Monday, June 13, 2022
Monday, August 02, 2021
Check out Maura McDermott's Newsday article, Ruling: Suffolk complex broke law spurning Section 8 housing vouchers.
Wednesday, March 03, 2021
Andrew Lieb advises why and what you should consider when you are negotiating a quaranty on your next commercial lease.
The article was published by the Long Island Business News. HERE is a direct link to download the PDF.
Wednesday, February 24, 2021
Andrew Lieb, Esq will be instructing a ZOOM CLE for Attorneys on April 13, 2021 through the Suffolk County Bar Association.
MCLE Credit: 2 Diversity
Location: Zoom
Program Description: The Fair Housing Act prohibits discrimination because of race, color, national origin, religion, sex, familial status, and handicap (disability). Plus, NYS has even stricter laws that prohibit discrimination in housing.
Did you know, starting on June 20, 2020, all real estate brokers are required to give all transacting parties a Discrimination Disclosure Form detailing their rights and available relief?
This course will uncover and discuss:
- Housing Discrimination 101
- Relevant Laws
- Elements of a Claim/Defense of a Claim
- Damages
- Statutory Penalties
- Top 10 Do’s and Don’ts
Thursday, December 03, 2020
Dan Donovan, a security consultant for sports arenas and convention centers gives us an update on what to expect in 2021 for stadiums, live concerts and corporate events.
Listen to this podcast segment HERE.
Wednesday, October 14, 2020
Wednesday, May 13, 2020
Tuesday, May 12, 2020
Friday, March 27, 2020
Listen to our podcast here
Thursday, March 26, 2020
Click here to listen to podcast
Thursday, March 12, 2020
- There is a Coronavirus quarantine (voluntary or mandatory), which closes your property;
- Tenant is forced to close;
- Being closed, tenant makes no revenue or limited revenue from working from home;
- Without revenue, tenant defaults on rent;
- Without rent, landlord is now at risk of foreclosure and bankruptcy; and
- Consequently, landlord will need to enforce its lease to stave off foreclosure and bankruptcy.
The Parties shall not be liable for any failure, delay or interruption in performing such Party's respective obligations hereunder due to causes or conditions beyond the control of such Party. Further, such Party shall not be liable unless the failure, delay or interruption shall result from the failure on the part of such Party to use reasonable care to prevent or reasonable efforts to cure such failure, delay or interruption.
"Causes or conditions beyond the control of such Party", shall mean and include acts of God ... war ... acts of third parties for which such Party is not responsible ... or any other condition or circumstances, whether similar to or different from the foregoing (it being agreed that the foregoing enumeration shall not limit or be characteristic of such conditions or circumstances) which is beyond the control of such Party or which could not be prevented or remedied by reasonable effort and at reasonable expense.If the clause exists, the landlord has a shot at victory, but without the clause, the tenant will likely prevail, at least in part.
If the clause exists, the landlord's victory is dependent on the specific language of the clause. That is because of the rule that "[o]rdinarily, only if the force majeure clause specifically includes the event that actually prevents a party's performance will that party be excused." As a result, the language of the clause is everything.
Assuming the sample clause exists in the lease, here are the impending battlegrounds for ensuing litigation on enforcing the lease:
- Is Coronavirus an act of god?
- If yes, is a quarantine resulting from Coronavirus also an act of god?
- If no, is a quarantine resulting from Coronavirus an act of third-parties?
- If yes, did landlord undertake efforts to prevent the quarantine at the property?
- If yes, were those efforts reasonable?
- If no, did landlord undertake efforts to remedy the Coronavirus spread at the property?
- If yes, were those efforts reasonable?
We know that these lawsuits are coming and they are going to come fast. These lawsuits came after 9/11 - see One World Trade Center LLC v. Cantor Fitzgerald Securities. Only this time they are going to be everywhere because unlike 9/11, Coronavirus is everywhere.
Landlords - now is the time to ascertain your rights, determine your enforcement plan and create a contingency strategy. If you cannot enforce your lease, it's time to contact your lender and seek a forbearance (temporary reprieve from mortgage payments to avoid foreclosure). Doing nothing will create a strong likelihood of foreclosure and bankruptcy. It's time to act.
Friday, March 06, 2020
Monday, March 02, 2020
Listen to the podcast here
Tuesday, February 25, 2020
Monday, February 17, 2020
Friday, February 07, 2020

While not specifically a course topic, the DOS Guidance's Additional FAQs (updated: 1/31/2020) was brought up by students. Specifically, students inquired about FAQ #5:
5. CAN A LANDLORD’S AGENT COLLECT A “BROKER FEE” FROM THE PROSPECTIVE TENANT? No, a landlord’s agent cannot be compensated by the prospective tenant for bringing about the meeting of the minds. NY RPL § 238-a(1)(a) provides, in part, “no landlord, lessor, sub-lessor or grantor may demand any payment, fee, or charge for the processing, review or acceptance of an application, or demand any other payment, fee or charge before or at the beginning of the tenancy, except background checks and credit checks….” The fee to bring about the meeting of the minds would be a “payment, fee or charge before or at the beginning of the tenancy” other than a background or credit check as provided in this section. Accordingly, a landlord’s agent that collects a fee for bringing about the meeting of the minds between the landlord and tenant (i.e., the broker fee) from the tenant can be subject to discipline.What good timing for this to come up because our course materials included an explanation of the requirements for an agency (DOS) to issue a regulation, which were not undertaken with respect to this Guidance. As such, the Guidance is NOT law, but, instead an agency's interpretation of law. With respect to the Guidance constituting an interpretation rather than law, we explained how and when an agency's interpretation is given deference by the courts who are the co-equal branch of government with the constitutional authority to be the final voice on interpreting statutes (laws). Incident thereto, we shared the following quotes from case law with our students:
It is well settled that “[a]n agency's interpretation of its own regulation ‘is entitled to deference if that interpretation is not irrational or unreasonable’” &
“the question is one of pure statutory reading and analysis, dependent only on accurate apprehension of legislative intent, there is little basis to rely on any special competence or expertise of the administrative agency and its interpretive regulations... And, of course, if the regulation runs counter to the clear wording of a statutory provision, it should not be accorded any weight.”Oh, do we expect a legal battle on this issue. Stay tuned. It's going to get entertaining fast.