Q: What sparked your interest in real estate law? Please tell us how you entered this practice area. My initial entry into real estate law was under the area of zoning and land use. I worked for a boutique zoning and land use firm based in Manhattan right out of law school. At the time … Continued

Introduction On May 12, 2023, a group assembled at City Hall Park to rally against predatory housing practices in New York City.1 Among those in the crowd was New York State Senator Julia Salazar, who sponsored the Protect Our Homes and Communities, Stop Predatory Housing Speculation Act of 2023 in January of the same year.2 The bill … Continued

Robert M. Zinman, devoted son, husband, father, grandfather and beloved retired professor of law at St. John’s University Law School, has passed at the age of 92. He leaves behind his wife Marion, his sons Abraham, David, and Daniel, his daughters-in-law Heidi and Jennifer, and his grandchildren, Samara, Amanda, Zachary, Benjamin, Alexa, and Zoey. He … Continued

It’s gratifying to see that membership in NYSBA’s Real Property Law Section has remained strong, both during and after bouts with the illnesses du jour like COVID, SARS, HIV, etc. I think real estate law and our Section’s popularity is attributable, at least in part, to the vast number of resources available to practitioners, including, of course, our Real … Continued

Just as every co-op attorney has to master the warranty of habitability, and every condo attorney has to understand common interests and common charges, a construction law attorney has to be familiar with the concept of retainage. Indeed, even the average co-op and condo attorney should understand retainage, because it will be embedded in the payment … Continued

Ground leases have always played an important role in commercial real estate transactions, and their importance has significantly increased over the last several years with the advent of various new ground lease products and capital constraints on developers. That makes Joshua Stein’s recently published New Guide to Ground Leases—a comprehensive treatise on all aspects of ground … Continued

Karl Holtzschue was chair of the section (2007-2008), co-chair of the Title and Transfer Committee (1998-2004), co-chair of the Legislation Committee (2008-2014) and recipient of the section’s professionalism award in 2012. He is author of Holtzschue on Real Estate Contracts and Closings (PLI). 1. Introduction The purpose of the article is to inform New York lawyers of the recent approval by … Continued

Bruce J. Bergman, author of the four-volume treatise, Bergman on New York Mortgage Foreclosures (LexisNexis Matthew Bender, rev’d 2023), is a member of Berkman, Henoch, Peterson & Peddy, P.C. in Garden City. He is a fellow of the American College of Mortgage Attorneys and a member of the American College of Real Estate Lawyers. His biography … Continued

Reprinted with permission from the December 12, 2023 edition of the New York Law Journal ©2023 ALM Media Properties, LLC. All right reserved. In cases where building management and the unit owner disagree on who bears responsibility for making the repairs and/or who bears the repair costs, the attorney’s role, whether in representing the cooperative or condominium … Continued

Introduction For the first time since the passage of the first anti-harassment housing law, a comprehensive review of those laws and their applicability, purpose, penalties, and dates of effectiveness have been explained and analyzed in detail. The authors have sought to educate practitioners and their clients on this vastly misunderstood body of law. One of … Continued