An estate executor who is trying to sell his mother’s New Rochelle apartment has accused the cooperative corporation of price fixing for rejecting a prospective buyer’s bid.
Joseph Gresia is demanding unspecified monetary damages against the Hilltop Terrace Cooperative Apartments, in a complaint filed on June 16 in Westchester Supreme Court.
Gresia claims he has been “effectively held hostage by the board, because it is clear that no purchaser is or will be willing to make an offer at or above the board’s artificially set minimum price.”
Gresia is executor of the estate of Rosemarie V. Gresia, who died in April 2024. She owned a garden apartment at Hilltop Terrace, 665 Pelham Road.
Her son put the apartment up for sale last August, according to the complaint, and this past February he agreed to sell it for $170,000.
An appraiser working for the buyer valued the apartment at $185,000, based on comparable properties that had sold for $159,000 to $210,000. Thus the purchase price, Gresia argues, was well within the range of sales for comparable units.
The broker who handled the sale for William Raveis Real Estate was allegedly told that the buyer was not going to be invited to an interview with the board, according to the complaint, due to a low purchase price. On May 1, Gresia was notified that the board had rejected the buyer’s application.
The cooperative’s board of directors plays a gatekeeper role, ensuring, for example, that a buyer is financially qualified to buy an apartment, Gresia says. “Their role is not, however, to dictate the market” or “restrict the ability of shareholders to conduct arm’s length transactions at market rate.”
Gresia claims that the board has made it impossible to sell the apartment. He accused the cooperative of breach of contract, breach of fiduciary duty and unreasonable restraint. He accused the cooperative’s management company, Gramatan Management Inc., Purchase, of aiding and abetting breach of fiduciary duty.
In addition to unspecified monetary damages, he is asking the court to let the sale proceed.
The cooperative is represented by Yonkers attorney Kenneth Jacobs. He declined to comment on pending litigation but pointed to state appellate court decisions that he says describe the fiduciary duty of cooperative corporations to ensure that apartments are sold at market value.
Gresia is represented by Mamaroneck attorney Michael Anderson.
