Closings glossary
Assessment (co-op or condo)
A charge levied by a co-op or condominium board beyond ordinary maintenance or common charges, typically to pay for a capital project. It is disclosed in the managing agent's closing letter.
What is a co-op or condo assessment?
Quick Answer
The full definition
A charge levied by a co-op or condominium board beyond ordinary maintenance or common charges, typically to pay for a capital project. It is disclosed in the managing agent's closing letter.
Which related terms should you know?
These are the terms that come up alongside assessment (co-op or condo) in the same file.
- Common charges
- The recurring charge a condominium levies on each unit for building operations and reserves. Real estate taxes are billed to the unit directly and are not part of the figure.
- Maintenance (co-op)
- The monthly charge a co-op levies on each shareholder, covering building operations plus that shareholder's share of real estate taxes and the underlying mortgage.
- Flip tax
- A transfer fee charged by a co-op or, less often, a condominium when a unit changes hands. It is a creature of the building's governing documents, not a government tax.
- Co-op lien search
- The search performed on a co-op purchase covering UCC filings, judgments, liens and unpaid building charges tied to the shares and to the selling shareholder. It supports no policy of insurance, so the protection comes from clearing what it reports before the closing rather than from insuring around it.
- FISP (Facade Inspection Safety Program)
- The Department of Buildings program requiring periodic facade inspection and filing for buildings over six stories, on a five-year cycle with staggered filing windows.
Where does assessment (co-op or condo) come up in a New York City closing?
A Manhattan co-op declares a two-year facade assessment mid-contract, and the contract rider decides whether the seller pays the balance or the buyer takes it over.
What else should you read before closing?
Questions this raises
- Who pays a co-op or condo assessment at closing?A NYC co-op or condo assessment is allocated by the contract of sale, not by custom. How installments and lump sums get split between seller and pu...
- What do I need to bring to a closing in NYC?Photo ID, funds in the form the agent instructed, a checkbook for adjustments, and every signer. The New York City closing checklist for buyers and...
Building types
- Standard co-opThe ordinary New York City cooperative: you buy shares in a corporation and receive a proprietary lease to occupy a specific apartment.
- Standard condoA New York City condominium unit: real property conveyed by deed, recorded in ACRIS, with an undivided interest in the common elements.
- Land-lease co-opA cooperative that owns its building but leases the ground beneath it from a separate landowner, on a lease with a reset schedule and an expiry date.
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Legal Disclaimer: This page is general information about New York practice. It is not legal advice, it does not account for the terms of any particular contract, building or transaction, and reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship. This is attorney advertising. Prior results do not guarantee similar outcomes.