The Real Estate Board of New York has thrown its weight behind a City Council bill that would require co-op boards to approve or reject new buyers within 45 days, according to an article by David Jones in today's edition of therealdeal.com.

The article said that REBNY recently sent out an e-mail urging members to support the bill, sponsored by City Council Member Lewis Fidler, a Brooklyn Democrat, amid rising concerns that buyers are beginning to sour on co-op deals because of the lack of transparency and long wait times for board approval. Under current law, co-op boards are not required to notify a potential buyer about the status of their application, even if a decision is never made.

The move by REBNY to support the bill marks an unusual step for the trade group, which has historically opposed restrictions on co-op boards' decision-making power, the article said.

"In addition to requiring boards to respond to applicants within 45 days, Fidler's bill, which is called the Fair Cooperative Procedure Law, mandates that each board member certify that they did not discriminate and calls for violations to be brought before the city's Commission on Human Rights or in civil court. Boards that fail to respond in time would face fines ranging from $2,000 to $15,000," the article said.

"REBNY vehemently opposed a 2006 version of the bill sponsored by former Council Member Hiram Monserrate. But that version of the bill called for co-op boards to disclose the reason an applicant was rejected - a provision that REBNY was and is still very much against. At the time," the article said, "REBNY officials said the bill would have exposed boards to lawsuits and dissuaded shareholders from serving on boards."

This time, however, REBNY is supporting the bill in order to "promote a sound housing market for buyers and sellers," according to the group's website, which continues: "Slow cooperative apartment sales applications processing impedes normal market activity as buyers stop looking and sellers stop soliciting offers for the property."

A spokesman for the organization, however, denied that the organization is changing its tune, saying that REBNY still opposes requiring board members to certify that they did not discriminate. That provision would lengthen the application process, and is unnecessary because existing laws already prohibit discrimination, he said.

Many in the brokerage community support the bill, the article noted, "saying it would create a more professional atmosphere in the application process, and lift the veil of mystery at many co-op boards, which critics allege take a painstakingly slow and byzantine approach to decision-making."

Some in the industry, it continued, "worry that if passed, the legislation would make co-op shareholders reluctant to sit on boards, for fear of being held personally liable for board decisions."

"Co-op boards work very hard and they get a lot of aggravation and they get paid nothing," said City Council Member Mark Weprin, founder of the newly formed Caucus on Cooperative and Condominium Housing. "Aspects of this [bill would create even less incentive." Weprin said the caucus is split on the issue. While many members are concerned about fair housing issues and speeding up the application process, others feel that existing discrimination laws are suitable.

The Council of New York Cooperatives & Condominiums e-mailed members last month opposing the bill on the grounds that it could dissuade shareholders from serving on boards.