New Ethics Rules May Slow Conversions
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TOUGH, new ethics rules that take effect Jan. 1 could hinder operations at the already overburdened Real Estate Finance Bureau of the New York State Attorney General’s office. Attorneys critical of the new law believe this may lead to even further delays in approvals for condominiums and cooperatives. TOUGH, new ethics rules that take effect Jan. 1 could hinder operations at the already overburdened Real Estate Finance Bureau of the New York State Attorney General’s office. Attorneys critical of the new law believe this may lead to even further delays in approvals for condominiums and cooperatives. The bureau must review and approve all condominium and cooperative offering plans before a project’s sponsors can begin to sell any units. The complicated plans, often running to 200 pages, disclose the financing of a development project and outline details of what consumers can expect to find if they buy. These plans are reviewed by a staff of some 30 attorneys within the bureau. In the first half of this year, 671 offering plans were submitted to the bureau for approval and 737 were reviewed and accepted. Lawyers in private practice who deal extensively with the Attorney General’s office say that even under the best of conditions, it can take nine months or more to get an application approved. More : query.nytimes.com |