A process server comes to your door. Now what do you do?

Read the 5 steps to respond to a lawsuit by Andrew Lieb, Esq. published in Behind The Hedges.

The takeaway for practitioners is to look to the category of expenses claimed, not the amounts thereof, when evaluating whether a summary discharge should be sought on a NYC HPD lien.

Estate Deals is an online video continuing education course that satisfies 4.5 credits of the total 22.5 credits required by the NY Department of State for license renewal.

An inheritance of real estate often needs to be liquidated by a real estate broker. It’s likely that a beneficiary already has a home. Often times, multiple beneficiaries don’t want to share a home. Frequently, estate creditors force a sale.

After completing this course, students will learn the unique language of estate deals, the impact of a Last Will and Testament on an estate deal, and how to navigate the probate / intestacy process while effectuating a sale. Students will be exposed to how an executor’s commission can impact their brokerage commission and how estate foreclosures can kill their deal in the entirety. Estate deals are an opportunity to both make money and to help a client in their time of need.
This course combines video footage of Andrew Lieb, Esq. teaching live class segments with visuals, study guides, and quizzes in order to optimize your understanding of the intense materials. It is delivered in an asynchronous model to allow for accessibility whenever and wherever you find convenient while also offering note-taking and in-class comment features to provide opportunities for feedback, questions, and discussions.

Click here to register

Minimum System Requirements

Department of State License Course Code: M12823

What are the Continuing Education requirements for real estate agents in NY?

• 3 Hours of instruction pertaining to Fair Housing and/or Discrimination in the sale or rental of real property or an interest of real property
• 2 Hours of Agency Disclosure for the initial two-year licensing term and at least 1 hour of Agency Disclosure in subsequent renewal cycles.

Are there any exemptions for Continuing Education requirements for real estate agents in New York?

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

How do I renew my New York State Real Estate License?

If I did not complete my continuing education requirements before my license expiration date can I get an extension?

Lieb at Law, P.C. is seeking a self-driven producer of work product who has impeccable research, writing and oral advocacy skills. You will be thrown into complex litigation and will quickly learn to thrive while engaging with the leaders of the field.

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, pleading, discovery demands, discovery responses and motions. You will negotiate and prosecute personal injury claims against insurance adjusters and then, defend real estate brokerage and title claims while reporting to insurance claims counsel. You will also help prepare for depositions, mediations, arbitrations and trials.

Proven competency quickly leads to more challenging and rewarding litigation opportunities such as oral arguments, depositions, trials and appeals. Those that succeed will be charged with developing their own personal niche as their career evolves. Business opportunities exist.

Types of clients include high net worth individuals, small / medium size businesses, as well as national real estate brokerage firms and title insurance companies.

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. We will push you to 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 is commensurate with experience. Full benefits package available for full time employees.

To Apply: Email cover letter and resume to careers@liebatlaw.com 

Firm Overview and History:

Lieb at Law, P.C. is the strategic legal partner to the real estate professions. The firm offers services in litigation, corporate compliance, business and real estate transactions throughout the greater New York Metro Area, inclusive of the Hamptons and Manhattan.

The firm was founded in 1977 by David Lieb and Joseph Lieb. In 2009, Andrew Lieb acquired control of the firm and transformed its legal services from a general practice to a civil litigation boutique focusing on real estate.

The firm currently offers legal services in real estate related fields, including real estate brokerage law, title disputes, mortgage foreclosure, fair housing and discrimination, contract litigation and transactions, municipal violations defense, land use / zoning, business and entrepreneurship, estate planning, surrogate’s court litigation, and plaintiff’s personal injury with a focus on premises liability.

The firm’s litigation practice is driven by leveraging informational imbalances to win cases. This is a substance first law firm where data drives decision making and strategy.

To achieve the firm’s information focused litigation culture, staff have access to cloud-based legal research platform so the latest cases are available to our legal team everywhere, including within the courtroom. Next, a secure, cloud-based case management system catalogs every thought and action on each client’s matter. As a result, case facts are readily accessible through the stroke of a computer key, instead of being locked away in one attorney’s memory or private paper notes in some desk draw. Finally, enterprise file sharing, storage and collaboration software is utilized to enable the efficient collaboration between attorneys where case strategy and document preparation benefits from fresh and innovative group think.

Lieb at Law’s latest research and collaboration tools extend to the firm’s transactional team, which ensures that contractual language is driven by our real life experiential learning from our contractual litigating practice.

Lastly, we publish and teach the law that we practice in order to always stay on the cutting edge. Lieb at Law’s work product is a derivative of embracing education and technology to provide a modern law firm that is at the vanguard of representation.

Notable Clients:

• Largest Real Estate Brokerage firm in the State of New York
• Largest Title Insurance company in the State of New York
• Lieb School: New York State Real Estate School
• High net worth individuals
• Small and medium size businesses

Business Development: 

• Provide trainings on latest statutes, regulations and case law, compliance requirements and industry standards to 10,000 + real estate salespersons, brokers and attorneys.
• Represents #1 Brokerage Company & #1 Title Insurance Company in NYS.
• Firm provides numerous articles a month in prestigious publications.
• Employees are not required to get business, but encouraged through many internal opportunities created by the firm.  

Brand Differentiator: 

The law firm is a part-owner of a New York State Licensed Real Estate School, Lieb School, which offers in-class and digital courses throughout New York State. Lieb at Law, P.C. attorneys draft curriculum and teach at the school where they have the opportunity to establish themselves as topical experts and drive the future of the real estate brokerage industry.

Firm culture, efficiency and legal operations: 

• Award winning firm comprised of Super Lawyers. 
• Great win / loss ratio with challenging / high-stake cases (not stuck doing nonsense cases) with NYC level of complexity and clients available (not a daily grind to make a living). 
• Safe small town feel with Hamptons access. Well maintained office in the middle of downtown Center Moriches. Accessible and convenient parking lot that is well lit and well maintained.
• Community representation where we can make a difference for locals.
• Staff is energetic, youthful and motivated.
• Constantly making improvements to the building and working environment.
• Open seating without segregation of rank. Open door policy in offices. 
• While the firm is extremely competitive with adversaries, the internal environment is extremely collaborative. Office staff is friendly and drama free. Everyone has a voice in the firms’ direction and culture (staff opinions matter based on know-how, not experience). 
• Everyone is treated equally and encouraged to speak up. 
• Drinks, food and candy are supplied and available to staff.
• Fields of law practiced are generally drama free topics (i.e. no matrimonial, family or criminal work). 
• Reasonable accommodations for work / life balance with generous vacation policy / sick / coverage / work from home if needed for full time employees.
• Progressive work culture where we constantly evolve.
• Technology is on the cutting edge with no clutter or lost documents.
• Every record is tracked.
• New tools / technology is available upon reasonable request.
• Includes variety of cloud based tools that are accessible with any internet connection. 
• Included on the team are 2 business managers whose job is to manage organization, operations, finances and efficiency optimization. 

Career Opportunities:

• Opportunities are ever-present to learn, develop and grow in your career by access to new cases, writing opportunities and constant emailed articles on every subject (not stuck in a role / level for years where you need to wait to move up the ladder, instead you can create your own future). 
• Develop your own identity where you aren't a number or in a cubicle, but instead get to set your own goals. 
• No micro-management of how to do work as long as obey no case, no statute, no talk rule.
• Collaborative support gives you leads, collaboration, ideas, and reinforcement.
• No ceiling. Everyone is encouraged to break boundaries and reach ultimate levels of success. 

A good attorney should save you tens, if not hundreds, of thousands of dollars by doing their job right. So why does saving a thousand dollars drive selecting one attorney over another for representation? 

Andrew Matthew Lieb shares a list of 5 questions that you should ask when selecting your attorney.

Read the full article published in Dan's Papers here. 

Just because it’s silent doesn’t mean it isn’t there. Did you know that the state of New York provides residential tenants with many rights that supersede even the most grueling landlord-favorable lease terms? 

Andrew Lieb, Esq. shares the top ten tenants' rights that should be fully understood by landlords, tenants and real estate brokers who engage in the rental market on Dan's Papers. 

Click here for the full article. 

When selling real estate with an executor’s / administrator’s deed or as heirs at law, incident to the death of the owner, seller’s counsel must address both federal and state estate tax liens that automatically attach to real property on the date of death. Importantly, these liens attach and are effective without recorded notice. 

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

A new tax incentive is almost available for purchasing your first home. Legislation has passed both the NYS Senate and Assembly (it is returned to the Assembly before going to the Governor).

The program will work for the purchase or construction of a home, townhome, condominium or unit in a cooperative housing corporation.

Under the account, up to $100,000.00, exclusive of gain, can be invested and withdrawn without state personal income tax if the money is used for purchasing or constructing a first home purchase.

Better yet, parents can create these accounts for their children, where a child would be called a “designated beneficiary” under the statute.

However, to constitute a first time home buyer, whether as a designated beneficiary or on one’s own account, an individual cannot have had any prior “ownership interest in a principal residence at any time” both in the “United States or abroad.”  To clarify, an individual does not have an ownership interest if they expect to inherit property or even if they own the remainder interest under a trust.
 
If the first time purchaser qualifies there is a requirement to utilize the home as a primary residence for “not less than two years after purchase.”

All industries with employees and independent contractors need an inclusive culture through policy and training.

Read NARs article and quotes from Lieb at Law's Managing Attorney Andrew Lieb, Esq.

Mr. Lieb is available for outside compliance counsel, policy drafting and implementation and discrimination trainings. Contact andrew@liebatlaw.com or call 631.878.4455

Uncivil Discourse

Negotiating is first and foremost about preparation.

Fees for licensing have increased by $5 as of April 20, 2017. For real estate brokers the fee is now $155 and for real estate salesman (a/k/a, real estate salespersons) the fee is now $55.

Real Property Law 441-b(1) now reads (words in brackets are the former statute and capitalized words represent the now current statute):

The  fee  for a license issued or reissued under the provisions of
this article  entitling  a  person,  co-partnership,  limited  liability
company  or  corporation  to  act  as a real estate broker shall be [one
hundred fifty] ONE HUNDRED FIFTY-FIVE dollars. The  fee  for  a  license
issued  or  reissued  under  the  provisions of this article entitling a
person to act as a real estate  salesman  shall  be  [fifty]  FIFTY-FIVE
dollars.  Notwithstanding the provisions of subdivision seven of section
four hundred forty-one-a of this article, after January first,  nineteen
hundred  eighty-six, the secretary of state shall assign staggered expi-
ration dates for outstanding licenses that have been previously  renewed
on  October  thirty-first  of  each  year  from the assigned date unless
renewed. If the assigned date results in a term that exceeds twenty-four
months, the  applicant  shall  pay  an  additional  prorated  adjustment
together  with  the  regular  renewal  fee. The secretary of state shall
assign dates to existing licenses in a manner which shall  result  in  a
term of not less than two years.