This 3 hour real estate brokerage continuing education course maps out the rules to advertise property in the State of New York. Did you know that real estate salespersons, associate brokers and brokers cannot just say whatever they want in real estate advertisements? Moreover, agents can’t be forced by their clients to manipulate the true description of property while marketing. In this course, you will learn that there is no freedom of speech in this regulated industry. In fact, the New York State legislature empowered the Department of State to enforce advertising regulations and such regulations are actually enforced.

After taking this course, you will be able to recite, with precision, the do’s and don’ts of real estate advertising. Instead of passing this integral function off to your team members or 3rd party vendors, you will know the importance of actively managing every aspect of promotion and mastering this craft. You will learn what you can and cannot include in advertisements. We will go over team advertisements, classified advertisements, mail, telephone, websites, e-mail, business cards, signs, billboards, flyers, for-sale signs, photographs, web-based promotion and more.

We will review court cases of deceptive and misleading advertising and you will understand the consequences of such action. We will discuss advertising statutes, regulations and opinion letters from the Department of State so that agents can advertise right up to the limit of what is permissible while complying with the laws of the State of New York.

Everywhere that you turn in the Hamptons and on the North Fork there are newly constructed homes. Not only is the East End’s landscape filled with residential development, but, throughout the two forks, building spec homes has become a dominant industry. Spec developers first purchase a plot of land and then improve the land with a fabulous construction that they speculate will increase the property’s valuation far more than the composite cost of the land and the construction, individually.

However, such residential construction is speculative because the house is only marketed for sale once it has either been built or is close to a finished product. As a result, spec developers are selling finished products without any guaranteed purchaser, in contrast to offering their construction services to a consumer for a fee, as is done in a custom home job. In recent years, it appears that spec developers have been very successful, as more and more speculative construction is popping up throughout our East End neighborhoods. 

Even the most magnificent homes face a challenge that can have an impact on property value, the beauty of your living space and your very health: Mold. The issue may not sound pretty, but there’s hope. Starting this year, Mold Remediation is a licensed field in New York State. 

The East End is a legacy community where families summer by the ocean, bay and wineries for continual generations. These families engage in strategic succession planning, whereby a trust, as an essential planning tool, is generally the best vessel to pass one’s Hamptons or North Fork real estate onto the next generation. A trust can address both federal and New York State estate tax issues, which can be crippling if ignored.

New York State taxes estates valued over $4,187,500 in 2016 at a rate that can reach up to 16%. In addition to New York State’s estate tax, the federal government taxes estates over $5,450,000 in 2016 at a rate that can reach up to 40%. So all individuals who don’t want their family’s summer home to fall victim to the tax collector must consider how best to pass their legacy onto the next generation.

Even with lower real estate valuations, trusts remain an essential succession-planning tool because they can prevent creditors from seizing certain properties and can control future generations from engaging in an undesired liquidation of the family’s home. 

Recently Governor Andrew Cuomo signed into law a comprehensive piece of legislation, which makes sweeping changes to New York’s requirement that Lenders and Borrowers negotiate in “good faith” during Mandatory Foreclosure Settlement Conferences.

Under New York foreclosure law, in a residential foreclosure action, commenced on or after February 13, 2010, involving a 1-4 family owner occupied property, it is required that a Mandatory Foreclosure Settlement Conference be held within sixty (60) days of service of the foreclosure summons and complaint. The purpose of the Mandatory Foreclosure Settlement Conference is to provide a venue for Borrowers and Lenders to settle the foreclosure action without further court action, via a loan modification, deed-in-lieu, short sale or other loss mitigation option. At this settlement conference, it is required that both parties negotiate in “good faith.”

However, the implementation of New York’s Mandatory Foreclosure Settlement Conference and its “good faith” negotiations requirement, has had its fair share of complications. To mitigate these complications, this recently enacted legislation, which takes effect on December 20, 2016, places stringent guidelines on the documentation and information that both parties must come to the conference with and requires that both parties, or representatives thereof, appear at the conference with full authority to settle the case.

Additionally, the legislation imposes more stringent penalties upon both parties should they fail to negotiate in “good faith.” Where it is found that a Lender has failed to negotiate in “good faith,” one or more of the following penalties may be imposed:

• A toll of the accumulation and collection of interest, costs and fees during any undue delay caused; 

• A civil penalty of up to twenty-five thousand dollars ($25,000.00); 

• Actual damages, fees (including attorney’s fees) and expenses incurred by the homeowner as a result of the Lender’s failure to negotiate in good faith; or 

• Any other relief that the Court deems just and proper. 

On the other hand, where it is found that a Borrower has failed to negotiate in “good faith,” the Court is required to remove the case from the conference calendar, meaning that the Lender will then be permitted to move forward towards obtaining a Judgment of Foreclosure and Sale.