonstrate a total lack of empirical evidence supporting this legislation.

The evidence of the tens of thousands of applications to Cooperatives in Westchester continues to establish that the only basis for the "Intimidate Cooperative Boards" law is the attempt by the real estate broker's lobby to enact a statute to bully Cooperative Boards into approving applications or take advantage of some unusual circumstances, such as weather-related delays.

We will vote against any County Legislator that votes in favor of coercion and the interest of the real estate broker's lobby and against our need as cooperative shareholders to live in peace and harmony with neighbors who share our common goals, strategies, and philosophies.