New York Real Estate Lawyer Blog

August 11, 2008

Is Drinking a Beer on your Stoop a Crime in New York?

Well, that really depends upon where your “stoop” is sitatuated and whether the police officer thinks you have an open container.

In Brooklyn New York a Prospect Heights man was issued a ticket for drinking beer on his front “stoop,” which was several feet from the public sidewalk and not enclosed by a fence. The man was checking his email and drinking a beer at 11:52 pm when a police officer drove up and handed him a summons for drinking in public.

The issue for the court will be whether the “stoop” in front of his four (4) story, twenty (20) unit cooperative building is “public” or “private” property? The man stated that he and his fellow apartment dwellers had been doing this for years without incident, but that’s for the court to decide.

July 13, 2008

Westchester County Taking Lead On Septic Management White Plains, NY

by Peter Klose

https://www.kloselaw.com/lawyer-attorney-1336884.htmlDid you know that your septic system needs periodic maintenance and occasional pumping? Westchester County did not believe that enough homeowners understood this, and is obligated by New York State to protect the drinking water supply; so it is going to reimburse homeowners who have septic systems and pay taxes to sewer districts if they pump their septic systems regularly.

According to local officials, there are an estimated 40 – 45,000 septic systems in Westchester County, New York, with approximately 30,000 of those in the Croton Watershed (which supplies fresh water to an estimated 80,000 Westchester County residents). Obviously, the issue of septic management is a significant issue if the County is going to preserve the fresh water supply.

This year Westchester County implemented a law requiring septic pumpers to report data to a centralized reporting system detailing conditions of each pump out. If the conditions warrant, the County Health Department dispatches trained sanitarians for further inspection and remediation.

July 12, 2008

Westchester County Private Well Water Testing Law

by Peter Klose

New home buyers of one of the 20,000 homes in Westchester County served by a private well are protected by Westchester’s Private Well Water Testing Law, which states:

§ 707.03. Water Testing Requirements Upon Sale of Real Property.

Upon the signing of a contract of sale for any property within Westchester County served by a private well, the seller of such property shall cause a water test to be conducted in the manner established, and for at least the parameters required, in this Chapter. The seller shall arrange and pay for the cost of this testing, and, within ten (10) days of the execution of the contract, provide the purchaser of the property with confirmation that the test has been ordered.

July 11, 2008

Mamaroneck, Westchester County – Discharge and Drainage Certificates

by Peter Klose

The Town of Mamaroneck in Westechester County, New York, is serious about its drainage issues. Effective July 2007, the town officials amended the Mamaroneck Code, Section 106-49, to make it illegal to occupy any building on property sold after January 1, 2006 in the unincorporated portion of the Town of Mamaroneck unless a Discharge Compliance Certificate is issued by the office of the Director of Building Code Enforcement and Land Use Administration, or its designee.

As real estate seller, you must obtain now obtain the Certificate prior to the transfer of title, but it will be valid only if the sale is completed within 60 days from the issuance of the Discharge Certificate.

The Village of Mamaroneck, which includes parts of the Towns of Rye and Mamaroneck, added Article IV (“Removal of Illegal Sewer Connections and Elimination of Illegal Discharge of Liquids”) to Chapter 282 (“Sewers”) of the Code of the Village of Mamaroneck. The Code Enforcement Officer will issue a Discharge Compliance Certificate for each apartment building and each cooperative and condominium complex in the Village, and the Certificate must be renewed every five years.

July 10, 2008

Purchasing Real Estate In New York: its Fee Simple.

by Peter Klose

Are you looking to purchase real estate in New York? Whether the real estate is your first house in Westchester, your vacation property in Dutchess, or your flat in Brooklyn, one common question that arises is how should you take ownership, especially if you are buying with your spouse, your life partner, or just your “friend.” There are many different forms and types of ownership, but they all start with what’s called ownership in what’s called “fee simple absolute.”

Fee Simple

When you own real estate outright, holding and controlling the entire bundle of sticks, we call it owning it in “fee simple absolute.” That is, as the title holder you, as the individual have the full absolute possessory right to the property, now and in the future, for an infinite duration, with no limitations on its inheritability (right to be transferred to others through death). The holder of the real estate owns entire estate (or bundle of sticks), and has the absolute and unfettered legal right to dispose of it without permission or consent by anyone else.