General Interest

Is the New York State Office of Court Administration going to eliminate many Justice Courts throughout rural and upstate New York? That’s what the commission appointed by Chief Judge Judith S. Kaye recommended. Who amoung us has not been before the local justice court, where judges, sometimes lawyers/ sometimes not, of the local town or village courts dispenses their judgement in a reported 2 million cases a year.

According to the New York Law Journal, the recently released study recommends consolidation of 500 of the 1,250 town and village courts in New York state because of their cost, antiquated facilities or duplication of services with other justice courts.

The consolidation plan was among the recommendations made Wednesday by the Special Commission on the Future of the New York State Courts, a panel originally formed by Kaye to report on ways to streamline the court system.

That is the question in a recent lawsuit filed in Rockland County Supreme Court.

Most real estate attorneys would say that closing with out a certificate of occupancy on a newly constructed house is not a good idea, even a departure from accepted standards.

A certificate of occupancy is the legal notice by the municipality that the house is habitable and constructed in accordance with the building permit. Accordingly, when purchasing a residential piece of real property to be occupied as a dwelling, the attorney should recommend a certificate of occupancy. The failure to have a c/o means that occupancy of the premises “illegal,” and the failure to have that document means that any occupancy violates the law.

Articles Posted in General Interest

Elimination of the Justice Courts– Upstate New York?

Is it Legal Malpractice to Close Without a Certificate of Occupancy in New Construction?