A recent news story regarding affordable housing in New York may be of interest to readers of our blog. New York City’s Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD) approved a separate entrance in a proposed new building containing affordable housing units. The building would therefore have two entrances (it…
In a prior blog post , we described how annual cooperative shareholder meetings should be conducted. Now that the cooperative’s Board of Directors is properly elected and in place, the business of the cooperative should begin with the holding of a meeting of the Board and electing officers. This blog…
May and June of each year tend to be “annual meeting season” for our cooperative and condominium clients. At such meetings, the shareholders of cooperatives and unit owners of condominiums elect their board of directors or board of managers. Those who serve on boards are hard working volunteers, participating on…
Our readers may have read a recent article in The New York Times concerning a compulsive hoarder (or “collector”) and his struggle to clean out his rent-stabilized apartment in order to avoid eviction. While this situation is so notorious that it even became the subject of an episode of the…
Some of our prior blog posts have dealt with the legal issues relating to foreclosure prosecutions and defenses in New York State. As discussed in these posts, foreclosures are legal actions in which a mortgage holder will legally obtain title to real property from a defaulting borrower. After obtaining a…
An article in today’s New York Times discussed a case currently pending before the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. The litigation discussed involves a rent stabilized tenant who filed for Chapter 7 personal bankruptcy. Although the details of bankruptcy law are beyond the scope of this…
Regional news outlets in the New York metropolitan area recently reported on Airbnb, an online search engine used to locate short term rentals for those wishing to occupy an apartment in New York City. The Environmental Control Board of the City of New York evaluated whether an Airbnb rental of…
Observant Muslims in New York State who seek financing for the purchase of residential or commercial real estate may have issues with traditional mortgage loans. The reason for this is that, under traditional interpretations of Koranic law, the payment or receiving of interest is considered forbidden (“haram”). While a thorough…
An appraisal is an objective determination of valuation of an object or property. Lenders require an appraisal before the loan is funded at closing. If a purchaser is obtaining a loan for $400,000.00 and the purchase price is $500,000.00, then the lender will not fund the loan unless the appraiser…
New York City’s population density inherently gives rise to noise complaints by cooperative neighbors. The New York Post reported today about a lawsuit filed by a cooperative shareholder against his neighbor for unreasonable noise caused by his neighbor’s piano playing. This blog entry will discuss the various issues raised by…