Plaintiff argues that his deceased brother, who was the sole proprietary lessee of a cooperative apartment made an inter vivos gift of the apartment to plaintiff. However, there was no valid inter vivos gift, as the statute of frauds applies to the sale of stock in a housing cooperative and there was no writing to effect the transfer. Plaintiff's claim further fails as a matter of law, as the decedent failed to follow the transfer provisions of the proprietary lease, which requires a written assignment of shares signed by the shareholder and the approval of defendant's board of directors to make a valid transfer of the shares to the apartment within the decedent's lifetime.
Rivera v. 98-100 Ave. C Hous. Dev. Fund Corp., NY Slip Op 06074 (1st Dep't October 27, 2022)
