Foreign Buyers

Instructor: Andrew Lieb, Esq., MPH

Credits: 3

Price: Free

February 28th, 2014: 11:00am to 2:45pm

Registration: Advanced Registration Required through www.liebschool.com 

International clients are all the rage … sometimes. Learn diverging perspectives on their ownership of US soil. Explore cultural sensitivity and anti-discrimination statutes while gaining an understanding of the real estate agents / educators need to familiarize foreigners with our local customs and laws. This course will split hairs between different levels of citizenship and the resulting rights and obligations afforded to purchasers. You will be familiarized with a multitude of reporting requirements and tax withholding statutes for purchasers, sellers and their property managers that can turn a foreign purchase into your worst nightmare, if ignored. After this course, the student will know what it takes to be a foreign buyer or the seller / property manager to such a buyer in New York.

DIVORCE DEALS

Instructor: Andrew M. Lieb, Esq., MPH
Watch out! Here comes a headache, exposure to liability and impossible commissions. Ever work with divorcing spouses before? Then you know. Good luck getting them to agree on anything from sales price to showing dates while selling their homes or commercial properties? What happens when they start asking you to write letters about how their spouse is not cooperating on the deal? Ever get a call from their lawyers? How about when you get subpoenaed to appear and testify in their Contempt Hearing? What do you do? Where do your duties lie? What can you say and which documents can you provide?

QUESTION: Does Lieb School report my completed credits to the Department of State (DOS)? Am I responsible for sending my course certificates to the DOS?

ANSWER: Credits received from Lieb School count towards the 22.5 required from the DOS for license renewal. Certificates provided at each class serve as proof of credit hours (think of them as a receipt). After each class, Lieb School submits to the Department of State, Bureau of Educational Standards, all licensee information for successful completion of each course. Upon license renewal, the DOS will require the original signed certificates if you are selected for an audit. Make sure that you keep your certificates in a safe place. In the event of an audit, the DOS will cross reference the certificates with the student completion records received by each school. You are responsible for completing all 22.5 credits by your license renewal deadline date.

To learn more about license renewal click here.

Mortgage Mania

It's time to learn the secrets in order to qualify for a mortgage. This seminar will begin with the basics, discussing everything from the definition of a mortgage to types of mortgages. You will learn who the players are at the bank and how their respective roles impact your deal. We will discuss the differences between a prequalification and a commitment and how to close your deal smoothly under the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act. You will learn secrets that occur behind the scenes at the banks and how to navigate through issues with income, assets, credit scores, CO's, and open permits. This course will enable you to weed-out high-risk clients and to advise average credit score clients on structuring their applications to get approved. Let's prevent mortgage contingency clauses from killing our deals.

Hours: 3
Location: Hauppauge, NY
Date: 10/09/13
Instructor: Andrew Lieb, Esq., MPH
Price: Free + Dinner Included
Class Sponsor: Citibank

Next Free NYC CE Class

Course: To be Green or not to be Green? That is the question...
Instructor: Andrew Lieb, Esq., MPH
Date: 10/18/13
Location: JPMorgan Chase on 47th and Park
Credits: 4.5
Price: Free + Lunch Included

Summary: 
 
ONLINE ENROLLMENT ONLY:  Enroll Today

Wednesday July 31st at 4:30pm in Rockville Centre

Divorce Deals: Selling the Marital Residence

At last evening's continuing education course, Conflicts of Interest, I promised that I would post the Agency Disclosure Forms for Buyer and Seller in addition to Landlord and Tenant.

Remember - you can NEVER over disclose!

At our continuing education course last evening I mentioned a terrific new product, not even yet on the market, by Sonte, called Sonte Film, which appeared on Kickstarter recently. This product makes smart film technology easy to install and operate, with the first ever wi-fi enabled digital shades, as demonstrated below. If you can control natural light, you can save on electricity. Enjoy...

Have you read Dan's Papers Today? Read about our Storm Front class in Southampton On Tuesday night. http://danspapers.com/2013/06/douglas-elliman-offers-free-real-estate-classes/

At last evening's continuing education course, Storm Front, I discussed Bill Number S5776-2013, which relates to permitted use of funds of an industrial development agency.

This bill, if enacted, would amend the law "to allow for the approval of Industrial Development Agency projects for property specifically used in making retail sales in areas directly impacted negatively by a natural disaster".

So, I highly suggest that local real estate agents support this Bill as it will benefit your community. At the least, take a read and understand what an IDA is and how it is applicable to your profession.

Also, at the course, I promised to provide a link to the Building Science & Rebuilding branch of FEMA's Building Code Resource, which can be located here. This is a valuable resource when rebuilding in the wake of a storm to enable a more resilient structure for the next one - as I said, we do live on an Island.

In early May, a newspaper article was passed around our office which churned up more than a few laughs from the staff. New York City based Rapid Realty offers its Real Estate Agents a 15% raise in their commission split if they get a tattoo of the broker's logo. Check out the article here. Turns out, their decision to get a tattoo of Rapid Realty's logo could result in a potential License Law violation.

Lieb at Law and Lieb School have gotten their hands on the new Real Estate License Law Advertising Regulations which will take effect on January 2, 2014. Anyone with a tattoo of their broker's logo may want to pay particular attention to sections (a)(1) and (c)(1) of these new regulations.

Section (a)(1) defines an advertisement as "promotion and solicitation related to licensed real estate activity, including but not limited to, advertising via mail, telephone, website, e-mail, electronic bulletin boards, business cards, signs, billboards, and flyers."

Section (c)(1) states that any advertisement "shall indicate that the advertiser is a real estate broker or provide the name of the real estate broker or real estate brokerage and either: (i) the full address of the real estate broker or real estate brokerage or, (ii) the telephone number of the real estate broker or brokerage."

So, agents with a tattoo of your broker's logo - that tattoo just might make you a walking advertisement! Make sure your tattoo is in compliance with your license law. You have until January 2, 2014 to schedule another session at your local tattoo parlor to add your broker's name and address or telephone number to go alongside your broker's logo!

The sign off line of that May 2nd article could end up being more applicable than the author probably imagined.

"Perhaps getting permanently branded with a company logo gives a whole new meaning to the term 'walking billboard.'"

We have some last minute cancellations for the free 3 credit CE course Divorce Deals in Riverhead tomorrow on 5/22/13. We also have new seats available in the course Property Management 101: A Good Piece of Dirt in Hauppauge on 6/6/13.

Visit www.liebschool.com to learn more about our free continuing education courses for licensed Real Estate Salespersons and Brokers in New York.

At our continuing education course, Title Waves, held last week at Chase Plaza, a real estate agent inquired whether child or spousal support (maintenance) received lien priority in the same way that real estate tax liens do.

The answer is that they don't. In fact, a child support or spousal support Order is not even a lien in the first place, much less a prioritized lien. Instead, only after there are arrears and a money judgment concerning those arrears is a lien even possible.

So, in every situation, in order to even receive a lien, a judgment is necessary. To be clear, a judgment for periodic future support payments does not qualify for a lien regardless that the Judge Ordered someone to pay. The lien only arises when a Judge indicates through an Order that the payor is in default.

With respect to lien priority, only real estate tax liens and certain mechanics' liens can skip the general rule of first in time, first in right with respect to lien priority.

However, this is not the end of the discussion. You see, while there is no lien priority with respect to real property for child support and maintenance liens, CPLR 5234(b) does provide for priority with respect to personal property. In fact, the CPLR section states, in pertinent part, that "child support shall have priority over any other assignment, levy or process" with respect to satisfying an execution or order of attachment against a debtor.

So, while there is no lien priority to support obligations with respect to real property (land & structures thereon, such as a house); there is lien priority when a Sheriff sells personal property to satisfy the debt on behalf of the creditor.

This past Friday, the NYS Department of State provided an Opinion Letter stating that the use of corporate titles by real estate agents, who do not actually hold such related authority, is misleading and impermissible.

On Friday evening attorneys and senior management at brokerage houses throughout the State were scrambling to address this issue immediately as many companies give out titles based upon agent's earnings as a reward as opposed to an implied authority and the companies needed to have a plan of action to address this change of understanding of Real Estate License Law.

Somehow the news got a hold of this Opinion Letter and now it is flying around at a rampant pace. So, what you should know is that your company can no longer permit you to utilize titles such as President, Vice President, Senior Vice President, Chairman, Vice Chairman, Managing Member, Director, Managing Director or anything else that is contained in the Business Corporation Law or Limited Liability Company Law as a term that implies authority. Instead, companies need to utilize titles without any correlated authority that does not exist.

Some articles flying around are:

The Real Deal - Brokers with false titles must now toe the line, regulators say
The Wall Street Journal - Titles Could Change for Some Real-Estate Brokers

Yet, there is no need to read the news, instead read the Opinion Letter for yourselves and understand why your companies are doing what they have to.

If you haven't already picked up a copy of today's Dan's Papers, check out page 78, Kelly Ann Krieger's article, "Let Expert Andrew Lieb Guide You".

At our course at Chase Plaza this past Friday, 4/5/13, on Mortgage Mania we referenced the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) and its increasing function of regulating mortgages under the Conforming Loan Limit.

To receive the latest and greatest regulatory updates, each real estate professional should sign-up for email updates on their site, by clicking here.

The best way to add value to your clients is being in the know. So, sign-up NOW!!!

Last week, at the Long Island Commercial Real Estate Expo, we presented our course Storm Front to a packed room of real estate professionals.

Some students asked that I share the links from the Powerpoint Deck future reference.

So, here goes:

1) Participating Community List for National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) can be found by clicking here
2) NFIP Summary of Coverage can be found by clicking here
3) Cost of Flooding can be found by clicking here
4) 2010 Annual Performance Report of Industrial Development Agencies (IDAs) can be found by clicking here
5) FEMA's Building Science & Rebuilding Building Code Resources can be found by clicking here

For all those who attended, I hope you enjoyed the class and the Expo. We, at Lieb School, had a terrific time and were glad to participate.