Becker & Poliakoff

Commercial Property & Leasing

Category: Real Estate

Becker Prevails in Queens Waterfront Property Case

Posted on by John Eischeid

After an eight-day trial, Becker Shareholder Glenn Spiegel, along with attorney Samantha Lesser, prevailed in a litigation over who owned certain waterfront property in Queens, New York. In the case, Gentile v. Spadaro (23982/09), the plaintiffs claimed that the defendants entered into an oral agreement to sell the property and that the closing took place on August 31, 2001.

The plaintiffs also claimed that the deed was never recorded as the result of an error by their attorney; however, they were never able to produce the original deed. A copy was produced, though a handwriting expert found that the defendant’s signature was a forgery and that the notary signature was problematic as well.

During the trial, Becker’s team was also able to establish that none of the plaintiffs’ witnesses were credible, especially in light of their conflicting testimony.

Accordingly, the Court found that the plaintiff failed to meet the burden of proof to establish that the evidence was reliable and accurate, and dismissed all causes of action.

Challenging the New Development Next Door

Posted on by Michael Boutzoukas

In most county and city governments, the land use process is one that will allow for some basic decisions to be made at staff levels, with higher levels of review in the form of public hearings required for larger scale projects, or proposals that deviate too far from the established standards for a given development.  The public hearings require notice to clearly affected nearby property owners and an opportunity for evidence to be presented by the petitioner, the planning department and defined affected person or groups, so a panel or magistrate can weigh the evidence and make a decision.

Can You Lose Your Escrow Deposit Because Your Buyer’s Agent or Lender is Not Diligent?

Posted on by Terri Thomas

In 2017, the Florida Bar and Florida Realtors made significant changes to the “As-Is” Residential Contract for Purchase and Sale and the FAR/BAR Standard Contract. One of the biggest and more controversial of the changes was the replacement of the phrase “loan commitment” with “loan approval,” and the duties such change imposed on any prospective buyer to keep the seller informed of the loan approval status. The 2017 standard real estate contracts mandated the buyer to inform the seller in writing prior to the expiration of the loan approval period (usually 30 days) if they were unable to obtain loan approval.

Is Your Real Estate Agent On Your Side?

Posted on by David Blattner

Buyers and Sellers of Florida real estate, particularly residential real estate, generally assume that their brokers and agents are working exclusively for them. And though I have no doubt that the vast majority of brokers are ethical, honest and hardworking, the fact is that Florida law provides that all broker relationships are presumed to be “transactional” unless a “single agent” is established in writing (see F.S. 475.275(1)(b)). Is this a bad thing? Not necessarily. However a transactional broker’s obligations might not line up with a buyer’s or seller’s expectations.