Court Determines If Seller Validly Cancelled Contract/Keeps $70k Deposit
On December 21, 2016, Euclid Burgan and Bernadette Burgan entered into a written contract with Hegeman Plaza LLC to sell the property at 513 Hegeman Avenue in Brooklyn for $900,000.00. Samuel Schwartz signed the contract as the sole member of Plaza. A down payment of $70,000.00 was made upon execution.
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Posted in Litigation, New York Law, Real Estate, Vendor/Purchaser Disputes
Court Adjudicates Disputed RPAPL 881 Application
East Edge BK, LLC moved by Order to Show Cause for an Order, pursuant to RPAPL § 881, granting East Edge access to the adjacent premises of Audrey Nedd, located at 78 East 53rd Street, Brooklyn, New York 11203, to install safety protections.
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Posted in Litigation, New York Law, Real Estate
Seller Has Remorse and Sues Attorney For Malpractice
In March 20, 2017, Michael Mamone sold a commercial building to Robert Buttiglione, a friend of Mamone’s sister, for $100.00 and attorneys fees. The contract of sale, the deed and the closing documents were all signed on March 20, 2017. That day the deed was given to Mamone’s attorney, Barbara Diehl, for recording. The deed was never recorded. When Buttiglione insisted Diehl record the deed she refused claiming her client, Mamone, had reconsidered and refused to consent to the recording of the deed.
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Posted in Litigation, New York Law, Real Estate
Small Claims Court Determines Amount of Damages Due to Unintentional Taking
In his small claims complaint, James K. McCormack sought $3,480.00 for an alleged encroachment of approximately twenty feet onto his property resulting from a new leach field associated with repairs to the septic system on the neighboring property owned by Derrick and Cystalyn Miller. The complaint stated that “this ruined the value of the property for me and an encroachment as such would make it difficult to sell my property and reduce its value. I want the appraised value of the property the leach field is on and its surrounding area (79′ × 25′) and the cost to separate it from the rest of my property.”
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Posted in Litigation, New York Law, Real Estate
Did Failure to Comply Result in Forfeiture of Damage Claim?
Michael Gordon was a tenant of Arcadian Corp. N.V. at 160 Central Park South where she owns a condominium unit. He brought a small claims action for damages Arcadian failed to return his security deposit after he moved out on March 26, 2021. There was a dispute as to the date he vacated because he did not remove his furniture until May 25.
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Posted in Litigation, New York Law, Real Estate
Was Owner Entitled to Substantial Los of Space/“Severance”?
When I took the prep course for the New York State Bar Examination 1969, micro-subjects– like eminent domain, zoning and the like–were mentioned and reviewed only in passing or not at all. Over the years I have learned that friends and colleagues turned those singular topics (worthy of only cursory review when studying for the “Bar”) into full-time and successful careers. And that each such area has a specific jurisprudential legacy of constitutional, statutory and decisional law. As a recent case illustrates, the “taking by eminent domain” of a small portion of a large suburban shopping center involved and invoked just one substrate of that complicated legacy–“severance damages”.
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Posted in Litigation, New York Law, Real Estate
Court Decides Whether Facts Justify Preliminary Injunction
Grecia Gross owns shares of stock in the building corporation appurtenant to cooperative apartment 2A and is also the lessee under a proprietary lease. The building is located on the corner of Lexington Avenue and is directly above the 4/5/6 subway line. The apartment is located directly above a ground floor commercial space leased to Joe & The Juice since February 2018. Joe & The Juice is a coffee shop/juice bar, which utilizes blenders and coffee grinders as necessary components of its business.
Since October 2018, Gross asserted that her apartment had been “plagued with excessive, disruptive noise from” Joe & The Juice consisting of “incredibly loud bass music, excessive banging, and extremely loud whining machine noises … nearly every single morning” from approximately 7:00 a.m. until after 9:00 p.m. Gross alleged the noise prevented her from being able to sleep or rest, make telephone calls, and caused her headaches, undue stress and anxiety. Gross sought to address the issue by speaking with the store’s employees, requesting remedial efforts by the board of the corporation, and hiring an acoustical consulting service company, Acoustilog Inc. to perform sound testing and acoustical recordings from April 1, 2022 through April 11, 2022.
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Posted in Litigation, Real Estate
Commission Suit On Purchase by Assignment of 3rd Party Contract
| Was Broker Procuring Cause of Sale– Direct and Proximate Link? |
Kassin Sabbagh Realty LLC sought a brokerage commission from 125th St. Holding Co. LLC and 125th Street Bopaz LLC on a transaction of which it alleges it was the procuring cause. The Manhattan property located at 51 East 125th Street. Sabbagh made David Israel aware of the property on November 6, 2018. Subsequently, on February 25, 2019, Israel contacted Kassin about making an offer but Kassin informed Israel that the proposed offer was too low because the seller was seeking $13 million. Before Holding/Bopaz were able to make an offer, the seller entered into a contract to sell the property to a third party. However, before a closing took place, Kassin, acting as Holing/Bopaz’ broker, set up a meeting between Israel, the seller and the third-party purchaser. At the March 28, 2019 meeting, Kassin alleged that Israel proposed acquiring the property through the assignment of the third-party purchase agreement. Instead, Israel alleged that through the efforts of a different broker, it was able to purchase the property through the assignment of the third-party purchase agreement.
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Posted in Litigation, Real Estate
Was Landlord Estopped from Asserting That No Binding Agreement Was Made?
In March 2021, Odonata Ltd., the tenant/operator of a hair salon, notified its landlord, Baja 137 LLC, that it would be surrendering the leased premises effective July 7, 2021, a month before the lease was due to expire, because it could no longer afford the rent. In response, Baja offered to forgive certain rent and late fees. And Baja advised Odonata that it would consider a third modification to the lease, at a lesser rent and on more favorable terms, stating that Odonata had been a “great” tenant. Odonata replied that it had already found new spaces at lower base rents and that it was prepared to move. And Odonata then presented Baja with a counteroffer of an even lower base rent and other more favorable terms, stating that it was more in line with “generous” offers it had received from other property owners. Baja acknowledged receipt of the counteroffer and advised Odonata that it would provide a “formal reply” to its counteroffer and that it was subject to a lease amendment signed by both parties.
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Posted in Landlord-Tenant, Litigation, New York Law, Real Estate
Was Equipment Operator Negligent/Liable for Causing Injury?
Garrett Hickey and another person were assisting Paul Regalbuto in felling trees on Regalbuto’s property and then cutting the timber for firewood. Regalbuto was directing the two men with regard to the work being done. Regalbuto was operating an excavator and, once a tree had been cut down, Regalbuto used the excavator to move the tree to a pile where it was then cut into firewood.
The excavator cab could rotate 360 degrees and, on at least some occasions, Regalbuto was facing in the opposite direction of the way the excavator was moving. While picking up and moving one of the felled trees, he struck Hickey with the excavator. Hickey had apparently stopped behind the excavator to cut a stump down closer to ground level. Hickey testified that Regalbuto had specifically directed him to cut the stump flush to the ground. But Regalbuto testified that he was unaware that Hickey was behind the excavator and cutting the stump.
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Posted in Litigation, New York Law, Real Estate