In a cooperative housing arrangement, what do residents own?

In a cooperative housing arrangement, residents own shares in the cooperative rather than real property deeds or individual leases. This structure works by the cooperative owning the entire building or complex, and the residents are shareholders in the corporation that owns the property. This means that they do not hold title to a specific unit but instead hold shares that entitle them to occupy a designated unit.

Owning shares in the cooperative provides residents certain rights, including the ability to vote on management decisions and participate in the operations of the cooperative. While common areas are part of the resident's living environment, ownership is specifically represented through shares, which differentiates cooperatives from other forms of real estate ownership, such as condominiums where individual units are owned outright.