This week we wanted to draw your attention to an interesting case decided in the Third Department wherein the Appellate Division affirmed a Lower Court’s Order granting Plaintiff’s Summary Judgment motion enforcing Plaintiff’s rights with respect to two (2) separate easements established in the Deeds which transferred title to the Parties. 
The relevant facts of, as well as a link to, the case are set forth below.

This week we wanted to update you on additional information coming from the NYC Department of Housing, Preservation and Development (HPD) regarding the possible penalties that can be assessed for failure to comply with the lead paint testing and reporting requirements required under NYC Local Law 31 of 2020 (“LL 31”). As reported in our August 6, 2024 Title Tuesday email,  property owners of all tenant-occupied residential properties built prior to 1960 (or between 1960 and 1978 if lead paint is known to have been used in the building) must 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”).

Continuing Legal Education Seminar (CLE)

When: January 15th,2025
Time: 12:00pm-1:00pm via gotowebinar.com
Topic: Understanding the 2021 ALTA Policies and Changes to the NY Endorsements.

This webinar will discuss the changes and coverages in the new ALTA Policy, as well as the changes in NY Endorsements which may affect your client's upcoming closings and future transactions.

As we approach the end of the year, we just wanted to remind that the deadline to complete the initial annual parapet inspections for buildings covered under §§ 103-15 (Periodic observation of building parapets) of Local Law 126 of 2021 (LL 126) will expire on December 31, 2024. LL 126 requires annual inspections of all parapets by “a person competent to inspect parapets”. The law defines “a person competent to inspect parapets” by stating “…(T)his includes, but is not limited to, a bricklayer, building superintendent, handyman, mason or a person in a similar construction-related trade, architect, engineer, an inspector working for a New York State-authorized insurance company, a New York State-authorized building inspector or any other person capable of identifying hazards on the parapet.”

This week we are supplementing our December 3, 2024, Title Tuesday email regarding the Corporate Transparency Act (CTA) reporting requirements. Please take not that the United States District Court, Eastern District of Texas, in a case entitled Texas Top Cop Shop, Inc., ET AL. vs. Merrick Garland, Attorney General of the United States, ET. AL. (citations omitted), recently issued an Opinion and Order which included a “nationwide injunction”, against the CTA reporting requirements has in effect (see pages 74-78 in the linked Opinion and Order below). Therefore, until further notice or decision from an Appellate Court, all filing requirements set forth in the CTA are suspended indefinitely. Home will continue to monitor this case and will provide future updates on the CTA as appropriate.

This week we want to take the opportunity to remind you that, under the Corporate Transparency Act: 31 U.S.C. 5336 (“CTA”), the deadline to report Beneficial Ownership Information (“BOI”) for certain covered Reporting Companies that were created or registered to do business before January 1, 2024, is expiring on January 1, 2025. Please note that any Reporting Company created or registered on or after January 1, 2024, but before January 1, 2025, will have ninety (90) days to file its initial BOI report from the earliest date of notice of its creation.

This week we wanted to draw your attention to an interesting, and what some may consider a surprising, decision out of the 2^nd Department wherein the Appellate Division affirmed a Lower Court’s Order that had denied a Lender’s motion for Summary Judgment seeking, among other relief, enforcement of its mortgage. The Order and Appellate Division’s affirmation were based, in part, on the determination that the Lender failed to provide evidentiary support refuting Plaintiff’s allegation that one of mortgagees was incompetent and, further that the Lender failed to provide proof that Lender was unaware of any facts alleging that the mortgagor was under undue influence at the time of transferring title or making the mortgage.
The relevant facts of, as well as a link to, the case are set forth below.

Today we wanted to bring to your attention to an interesting decision out of the Appellate Division, 2^nd Department which affirmed a Supreme Court Order granting a Plaintiff’s (Foreclosing Lender) for a judgment of default and directed the retention of the Defendant’s (Successful Bidder) down payment for failure to close in accordance with the Terms of Sale.
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 case decided in the Appellate Division, 2^nd Department which decision affirmed a Lower Court’s Order granting Defendant’s motion to dismiss Plaintiff’s complaint that sought a judgment declaring that the Plaintiff had successfully acquired, via Adverse Possession, property owned by the County of Westchester. 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 case decided in the 2^nd Department wherein the Appellate Court affirmed a lower court’s order dismissing a Plaintiff’s Complaint which claimed that the Defendant’s easement for ingress/easement across Plaintiff’s property was abandoned and unenforceable. Notwithstanding that the Easement was not properly recorded against Plaintiff’s property, both the Lower and Appellate Courts found in favor of the Defendant and dismissed the Plaintiff’s Complaint based on the specific facts of the case.
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 decided in the Commercial Term Part of the Kings County Supreme Court wherein the Court granted Plaintiff-seller’s motion for summary judgment awarding Seller the Contract Deposit and legal fees due to Defendant-buyer’s default under the Contract and dismissed the Defendant-buyer’s motion for summary judgment seeking an Order declaring Plaintiff-seller in Default and directing the return of the Defendant-purchaser’s down payment plus legal fees.  The decision turned on the fact that the post-contract discovery of a zoning requirement that requires the widening of the sidewalk and thereby reduced the square footage of the Property being purchased was not a Seller’s closing obligation covered by the Contract. 
The relevant facts of, as well as a link to, the case are set forth below.  

This week we wanted to remind you that that the official New York City “Heat Season” has begun.  Building owners are legally required to provide heat and hot water to their tenants.  Hot water must be provided 365 days per year at a constant minimum temperature of 120 degrees Fahrenheit.

This week we wanted to bring your attention to an interesting decision out of the Appellate Division, 2^nd Department, which vacated a lower Court’s Order granting Plaintiff/Lender a Judgment of Foreclosure and Sale on a mortgage foreclosure proceeding.  The Court based its decision, in part, on the fact that the “affidavit of the plaintiff's servicing agent, submitted for the purpose of establishing the amount due and owing under the subject mortgage loan, constituted inadmissible hearsay and lacked probative value.”  
The relevant facts of, as well as a link to, the case are set forth below.

This week we wanted to remind you that building owners of certain “Covered Buildings” must start to comply with NYC Local Law 97 of 2019 (“LL 97”), which became effective on November 15, 2019, and sets limits on the greenhouse gas emissions starting in 2024. The goal of LL 97 is to help New York City reduce, by at least 40%, its greenhouse gas emissions from buildings by the year 2030 and achieve net zero emissions by 2050.

This week we wanted to update you on significant changes being implemented to the Title Insurance Rate Service Association (TIRSA)  Manual which will take effect on October 1, 2024 (collectively the “7^th Revision to the TIRSA Manual”).

This week we wanted to bring to your attention an interesting decision out of the Appellate Division, 3^rd Department, which upheld a lower court’s ruling that, in part, dismissed a Plaintiff’s Complaint seeking a Declaratory Judgment that the Defendants’ installation of a driveway had violated a Restrictive Declaration contained in their Subdivision Covenants & Restrictions agreement.  The relevant facts of, as well as a link to, the case are set forth below.

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.