What Happens If You Don’t Pay Condo Fees? - Natalia A. Sishodia
Episode notes
From Sishodia PLLC - What Happens If You Don’t Pay Condo Fees? explores the serious legal and financial consequences that can follow when a condominium unit owner in New York falls behind on common charges. This episode explains why condo fees are more than routine building expenses, showing how they support maintenance, staff salaries, utilities, insurance, shared spaces, and the overall financial health of a condominium building.
Listeners will learn how New York law reinforces a unit owner’s obligation to pay common charges through the New York Condominium Act and Real Property Law, including RPL § 339-j and RPL § 339-x. The discussion breaks down why dissatisfaction with building services, closed amenities, board decisions, or plans to sell the unit generally does not excuse nonpayment, and why condo boards and Boards of Managers are given strong collection rights.
The episode also walks through the steps a condo board may take when payments are missed, including formal demand letters, late fees, interest, liens filed with the county clerk under RPL § 339-z and RPL § 339-aa, lawsuits for money judgments, wage garnishment, bank account levies, rent interception from tenants under RPL § 339-kk, and even foreclosure. It highlights how lien priority, real estate tax liens, first mortgages, Small Claims Court, city marshals, and county sheriffs can all play a role in the collection process.
Featuring insight connected to Natalia A. Sishodia, Esq., LL.M., managing partner of Sishodia PLLC, this episode also covers practical options for New York City condo owners, including communicating with the managing agent, negotiating a payment plan or stipulation, reviewing the board’s accounting, challenging unauthorized fees, and seeking legal guidance before the situation escalates. Condo owners facing unpaid fee disputes or legal action from a condo board can contact Sishodia PLLC at (833) 616-4646 to discuss their options.
Sishodia PLLC
600 3rd Ave 2nd floor, New York, NY 10016, United States
(833) 616-4646