This week we wanted to address a question that has come up from time to time - Does a STAR exemption remain on the property if an approved STAR applicant dies after the Taxable Status Date? (NOTE: for STAR Abatement purposes the Taxable Status Date is March 1 of each calendar year).

This week we wanted to bring to your attention an interesting decision out of the 2^nd Department which held, in part, that a decedent’s children could not successfully claim an interest in their father’s property where the father had, prior to his death, executed and recorded a deed adding his current wife (the children’s stepmother) to Title with the designation - as “His Wife.”

This week we wanted to supplement our July 23, 2024 Title Tuesday and let you know that the NYC Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD) has extended the deadline for certain Property Owners to register their properties with HPD from September 1, 2024 to September 30, 2024 (the “New Registration Deadline”).

This week we wanted to draw your attention to an interesting decision out of the 2^nd Department which reversed a lower Court’s Order and granted a Defendant’s motion to cancel Plaintiff’s Lis Pendens and further dismissed Plaintiff's Complaint which claimed that Plaintiff owned a twenty-five (25%) percent interest in the property by way of an unrecorded agreement. 
The relevant facts of, as well as a link to, the case are set forth below.

This week we wanted to bring your attention to an interesting decision out of the 2^nd Department which held, in part, that an unrecorded Easement for ingress/egress could be enforced by the benefitted property owner based on Constructive Notice to the burdened property owner. 

The relevant facts of, as well as a link to, the case are set forth below.

This week we wanted to supplement our October 31, 2023, Title Tuesday which discussed NYC Local Law 31 of 2020 (“LL 31”) which went into effect on August 9, 2020 (the “Effective Date”) and requires certain property owners to complete at least one (1) investigation for the presence of lead-based paint utilizing an X-Ray Fluorescence (XRF) analyzer by no later than August 9, 2025 (the “Effective Date”). 
 
A link to the October 31, 2023, Title Tuesday email is set forth below.
https://www.homeabstractcorp.com/bulletin/lead-based-paint-inspections
 
While it is commonly known that LL 31 requires all Residential Apartments in covered properties to be tested for lead utilizing an X-Ray Fluorescence (XRF) analyzer before the Effective Date (unless an Apartment qualifies for a specific Exemption), what many are not aware of is that NYC Local Law 111 of 2023 (“LL 111”) now supplements LL-31 and requires that all Common Areas of covered buildings be tested in similar fashion.  The deadline to complete the XRF testing for all Common Areas and report results is due by August 9, 2025, as well.  

A link to LL 111 is set forth below.  
https://intro.nyc/local-laws/2023-111
 
Please note that HPD will require submission of documented evidence of XRF lead testing in accordance with LL 31 and LL 111 as part of any attempt to clear Lead Paint Violations issued after August 9, 2025.
 
Below is a link to HPD’s website with additional important information regarding the current state of NYC’s Lead Paint testing requirements.
https://www.nyc.gov/site/hpd/services-and-information/lead-based-paint.page

Given that the Heirs Property Protection and Deed Theft Prevention Act of 2024 (New Real Property Law (RPL) § 424) went into effect on July 19, 2024 (the “Effective Date”), we wanted to take this opportunity to update you on what is known, as well as unknown, regarding the use of a Transfer on Death Deed (“TODD”). 

This week we wanted to remind you that the deadline for certain Property Owners to register their properties with the NYC Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD) will expire on September 1, 2024.  Specifically, Property Owners of residential buildings are required by law to register annually with HPD if that residential property is a multiple dwelling (3+ residential units) or a private dwelling (1-2 residential units) where neither the owner nor the owner's immediate family resides in the premises.  In addition to the annual filing, Building registrations must also be filed whenever ownership changes or whenever the information on a valid registration changes (ie.  new managing agent or site management).

Over this past weekend you may have read news articles summarizing the conviction and criminal sentence handed out to convicted fraudster, Marcus Wilcher, for his role as the leader of a Queens deed theft ring, who together with co-conspirators (including a now disbarred attorney), targeted elderly or disabled Queens County residents to “steal” their homes using false identity documentation and imposter “Sellers.” 

This week we wanted to draw your attention to an interesting decision out of the 1^st Department, which held, in part, that Real Property Actions and Proceedings Law (“RPAPL”) Section 881 (“Access to adjoining property to make improvements or repairs”), would not support an award of license fees, legal costs and expenses for the repair of a retaining wall that straddled the property line between two adjoining properties absent an affirmative showing of “substantial interference” with the use and enjoyment of the access area utilized to make the required repairs. 
The relevant facts of, as well as a link to, the case are set forth below.

This week we wanted to bring your attention to an interesting decision rendered in the Supreme Court, New York County, which, in part, granted a Petitioner/Owner’s motion to vacate a Mechanic’s Lien on the basis that the stated work failed to meet the requirements of Lien Law Section 2. 

This week we wanted to bring your attention to an interesting decision out of the Third Departments that affirmed a lower Court’s Order granting Plaintiff use and access rights over an Easement for ingress and egress notwithstanding that the grant of Easement had been expressly terminated as to adjoining lots but not specifically terminated against the Plaintiff’s Lot. 
The relevant facts of, as well as a link to, the case are set forth below.

This week we wanted to draw your attention to an interesting case litigated in front of Justice Ruschelsman in the Supreme Court, Kings County. Justice Ruchelsman’s decision, in part, denied Plaintiff’s motion for Summary Judgment for causes of action for Specific Performance and Breach of Contract arising out of a Real Estate transaction where the Seller properly established a Time of the Essence (“TOE”) Closing due to Purchaser’s failure to timely close title. Among other claims, the Plaintiff-Purchaser, unsuccessfully attempted to argue that a contractual provision granting Purchaser a 10-day right to cure certain defaults also served to automatically extend any Time of the Essence Closing Date set forth in the Seller’s TOE Notice.

This week we wanted to direct your attention to an interesting decision out of the Second Department where the Appellate Court upheld a lower court’s Order granting Summary Judgment and dismissed a foreclosure action against a Defendant-Purchaser where the underlying mortgage was presumably paid in full at closing, but the Wired payoff funds never reached the Lender’s actual account.  The decision, in part, turned on the fact that the error in providing and/or crediting the correct Payoff Bank’s account rested with the Payoff Bank and/or its own representative(s) and not with the Purchaser or its Wiring bank.
The relevant facts of, as well as a link to, the case are set forth below.

This week we wanted to bring to your attention an interesting decision out of the 2^nd Department wherein the Court applied the doctrines of Caveat Emptor and Merger in denying a Plaintiffs’ causes of action sounding in fraud and deceit, misrepresentation and breach of contract arising out of a dispute involving the sale of real property in Queens county.  The relevant facts of, as well as a link to, the case are set forth below:

This week we wanted to draw your attention to an interesting decision out of the 2^nd Department wherein the Court analyzed and rejected Plaintiff’s claims for Adverse Possession and Easements by Necessity and Prescription.
The relevant facts of, and a link to, the case are set forth below.

This week we wanted to take the opportunity to review the proper method of calculating NYC and NYS Transfer Taxes due on the transfer of Real Property in situations where a Purchaser is contractually obligated to pay some or all of the Transfer Taxes.   In a typical Real Estate Transaction, unless otherwise required by the terms of the Contract, the Seller pays the standard NYS and NYC Transfer Taxes and, if applicable, the Purchaser pays a Special Additional NYS “Mansion” Tax.   As you know, several factors must be considered when calculating the appropriate Transfer Taxes due on a particular transaction including, but not limited to, the monetary consideration being paid by Purchaser at acquisition, the type of Property being sold and the County where the Property is located.  For your convenience and reference, below is a link to our website which lays out a summary of the applicable Tax Rates effective as of the last rate change date (7/1/2019).

 “A rose by any other name would smell as sweet.”  We certainly should recognize this famous quote from William Shakespeare’s play – Romeo and Juliet, but is this always the case?  While that sentiment may be true in the literary world, the misspelling of one’s name (especially the sur name) can lead to unwanted stress and complications in your real estate transactions when such spelling errors appear in recorded Judgments.  This week we wanted to provide some color and guidance on clearance obligations where a recorded Judgment against a purported property owner or purchaser appears in your Title Report, but also includes a spelling/typographical error in the actual Judgment document that was submitted for recording.

This week we wanted to remind you that the Initial observation reports for parking garages required under Article 323 of Title 28 of the NYC Administrative Code and 1 RCNY §103-13 of the NYC Department of Buildings Rules and Regulations are due for all parking garages in the City of New York are due by August 1, 2024 (unless an official Inspection Report for said Parking Garage has already been filed with DOB on or after January 2022). Please note that Property Owners of Parking Garages located in Manhattan in Community Districts 8, 9, 10, 11 & 12 as well as in all Community Districts throughout Brooklyn, can elect to file their Inspection Reports by August 1, 2024, and avoid the requirement to file the Initial Observation Report.

This week we wanted to bring your attention to an interesting case decided in the 1^st Department which dismissed an application that sought to overturn a foreclosure auction sale based on a theory that the process and procedures set forth in the Order were not followed in a Commercially Reasonable manner. In denying the Appellant’s claim, the Court’s Order gave some guidance and explanation as to what factors were weighed in determining what constitutes “Commercial Reasonableness.”
The relevant facts of, as well as a link to, the case are set forth below.