Which New York Laws Govern Your HOA?

New York is one of the harder states to map, because it has no single statute for community associations. The law that governs you depends on how your community is structured. For your specific situation, a licensed New York attorney is the right resource. This is general information, not legal advice.

Condo, co-op, or HOA: three legal forms

Three different legal forms, three different bodies of law:

• Condominium — you own your unit as real property plus an interest in the common elements. Real Property Law (RPL) Article 9-B "may be cited as the 'condominium act'" (§ 339-d), and it is the main governing statute.
• Cooperative — you own shares in a corporation and occupy your apartment under a proprietary lease. The corporation statute and that lease control; the Condominium Act does not apply.
• Homeowners association — you own a separate lot subject to a recorded declaration. There is no comprehensive HOA statute, so the declaration, plus the Not-for-Profit Corporation Law (N-PCL) for an association incorporated under it, do most of the governing.

A licensed New York attorney can confirm which form — and which law — applies to your home.

What law governs condos in New York?

Primarily the Condominium Act, Real Property Law Article 9-B, read together with the declaration and bylaws. Under RPL § 339-f(1), it applies only to property whose owners submit it by executing and recording a declaration, so a co-op is outside it. It covers records of receipts and expenditures (§ 339-w), the common-charge lien (§ 339-z) and foreclosure (§ 339-aa).

The Condominium Act is opt-in by recording. Under § 339-f(1), "[t]his article shall be applicable only to property the sole owner or all the owners of which submit the same to the provisions hereof by duly executing and recording a declaration." A building that was never submitted that way — a co-op, for example — is outside Article 9-B.

For a condominium, the article supplies the statutory framework, read together with the declaration and bylaws:

• Records — the board "shall keep detailed, accurate records, in chronological order, of the receipts and expenditures arising from the operation of the property," available "for examination by the unit owners at convenient hours of weekdays" (§ 339-w).
• The lien — the board has "a lien on each unit for the unpaid common charges thereof," prior to other liens except taxes, "all sums unpaid on a first mortgage of record," and certain subordinate mortgages held by listed state and New York City housing agencies (§ 339-z).
• Foreclosure — the lien "may be foreclosed by suit ... in like manner as a mortgage of real property," and the board must give the owner notice "at least ninety days prior to the commencement of a foreclosure proceeding" (§ 339-aa).

A newer addition to the same article limits what condo instruments may forbid. Under § 339-ll (added in 2019), any covenant or bylaw that "either effectively prohibits or unreasonably restricts the installation or use of an electric vehicle charging station within an owner's unit or in a designated parking space" is "void and unenforceable," subject to the section's allowance for reasonable restrictions.

Does New York have a law for non-condo HOAs?

No general one. A traditional New York HOA has no comprehensive statute, so the recorded declaration and covenants supply most rules. The Not-for-Profit Corporation Law applies to an HOA organized under it (N-PCL § 103(a)), and targeted statutes reach HOAs on rooftop solar (RPL § 342) and on notice before an incorporated HOA whose documents permit it forecloses a lien (RPAPL § 2010).

A traditional New York HOA has no comprehensive statute of its own, so the recorded declaration and covenants supply most of the rules: assessments, architectural control, and any lien rights the association has. A few statutes do reach HOAs directly:

• The N-PCL, for an HOA organized under it. The chapter "applies to every domestic corporation as herein defined" (N-PCL § 103(a)), and it names HOAs specifically in the records section: "members of a homeowners association incorporated pursuant to the provisions of this chapter" may review "invoices, ledgers, bank accounts, reconciliations, contracts, and any documents related to the expenditure of homeowners association dues" (§ 621(e-1)). Other N-PCL rules cover member-records inspection by a member of record "for at least six months" (§ 621(b)), meeting notice "not less than ten nor more than fifty days before the date of the meeting" when given personally, by first class mail, fax or e-mail (§ 605(a)), and the duty of directors to act "in good faith and with the care an ordinarily prudent person in a like position would exercise under similar circumstances" (§ 717(a)).
• Solar. RPL § 342 (added in 2021) says "[a] homeowners' association may not adopt or enforce any rules or regulations that would effectively prohibit, or impose unreasonable limitations on, the installation or use of a solar power system," defined as a rooftop system "with a rated capacity of not more than twenty-five kilowatts." A restriction that effectively prohibits one "is unenforceable and shall be void as contrary to public policy."
• Lien foreclosure notice. Where an HOA's governing documents permit foreclosing a lien, RPAPL § 2010 (added in 2025) requires notice "[a]t least ninety days prior to the commencement of a foreclosure action to enforce a lien for unpaid common charges, assessments, fees or fines owed to an incorporated homeowners' association."

Cooperatives and the Business Corporation Law

A co-op is a corporation, so the corporation statute it was formed under applies along with its bylaws and proprietary lease. The Business Corporation Law "applies to every domestic corporation and to every foreign corporation which is authorized or does business in this state" (BCL § 103(a)). In Levandusky v. One Fifth Avenue Apartment Corp., 75 N.Y.2d 530 (1990), the Court of Appeals described a cooperative corporation as "in fact and function—a corporation, acting through the management of its board of directors, and subject to the Business Corporation Law."

The business judgment rule (Levandusky)

Levandusky involved a co-op board enforcing a building policy against a shareholder, and the court held that "the business judgment rule furnishes the correct standard of review." In the court's words: "So long as the board acts for the purposes of the cooperative, within the scope of its authority and in good faith, courts will not substitute their judgment for the board's."

The rule still permits review of improper decisions, "as when the challenger demonstrates that the board's action has no legitimate relationship to the welfare of the cooperative, deliberately singles out individuals for harmful treatment, is taken without notice or consideration of the relevant facts, or is beyond the scope of the board's authority." The opinion framed its reasoning around "a cooperative or condominium governing board"; how a court applies it to a particular HOA or condo dispute is a question for a licensed New York attorney.

How the layers fit

1. The recorded governing documents — declaration, bylaws, rules, and (for co-ops) the proprietary lease.
2. The governing statute — the Condominium Act (RPL Art. 9-B) for condos that recorded a declaration, the corporation statute a co-op was formed under (such as the Business Corporation Law), or the N-PCL for HOAs incorporated under it — plus targeted statutes such as RPL § 342 and RPAPL § 2010.
3. Case law — including the Levandusky business judgment standard for board decisions.
4. Federal law — the Fair Housing Act, ADA, Servicemembers Civil Relief Act, OTARD, and the Freedom to Display the American Flag Act.

From records to fines to the common-charge lien, the structure of your community is where every New York question begins.

Sources

• N.Y. Real Property Law § 339-d — Short title (Condominium Act)
• N.Y. Real Property Law § 339-f — Application of article
• N.Y. Real Property Law § 339-w — Books of receipts and expenditures
• N.Y. Real Property Law § 339-z — Lien for common charges
• N.Y. Real Property Law § 339-aa — Foreclosure of lien
• N.Y. Real Property Law § 339-ll — Electric vehicle charging station installation
• N.Y. Real Property Law § 342 — Homeowners' association solar restrictions
• N.Y. Real Property Actions and Proceedings Law § 2010 — Enforcement of liens by a homeowners' association
• N.Y. Not-for-Profit Corporation Law § 103 — Application
• N.Y. Not-for-Profit Corporation Law § 605 — Notice of meetings
• N.Y. Not-for-Profit Corporation Law § 621 — Books and records; right of inspection
• N.Y. Not-for-Profit Corporation Law § 717 — Duty of directors, officers and key persons
• N.Y. Business Corporation Law § 103 — Application
• Levandusky v. One Fifth Avenue Apartment Corp., 75 N.Y.2d 530 (1990)