As reported in past entries on this Blog, bedbugs complaints and media reports of serious infestations in hotels, offices, and residential buildings are on the rise in New York City. As a result, bedbug disclosure is now required. In a nutshell, when a renter and landlord negotiate a lease in…
In today’s ever concentrating society, where we live in close proximity to one another, I was wondering whether citizens in our communities ever considered the chiming of church bells and the blaring of fire horns to be a “nuisance,” and whether they ever sought to quite these things we hear…
So you go out one day and find that your neighbor has cut down your tree. What are your responsibilities, your rights when such tree has been removed illegally. Notwithstanding the fact that many municipalities have tree ordinances of varying types, the removal of trees on another’s land is illegal.…
Does a client have the right to bring a legal malpractice case against the attorney who forced, recommended, or otherwise allowed the client to knowingly accept in New York? Generally, New York does not bar claims for legal malpractice arising from a litigation settled by the former client. A client…
The growing popularity of the Internet as a means of communication has created a new way to spread potentially defamatory statements. Users may be held accountable in court for making defamatory remarks in these informal – but very public – forums, and blog posts. As long as statements are demonstrably…
As we all feel, some more than others, the economic recession has resulted in hundreds of thousands of suits filed by bill collectors in the New York courts. We always learned that a plaintiff (the collector) must prove the debt. Well, New York judges are here to tell these collectors…
There are many attorneys in New York, but when it comes to buying your home, a commercial business, or other transaction involving New York State real estate, you really should hire an attorney that handles real estate transactions. Real estate transactions can get complex. Hiring a real estate attorney has…
I just noticed this recent post in the NYTimes about more modest weekend homes and retreats in the Hudson Valley. When purchasing a second home we recommend hiring a local real estate attorney to give you the “lay of the land,” to direct you as to issues that arise in…
Planning Boards play an important role in shaping how our community will look, feel, act and react. In a very real sense, the Planning Board is charged with overseeing the “orderly” development of real property, and in the process shaping the “public” face. Developers want the best return on their…
You are are sitting up late one night, thinking that your neigbor’s new fence is located on your property. You type in the search term fence and property into a search engine like Google or Yahoo! and 2.5 million returns hit you in 0.15 seconds. How do you narrow that…