By: Adam Leitman Bailey & Dov Treiman March 20th, 2013 Q: Is there any difference in the law between how regulated and unregulated apartments are handled when the tenant cannot live there because of storm damage? A: Rent regulation makes almost no difference in the legal treatment of storm damaged or destroyed apartments. In unregulated Full Article…
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Using the Judicial System to Abate the Foreclosure Crisis
By Adam Leitman Bailey And Rachel Sigmund Many stagnant foreclosures in the United States have been stuck in the judicial process for more than two years. This article describes how several states have addressed one of the primary legal impediments clogging the pipelines of pending or future foreclosures: lenders’ inability to locate the original mortgage Full Article…
Declaratory Judgment: Judges May Weigh Title if Ancillary to Authorized Relief
By Adam Leitman Bailey and Dov Treiman There continues to be a good deal of confusion and controversy about what kinds of things the Civil Court can and cannot hear. Often litigants and sometimes even courts will mistake a call for the Civil Court to make a particular determination on the way to resolving a Full Article…
Default Clauses: Better Drafting Can Forestall Problems
By Adam Leitman Bailey and Dov Treiman Attorneys are making too much money litigating disputes between commercial landlords and tenants. Even the most frequently used “standard form” leases permit tenants to stall and strangle property owners.1 And these same leases leave tenants without proper recourse when property owners fail to follow written commitments.2 Instead of Full Article…
New Power of Attorney Law Corrects Some Flaws, Not All
By Adam Leitman Bailey and Dov Treiman On Oct. 14, 2009, these authors critiqued the then brand new Statutory Short Form Power of Attorney (POA) statute. In brief, we found it to be a disaster. Now sitting on the governor’s desk, awaiting signature, is a heavily amended version of the statute addressing a number of the Full Article…
Calls for State Insurance Threaten Property Transfers
By Adam Leitman Bailey and Dov Treiman Currently before the State Legislature are two bills, each jointly introduced in both houses, that would inject the state in the business of title insurance, damaging New York’s standing as the capital of real estate transactions. One would broaden the power of the State Insurance Fund to provide Full Article…
Are Buyers of New Condos and Co-ops Subject to Caveat Emptor?
BY ADAM LEITMAN BAILEY AND JOHN M. DESIDERIO Before purchasing a condominium or cooperative apartment in a newly built high rise of six or more stories in New York, a prospective buyer needs to pay close attention to the warranty provisions of the sponsor’s offering plan and purchase agreement. Unless the agreement contains the sponsor’s Full Article…
A Roundup of Foreclosure Law Decisions in 2012,” New York Law Journal
By Adam Leitman Bailey and Dov Treiman We reviewed every Appellate Division case in the first eleven months of 2012. In raw count, the lenders beat the borrowers by a rough margin of 2:1, but that number does not necessarily reflect a swing in sensitivities. The appellate division decisions in 2012 showed strict application of the laws and Full Article…