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When you shoot the messenger, don’t miss.

One month ago, the Legally Speaking column “The End of Prepaid Seasonal Rentals” hit, and real estate brokers have been reaching out ever since. The article explained that the Housing Stability and Tenant Protection Act of 2019 prohibits prepaid seasonal rentals and requires that tenants be billed monthly for rent. After reading the headline, brokers instantly jumped on it. They questioned the veracity of the story, the applicability of the law and everything in between. Now I respond while detailing five false assertions made in response to the article.

A new residential rental law exposes landlords to suit for checking their prospective tenant’s eviction history. This new law provides, at Real Property Law §227-f, that “[n]o landlord of a residential premises shall refuse to rent or offer a lease to a potential tenant on the basis that the potential tenant was involved in a past or pending landlord tenant action or summary proceeding…” In fact, the law contains a rebuttable presumption that a violation has occurred, which presumption arises when a landlord requests such “information from a tenant screening bureau… or otherwise inspect[s] court records.” Furthermore, the law expressly authorizes the attorney general to prosecute landlords for violations of the law and provides for statutory penalties to be recovered against violating landlords. Landlords—don’t check your prospective tenant’s eviction history if you don’t want to get sued by the attorney general.

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

Landlords in the Hamptons have traditionally demanded prepaid rent from tenants on seasonal rentals. If you rented your property for a three-month term, say from July to October, on lease signing, you’d traditionally demand that the tenant provide you with a check for the entire period’s rental fees together with an executed lease or you’d refuse to rent your property to that tenant for that period. So, at lease signing, a tenant would traditionally need to have enough money for the entire rental period plus an additional month’s worth of rent for the security deposit. That tradition, of receiving prepaid rent for the entirety of the rental period plus the security deposit at lease signing, was ended on June 14, 2019.

Read the full article on Dan's Papers here. 

If you missed Eye on Real Estate this weekend, Attorney Andrew Lieb, Esq. joins the show.

Topics include: New rental laws, final walk through & how to handle it as the buyers / sellers, #1 investment isn't multi family houses in real estate, the end of prepaid seasonal rentals.

Listen to the podcasts below:

Click here for Hour 1 

Click here for Hour 2

Commercial landlords have been handed a major eviction victory by the state's highest court. However, this victory is only available to landlords who incorporates specific terms into their leases. Learn about those terms and you too can avoid a Yellowstone Injunction.

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

Jokes which previously did not rise to the level for discrimination in the State of New York because they weren't pervasive may now qualify for a claim. Learn how even non-employees can bring suit for being offended by sex jokes. It's time to get your sexual harassment training today at www.discriminationpreventiontraining.com

Be warned, Assoc. Boards / Landlords without policies to address tenant-on-tenant harassment are liable to victims. Read the full article by Andrew Lieb, Esq. published in the Suffolk Lawyer Here. 

According to the NYS Division of Human Rights, in legislative testimony provided earlier this month, sexual harassment complaints made to the Division have increased 62% since 2016.

Plus, this gigantic increase in complaints occurred before every employee in the State received training as to their rights when either being a victim of sexual harassment or being retaliated against for attempting to stop harassment.

Remember - every employer must train their employees before October 9, 2019 per Labor Law 201-g.

Failure to train is a misdemeanor and will be the kiss of death when trying to defend the company against a complaint of sex discrimination.

Everything employers need to know about firing an ugly employee.

The New York Real Estate Journal has recognized Andrew Lieb in their spotlight section as 2019 Ones to Watch.

Click here to read the full article. 

Neither physical contact nor physical injury is required to file a discrimination case. In this short video, Andrew Lieb, Esq. and Mordy Yankovich, Esq. illustrate the real exposure employers face from discrimination lawsuits including emotional distress damages, lost wages, punitive damages and attorneys' fees.

Andrew Lieb, Esq. and Mordy Yankovich, Esq. clarify what employers need to know about the new NYS and NYC laws requiring sexual harassment prevention training.

Watch this clip and learn about your responsibilities and exposure.

Now that 2019 is here it is important to be aware of the changes in the law for our industry. This is not a list about the best events from 2018, but, instead, a list that highlights the new legal landscape that you face as real estate attorneys in 2019. Being familiar with these laws, cases and rules may help you to better address your client’s goals and to make you money while helping you to avoid malpractice.

Buying and selling real estate is both fun and frustrating. The process seems simple but takes forever. The terminology sounds familiar but is misunderstood. All too often buyers and sellers feel hoodwinked by a shyster, but that is far from what is occurring. The truth is that real estate closings are really complicated and that is why the State of New York makes it a felony for anyone other than an attorney to prepare an instrument affecting real estate for direct or indirect compensation. 

Andrew Lieb, Esq. shares the steps in a real estate transaction. Click here to read the full article in Dan's Papers. 

Buyers can pay cash at closing and reap the benefits of obtaining a loan on the property by purchasing a 90-day post-closing loan.

This can be helpful for buyers who want to make competitive cash offers, close quickly and subsequently obtain mortgage interest deduction benefits of the loan according to the IRS, Publication 936.

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

The New York Real Estate Journal featured Andrew Lieb, Esq. in the Year in Review 2018.

Click here to learn about the best decision that Andrew Lieb made in 2018.