Very often boards of condominiums and other community associations hesitate to engage in litigation against unit owners who fail to pay common expense assessments due to fear of the legal expense. In addressing this concern, I often advise boards that likely if you do nothing, you...
Last August, New York City enacted Local Law 147 which requires owners of class A multiple dwellings to adopt and disclose a smoking policy. Although touted as a disclosure policy, there are several requirements that owners need to be aware of since the law takes...
The Federal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (“FDCPA”) 15 U.S.C.A. § 1692, et seq. applies to attorneys engaged in the collection of debt for community associations. The language contained in demand letters is a frequent source of FDCPA litigation. Liability is often imposed based on...
The New Jersey Appellate Division Upholds the Sanctity of Property Held as Tenants by the Entirety In a decision dated, May 8, 2018, approved for publication, the New Jersey Appellate Division held that N.J.S.A. 46:3-17.4, precludes an unsecured creditor from forcing the partition of real property...
Once a judgment for condominium arrears is entered and various post judgment enforcement remedies have proved unavailing to locate assets, i.e. there are no bank accounts in the debtor’s name and no employment information can be located, there is one more tool in the toolbox! New...
A recent decision of a New York trial court proved very costly for a cooperative. An owner successfully sued the co-op for breach of the warranty of habitability, constructive eviction and breach of contract based on the infiltration of second hand smoke into the owner's apartment. The New York...
Don't leave money on the table by assuming that a Chapter 13 bankruptcy filing by an owner wipes out or limits payment of a condominium association's pre-petition claim for unpaid fees and assessments. A recent decision of the United States District Court, on appeal from an order of the U.S. Bankruptcy...
Feeling uncomfortable with the length of time that it took for the Office of Foreclosure to enter a Final Judgment of Lien Foreclosure for a Fort Lee condominium, I was excited when the week of the sheriff’s sale finally rolled around. After all, I made...
What’s in a name? The New Jersey Law Journal recently reported that the Supreme Court issued a three month suspension to an attorney for “lending” his name to a law firm where he was a nominal partner and had no role in the business of...
In a recent Appellate Division decision, a lawsuit that began as a simple action to collect delinquent condominium assessments proved to very costly to the owner. The history of the litigation is instructive on the basic principals of condominium law in New Jersey and the proof...