LEGISLATIVE RESOLUTION urging the New York State Congressional deleg-
ation to pass an amendment to the Stafford Act governing the Federal
Emergency Management Agency to explicitly recognize cooperative inter-
ests and common areas of condominiums as real property for purposes of
eligibility for assistance

WHEREAS, The Stafford Act was enacted by the Congress to provide an
orderly and continuing means of assistance by the Federal Government to
provide federal assistance programs for both public and private losses
sustained in disasters; and
WHEREAS, The intent of the Stafford Act was to permit the President,
in consultation with the Governor of a State to provide financial
assistance, and, if necessary, direct services, to individuals and
households in the State who, as a direct result of a major disaster,
have necessary expenses and serious needs in cases in which the individ-
uals and households are unable to meet such expenses or needs through
other means; and
WHEREAS, The intent of the Stafford Act was not to utilize definitions
which exclude common forms of real property ownership in New York State
that frustrate the overarching goals of the act to provide financial
assistance to individuals and households; and
WHEREAS, The Federal Emergency Management Agency has interpreted the
Stafford Act to exclude cooperative interests in real estate and common
areas of condominiums; and
WHEREAS, Various members of the New York Congressional delegation have
urged FEMA to change their interpretation of the Stafford Act which
resulted in the erroneous conclusion that housing cooperatives and
condominiums are commercial business associations; and
WHEREAS, Cooperative interests in real estate and ownership of condo-
minium units are common single family household residences in New York
State; and
WHEREAS, Cooperative apartments are considered residential real estate
for purposes of abatement and exemption programs in New York State; and
WHEREAS, A cooperative organization is defined by New York's Article 9
of the Uniform Commercial Code as an organization that has as its prin-
cipal asset an interest in real property in this state and in which
organization all ownership interests are cooperative interests; and
WHEREAS, A cooperative interest is defined by New York's Article 9 of
the Uniform Commercial Code as an ownership interest in a cooperative
organization, which interest, when created, is coupled with possessory
rights of a proprietary nature in identified physical space belonging to
the cooperative organization; and
WHEREAS, The Stafford Act explicitly provides that substantial assist-
ance may be provided to other single family households in the United
States of America; and
WHEREAS, Cooperative developments should not be considered businesses
as their only responsibility is to ensure the continued safety of - and
sustain a healthy level of quality of life for - shareholders; and
WHEREAS, Shared space in cooperatives and condominiums are not used
for business purposes, but rather serve as an essential means of entry
and egress, and provide areas for waste storage and legally required
on-site parking; and
WHEREAS, Cooperatives and condominiums have been using their own funds
to repair electrical/heating systems and have spent significant sums of
money to replace shared use items like laundry equipment; and

WHEREAS, Shareholders recovering from Sandy are falling behind on
scheduled maintenance charges that place them at risk of foreclosures;
and
WHEREAS, Many shareholders recovering from Sandy are financially
unable to continue contributing to repairs of their own apartments and
common spaces; and
WHEREAS, The absence of Federal disaster assistance for shareholders
and condominium owners to pay for necessary repairs to individual units
or common spaces jeopardizes the habitability of all other homeowners
and tenants in the building; and
WHEREAS, The inability to repair cooperatives and common areas of
condominiums contributes to waste of repairable facilities due to the
corrosive effects of continuing damage from mold and other causes; and
WHEREAS, An amendment to the Stafford Act to permit applications from
cooperative owners and collective applications from condominium owners
to repair common areas would save such endangered and repairable units
and common areas before such corrosive effects render such units and
common areas to costly to repair; now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED, That the New York State Congressional delegation be and
hereby is respectfully memorialized by this Legislative Body to do all
within its power to pass an amendment to the Stafford Act to explicitly
recognize cooperative interests in real property and common areas of
condominium units as residential real estate in order to make them
eligible for grants under the Stafford Act so that the Federal Emergency
Management Agency can make such grants while there is still time to
repair such endangered and repairable residential real estate; and be it
further
RESOLVED, That copies of this Resolution, suitably engrossed, be tran-
smitted to each member of the Congressional delegation from the State of
New York.