The Great Condop Misunderstanding...

As condo sales transactions catch up to co-op sales transactions, I get more and more clients asking about the mysterious condop form of ownership. It's time to dispell the myths and bring truth to the light.

By legal definition, a condop is...an apartment building, which has been partitioned into mixed-use segments (typically, commercial and residential space); with each segment receiving a condominium deed. In turn, one of these segments is identified as a residential component that is owned by a cooperative corporation. This residential component is therefore referred to as a condop since the cooperative corporation effectively owns a condominium unit deed rather than a fee simple interest in the land. Pretty straightforward, right?

A condop is not...a cooperative apartment building that does not have board approval requirements or restrictions on rentals. These buildings are viewed as hybrids wherein the ownership form is a cooperative corporation but the procedural characteristics are similar to a condominium. In this case, the term "condop" is incorrectly used to reflect this hybrid character. It wouldn't be the first time brokerspeak was misleading.