Manhattan Co-Op Wins Rights To Roof In Dispute Against Sponsor - Sponsor cannot profit from deal between co-op and cellular phone company.

New York, N.Y. (Feb. 2, 2006) – A Manhattan co-op will retain ownership of its roof and keep all income from an agreement with a cellular telephone company because the property owner waited nearly 18 years to assert its rights to the roof, a New York State judge has ruled.

Jumax Associates purchased the property, located at 350 Cabrini Boulevard, in 1984 from the 350 Cabrini Company. Several years later, Jumax converted the building to a co-op pursuant to an offering plan filed with the New York State Attorney General’s Office .

In 1995, the co-op consummated a deal with a cellular telephone company in which the co-op received a monthly licensing fee for allowing the company to use a portion of the roof. Jumax claimed ownership of the roof and sued Cabrini in 2002 for breaching the offering plan and failing to provide income from the licensing fees.

In a unique decision, Judge Richard Lowe III ruled Friday that Jumax Associates had full knowledge of the agreement between the co-op and phone company but waited more than ten years to assert its rights to the roof, thereby forfeiting ownership and compensation entitlements.

“We are very pleased with the decision,” said Melissa Ephron-Mandel, attorney for Finkelstein Newman Ferrara LLP, co-counsel for Cabrini. “This case will positively impact all co-op owners.”