For Immediate Release
Media Contact:
Alan Penchansky
The Pen Group Communications
Tel: (305) 529-1944
email: alan@thepengroup.com
FT. LAUDERDALE, FL, February 26, 2010 – Becker & Poliakoff, a diversified commercial law firm with more than 130 attorneys in 13 Florida offices, New York City, New Jersey, Nassau (Bahamas) and Prague, today announced it had secured a court victory in a suit against Residences of Coconut Point, LLC by a purchaser who had sued the condominium developer, seeking to rescind her purchase agreement and get back her down payment based upon the developer’s alleged violations of the Interstate Land Sales Full Disclosure Act (“ILSA”).
On February 3, 2010, the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit issued an opinion reversing a final judgment that had been entered in favor of the real estate purchaser.
ILSA is a federal statute which imposes certain reporting and disclosure requirements on real estate developers when they sell property, unless it can be shown that the transaction is exempt from ILSA. The lower court had held that the developer, The Residences at Coconut Point, LLC, was not exempt from requirements of ILSA, because it was not obligated to complete construction of the new condominium unit within two years, as would be required in order for the particular ILSA exemption claimed by the developer to apply.
In Van Hook v. The Residences at Coconut Point, LLC, Case No. 09-10067, reported at 2010 WL 381363 (decision issued on February 3, 2010), the Eleventh Circuit reversed the lower court’s determination, and held that the contractual language relied upon by the lower court did not disqualify the developer from being exempt under ILSA. The Eleventh Circuit remanded the matter back to the trial court for further proceedings consistent with its opinion.
“This decision represents a clear victory for real estate developers, who, since 2007, have been sued with increasing frequency by disgruntled real estate purchasers who are seeking to cancel their real estate purchase agreements in the face of a declining real estate market,” commented Becker & Poliakoff attorney Allen M. Levine. Mr. Levine, together with firm attorney Daniel L. Wallach, represented The Residences of Coconut Point, LLC in this appeal.