LIEB BLOG

Legal Analysts

Monday, August 15, 2011

How to get my commission?

Real Estate Commissions ,
How to get my commission?
So you find a purchaser who is ready, willing & able, but the seller (your client) nonetheless refuses to pay. What do you do?

You look to your listing agreement and see what rights you have.

Regardless of the listing agreement, 2 rights you never have are that:
1) You can't file a Lis Pendens
2) You can't serve a motion for summary judgment in lieu of complaint (CPLR 3213) & must litigate the matter with a Summons and Complaint.

You may have to arbitrate pursuant to your listing agreement and you certainly should be mindful of Real Property Law 294-b, which permits you to file an affidavit of entitlement with the County Clerk and demand that your client deposits your claimed commission in the Clerk's office. Moreover, your client's failure to so deposit your commission will entitle you to costs and attorneys' fees in your subsequent litigation with the client.

Yet, no matter what you do, unfortunately, the Courts have uniformly stated that a real estate commission isn't entitled to a lien on real property pre-judgment. Maybe, its time to increase that lobbying.
Its time to get paid.
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Thursday, August 11, 2011

Divorcing couples not subject to capital gains tax on their real estate

Divorcing couples not subject to capital gains tax on their real estate

In contrast to the rule on transfer tax, just discussed, Federal Law provides that such a transfer of property incident to divorce does not work a gain or loss concerning capital gains tax; hence no stepped-up in basis results.

§ 1041. Transfers of property between spouses or incident to divorce

(a) General rule

No gain or loss shall be recognized on a transfer of property from an individual to (or in trust for the benefit of)—

(1) a spouse, or

(2) a former spouse, but only if the transfer is incident to the divorce.

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Divorcing couples subject to real estate transfer tax on their real estate

Divorcing couples subject to real estate transfer tax on their real estate

Recently, I attended a meeting of divorce attorneys in a group called the Collaborative Lawyers Association of New York (alternative dispute resolution for divorce). At the meeting, our group had mixed feelings if a transfer of real property between spouses at divorce was for no consideration (no tax) or for fair market value (tax). Ethically, the attorneys agreed that this matter required further research.

As it turns out there is a taxable event according to the New York Code of Rules and Regulations.

20 NYCRR 575.11(a)(10): A conveyance from one spouse to the other pursuant to the terms fo a divorce or separation agreement is subject to tax. (There is a rebuttable presumption in such case, that the consideration for the conveyance, which includes the relinquishment of marital rights, is equal to the fair market value of the interest in the real property conveyed.).

The takeaway is that even though you and your spouse own a piece of property already, when you transfer it to each other as part of a divorce settlement, you will be taxed or you are committing tax fraud.

BE WARNED.

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