Beating Carpets Clean
September 5, 2015
By Ronda Kaysen
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Beating Carpets Clean
Does New York City have any rules or regulations about shaking rugs out a window, or beating them in a courtyard? Could a co-op board object to the behavior?
Washington Heights, Manhattan
The city does not have much to say about how you clean your carpets — in fact, there are no laws about cleaning rugs, either in conventional rentals or in co-ops, according to Dov Treiman, a Manhattan real estate lawyer.
But if your co-op board decides that shareholders should not be slinging carpets out their windows, it might be able to adopt a rule banning the practice. It would depend on whether the building’s governing documents allow the board to change building rules, according to Mr. Treiman. Check your proprietary lease and house rules to see if a restriction already exists.
If no rules are on the books, you could probably shake your carpets out the window. However, you might irk neighbors living below you (or mingling in the courtyard) who would not appreciate a shower of dust raining down from above. So perhaps you should consider a less dusty alternative for your carpets, like steam cleaning.