NY Court Holds Seller Entitled To Keep Downpayment As Damages For Purchasers Breach of Real Estate Contract

Sometimes the obvious still bears emphasis, even in the real estate litigation context.
If your ability to purchase a property hinges upon which your ability to get needed financing (which is often the case), you’d better make sure that this is memorialized in the contract. Otherwise, you could end up like the defendant in Abart Holdings [...]

Commission Salesman Not Entitled to Recover Statutory Damages, Attorney’s Fees on Breach of Contract Claim, NY Court Holds

In today’s edition of the New York Law Journal, there was an interesting decision from a New York County trial court in a breach of contract case, Garber v. Inter Capital Resources LLC. In this case, the plaintiff was a commission salesman who sought to recover the commissions that he purportedly earned – but was [...]

No Closing, No Broker’s Fee, Says Manhattan Court

Nice try, but no cigar, said a New York trial court.
In 101 Warren Street Associates LLV v. Prestige Homes Realty, LLC, the defendant real estate broker brought a prospective buyer for the plaintiff’s multi-million dollar residential condominium apartment, which at the time was still in the offering plan stages. According to the terms of the [...]

Family Feud Leads to Breach of Contract, Fraud and Constructive Trust Claim in Suffolk County

It is a very sad day when you can’t trust your own brother.
According to the plaintiff in the Suffolk County case of Kimelstein v. Kimelstein, he was wrongfully frozen out of his 50% interest in a property that he and brother had acquired jointly through a non-party corporation.  More specifically, he contends that pursuant to [...]

The Practical Difference Between A Development Contract and a Sales Contract Under NY Law

Although, as the title of this article suggests, some things should be fairly obvious, when enough money is at stake, people will still try to throw stuff at the wall to see if any of it will stick.
In a case that they brought in Federal Court in Upstate New York, Opto Generic Devices Inc. (“OGD”) [...]

One Reason Why, Under NY Law, You May Want To Hire A General Contractor Rather Than A Construction Manager

In a negligence case that I recently defended, my client, a real estate developer, opted to hire a construction manager rather than a general contractor to oversee the development of this New York City building. Apparently, one of the main distinctions between a general contractor and a construction manager is the level of responsibility they [...]

The Cost of Failing to Reduce Your Agreements to Writing in New York

I have to believe that the executives at the plaintiff on-line news company are kicking themselves.
In Al-Bawaba.com, Inc. v. Nstein Tech. Corp., a decision that was discussed in last week’s New York Law Journal, a Kings trial court dismissed their lawsuit against a software company that sought more than $1 million in damages for the [...]

What You Can Do Under New York Law When You’re Sold Defective Goods

In Bimini Boat Sales, Inc. v.  Luhrs Corp., plaintiff Bimini, a retail boat dealer, bought a fishing boat from boat manufacturer Luhrs, intending to resell the boat to the general public. Unfortunately for Bimini, after they received the boat from Luhrs, they discovered that the boat had several defects that were serious enough to render [...]

Constructive Fraud: A Lesser-Known, But Powerful Tool in New York To Recover Money That You’re Owed

Many small businesses’ recurring nightmare, particularly in this economy, looks something like this:
Debtor D (we’ll call him “D,” for short) owes you tens of thousands of dollars for product that you delivered months ago. When you inquire as to what the delay is in receiving payment, you get a run-around, and ultimately find out that [...]

Nassau County, NY Insured’s Punitive Damages & Deceptive Business Practices Claims Against Insurer Survive Dismissal

If a jury sides with plaintiff on this issue, and finds that Allstate engaged in deceptive business practices (this law is codified at sections 349 and 350 of the General Business Law), Allstate faces the specter of not only compensatory damages for their alleged breach of contract, but also treble and punitive damages as well.