Newsday - "Long Island home prices rise as listings dwindle, report says"

Check out Newsday's front page for the article.

For real estate brokers that sounds like a mixed bag; higher numbers, but less listings.

For individual salespersons, this is the time where the top associate brokers will shine and separate themselves from the rest. Its time to roll up your sleeves and bring your A-Game.

Enforcing a Commercial Lease Against a Guarantor

Landlords cannot sue a guarantor in a Summary Proceeding because there is “no relationship of landlord and tenant … [where guarantor] was not a primary or joint obligor but assumed a secondary liability which accrued only upon default by the principal.” See Marburt Holding Corp. v. Picto Corp.,(1st Dept., 1958). Therefore, to enforce a guarantee, a landlord must pursue a Plenary Action against the guarantor following the conclusion of the Summary Proceeding. Nonetheless, landlords need not fret about the difficulty and cost incident to instituting a Plenary Action against a guarantor because landlords can proceed pursuant to CPLR §3213 and utilize the Doctrine of Collateral Estoppel in order to avoid the protracted litigation that is typical of a Plenary Action.


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

2016 SURVEY RESULTS ARE IN! Agency Disclosure ONLINE ranked BEST Real Estate CE

AGENCY DISCLOSURE ONLINE BY ANDREW LIEB, ESQ. 

Nearly 100 NY Real Estate Agents concluded that Lieb School’s Agency Disclosure ONLINE CE course is the best real estate course on the market.

Surveys were conducted after each student completed the course. Below are some highlights: 

About The Instructor - Andrew Lieb, Esq. 

• Best Instructor Ever.

• Andrew is riveting and brilliant. A joy to watch and learn from.

• Andrew can take a difficult to understand topic and make it easy to follow and comprehend.

• Andrew Lieb is the only instructor that can keep me interested and awake when the content becomes boring. He is intelligent, well prepared, & entertaining. He is the only instructor for me.

• I think Andrew Lieb is passionate and extremely knowledgeable. He makes an otherwise confusing subject easy to interpret and absorb!!!!

• I loved the live interactions. Great sense of humor and outgoing personality made it interesting.

About The Course

• THEEEEE BEST!!!!! Enough said. Period.

• The best overall experience I've had. Thanks!

• He breaks it into parts that makes so much sense, and keep you on your toes. No sleeping in this class@ :-) Even online, he makes it very interesting! 

• I have had the opportunity to take this course in person and online and felt that this online format allowed me to better understand the subject. Particularly the section where you go through each possible way of filling out the form and what type of agency makes sense for what type of consumer. I feel more knowledgeable and confident with agency after completing this online course.

• Was in the dark, now I see the light!!!!!!

• This course exceeded my expectations and gave me a fresh perspective on the use of the Agency Disclosure form. I will be amending the way I present the form given the information I received and my improved understanding of the document.

Real Estate Brokerage Regulatory Updates - 12/14/16 NYS Board of Real Estate meeting summary

On 12/14/16 the NYS Board of Real Estate continued its mission of optimizing the regulation of real estate brokers in our state by holding its meeting. 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.

In summary, the following was discussed:

1. The collaboration between the Department of State and the Division of Human Rights in investigating claims of discrimination and enforcing the law. To date, the Department of State has referred 5 complaints to the Division of Human Rights. 
2. The Department of State's right, even without subpoena, to request documents from a licensee (including to document requests pertaining to documents that are unrelated to the practice of real estate brokerage) and that a licensee's failure to cooperate may result in a license suspension. 
3. A new licensing requirement of a 1 hour course on licensee safety is being added to curriculum and to make room for such additional hour the property insurance requirement is being reduced from 2 hours to 1 hour.
4. The comments period for regulatory changes, [to 175.1 (commingling money), 175.7 (disclosure to clients before accepting money), 176.3 (1 hour license safety course), 177.3 (minimum instruction time of 1 hour rather than 3 hours), 177.7 (computation of time being 50 minutes for an hour requirement) and 175.25 (licensee disclosure of license type on business cards)], has expired and such regulations are expected to be effective in mid January 2017. 
5. Brokerage firms can utilize cloud storage of their records so long as such cloud technology creates an accurate reproduction of paper records and has technology to permit discovery of any alterations of such records.
6. The Board of Real Estate meeting schedule for 2017 is April 12, 2017, September 13, 2017 and December 6, 2017. 

The next meeting is expected on April 12, 2017. 

Real Estate Transactions and Notary Public Exposure

In a real estate practice the act of notarizing documents is a matter of course for attorneys, paralegals and title closers alike. Often the stamps come out without even a first concern or a break for analysis because a real estate transaction is far too often undertaken while the professionals are on autopilot. Typically, a title closer will stamp documents, collect them and file them at the County Clerk’s Office with minimal oversight and scant quality control measures being in place to avoid forgery or the like. The courts remind us, from time-to-time, that this is a bad idea.

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

Lieb at Law seeks Associate Attorney for Complex Litigation

Lieb at Law, P.C. is seeking an Associate Attorney who can hit the ground running in a technologically advanced and collaborative environment. Ideal candidate is a top producer with impeccable research and writing skills. 

This role will start off working across all aspects of the firm’s litigation practice inclusive of real estate litigation, contractual litigation, premises liability, ownership disputes, plaintiff personal injury, estate litigation and more. You will draft legal memos, motions, pleading, discovery demands and responses. You will negotiate and prosecute personal injury claims against insurance adjusters. You will also help prepare for depositions, trials, mediations, arbitrations and expert consultations.  

Proven competency quickly leads to more challenging and rewarding litigation opportunities such as oral arguments, depositions, appeals, arbitrations, mediations and trials. Throughout every step you will be mentored. Those that succeed will be charged with developing their own personal niche as their career evolves.

The firm offers an environment that supports personal and professional growth without micromanagement or dogmatic resistance to fresh and innovative ideas.  Competence trumps experience and career growth is limited only by your own ability, ambition and desire to learn, evolve and earn career “wows”. 

This position is located in Center Moriches, which is in Suffolk County within the Riverhead / Westhampton Area. Clients span across Metro New York area.

Compensation: Commensurate with experience, includes full benefits package. 

To apply submit Cover Letter and Resume here. 

Ben Carson is nominated to be the next HUD Secretary

Media is reporting that Trump's HUD pick, Ben Carson, will undo Obama's fair housing legacy (e.g., Obama's rule on local communities assessing patterns of racial & income discrimination existing in housing, amongst others).


They cite to what Ben Carson wrote in the Washing Times:

These government-engineered attempts to legislate racial equality create consequences that often make matters worse. There are reasonable ways to use housing policy to enhance the opportunities available to lower-income citizens, but based on the history of failed socialist experiments in this country, entrusting the government to get it right can prove downright dangerous.


Yet, remember fair housing is enforced on the local level of government and the federal government provides merely a floor of rights, not a ceiling. As stated in the Fair Housing Act, at 42 USC 3615:

Nothing in this subchapter shall be construed to invalidate or limit any law of a State or political subdivision of a State, or of any other jurisdiction in which this subchapter shall be effective, that grants, guarantees, or protects the same rights as are granted by this subchapter; but any law of a State, a political subdivision, or other such jurisdiction that purports to require or permit any action that would be a discriminatory housing practice under this subchapter shall to that extent be invalid.


So, states like New York, who provide additional protections to the federal government, will continue to protect society's most vulnerable irrespective of what the federal government does. As Governor Cuomo said in a speech on February 14, 2016:
This state is about acceptance of all by all; discrimination of none by none. Those are the rules that we live by in this state,  ... if you are looking for the progressive future and you want to know how to deal with tough problems, like racial unrest and cultural diversity, you look to the great state of new york. 

Top Reasons to Be Thankful For East End Real Estate Brokers

The best listing agents sell property based on substance. Before even marketing the property, these agents understand that they are brokering a specific property that requires a tailored approach. 

From Due Diligence, Negotiations and Fair Housing, top Real Estate Agents continue to impress us. Learn what they do to lead the industry. 

Andrew Lieb, Esq. shares the top 3 Reasons to Be Thankful for East End Real Estate Brokers. Click here to read the full article.

Condominium Foreclosure for Unpaid Common Charges

In Plotch v. Citibank, decided on May 10, 2016, the Court of Appeals clarified issues of lien priority between a consolidated mortgage and a condominium’s common charge lien pursuant to RPL §399-z. Specifically, the court addressed whether the exception to a common charge lien’s priority for “all sums unpaid on a first mortgage of record,” as set forth in RPL §399-z, applies to a consolidated mortgage recorded prior to the recordation of such common charge lien. The court held that a consolidated mortgage constitutes only one first mortgage of record for purposes of lien priority under the Condominium Act. However, the court limited its holding by emphasizing that the consolidated mortgage was recorded prior to the common charge lien, and therefore the court expounded that “[t]he consolidation agreement […] did not interfere with any rights of the condominium board.” In such, it is envisioned that a subsequently recorded consolidation agreement to a common charge lien will not be given first lien priority pursuant to RPL §399-z.

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

The End of Airbnb in NYC

On October 21, 2016 Governor Cuomo signed a bill into law that amends the New York State Multiple Dwelling Law (“NYSMDL”) and the New York City Administrative Code to prohibit the advertising of certain New York City residential rentals with lease terms of less than 30 days. Although many short-term rentals in New York City are already illegal in order to prevent dwelling units from being used as transient hotels in violation of fire and building codes and other regulations, this law makes it clear that the advertising of such rentals is also prohibited. Now that this bill has become law, those who list rentals on Airbnb and other short-term rental websites may face a fine of up to $1,000 for the first violation, $5,000 for the second violation, and $7,500 for the third violation and any subsequent violations.

In 2010, the NYSMDL was amended to ban short-term rentals with terms of less than 30 days for class A multiple dwellings, which are dwellings used as permanent residences where each dwelling is occupied by three or more independent families. A dwelling is considered a permanent residence if it is occupied by the same natural person(s) for a period of 30 consecutive days or more.

Three exceptions exist to the 30-day restriction for class A multiple dwellings rentals. First, occupants who cohabitate with boarders or lodgers are exempt because they are sharing the space in a license scenario rather than granting exclusive occupancy in a lease, which is a prerequisite  to the applicability of the prohibition on short-term rentals. Next, where the occupants live in the class A dwelling for less than 30 days, but do not pay the permanent occupants for their stay, the restriction is also inapplicable. This situation occurs frequently when friends or family members stay at the residence when the owner is not home. Finally, class A multiple dwellings explicitly do not include hotels, rooming houses, boarding houses, club houses, and school dormitories.

There are also exemptions for some Class A dwelling units that are grandfathered from the prior law. This grandfathering occurred where a Class A dwelling was constructed before a specific date and was historically and continuously used for purposes other than as permanent residences. These units were allowed to convert to Class B (which is a class that includes, but is not limited to, hotels, rooming houses, boarding houses, club houses, and college dormitories) within 2 years after the effective date of the 2010 law if the owners could obtain a Class B certificate of occupancy and complied with all of the conditions and requirements within this 2-year conversion period. However, since these conditions and requirements were quite stringent, many such dwellings did not qualify for this conversion. Furthermore, those that did not convert to Class B by 2012 have missed their opportunity.  

Despite the 2010 law, short-term rental websites such as Airbnb have proliferated, each allowing individuals to list their apartments on these websites for short periods which inherently violate the NYSMDL. Under this new law, New York legislators have stopped the proliferation of these advertisements in their tracks.

The NYSMDL only applies to cities with populations of 325,000 or more. Realistically, this means that NYSMDL only applies to New York City, since it is the only city in the state with  a population of 325,000 or more. This new law essentially marks the end of short-term listings on Airbnb in New York City. In the war against short-term rentals that operate as illegal hotels, New York legislators has won its latest battle.