Did Scholets Improperly Block Sardinos Sole Means of Access? Lake-adjacent upstate properties bring to mind the pastoral, peaceful, and sublime. But, as a recent case illustrates, rural neighbors can be as contentious and litigious about their rights to access their properties as their downstate counterparts can be with respect to mid-town high-rise roof access rights. The families of Kathleen Sardino and Arthur Scholet own adjacent parcels of property along the south shore of Big Moose Lake in the Town of Long Lake, Hamilton County. The Sardinos owned or occupied their respective properties (the Sardino Property and the Williamson Property) since… Read more

Dog bite case decisions regularly and routinely address the legal basis of liability: did (or did not) the owner know of the canine’s “vicious propensity”. But that is where the similarity begins and ends. As a recent case illustrates, each case is “fact-specific” and requires an examination of the dog’s “propensity” pedigree. Mindy Gordon was the owner of a dog named Mystery. On September 30, 2018, Amisha Mulji was walking her dog named CJ around 8:45 in the evening. Mystery was also out and being handled by Melissa Torres. Mystery was leashed but was not muzzled. Mystery then attacked, scratching… Read more

Contracts for the sale of real property usually contain so-called “conditions precedent” to closing. Contracts sometimes contain, as such a condition, a lender’s consent to the assignment of an existing mortgage on the premises. And, as a recent case illustrates, the failure of that condition raises a broad panoply of legal issues, in general, and contract-specific disputes, in particular. Prosperous View LLC agreed to purchase a condo unit at 170 Mercer Street in Manhattan from 170 Mercer LLC for $6.7 million and paid the down payment of $350,000 (to be held in escrow). Prosperous contended that the sale was contingent… Read more

Timothy Tang, as Administrator of the estate of Jonathan Tang, sued Jevon Damadian for damages after his brother’s death while, as a paying guest, using Damadian’s kayak on nearby water. Tang asserted causes of action for negligence, violation of the Navigation Law, and wrongful death. Did Timothy assert legally cognizable and viable claims against Damadian? Damadian owned a home in Hadley, New York, on 112 acres and across the road from a lake called Stewart’s Reservoir. The property itself had no direct lake access. Damadian rented the home to Tyler Vestel and several of Vestel’s friends for the weekend of… Read more

New York real property development disputes often require the Court to navigate hundreds of pages of lengthy and dense contracts, agreements, or understandings that are the source of contention despite having been drafted by experienced attorneys and signed by sophisticated investors. But, as a recent case illustrates, matters become even more contentious where family members informally invest large sums of money with little concomitant paperwork.   Chun You Cheng (“Cheng”) and Chiu Ming Yan Cheng (“Chiu-Ming”) brought a derivative action against family members and other entities (“defendants”) seeking a judgment declaring the ownership interests of the investors (or their successors… Read more

Residential coop living comes with adjacent neighbors and the concomitant sounds of nearby use and occupancy. But how much “noise” is too much “noise” so as to amount to an actionable “nuisance”. As a recent case illustrates, every “noise” may not rise to the level of legally cognizable “nuisance”. Richard L. Getty, a musician and the lessee of a cooperative apartment, brought a Small Claims action against Mike Tolentino and Laura Tolentino, the owners of a vertically adjoining cooperative apartment based upon loud music being played. Getty claimed the Tolentinos played loud music that constituted a nuisance and interfered with… Read more

A romantic relationship often results in concomitant promises to share financial responsibility and wealth that are never reduced to writing—but, needless to say, are disputed when the relationship ends. And, as a recent case illustrates, efforts to enforce the promise may be based on various legal theories that may (or may not) be subject to a panoply of defenses. Virginie Farre alleged that she and Antoine Lours engaged in a 17-year romantic partnership, during which they had three children, all currently under the age of 12. They never married but held themselves out as spouses. Lours worked in the financial… Read more

Email is now a primary and ubiquitous means of business and legal communications. And electronic signatures are recognized as valid and binding by statute in New York and many other jurisdictions. But was a signature binding where the signature block of an attorney was mechanically propagated in an email but the lawyer did not retype his name in the signature block? Or did the mere sending of the email by counsel suffice? On June 6, 2014, Erika Kendall was driving her employer’s car when a motor vehicle owned and operated by Khaliah T. Martin hit her vehicle. Martin carried automobile… Read more

Real property purchase and sale contracts often have so-called “conditions precedent” to closing– events that must occur before a party is obligated to close. But, as a recent case illustrates, disputes often arise about which party is the beneficiary of the condition and the concomitant right to cancel. B & A Realty Management, LLC and John Gloria entered into a purchase and sale agreement. Gloria agreed to sell an undeveloped parcel of property in Suffern to B & A Realty for $1 million. The agreement was contingent upon B & A Realty, as the purchaser, obtaining all governmental approvals for… Read more

How much litigation is too much litigation? In a recent case, the Board of a residential coop asked the Court to find that a shareholder/tenant and her husband had overstepped permissible bounds in repeatedly bringing suits claimed to be frivolous and vexatious. 800 Grand Concourse Owners, Inc. sued to evict Charlene Thomson, the shareholder and proprietary lessee of Apartment 4L-N, and James Pettus, her husband who also lived in the apartment. The Board terminated the lease for “objectionable conduct”— including the filing of at least a dozen frivolous civil cases against the coop. The suits forced the coop to incur… Read more