In a recent decision by the Supreme Court of the State of New York in Kings County (the Court), HSBC Bank USA, N.A. (the Plaintiff) initiated a mortgage foreclosure action against Jack and Sabah Srugo (collectively, the...more
Executive Summary -
The recent decision In re 301 W N. Ave., LLC, 666 B.R. 583 (Bankr. N.D. Ill. 2025) represents a significant development at the intersection of corporate governance, commercial real estate, and...more
A recent decision by the United States District Court for the Northern District of New York (the “Court”) concluded that a federal court cannot prevent a state court foreclosure pursuant to the abstention doctrine set out by...more
On January 28, 2025, the New York Appellate Division, First Department refused to enforce a contractual provision that required a tenant-shareholder to pay a co-op’s attorneys’ fees in all lawsuits that the tenant-shareholder...more
In a recent case, 513 West 26th Realty LLC v. George Billis Galleries Inc., a New York Supreme Court addressed whether the COVID-era personal guaranty relief statute (the Guaranty Law) violated the Contracts Clause of the...more
In a recent case, E. Fork Funding LLC v. U.S. Bank, Nat’l Ass’n, the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit has certified a novel question for the New York Court of Appeals ("NYCOA"): Whether Sections 4 and/or...more
HSBC Bank, U.S. v. De Garcia considers the reach of the newly enacted Foreclosure Abuse Prevention Act (FAPA) and its effects on the six-year foreclosure statute of limitations....more
As of November 25, 2024, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York (“New York Fed”), as administrator of the Secured Overnight Financing Rate (“SOFR”), began publishing SOFR using a modified SOFR calculation methodology. The...more
Patricia Reid (Defendant) obtained a mortgage from BAC Home Loans Servicing, L.P. (BAC) for certain real property located in Queens, New York. In March, 2010, BAC accelerated the debt and initiated a foreclosure action. The...more
The Uniform Partition of Heirs Property Act (the Heirs Act) was originally enacted in New York in December 2019 to protect heirs of real property from being forced to sell their property at auction. The Act was most recently...more
A recent decision in the Commercial Division of the Supreme Court, New York County, emphasizes the importance of clear and unambiguous contract drafting in all lending situations, including real estate. Acting Supreme Court...more
FinCEN Issues Final Rule Designed to Combat Money-Laundering in Residential Real Estate Transactions: Money It’s a Gas, Grab That Cash With Both Hands and Make a Stash....more
As part of an effort to combat money laundering in United States residential real estate transactions, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network bureau of the United States Department of the Treasury (“FinCEN”) issued a final...more
The Supreme Court of the State of New York, County of Westchester, recently held that the doctrine of res judicata bars a lender’s claim that a borrower’s subsequent transfers of property are void, if the claim is brought...more
The Second Department recently held in Trento 67, LLC v. OneWest Bank, N.A., et. al that the FHA COVID-19 moratorium constituted a stay of foreclosures for federally-backed mortgages, and thus tolled the statute of...more
7/31/2024
/ CARES Act ,
CPLR ,
Federal Housing Administration (FHA) ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Foreclosure ,
HUD ,
Judicial Foreclosure Process ,
Moratorium ,
Mortgagee Letters ,
Mortgages ,
Statute of Limitations
In a recent New York Court of Appeals opinion, the court found that business losses due to the COVID-19 pandemic were not covered under an “all-risk” commercial property insurance policy. In Consolidated Rest. Operations,...more
New York recently Amended the New York LLC Transparency Act. The original version of the law was enacted December, 2023 and mandated disclosure of beneficial ownership of limited liability companies. Please see our previous...more
On March 5, 2024, the Supreme Court of the State of New York, ruled that an obvious scriveners error in a guaranty, exempting a guarantor from full recourse liability for the loan’s debt, could be corrected to impose personal...more
The New York County Supreme Court recently held that in the event of foreclosure, a receiver can be appointed, regardless of necessity, when the parties have contracted for such appointment. 24 West 57 APF LLC (“Defendant”)...more
4/3/2024
/ Borrowers ,
Contract Terms ,
Court-Appointed Receivers ,
CPLR ,
Ex Parte ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Foreclosure ,
Mortgage Lenders ,
Mortgages ,
NV Supreme Court ,
Real Estate Transactions ,
Receivership ,
Wells Fargo
In a recent opinion out of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Alabama, the newly-effective Corporate Transparency Act (“CTA”) has been found unconstitutional. In National Small Business United v. Janet...more
4/2/2024
/ Anti-Corruption ,
Anti-Money Laundering ,
Beneficial Owner ,
Congressional Authority ,
Constitutional Challenges ,
Corporate Transparency Act ,
Financial Crimes ,
FinCEN ,
National Security ,
Real Estate Transactions ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Reporting Requirements
In New York, it is settled precedent that a judgment of foreclosure and sale is final as to all questions at issue between the parties. Thus, once a final judgment is entered, both parties have no recourse or ability to raise...more
While many Americans are struggling to achieve the dream of homeownership, there are criminals that abuse the housing market for financial gain. To avoid the scrutiny of financial institutions that have anti-money laundering...more
2/29/2024
/ AML/CFT ,
Anti-Money Laundering ,
Banks ,
BSA/AML ,
Cash Transactions ,
Enforcement Priorities ,
Financial Crimes ,
Financial Services Industry ,
FinCEN ,
Geographic Targeting Order ,
Regulatory Oversight ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Residential Real Estate Contracts ,
Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs) ,
Terrorist Financing Regulations
If you thought you could hide behind your LLC in this new year, think again. Governor Kathy Hochul signed the New York LLC Corporate Transparency Act (the “Act”), which will go into effect in late 2024....more
The New York Court of Appeals recently delivered an opinion in Skaneateles Country Club v. Cambs (unpublished at this time) that upheld an at-will termination of boat slip license. In 1999, Skaneateles Country Club (“SCC”)...more
Does a lender have the right to foreclose its mortgage if a payoff of such mortgage is made by wire transfer, but the payment does not make it to the lender’s account? A recent case, heard on appeal by the New York Supreme...more
10/27/2023
/ Borrowers ,
Consumer Financial Products ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Foreclosure ,
Money Transfer ,
Mortgage Lenders ,
Mortgage Servicers ,
Mortgages ,
Ocwen ,
Uniform Commercial Code (UCC) ,
US Bank National Association ,
Wire Transfers