NYC's Co-Op Buyers Increasingly Are Turning to Trusts

New York Real Estate Practice Group Leader Stuart Saft was quoted in a Real Deal article examining a new trend in the New York City co-op market in which buyers are using trusts to purchase apartments. The article noted that trusts are becoming a more common vehicle for co-op purchases because they can offer privacy, estate planning advantages and a way to avoid delays associated with New York's probate courts, while still requiring boards to understand who is behind the trust and who will occupy the unit. Mr. Saft observed that acceptance has developed gradually, even though regulations have long permitted greater flexibility for entity-based purchases.

"It takes time for people to realize that this is available to them," he said. "And then it takes even more time for boards to permit it."

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