By Adam Leitman Bailey, Dov Treiman and Jackie Halpern Weinstein Basic to any lawyer’s understanding of the recording statutes,1 is the concept that the proper recording of an instrument in recordable form places “the whole world” on notice of the interest claimed in the recorded instrument.2 In a July 2011 Supreme Court decision from Brooklyn, Full Article…
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The World of Title Insurance in 2010
BY ADAM LEITMAN BAILEY AND DOV TREIMAN It seemed 2010 required title companies to have the equivalent of Noah’s ark to ride the waves crashing at them this past year. On the legislative front, the industry had to defend its very existence against proposed legislation where the state government would create its own public title Full Article…
Drafting a Better and More Effective Right of First Refusal
By: Adam Leitman Bailey & John M. Desiderio January 1st, 2007 Land transfers date back to biblical times and have been the subject of an inordinate amount of litigation. Of course, the importance and value of land and the necessity for shelter might help to explain many of the disputes. Some, however, are due to human Full Article…
Enforcing the Contract – Obtaining Down Payment on Specific Performance
By Adam Leitman Bailey and John M. Desiderio At the pinnacle of real estate law, the real estate closing may be the most basic and common real estate experience, but the familiarity ends once a provision of the contract of sale has been breached. Inspired by the number of telephone calls, e-mails, and general correspondence Full Article…
Using a License Agreement Instead of a Lease
By Adam Leitman Bailey and John M. Desiderio A number of years ago, I sat down with one of the New York’s real estate legends and his company’s general counsel. He was bothered by New York’s eviction process — the loss of rental income, the wasted legal fees, and the incredible amount of time between Full Article…
Q & A: When Access to Utilities Is Limited
By JAY ROMANO Published: June 8, 2003 Q. I rent the second-floor apartment of a two-family house. Both apartments are rented and the landlord lives out of state and has no registered agent for the property. The gas and electric meters, together with the electrical panels for both apartments, are on a side of the Full Article…
Despite ‘Jones,’ Ambiguities In Title Chain Can Be Cured
By Adam Leitman Bailey and Dov Treiman When the Supreme Court decided Jones v. Flowers,1 it exacerbated a nagging problem for the title insurance industry – the necessity to do constitutional analysis when examining chains of title. With the current state of the economy, tax foreclosures are increasing. Thus, more properties have these ambiguities in Full Article…
The Availability of Self-Help Evictions to Commercial Landlords
By: Adam Leitman Bailey & John M. Desiderio January 1st, 2006 A landlord may re-enter leased commercial premises peaceably, without resorting to court process, in those states where it is permitted, if the right to do so is expressly reserved in a commercial lease, either a) upon the tenant’s defaulting on the payment of rent Full Article…