It can be difficult to strike a balance in finding adequate insurance coverage, while avoiding unnecessary coverage or being underinsured. While states generally require a minimum amount of auto insurance coverage, and mortgage lenders also generally require you to maintain homeowner’s insurance for at least the value of the mortgage,…
Before you start knocking down walls and get knee deep in home improvements, make sure you have all of the required building permits. Obtaining a building permit involves completing an application with plans for the improvements, and paying a fee. Even seemingly small home improvement projects may require a building…
So your landlord just got slapped with a housing violation – what does that mean for you as a tenant? Can you stop paying your rent altogether? If you live in New York, not so fast. Although your duty as a tenant to pay rent is dependent on the landlord’s…
(Update-COVID Response-June 23, 2020-Nyack)- A few years ago, farm to table eating became a “thing,” now it is even more important because of the COVID response of homeowners to staying in place. Everywhere you look in suburbia gardens are going in, chickens are being tended, honey bees added to back…
Surrogate Courts in New York may require a probate bond – also called an “executor bond,” an “administrator bond,” or a “trustee bond” – when an individual is appointed to handle the distribution of a deceased person’s estate. The bond acts as a guarantee that the estate’s debts will be…
So maybe your will was drafted a while ago or you are just starting to put together your important papers in anticipation of getting a new will. You’ve considered all the basics: who gets the house, the cash and stocks, and who will take care of your children, but have…
In February 2011, the Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit (including New York) handed down a decision that should have every attorney dotting their “I’s” and crossing their “T’s.” In Fischer & Mandell LLP v. Citibank, 632 F.3d 793 (2d Cir. 2001), the court affirmed summary judgment against a…
Forced place insurance is an insurance policy taken out by a lender or creditor when a borrower does not carry insurance on an asset. For example, if homeowners with a mortgage do not carry property insurance, the bank servicing the mortgage will buy a policy on the homeowner’s behalf and…
One of the most stressful, but enjoyable moments in your life is when you purchase a house. Most would describe it as an experience like no other. Most would also agree that just going out and finding a plot or house you like and immediately buying it is ill advised.…
So you have finally updated your home by addition, new kitchen or other improvement. You tried doing it by the book, went through the normal channels; obtained estimates, interviewed contractors, investigated their references and made that home improvement using your hard earned dollars. The work commences, is substantially complete and…