Cooperative apartments are residential spaces divided into apartments which are owned collectively by all occupants of the building. They differ from condominiums, where individual units are owned singly, in that each resident shares financial liability for the collection of units as a whole.

The owner of a cooperative apartment property is called a housing cooperative.

The residents' stakes concern the collection of apartments as a whole. Individually owned condominium units have a different ownership arrangement even when their owners share responsibility for common spaces.