Developer Goes Broke and Leaves The Building Incomplete & The Unit Owners Stranded

Our client, the unit owners of a condominium, were facing a serious problem – the unit owners were living in a condominium building in Manhattan whereby the Sponsor had ran out of money, failed to finish construction, raided the reserve fund account and left the operating account of the building without any monies to pay for the salary of its’ employees, oil to heat the building or monies to continue to operate the building for the coming week.

Held & Hines LLP worked alongside their client to put a plan together to literally “save” the building. This plan included going public with their grim plight, working alongside an appointed receiver, getting the sponsor’s bank to create an emergency fund to pay the expenses of the building and commencing a lawsuit against the sponsor and other related parties who contributed to the plight of the unit owners.

The Plan worked extraordinarily well. The Condominium was saved. The Sponsor was banned from selling real estate again in the State of New York and the building established the largest reserve fund of any condominium in New York State thereby securing its’ financial future.

To see the case, click on the links below.

https://nypost.com/2009/02/17/condo-crisis-hits-wall-st-high-rollers/

https://therealdeal.com/2011/06/29/yair-levy-to-pay-in-rector-square-case-and-banned-from-seeling-real-estate-in-new-york-by-attorney-general-eric-schneiderman/

A CLIENT’S DILEMMA: DEVELOPER NOT COMPLYING WITH THE TERMS OF A REAL ESTATE CONTRACT

Our client was facing a common problem among purchasers- purchaser entered into a contract of sale and the sponsor/developer was not complying with the terms of the contract. In this particular case, the purchaser entered into a contract of sale that provided the purchaser with the right to rescind a contract of sale if the sponsor/developer did not close on the first apartment in the condominium by a designated closing date. The developer did not close on the designated closing date but failed to give the purchaser the right to rescind the contract as the sponsor/developer falsely claimed that the designated closing date was a typographical error and the date should have been one calendar year later then written in the contract.

Client came to Held & Hines LLP and asked for help in both getting their down-payment monies back and holding the sponsor accountable for wrongfully holding the client’s money.

Held & Hines LLP worked alongside their client to put a plan together to get the client’s down-payment monies returned to the client and holding the sponsor/developer accountable by making them pay a penalty of 9% interest from the date of breach.

Held & Hines LLP chose to commence a lawsuit in State Court instead of applying to the New York Attorney General’s Office, so as to provide greater available remedies to the purchaser including 9% interest interest on the down-payment monies. The case, often referred to as the “$100 milion typo case”, went to the Court of Appeals and resulted in my client’s goals being achieved – the return of the down-payment and interest payments on the down-payment totaling approximately a half-million dollars.

To see the case, click on the link below.

https://therealdeal.com/2013/01/29/judge-awards-1m-to-rushmore-buyer/

Solving a Client’s Recurrent Problem: Collecting Real Estate Broker Commissions!

We Helped Make It Easier for Our Client to Collect Real Estate Broker Commissions:

Our client, Talk of the Town Realty Corp., one of Brooklyn’s largest real estate brokers, was facing a common problem among real estate brokers in NYC. Talk of the Town, would show a potential buyer a property for the very first time. After seeing the property, the buyer would go behind Talk of the Town’s back and negotiate directly with the seller to buy the subject property, so as to get a better deal and a lower price on the property. Talk of the Town would be kept in the dark by his client, and not get paid a commission, even though the broker procured the buyer.

Held & Hines LLP worked alongside their client to put a plan together to minimize this problem. Held & Hines LLP drafted new documents for their client that would better protect Talk of the Town in the event one of their buyers purchased a property in which Talk of the Town was the procuring cause and took the matter up to the Appellate Division, Second Department in a real estate broker commission case defined as a “game changer” in real estate commission law.

To see the case, click here.

What to do when others will not represent me? Call Held & Hines, LLP

Our client, was a college student, who was injured in a club sport activity at school. The student inquired a number of law firms to represent him in a suit against his school. Nearly every law firm rejected my case believing I assumed the risk by participating in the club sport.

Held & Hines LLP appreciated what the student went thru, believed that the school should be held responsible for the student’s injuries and felt that the school should have taken steps to avoid the students’ injuries. Held & Hines LLP decided to take the case and represent the student.

Held & Hines, LLP is not adverse to representing plaintiffs when other law firms would not as even plaintiffs with difficult cases deserve competent legal representation.