CLE Materials - The Top Real Estate Laws of 2016

Available here are all cases, statutes, and other supporting materials for the CLE, The Top Real Estate Laws of 2016, sponsored by First American Title, presented on Wednesday March 29, 2017 at the The Omni Building.

Lieb School Facts: The Best Way To Protect Yourself, As A Broker, From a Discrimination Claim is to?

Learn more at The Fair Housing Act ONLINE - 4 CE Credits. 

Radio Interview with Andrew Lieb, Esq.: Top 5 Legal Concepts That Can Make or Break a Spec Development

This radio segment features Andrew Lieb, Esq. discussing the top 5 legal concepts that can make or break a speculative development real estate project.

Topics Include:

• Getting Financing
• Structuring the Venture
• Setting a Realistic Vision
• Owning the Plans
• Hiring the Contractor

To listen to the radio interview, click here. 

Guidance for Borrowers Seeking Home Loan Modifications Under the Making Homes Affordable Act

On Monday, February 27, 2017, Fannie Mae, acting as administrator of Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP), implemented portions of the Supplemental Directive 16-02 regarding the termination of Making Homes Affordable Program (MHA).

Now, borrowers who have applied for a modification on or before the termination of the MHA on December 31, 2016 under HAMP Tier 1, HAMP Tier 2, Streamline HAMP, Second Lien Modification Program (2MP), Treasury Federal Housing Administration HAMP (Treasury FHA-HAMP), and Rural Development HAMP (RD-HAMP) must have modification effective dates on or before December 1, 2017. Additionally, closing dates for a transaction under Home Affordable Foreclosure Alternatives Program (HAFA) must be on or before December 1, 2017.

In conjunction with the termination of the MHA on December 31, 2016, Supplemental Directive 16-02 provides guidance to servicers regarding non-Government Sponsored Enterprise (GSE) Mortgages of borrowers who have requested assistance prior to December 31, 2016. Specifically, this Directive applies to: the HAMP, the Home Affordable Unemployment Program (UP), HAFA, 2MP, Treasury FHA-HAMP, and RD-HAMP. In addition, this Supplemental Directive provides guidance with respect to the eligibility of certain GSE HAMP Loans to receive pay-for-performance incentives through the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP).

So, the MHA has ended. However, no need to worry if you have applied on or before December 31, 2016 for a home loan modification through MHA because you still have time to receive the benefits of the MHA if you complete the modification process by December 1, 2017.

Alternatively, if you have not yet applied for a home loan modification, New Yorkers may continue seek mortgage modifications under Civil Practice Law and Rule §3408.

New HUD Secretary Confirmed by Senate

Dr. Ben Carson, former Republican Presidential Candidate and Neurosurgeon, has been confirmed as the new Housing and Urban Development Secretary (HUD).

HUD, formed by an act of Congress in 1965, is tasked with implementing federal policies directed at the housing market.

As Secretary, Dr. Carson will have vast power in regards to the organization and structure of the agency, specifically the field structure at the local level. Nonetheless, Dr. Carson’s discretion is bound by the confines of federal mandates.

As real estate industry professionals, we wish Dr. Ben Carson much success in his new role. 

FinCEN Renews Order Requiring Full Disclosure of Persons Behind All Cash Purchases of High-End Real-Estate

The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) of the US Department of the Treasury renewed a Geographic Targeting Order (GTO), on February 23, 2017, requiring “U.S. title insurance companies to identify the natural persons behind shell companies used to pay ‘all cash’ for high-end real estate in six major metropolitan areas.” The counties covered in this renewal are: all New York City Burroughs, Miami-Dade County, Broward County (FL), Palm Beach County (FL), Los Angeles County, San Francisco County, San Mateo County (CA), Santa Clara County (CA), San Diego County, and Bexar County (TX).

Each county will have a different monetary threshold for transactions covered by this GTO to become applicable. In New York, covered transactions shall be all cash payments for real property at or above a total purchase price of $1,500,000 in Brooklyn, Queens, Bronx, Queens, and Staten Island. In Manhattan, covered transactions are set at or above a purchase price of $3,000,000.

A title insurance company involved in a covered transaction will be required to file a FinCEN Form 8300 detailing, inter alia, the identities of any persons representing the purchaser and any “Beneficial Owners” (an individual who owns 25% or more in equity of the purchaser) “within 30 days of the closing.” For New York, this GTO will continue to prevent anonymous high-end purchasers in the five boroughs.

Tracking Proposed Legislation to Extend the Mortgage Debt Forgiveness Relief Act into 2017

The remnants of the Mortgage Debt Forgiveness Relief Act only apply in 2017 to debts that were subject to a written agreement which was entered into in 2016. So, as of today, all new agreements that forgive debt (i.e., short sale, deed-in-lieu or mortgage modification with principal reduction) will expose the debtor to income tax, which tax will be based upon their corresponding debt savings.

H.R.110, the Mortgage Debt Tax Forgiveness Act of 2017, seeks to "amend[] the Internal Revenue Code to make permanent the exclusion from gross income of income attributable to the discharge of qualified principal residence indebtedness."

S.122, the Mortgage Debt Tax Relief Act, seeks to "amend[] the Internal Revenue Code to extend through 2018 the exclusion from gross income of income attributable to the discharge of indebtedness on a principal residence."

While H.R.110 is preferable to forever eliminate a tax on unfortunate homeowners incident to having their debt forgiven, please support either bill by contacting your local congressman and having your voice heard.

Top 10 Real Estate Laws of 2016

Now that 2017 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 2016, but, instead, a list that highlights the new legal landscape that you face as real estate attorneys in 2017. Being familiar with these laws, regulations and opinions may help you to better address your client’s goals and to make you money while helping you to avoid malpractice.

Topics Include:

• Defaults waived in foreclosures
• Real Estate broker continuing education changes
• Premises liability for neighboring properties to the situs of trip and fall expanded
• Storm in Progress Doctrine includes wintery mix
• Vested right to develop requires reasonable reliance
• Vested right to develop requires legally issued permit
• Justiciability of positive declaration pursuant to SEQRA
• Condominium lien priority
• End of anonymous LLC members in NYC
• Citizenship for real estate investment trusts

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

Important Administrative Decision - Bedbugs in NYC

In DOS v. Fletcher, a real estate broker was charged with incompetency and untrustworthiness for acting as a landlord's agent and failing "to assure that their client provided [the tenant] with the bed bug infestation history" for the unit.

As background, the Administrative Tribunal was addressing New York City's Administrative Code at §27-2018.1(a), which states:

For housing accommodations subject to this code, an owner shall furnish to each tenant signing a vacancy lease, a notice in a form promulgated or approved by the state division of housing and community renewal that sets forth the property's bedbug infestation history for the previous year regarding the premises rented by the tenant and the building in which the premises are located.

According to the Department of State, the "act of omission was a violation of the respondents' obligation to deal fairly and openly with a prospective renter."

Moving forward, all New York City Landlord's Agents MUST assure that their landlords provide the bedbug disclosure to avoid being charged with a license law violation.

Important Administrative Decision - Craigslist Advertisements

In DOS v. Paramonov, a licensed real estate salesperson was charged with engaging "in false and or misleading advertising for rental properties" by listing "apartments in the 'no fee' category" of Craigslist because "he did not have enough money to post advertisements in the broker's section of the website."

The respondent was fined for his dishonest and misleading advertisements.

Moving forward, real estate salespersons need to remember that their advertisements must be completely aboveboard. If there is a broker's section of a website, the real estate salesperson must utilize it at all times in order to comply with their license law.