LIEB BLOG

Legal Analysts

Friday, December 29, 2017

Tax Deductions on 2018 Real Property Taxes Assessed and Prepaid in 2017

On December 27, 2017, the Internal Revenue Service advised tax professionals and taxpayers that 2018 state and local real property taxes paid in 2017 and assessed prior to 2018 are tax deductible in 2017. It is important to note that the real property taxes must be assessed and not merely estimated prior to 2018.

The IR-2017-210 Advisory further provides an example to illustrate: County A assesses property tax on July 1, 2017 for the period July 1, 2017 – June 30, 2018. On July 31, 2017, County A sends notices to residents notifying them of the assessment and billing the property tax in 2 installments, with the first due Sept. 30, 2017 and the second due Jan. 31, 2018. Assuming taxpayer has already paid the first installment, taxpayer may choose to pay the second installment on December 31, 2017 and claim a deduction for the prepaid taxes on taxpayer’s 2017 tax return.

However, as an additional example: County B also assesses and bills its residents for property taxes on July 1, 2017, for the period of July 1, 2017 – June 30, 2018. If County B allows its taxpayers to prepay property taxes for the 2018-2019 property tax year. Despite County B’s intention to make the usual assessment in July 2018 for the period of July 1, 2018 -June 30, 2019 and its acceptance of prepaid property taxes for the same period, such prepaid taxes are not tax deductible because they are not assessed until July 1, 2018.

The IRS Advisory contradicts Governor Cuomo’s Executive Order No. 172 which was signed on December 22, 2017. Executive Order No. 172 authorized local governments to immediately issue warrants to collect property taxes by the end of the year and consequently, allow New Yorkers to prepay their 2018 real property taxes in New York in 2017. Governor Cuomo’s intent was to allow New Yorkers to enjoy the tax deductible in 2017 and circumvent the GOP tax bill which set a $10,000 cap on state and local deductions.

Nonetheless, with the IRS Advisory being just that, an advisory and not a legal ruling, the issue of whether Governor Cuomo’s Executive Order No. 172 effectively allows taxpayers to enjoy tax deductions for prepaid 2018 property taxes is still left to be determined by a Tax Court as litigation is expected.

Thursday, December 21, 2017

Title Bribes continue until February 1, 2018

DFS Statement Regarding 11 NYCRR 228

Given the important consumer protections and impact of the necessary reforms of the title insurance industry that DFS has implemented pursuant to Regulation 208, DFS recognizes that a longer implementation period may be necessary to ensure full compliance.  Accordingly, DFS will commence enforcement of Section 228.2, Prohibition on Inducements for Future Title Insurance Business on February 1, 2018.

Backyard Videos Cause Lawsuits

Wednesday, December 20, 2017

Agency Disclosure Tips: It's not what you say, it's how you say it!

Friday, December 15, 2017

12-11-17 NYS Board of Real Estate meeting summary

On 12-11-17 the NYS Board of Real Estate continued its mission of optimizing the regulation of real estate brokers in our state by holding its meeting in NYC, Rochester and Albany. To remind real estate brokers and salespersons, the public is welcome at these meetings where the public can bring comments from the floor. It’s encouraged that Lieb School students attend these meetings to have your voices heard. 

"[T]he Board has general authority to promulgate rules and regulations affecting real estate brokers and salespersons in order to administer and effectuate the purposes of Article 12-A of the Real Property Law."

A complete video of the meeting is available on YouTube. It is noted that the meeting did not start until approximately 58:40 of the video. 
As the meeting was not well attended the only substantive discussion involved statistics from a year-to-date enforcement report as follows:
- 2353 complaints
- 1880 cases closed
- 242 referred to counsel for further review
- 315 audits conducted for licensees (94% compliant)

The 2018 meeting calendar is April 3, September 25, and December 11. 

While this meeting was brief, it should nonetheless serve as a reminder to real estate brokers, salespersons and associate real estate brokers that the threat of license law complaint is real as 2353 such complaints were made so far in 2017. 

Thursday, December 07, 2017

Brand New Video CE: Property Investment ONLINE (3.5 CE Credits): ON SALE

Real estate can either be the best investment or largest liability of your lifetime. Starting with basic real estate math, this 3.5 credit real estate continuing education course teaches you how to perform fiscal assessments, isolate a property, evaluate prospective tenants and comply with local protocols. This course focuses on income producing property and is not limited to one subsect of commercial investment. After completing this course, you will be able to increase the valuation of your property listings through obtaining proper financial statements, leveraging capitalization rates, and understanding tax consequences of sales. Learn to be a real estate mogul with Lieb School.

Property Investment ONLINE is a video real estate continuing education course that satisfies 3.5 credits of the total 22.5 credits required by the NY Department of State for license renewal. This course was developed and instructed by Andrew Lieb, Esq., a premiere NY real estate litigator and compliance trainer that focuses his legal practice on real estate brokerage compliance and litigation. This course includes video segments filmed in front of a live studio audience and can be taken on Tablets, IPADs, MACs and PCs with a high speed internet connection.



Thursday, November 30, 2017

Real Estate Updates & Tips | Latest Publications by Andrew Lieb, Esq.

The first step to determine who owns a given parcel of real estate in the State of New York is to visit the County Clerk’s Office and to locate the latest recorded deed on the parcel. Recording of a deed is imperative because we live in a Race-Notice State and, under the Recording Act, priority of ownership is often determined by who records their deed first (i.e., the First in Time / First in Right Rule). The next step, which is of equal importance, is the realization that a deed can be rescinded or voided, and as such, the deed is not the last word on the topic of real estate ownership. As such, these top 5 lawsuits to set aside the deed should be considered in order to determine if the recorded deed is in jeopardy. Only then, should a property be sold.
Just because it’s silent doesn’t mean it isn’t there. Did you know that the state of New York provides residential tenants with many rights that supersede even the most grueling landlord-favorable lease terms? Below is a list of the top 10 tenants’ rights that should be fully understood by landlords, tenants and real estate brokers who engage in the rental market.
A real estate broker whispers to you that they have an off-market listing that is to die for, but you have no idea what an off-market listing is. More so, the way the real estate broker told you about the listing just sounds to you like something is not right about the transaction. Is this pocket listing even legal?
A good attorney should save you tens, if not hundreds, of thousands of dollars by doing their job right. So why does saving a thousand dollars drive selecting one attorney over another for representation? Andrew Lieb shares a list of 5 questions that you should ask when selecting your attorney.
A process server comes to your door, what do you do? These are the five steps to respond to a lawsuit:
Imagine finding your dream house, touring the house, negotiating for the house and then getting an accepted offer on the house. Imagine attending a closing and receiving the keys. Imagine moving into your new house and making it your home.Fast forward a few years.Imagine coming home from a hectic day only to find a ticket from Code Enforcement at your doorstep. The ticket states that it’s a vacate order and that you are being fined and must appear in court. In simplest terms, you can no longer live in your home and are being fined $1,000, with each passing week’s continued violation resulting in additional fines, which can escalate up to $10,000 each (these fines vary between municipalities). To reiterate, you need to move out, find a new place to live, correct the violation and apply for a new Certificate of Occupancy; all before considering moving back into your home. Learn how to avoid this scenario. 
The Department of Financial Services has closed the door to the good old boys’club of title insurance kickbacks. Say goodbye to free meals and beverages, tickets to entertainment events, gifts, golf outings, parties, office supplies and the like. Two new regulations, Regulations 206 and 208, respectively at 11NYCRR35 and 228, have ended the party.

Tuesday, November 21, 2017

Lieb at Law: Why Buyers Should Require Updated C of O on Closing

Imagine finding your dream house, touring the house, negotiating for the house and then getting an accepted offer on the house. Imagine attending a closing and receiving the keys. Imagine moving into your new house and making it your home.

Fast forward a few years.

Imagine coming home from a hectic day only to find a ticket from Code Enforcement at your doorstep. The ticket states that it’s a vacate order and that you are being fined and must appear in court. In simplest terms, you can no longer live in your home and are being fined $1,000, with each passing week’s continued violation resulting in additional fines, which can escalate up to $10,000 each (these fines vary between municipalities). To reiterate, you need to move out, find a new place to live, correct the violation and apply for a new Certificate of Occupancy; all before considering moving back into your home.

Tuesday, November 14, 2017

Strategic Negotiating CE registration in NYC Now Open

Strategic Negotiating


Instructor: Andrew Lieb, Esq., MPH

Real Estate Credits: 3.00 CE Hours

Date & Location: January 11th: 3:30pm to 7:15pm at St. John's University - Manhattan Campus (East Village)

Registration: Advanced Online Registration Here


Presenting the most requested continuing education course in Lieb School’s history!

Learn to change the game through tried and true negotiation tactics and strategies. This is the must take 3 credit CE course for those Seller’s Agents and Buyer’s Agents whose representation focuses on adding financial value through serving as a zealous advocate rather than simply working from one transaction to the next.

Initially, the student will learn to manage their client’s expectations by establishing and locking their client into a bottom line number. Next, the student will be exposed to the factors that make-up their narrative, both financially and emotionally. This narrative should be utilized to drive the negotiation conversation. Beyond setting the narrative, this course provides techniques to break the other side’s game by mirroring and labeling their talking points, identifying undisclosed invisible factors and, finally, driving agreements.

What really sets this course apart is its focus on law. Students will finish the course with a disclaimer to avoid accidental contracts, a checklist of when a contract first exists and a list of discriminatory protected classes to avoid while negotiating. Learn to win the negotiating game.


Food & Refreshments provided by event sponsor: Michael Bocelli of Quontic Bank


Thursday, November 09, 2017

No More Title Insurance Bribes: Compliance Protocol Needed at Every Title Insurance Agency

The Department of Financial Services has closed the door to the good old boys’club of title insurance kickbacks. Say goodbye to free meals and beverages, tickets to entertainment events, gifts, golf outings, parties, office supplies and the like. Two new regulations, Regulations 206 and 208, respectively at 11NYCRR35 and 228, have ended the party.

Read the full article by Andrew Lieb, Esq. published in The Suffolk Lawyer here. 

Tuesday, October 31, 2017

Lieb at Law: Top 5 Lawsuits That Can Undo the Transfer of Property

The first step to determine who owns a given parcel of real estate in the State of New York is to visit the County Clerk’s Office and to locate the latest recorded deed on the parcel. Recording of a deed is imperative because we live in a Race-Notice State and, under the Recording Act, priority of ownership is often determined by who records their deed first (i.e., the First in Time / First in Right Rule). The next step, which is of equal importance, is the realization that a deed can be rescinded or voided, and as such, the deed is not the last word on the topic of real estate ownership. As such, these top 5 lawsuits to set aside the deed should be considered in order to determine if the recorded deed is in jeopardy. Only then, should a property be sold.

Read the full article by Andrew Lieb, Esq. published in Dan's Papers here.

Friday, October 27, 2017

Lieb at Law Wins Dan's Papers Best Law Firm Award 2017

Tuesday, October 24, 2017

Congratulations, Leslie Mendoza, on Passing the New York Bar Exam!

Lieb at Law is proud to announce that Leslie Mendoza has passed the New York Bar Examination.

Ms. Mendoza has been a law clerk focused on assisting the firm’s compliance practice, as well as, real estate and commercial litigation. Upon admittance to the NY Bar, she will be the firm's 8th Attorney. 

It's not surprising that Ms. Mendoza passed the bar exam on the first try.

Ms. Mendoza graduated from Touro College Jacob D. Fuchsberg Law Center with magna cum laude honors where she was part of the inaugural two-year program and the Touro Law Review. Prior to law school, Ms. Mendoza graduated from Ateneo de Manila University in the Philippines, with a B.S. in Legal Management and a minor in International Business. Ms. Mendoza also attended Munich Business School where she studied European Business.
Congratulations, Leslie! We know how hard you worked for this and we cannot wait to see what you can do as a practicing Attorney in New York!




Wednesday, October 11, 2017

Free CE | Title Waves | 3 Credits | Melville

FREE CE


11/2/17 from 4:30pm to 8:10pm

Food & Refreshments included and brought to you by our sponsors. 






Did you know that approximately 25% percent of real estate deals have title problems?  This title insurance course will help real estate agents avoid dead deals due to misinformation throughout the transaction process. You will learn who the underwriting players are and how their respective roles can influence your deal. We will discuss the impact of unmarketable title with brokerage commissions.  Additional topics covered include liens and forgeries in the chain of title and what transpires in real life cases. This course will enable you to take preventative measures to accurately describe your listing and avoid terminal transactions.
Let’s prevent title issues from killing our deals.

Monday, October 09, 2017

Good Faith Purchaser for Value's Ability to Record Memorandum Heard by Second Department

Andrew M. Lieb discusses the Appellate Division case of Vanderbilt Brookland, LLC v. Vanderbilt Myrtle, Inc., which clarifies the strict statutory recording requirements necessitated to establish bona fide good faith purchaser for value status when the recording is a memorandum of purchase and sale agreement rather than a contract of sale. This case matters when there are competing title claims of priority by differing contract vendees to the same real property. 

Read the full article published in the Suffolk Lawyer here.