When commission disputes arise, how do you handle them in New York? Real Estate brokers, realtors, and other real estate professionals who depend upon a commission to be paid will now have a clearer path to address their commission disputes. Under the recently amended NY Real Property Law (“RPL”), Section…
Will the the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008 (July 30, 2008) provide the much needed support for homeowners in the Hudson Valley? Only time will tell as various financial institutions continue to feel the fall out on Wall Street. The highlights of the new law permit the Federal…
According to the Wall Street Journal, New York City real estate as a whole is down ten (10%) . S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Index, reported in WSJ today. Can we expect that trend to continue– probably, for three primary reasons. First, Wall Street executives and traders are taking a financial bath.…
You would think that paying $53.5 million for two separate penthouse apartments in New York’s famed Plaza Hotel would get you what you paid for. Not always! According to published reports about one recent real estate transaction, Andrei Vavilov, hedge fund financier, has sued the hotel developers El-Ad Properties and…
Is the New York State Office of Court Administration going to eliminate many Justice Courts throughout rural and upstate New York? That’s what the commission appointed by Chief Judge Judith S. Kaye recommended. Who amoung us has not been before the local justice court, where judges, sometimes lawyers/ sometimes not,…
Sellers of homes in Hudson, Germantown, Chatham and all of the other towns in Columbia County, New York, can expect to pay a transfer tax on the transaction. Beginning December 1, 2007, title agents will collect the Columbia County Real Estate Transfer Tax of $2.00 for each $1,000.00 of the…
If you are lucky enough to afford a home valued at over a million dollars, you should be aware that New York Tax Law, Section 1402-a, imposes a 1% tax upon the buyer in the purchase of residential one, two or three family homes (including condominium or cooperative units). In…
Should we go to trial, or take the money? According to a recent study, the “right” answer generally depends upon whether you are a plaintiff or a defendant in the civil lawsuit. According to the study, in a full sixty-one (61%) percent of cases analyzed, plaintiffs who failed to settle…
Contrary to surrounding counties which require well testing, the Dutchess County executive vetoed recent legislation that would have required the seller of real estate in Dutchess County with a private well to test it before the closing. Under the vetoed law, the test results would have been given to the…
Remember the old adage– good fences make good neighbors? Well that’s not always the case, especially as neighbors get closer and closer to each other. In this litigagion, the Defendants owned three residential parcels which adjoined property owned by the Plaintiffs. The offending fence was located three (3) feet within…