New York Real Estate Lawyers Blog

As many of us know, insurance carriers are most profitable when they collect premiums and resist paying claims. Some of our clients consult us when they have a legitimate insurance claim that is not being paid, so that we can interpret their insurance policy and pursue the insurance company to properly manage the claim. There may be a casualty event in a cooperative or condominium building where it is not clear whether the building’s or individual owner’s insurance carrier is responsible for the claim. This post will address the legal issues that arise with respect to insurance claims pertaining to real estate.

Our attorneys recommend to individuals purchasing apartment units that they procure their own insurance policies, whether or not the building requires same. Otherwise, damages within the walls of the apartment unit need to be paid out-of-pocket by the unit owner. When a unit owner has her own insurance, such policy will cover damage within the unit, such as water damage to interior finishes and painting and wallpaper that are not covered by the building’s insurance. Further, our firm recommends that contractors engaging in apartment renovations to common areas of the building or to individual units demonstrate adequate insurance coverage for damages that may occur during the renovation.

The following is a typical scenario involving the cooperative and condominium boards or individual unit owners that we represent. A casualty event such as a severe ice and snow storm causes ice dams to appear in the gutters of the building. Such ice dams eventually melt, causing mold within the walls between apartment units and water leaks within specific units. How do the applicable insurance policies manage the resulting insurance claims? The entire building will most likely have insurance coverage. However, most buildings in their proprietary leases or bylaws provide that building insurance only covers common areas and damages within the walls of the building between units. As a general guideline, if the repair necessitates the removal of the wall in order to make the repair, then it is the responsibility of the building, rather than the unit owner. Therefore, the building’s insurance should pay the claim.

As stated in a prior post , we promised to keep you advised of the progress of intended updates to the mortgage disclosure regulations. Due to comments from the loan industry, the effective date of the regulations was pushed back from August 1 to October 3, 2015. The delay in the implementation allowed for certain revisions to the intended regulations and allowed for the loan industry to engage in the task of preparing to close loans consistently with the new regulations.

If you are applying for a residential mortgage after October 3, 2015, these revisions will apply to your loan. Within three business days after your loan application is submitted, a Loan Estimate is to be provided to the borrower. This document will provide the loan amount, interest rate, monthly payment, estimated taxes and insurance and anticipated cash required to close.

The major concept behind the new regulations is that additional charges to the borrower of any type are not to be disclosed for the first time at the closing. Collection and sharing of accurate data concerning charges among those professional partners involved in the closing is crucial. Also, attorneys in New York will need to get accustomed to preparing the final financial details of closings much more in advance than is currently typical. Those attorneys who do not conduct many real estate closings may not be abreast of these developments and may not be prepared to act.

As we enter the last days of summer, this author can’t help but notice that some houses for sale seem to have languished on the market for months unsold. This post will address the practical and legal ramifications of unsold houses. Because “For Sale” signs from real estate agents cannot be posted on cooperative or condominium apartments, requiring potential purchasers to search real estate listings online or in the newspaper, this post will address houses only.

In the suburbs surrounding New York City, most house sales occur with the school calendar in mind. For instance, a seller usually prepares her house to be listed starting in April, so that her buyer signs a contract by June, closes in August, and the buyer’s children can start school in the selected neighborhood in September. When the seller cannot follow this ideal schedule, she is limited to the buyers who are not concerned with the school calendar, which by its nature develops fewer potential buyers. If the property takes too long to sell, Thanksgiving and the holiday season arrive, along with winter weather, making buyers too busy or too uncomfortable to look at houses.

First, we should discuss when a seller is legally committed to sell a particular property to a buyer. In New York, until both parties have signed the contract and the downpayment has been deposited, the seller may enter a contract with any other buyer of his choosing. Our attorneys who are involved in real estate transactions are prepared to act quickly in response to an accepted offer on a property. When representing the seller, draft contracts are sent to the buyer’s attorney usually within a day. Likewise, when representing a buyer, we negotiate the contract and prepare it for signing in a similar timeframe.

Real estate transactions can “break up” prior to closing for a variety of reasons. The purchaser may receive a refund of his downpayment depending upon the circumstances. This post will address the legal issues associated with a deal breaking up.

Most contracts of sale contain a mortgage contingency clause. Such a provision provides that if the purchaser applies in good faith for the loan and supplies all information reasonably requested by the lender within the timeframe required by the contract, but is declined for the loan for any reason, the downpayment will be refunded to the purchaser. Readers should also be aware that the buyer may have a loan commitment, but the lender may not have cleared all closing conditions and ultimately may refuse to fund the loan. This situation may also give rise to the buyer’s right to the refund of the downpayment. In a contract without a mortgage contingency clause, the purchaser may be subject to the loss of his downpayment if he does not obtain the necessary funds to close. A qualified attorney should monitor her client, by entering the pertinent dates in a calendar and to request extensions of applicable deadlines should her client not have the loan commitment in the timeframe required by the contract.

Contracts pertaining to cooperative apartments typically contain a condition that the approval of the cooperative’s board of directors to the transaction must be obtained prior to closing. As in a standard mortgage contingency clause, the contract provides for the delivery of the board application package by a particular date, usually ten business days after the fully executed contract is delivered to the buyer’s attorney or ten days after the loan commitment is obtained. Should the board reject the purchaser, the downpayment must be refunded. However, if the buyer missed deadlines for the submission of the package or intentionally failed his appearance in the board interview, the downpayment may potentially be withheld.