The Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) will issue a legally binding findings statement to prohibit High-Volume Hydraulic Fracturing (HVHF) in the State of New York.

New York's move should motivate the Erin Brokoviches of this world to start their lawsuits against companies involved in fracking based on the plethora of adverse health data exposed.

This DEC's statement comes on the heels of the Acting Department of Health Commissioner recommending that fracking should not move forward in the State.

According to the Commissioner "I have considered all of the data and find significant questions and risks to public health which as of yet are unanswered,". The review by the Department of Health, entitled "A Public Health Review of High Volume Hydraulic Fracturing for Shale Gas Development", is the basis for the DEC's decision to ban fracking.

The review states, in pertinent part, that "there are significant uncertainties about the kinds of adverse health outcomes that may be associated with HVHF, the likelihood of the occurrence of adverse health outcomes, and the effectiveness of some of the mitigation measures in reducing or preventing environmental impacts which could adversely affect public health."

The review summarizes "some of the environmental impacts and health outcomes potentially associated with HVHF activities:
• Air impacts that could affect respiratory health due to increased levels of particulate matter, diesel exhaust, or volatile organic chemicals.
• Climate change impacts due to methane and other volatile organic chemical releases to the atmosphere.
• Drinking water impacts from underground migration of methane and/or fracking chemicals associated with faulty well construction.
• Surface spills potentially resulting in soil and water contamination.
• Surface-water contamination resulting from inadequate wastewater treatment.
• Earthquakes induced during fracturing.
• Community impacts associated with boom-town economic effects such as increased vehicle traffic, road damage, noise, odor complaints, increased demand for housing and medical care, and stress."

Today is a bad day to own a fracking company. Yet, so many lives will be bettered as a result of this new rule.

Real estate has long been the star attraction on the East End, and soon it will star in the pilot of a new reality TV show. The brainchild of real estate attorney and Lieb School founder Andrew Lieb, Neighbor Court will hear real estate disputes between neighbors and, with Lieb himself as the Arbitrator, resolve the situations while entertaining and educating the public about the laws that rule the market in which we buy, sell, rent and live.

To read the full article, written by Eric Feil of Dan's Papers click here

Find Full Casting Call for "Neighbor Court" at DansPaper.com

SUBMIT YOUR STORY TODAY

Residential leases are now required to contain a notice to tenant(s) concerning the existence of sprinkler systems.

“Sprinkler system” shall mean a system of piping and appurtenances designed and installed in accordance with generally accepted standards so that heat from a fire will automatically cause water to be discharged over the fire area to extinguish it or prevent its further spread.
See Executive Law 155-a.

Read the new law at Real Property Law 231-a.

The law specifically requires:

• Notice in bold face type;
• Notice that a maintained and operative sprinkler system in the leased premises is in - EXISTENCE OR NON-EXISTENCE; &
• The last date of maintenance and inspection of any EXISTING sprinkler system.

Do you feel that you are a victim of a mortgage modification scam?

According to the Attorney General: "Thousands of New Yorkers are scammed by companies who take advantage of homeowners in distress." 

To combat these scams, the Attorney General established AGScamHelp.com, which offers "free, qualified mortgage assistance relief services from a network of trusted partners operating across the state under the New York Attorney General Homeowner Protection Program (HOPP)." 

The new site offers both English and Espanol.

The site also enables one to report a scam in a loan modification.

So, protect yourself if you need a modification. Remember, attorneys can provide valuable assistance in defending a foreclosure, but be careful of "attorneys who bring baseless lawsuits just to charge consumers a fee". Rarely, if ever, can attorney get your mortgage removed from your house. Instead, attorneys can assist in modifications, short sales and deeds-in-lieu of foreclosure incident to defending a lender's lawsuit.

• 6 Months to 3 Years of Experience as an Associate Attorney
• Excellent Communication Skills
• Deductive Reasoning Skills

Every 2 years, licensed real estate brokers and salespersons in the State of New York are required to take 22.5 continuing education credits. The ONLY mandatory class requirement is at least 3 hours of instruction pertaining to fair housing and/or discrimination in the sale or rental of real property or an interest of real property, within the 2 - year period immediately preceding a renewal.

Lieb School's free CE entitled, The Fair Housing Act satisfies this requirement. This course will be held at 230 Elm in Southampton on December 10th, 2014. Enrollment is only available online through www.liebschool.com. 

Thanks to our sponsors, this event will be fully catered. Sponsors include Behind the Hedges, DE Capital Mortgage, and Douglas Elliman. 

Dennis Valet, Esq., an Associate Attorney at Lieb at Law, P.C. writes about the FAA banning the use of drones in real estate brokerage. This article was featured in The Suffolk Lawyer.

Click Here To Read The Article

New York is one of many states across the country that has implemented court-mandated settlement conferences for residential foreclosure actions.

It is important to understand how these conferences work so that homeowners can take full advantage of this opportunity to delay and avoid foreclosure. The initial conference must be scheduled within 60 days after the proof of service of the complaint has been filed with the county clerk and allows the borrower to meet with his or her Lender and a court referee or judge to discuss potential workout options, such as loan modifications or payment plans. If the borrower decides to apply for a loan modification, the Lender provides the borrower with a document request for the loan modification application, and the court referee sets deadlines for the submission and review of the application. Typically, there are numerous conferences throughout the application process in order to ensure that the borrower is complying with the Lender’s document requests and that the Lender is properly reviewing the application. If a borrower believes he was improperly denied a loan modification, his attorney may request a bad faith hearing with the judge to determine whether the Lender should be sanctioned for bad faith negotiations. These settlement conferences not only help homeowners delay the foreclosure process but also can stop the foreclosure process all together.

Not every person who has a property in foreclosure in New York State is entitled to these mandatory pre-trial foreclosure settlement conferences. The law in New York (CPLR 3408), extends the conferences only to owner-occupied residential properties, so if a homeowner has a vacant property or a rental property in foreclosure, he or she is not entitled to a CPLR 3408 conference as of right.

Further, CPLR 3408 does not apply in federal court, but settlement conferences are still available at the federal level. Rule 16 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure allows federal courts to hold pre-trial conferences for the purpose of settlement negotiations and encourages judges to take an active part in the settlement negotiations. The procedures differ at the federal level but the purpose is still the same. These conferences are often the difference between a homeowner staying in his or her home and losing it.

Following the death of a loved one, you may become the recipient of an unexpected parcel of real estate. Yet, with every windfall comes great obligations, so be prepared for the surprises you may encounter when inheriting property.

Andrew Lieb's latest article featured in The Huffington Post includes the following topics:

1. Mortgage Transfer
2. Reverse Mortgage
3. Rental
4. Homeowners Insurance
5. Testamentary Substitutes
6. Estate Tax
7. Capital Gains Tax
8. Probate
9. Heirs at Law
10. Right of Election

On October 30, 2014, Supplemental Directive 14-04 was issued by Treasury.

2 major changes for those considering a short sale or deed-in-lieu are offered by this Directive.

FIRST - Relocation assistance available to the property owner, who occupies the property as a principal residence and is required to vacate as a condition of the short sale or deed-in-lieu, will be eligible for $10,000 as opposed to $3,000 for transactions that close on or after February 1, 2015.

SECOND - Perhaps most importantly, for transactions closing on or after February 1, 2015, the gross sales proceeds that may be paid to a subordinate mortgage lien holder (e.g. 2nd mortgage) used to be capped at $8,500, but now there is no cap requirement. Instead, servicers can create their own cap provided its not less than $12,000.

To explain the second change above, a first mortgagee may approve a short sale, but the second mortgagee may deny it because there is no fair market value to support a payment to the mortgagee (i.e. the house is underwater as to the second mortgage). This change permits the first mortgagee to pay the second mortgagee (out of their monies from the short sale) to approve the short sale and extends what was a cap of $8,500 in payment to a minimum new cap of $12,000 and potentially no cap at all.

Many deals die because of the second lienholder - this Supplemental Directive should save a lot of deals.

On October 21, 2014 the New York State Department of Financial Services sent correspondence to Ocwen's General Counsel raising issue "with Ocwen's systems and processes".

What's the single piece of advice you'd give any prospective buyer right now?

Andrew Lieb along with a select group of industry insiders on the East End share advice to prospective buyers on Dan's Papers. Click here to learn more. 

This revised tool is used by "servicers participating in HAMP as a tool for deciding whether to modify a troubled mortgage that is eligible for subsidies under the program".

A main thrust of this new version of the NPV tool is for non-owner-occupied properties.

Additionally, investor incentives for successful modifications are enhanced by way of this new Model v5.0.

If you want to actually know how modification decisions are made, knowing this document is a must.

Business Insider has a terrific article, The 25 Biggest Landowners In The US, where we meet who controls the soil in our country.

The data behind the article was provided by The Land Report.

Most fascinating are the blurbs under each landowner that explains what you do with all of that land - there are ranchers, aerospace testers, foresters, lumber-manufacturers, equestrians, conservationists, farmers, and much more.

In perspective, Manhattan Island in New York City is 22.7 square miles or better stated - John Malone owns more land than 151 Manhattans.

The Appellate Division recently addressed a situation where a guaranty accompanying the original lease was enforced post-modification of that underlying lease in 4 USS LLC v. DSW MS LLC where the court ruled that the Guarantee could "recover under the terms of the lease, prior to its modification".

This means that where you make a deal to modify the terms of your lease, you may still be personally liable under the old guaranty for past breaches of that previous lease.

The takeaway from this case is to address the guaranty documents in the modification documents and expressly state the intentions of the parties as to past breaches and their enforceability post-modification.

Real estate agents often only think about getting the functional results that their clients expressly state accomplished - this case is a reminder of the necessity to clean up the past before emerging into the goals stated by your clients for the future.

Otherwise, the past can come back to bite you.

If you or your clients are in the process of purchasing property and want a resource guide that explains Homeowners' Insurance, check out Andrew Matthew Lieb's latest article featured in The Huffington Post.

Surprises About Homeowners' Insurance You Probably Didn't Know


Topics Include:

• Categories of Insurance
• Deductibles
• Property Damage Coverage
• Off-Premises Coverage
• Household Workers' Coverage
• Rental Issues
• Notice Requirements
• Mitigation Requirements
• Duty to Defend
• Declaratory Judgment Option: 

Now, the new rule permits a loan that was previously permanently modified under HAMP to be re-modified regardless of loss of good standing so long as, either, the borrower has experienced a change in circumstance, or at least 12 months have passed since the HAMP Modification Effective Date. This amendment will allow for borrowers to re-modify loans that have already received a HAMP permanent modification if they experience a new hardship or if one year has passed.

Join a thriving law firm that leverages informational imbalances and leads our profession through advocacy and advice supported by cutting-edge technology and know-how.

You will be exposed to real estate litigation and assist in cases from real estate brokerage through landlord / tenant, premises liability, personal injury, foreclosure defense and more.

This is a litigation support position, inclusive of drafting legal memos, pleadings, discovery and motion practice. Deductive reasoning skills required. Must be a self-starter with ambition and drive.

Those that succeed in this position can earn a Junior Associate Attorney position once licensed. Partner track available for the highest level achievers.

This career opportunity is out of our Center Moriches office.

To Apply: Submit Cover Letter, Resume and Writing Sample to careers@liebatlaw.com 

Click here to learn more about Lieb at Law. 

2014 New York Metro Super Lawyers Magazine

Andrew Lieb, Esq. wins Rising Star Award by Super Lawyers!

We are thrilled to announce that Andrew Lieb has been named a Rising Star by Super Lawyers.

• To be eligible for inclusion in Rising Stars, a candidate must be either 40 years old or younger or in practice for 10 years or less.

• No more than 2.5 percent of the lawyers in a state are named to Rising Stars. 

To view Andrew Lieb's profile on Super Lawyers, click here

Before letting a family member stay at your house, read and share Andrew Lieb's latest article published in the New York Section of the Huffington Post.

The answer depends on two very important factors:

1. Do you really need the money from your rental?
2. Are you actually related to your family member?

The comprehensive article is available through the following link. Full Article

If you missed last week's Realife episode, you can listen to it here. The Last 10 minutes Andrew Matthew Lieb discusses purchasing a home in the hamptons and real estate tips.

http://peconicpublicbroadcasting.org/post/real-life-episode-65

Changes to the federal flood insurance program in March attempted to address deep concerns about skyrocketing rates for those in flood-prone areas covered by the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP), but upcoming deadlines implementing these changes raise the specter of litigation.

To read the full article, visit The Journal of Real Estate Litigation and Condemnation of the American Bar Association. Full Article 

Just because the term of the lease is over does not mean that the landlord automatically gets their seasonal rental property back. Additionally, smart brokers put a clause in their agreements that provides for a commission being due should the tenant purchase the rental property from the landlord.   Andrew Lieb shares even more tips in the Home Section of the Huffington Post.   The comprehensive article is available through the following link.  Full Article

1. Gaining Repossession: Just because the term of the lease (a/k/a duration) is over does not mean that you, the landlord, automatically gets your seasonal rental property back. In many States, such as New York, the tenant must surrender possession of the property prior to the landlord retaking possession regardless if the lease period has ended. In best practice, a written lease agreement will provide not only when the term is over, but also the mechanism of how, when and where the tenant is supposed to surrender possession (e.g., tenant shall surrender possession by way of turning over the keys to the subject premises to the landlord, in-person, at the subject premises at 12:00 p.m. on September 30, 2014 or at such other time, date and manner as is mutually agreed upon by and between the parties in a signed writing). Such a surrender clause is particularly important for landlords because a landlord who engages in a self-help eviction (i.e., going into the property without the tenant’s permission and changing the locks) is exposed to a lawsuit by the tenant for treble damages for the tenant’s lost use and occupancy of the property. Beyond protecting oneself from a self-help claim, landlords should also motivate the tenant to leave on time by utilizing a holdover liquidated damages clause (i.e., predetermined monies due and owing in the case of a holdover tenant – staying after the expiration of the lease). Courts in many States, such as New York, will enforce this type of clause at a level of three times the previous rent due for the duration of the holdover period.
2. Damage Inspection: There are 4 steps to a proper damages inspection: (1) Establishing a baseline condition of the property when the tenant takes possession (i.e., countersigned and dated pictures should have been taken); (2) Distinguishing between actual damage and ordinary wear and tear (i.e., definitions should be included in the lease for each category); (3) Determining the condition of the property upon the tenant surrendering possession (i.e., tenant and landlord walk through the property while memorializing the condition in pictures that are countersigned and dated); and (4) Obtaining 2 estimates for repairs from licensed home improvement contractors to establish the cost of repairs.   
3. Refunding the Security Deposit: A landlord is a trustee for the tenant’s security deposit monies. Where a landlord wrongfully withholds the security deposit, the tenant may be able to sue for those monies on theories such as breach of contract, conversion and breach of fiduciary duty, among others. Additionally, many States, such as New York, provide a tenant with a reciprocal right to sue for attorneys’ fees whenever a lease provides the landlord with such a right (i.e., landlord’s right to attorneys’ fees in the event of breach is standard practice in leases). Consequently, a tenant can frequently hire an attorney, who will be paid for by the landlord, to recover their security deposit.
4. Lease Renewal: The best tenants continue to renew season after season. For the landlord, this not only makes your budget for operating the property predictable, but also avoids the landlord from having to continually make yourself or your agent available to show the property to prospective replacement tenants. The protocol for the tenant exercising a lease renewal option should be set forth in the current lease agreement, including how notice to renew should be rendered (i.e., mailing a certified mail return receipt letter to the landlord indicating that the tenant shall exercise its renewal option). Additionally, the lease should provide how the rental fee will be adjusted for future seasons by what is typically referred to as a rent escalation clause, (i.e., either at a percentage increase such as 3% or tied to an index such as the Consumer Price Index). Oral renewals and text messages should be avoided as they often result in litigating.   
5. Brokerage Agreement: Many real estate brokerage agreements provide for additional monies being due to the broker in the event of a renewal of the lease by the current tenant or a member of the tenant’s family. Additionally, smart brokers put a clause in their agreements that provides for a commission being due should the tenant purchase the rental property from the landlord. Reviewing the brokerage agreement that was applicable when the tenant first let the property is a great first step before lease renewal to know how a landlord’s net profits will be effected in future years.

Andrew Lieb Shares Real Estate Tips on 88.3FM today at 5:50pm
Tune into 88.3FM (WPPB Peconic Broadcasting) for Realife with John Cristopher from Brown Harris Stevens.

Today's Line Up of Guests:

5:30pm: Cia Comnas, Executive Managing Director of Brown Harris Stevens discusses the "hot" areas in the Hamptons and what it takes to be a successful agent in the Hamptons.

5:40pm: Greg Heym, Chief Economist for Terra Holdings enlightens us about the recent release of data for the numbers in the City and here in the Hamptons.

5:50pm: Andrew Lieb, Esq., owner of Lieb at Law and Lieb School wraps up Realife as he shares some of his secrets that a buyer should know before they purchase a home in the Hamptons.

http://peconicpublicbroadcasting.org/programs/real-life-wppb

Andrew Lieb shares secrets to avoid litigation while getting home improvements in the Huffington Post and Dan's Papers.   Full Article  If you plan to do a home improvement project, there will certainly be enough on your mind without having to worry about the legal issues.  Here is your reference guide to avoid litigation while getting the job done:  10 Home Improvement Secrets: Avoiding Litigation While Getting the Job Done

Transparent solar panels may be here sooner than you think.

Accordingly to Slash Gear, a team at Michigan State University has developed "a transparent luminescent solar concentrator which looks clear to the eye but can still harvest energy from wavelengths of light invisible to humans". Unfortunately, the team has not achieved panels that are efficient enough for use on your home just yet, but it seems that great strides are being achieved relatively quickly.

So, before you say yes to solar panels being placed on your roof, maybe you should just wait a few years to redo your sunroom with transparent solar panels and generate some power in the process.