Category: Edward I. Sumber

Sandra Bullock’s Golden Globe best actress role in “The Blind Side” involved a homeless youngster in the City of Memphis, Tennessee who came from the wrong side of the tracks. The youngster’s life was changed by a family which chose to embrace a high school student who ultimately became an All-American football player at Ole Miss and who is now with the Baltimore Ravens. The scenes of the City of Memphis are compelling. Recently, a fair housing lawsuit was filed by the City Fathers in Memphis against Wells Fargo in which it is contended that the Bank’s “unlawful, irresponsible, unfair, deceptive and discriminatory” mortgage policies and practices during the early part of this past decade has led to a City crippled by foreclosures. More than 23,000 foreclosures throughout Memphis have dropped property values. According to the City Fathers, these foreclosures have eroded a tax base which supports the City and County services.
Continue reading “Fair Housing Reminders”

The Federal Fair Housing Act of 1968 (the “Act”) was enacted to protect individuals from discrimination by sellers or landlords in purchases and/or rentals of homes as well as other housing based transactions such as mortgage financing and advertising. An individual’s background cannot be used to arbitrarily restrict or prevent access to the ownership or rental of property. Initially, the law was targeted to protect against discrimination based on race, color, religion or national origin, and in fact, was passed one week following the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. Throughout the past few decades, the law has been significantly expanded to extend to discrimination based on sex/gender (1974), handicap (1988) or familial status/families with children (1988).
Continue reading “Fair Housing Expansion”

On August 18, 2009, the Appellate Division Second Department rendered an opinion in the matter of Daly v. Kochanowicz (884 N.Y.S.2d 144; N.Y.A.D. 2 Dept. [2009], 884 N.Y.S.2d 144 [2009]). This decision is a perfect teaching tool for real estate licensees and attorneys, as to how “Caveat Emptor” is applied in New York.
Continue reading “Daly v. Kochanowicz Caveat Emptor is Alive and Well in New York”

While broker to broker open houses are clearly an appropriate way to introduce a property to cooperating brokers, public open houses have been the subject of numerous articles over the past decade either lauding or rejecting their efficacy. If you are a broker who utilizes public open houses for marketing purposes, extreme caution should be used in order to ensure regulatory compliance and the protection of the homeowner.
Continue reading “Public Open Houses, an Opportunity for Error”

If a person takes possession of a property, improves it, possesses it in a public manner and continues to do so for an extended period of time, traditionally that person would be deemed to have acquired the property by “adverse possession”. The concept of adverse possession is well known in both North America and Europe and has been around for centuries.
Continue reading “Adverse Possession”

Approximately 19 years ago, this column addressed the rights of salespersons and real estate brokers at the time that a salesperson changes offices. Marketplace circumstances and dramatic changes in the way that business is conducted necessitates an update of this information.
Continue reading “When a Sales Associate Changes Offices – 2009”

The fastest growing component to the U.S. population in the past decade has been the Hispanic community. The expansion of the Hispanic population, including illegal immigrants, has generated a highly emotional issue for many Americans. What rights should be granted to illegal immigrants? What rights do illegal immigrants have to housing? Do the Fair Housing Laws apply to illegal immigrants? In an environment in which one out of nine residences in the U.S. is estimated to be vacant (there are an estimated 14 million apartment units, homes and condominiums currently vacant) these issues assume heightened importance for immigrants, for landlords and for Realtors.
Continue reading “Illegal Immigrants, Rentals and Fair Housing Discrimination”

The Department of State has for many years published a series of Legal Memoranda, one of which (Legal Memorandum LI12) is entitled “Be Wary of Dual Agency”. The Memorandum discusses the nature of dual agency. It essentially discourages consumers from dual agency because of the loss of the undivided loyalty of the agent first hired by the consumer. The Memorandum reflects the longstanding disdain of the New York State Department of State to dual agency which emanated from views expressed by the legal staff of the Secretary of State during the 1980s.
Continue reading “Mutually Dependent Transactions and the Creation of Dual Agency”

The Westchester-Putnam Multiple Listing Service, Inc. has amended its exclusive listing agreements to include provisions which enable listing agents to comply with Section 294 of the Real Property Law which became effective January 1, 2009. The New York State Association of Realtors worked actively for more than 15 years to provide the residential brokerage community with some means of protection when sellers do not pay agreed upon commissions under listing agreements.
Continue reading “Commission Escrow Act”

Our office has handled thousands of residential real estate transactions over the 35 plus years in which this author has practiced law in the Hudson Valley. It is rare indeed that any client in those real estate transactions ever took the time to read through the mortgage documents, examine the good faith estimates, carefully reviewed a HUD-1 settlement statement or understood fully all of the nuances of his or her real estate transaction. I can remember and count a far greater number of attorneys, who sitting across the table, when asked by a client about the meaning of a particular document, could not adequately articulate its intent and meaning.
Continue reading “RESPA – More Is Not Better”