Plaintiff entered into a contract to buy a mixed-use building for slightly more than $2 million. Plaintiff’s downpayment was $200,000. The transaction was to be all cash, as-is, and to close six months after the date of the contract. Before that closing date, plaintiff asked permission to show the property…
Although not a new issue, we discuss it because it comes up from time to time. What obligation does a lender have to verify documents used by a corporate entity to establish that the individual borrowing the money has the corporate authority to do so? In short, very little (assuming…
Plaintiff claims that shortly after they built their house, they placed sod, and a tree and bushes on a strip of land at the edge of defendant’s property, and then linked the area to their in-ground sprinkler system. Defendant purchased its adjoining property after this had been done. After defendant…
Plaintiff agreed to buy and defendant to sell, three contiguous parcels of property. The parties had set a time of the essence closing date, at which closing, plaintiff did not appear. However, a week before that closing, plaintiff’s attorney informed defendant’s that the lender’s appraisal was pending, and asked to…
Early in 2019, we discussed the binding effect and enforcement of an unsigned agreement. This case again addresses this idea, although in a different setting, but also stands for the proposition that because the agreement did not “positively state that the parties could assent only by signing,” the unsigned (but…
A property owner challenged a lien because the contractor did not apportion the work over two properties, thus exaggerating the lien amount and subjecting it to cancellation. The First Department refused to cancel the lien, finding that the Lien Law did not require that multiple liens be filed for work…
In their effort to combat a derelict and abandoned property, a group of local residents founded a community garden in 1985. The garden covered three lots, 16, 18 and 19. Defendants (different owners throughout the relevant time periods) claimed to be the record owner of Lot 19 as it was…
Earlier this year, we wrote about the First Department’s decision addressing the question, as framed by the Court of Appeals, of “whether the mere commencement of an action seeking ‘rescission and/or reformation’ of a contract constitutes an anticipatory breach of such agreement.” The First Department found that it did. The…