Adam Leitman Bailey, P.C. Wins Landmark Victories Using a Forgotten and Overlooked Federal Law: Judge Rules Condo Deals Come Under Federal Law; a ‘Game Changer’ Decision
In late 2008, the real estate sky had started to fall and fall quickly. As a result of the loss of financing and wages, many purchasers in contract to buy a unit in a newly constructed building were either no longer able or willing to close on their units. To make matters worse, the credit markets had been greatly curtailing the flow of money into the hands of developers from purchasers. In March 2008, one of the last outposts of lending, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, put the brakes on loans to newly constructed buildings by requiring sales of at least 70 percent of a building’s units in order for its buyers to obtain a loan.
A prominent magazine noted Adam Leitman Bailey as the real estate attorney, “credited with being the first lawyer in New York City to use the ILSA provision.” Although this policy later changed to 50 percent and “sold” became “in contract” for most lenders’ purposes, the perfect real estate storm became a hurricane when many developers no longer had the capital to deliver the building as promised in the marketing materials; Engineers found serious problems with many structures including in some cases the failure to build in accordance with fire prevention protocols and materials.
Thousands of purchasers turned to Adam Leitman Bailey, P.C. to find them some way to rescue them from financial ruin. Turning to a forgotten federal statute called the Interstate Land Sales Full Disclosure Act, Adam Leitman Bailey, P.C. discovered a way to void the contracts of sales for buildings over 100 units. Adam Leitman Bailey, P.C. assisted almost a thousand purchasers in closing on these homes at discounted prices or obtaining a refund of their deposits. The Wall Street Journal quoted a prominent New York developer’s attorney calling these holdings a “game changer” affecting hundreds of newly constructed buildings nationwide. Another prominent magazine noted that Adam Leitman Bailey, “pioneered the use of the ILSA provision to get buyers out of contracts in the wake of the financial crisis.”
Adam Leitman Bailey is credited as being the first lawyer in New York City to use the ILSA provision to get buyers out of contracts in the wake of the financial crisis.
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Senate Votes to Strike Down ILSA Requirements for Condos
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The Real DealBy: Hiten Samtani September 19th, 2014 Condominium developers scored a major coup last night, as the United States Senate voted unanimously to pass a bill that exempts condos from filing and registration requirements mandated by the Interstate Land Sales Full Disclosure Act, commonly referred to as ILSA. Having now cleared both the Senate and the House of Representatives, the bill will move on to the White House to be signed into law. Once that happens, developers of new condos or...
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The Real Deal Credits Adam Leitman Bailey as First Lawyer in NYC to Use the ILSA Provision to Get Buyers Out of Contracts in Wake of The Financial Crisis
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The Real DealBy: Hiten Samati September 27th, 2013 The U.S. House of Representatives handed condominium developers a significant victory Thursday, unanimously passing a bill that exempts condos from filing and registration requirements mandated by the Interstate Land Sales Full Disclosure Act, commonly referred to as ILSA. Under the bill, known as H.R. 2600, developers of new condos or time-shares with at least 99 units will no longer have to register their buildings with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Though...
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N.Y. Courts’ Reading of ILSA Is Within Statutory Bounds
N.Y. Courts’ Reading of ILSA Is Within Statutory Bounds
New York Law JournalBy Adam Leitman Bailey As counsel to numerous condominium unit buyers seeking relief under the federal Interstate and Sale Full Disclosure Act (ILSA), including the prevailing plaintiffs in the Bacolitsas and Indomenico cases cited in the article, “Applying ILSA to Sales of Condominium Units,” by Todd E. Soloway and Luisa K. Hagemeier, (Jan. 11), I write to correct the misleading implication that the recent case law by the Southern and Eastern districts holding condominium developments subject to ILSA is somehow...
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Adam Leitman Bailey, P.C. Victory: W Downtown Ruling Could Be Last Word on ILSA Law in NY
Adam Leitman Bailey, P.C. Victory: W Downtown Ruling Could Be Last Word on ILSA Law in NY
The Real DealBy: David Jones August 24th, 2011 A U.S. District Court judge ruled against Joseph Moinian’s Moinian Group in a closely watched escrow dispute with buyers at the W New York Downtown Hotel and Residences, a decision that lawyers say further establishes the applicability of the Interstate Land Sales Full Disclosure Act in New York condominium sales. Judge Robert Patterson rejected a motion to dismiss the case by the Moinian Group, which developed the 217-unit hotel and condo at 123 Washington...
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Dozens of Sky View Parc Buyers File ILSA Suit to Back Out of Contracts
Dozens of Sky View Parc Buyers File ILSA Suit to Back Out of Contracts
The Real DealNovember 16th, 2010 Dozens of buyers at Queens’ Sky View Parc, the massive new condominium and shopping center in Flushing, filed a lawsuit yesterday in an attempt to renege on their contracts and get their deposits back from the developers, the Wall Street Journal reported. The complaint, filed by attorney Adam Leitman Bailey, makes use of a 1968 federal law known as the Interstate Land Sales Full Disclosure Act, which requires developers of large buildings to provide full disclosure to...
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The Most Ingenious Thing The Winningest Real Estate Magazine Has Seen in Their 20-Year History is Something That Adam Leitman Bailey, P.C. Has Done and How a Billionaire Tried to Kill The Story
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The Real DealWar stories Recounting the big breaks and controversies that shaped The Real Deal’s identity TRD’s founders share war stories from over the years Recounting the big breaks and controversies that shaped The Real Deal’s identity Excerpt from article: Stuart: But I remember that period in 2007 we had a cover, I think it was in September 2007, which was when the subprime crisis happened. It was a funny period from a news point of view, because you saw when the...
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Adam Leitman Bailey, P.C. Wins Landmark Case Holding that the Sponsor or Developer is Individually Liable for Negligence and Fraud
Adam Leitman Bailey, P.C. Wins Landmark Case Holding that the Sponsor or Developer is Individually Liable for Negligence and Fraud
New York Law JournalBy: Scott E. Mollen August 22nd, 2012 Condominiums – Board Sued Sponsor, Members of the Sponsor and Architect Over Alleged Building Defects – Breach of Contract – Privity – Express Warranty – Martin Act – Negligence – Fraud – General Business Law §349 – Interstate Land Sales Full Disclosure Act (ILSA) This is an action by the Board of Managers (board) of a condominium, alleging inter alia, a breach of contract arising out of construction of a newly erected building. The...
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Adam Leitman Bailey, P.C.’s Victories Named 4 Out of 8 Biggest Cases of 2011
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The Real Deal20 Pine buyers v. 20 Pine developers In March, nearly 70 homeowners at 20 Pine Street filed a $58.4 million suit claiming the Financial District condominium tower is rife with construction defects, blaming sponsor Africa Israel USA and seemingly every contractor, marketer and executive who ever worked on the building. The suit, which has never been reported on, is not the first time the 258-unit tower has been the subject of litigation. In 2009, two buyers sued the 20 Pine...
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Adam Leitman Bailey, P.C. Lands Largest Condominium Settlement in New York History
Adam Leitman Bailey, P.C. Lands Largest Condominium Settlement in New York History
Sky View Parc Condominum, Queens In what has been hailed as “the city’s largest condo refund ever” (Curbed NY) and “a settlement likely to send shivers through the ranks of the city’s condo developers” (the New York Post), clients of Adam Leitman Bailey, P.C., have recovered 75 percent of $5 million in down payments on $50 million worth of luxury apartments. The agreement, which has recouped $3.69 million plus interest for 118 buyers at the massive Sky View Parc complex...
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Sky View Parc Buyers Get City’s Largest Condo Refund Ever
Sky View Parc Buyers Get City’s Largest Condo Refund Ever
Curbed NYBy: Sara Polsky June 30th, 2011 The shopping mall/luxury condo complex planned at Sky View Parc in Flushing, Queens, met with some resistance…from apartment buyers, who realized they didn’t actually want to pay more than $1 million for the building’s apartments. (They had some extra time to think about it.) So they called on expert real estate refund-getter Adam Leitman Bailey and his no longer so secret weapon, the Interstate Land Sales Full Disclosure Act. A winning combination! A group of...
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Adam Leitman Bailey, P.C. Obtains Refunds for Buyers at Homeowners Association Development for Construction Delays
Adam Leitman Bailey, P.C. Obtains Refunds for Buyers at Homeowners Association Development for Construction Delays
Adam Leitman Bailey, P.C. assisted a married couple who had contracted to purchase a residence at the Harbour Point at Arverne by the Sea development in Queens, which was beset by construction delays. Adam Leitman Bailey, P.C. contacted by the couple nearly one year after the home was supposed to be delivered under the sales contract, just after the developer, Benjamin-Beechwood Dunes, LLC, had sent the couple a proposed contract amendment that would have pushed the estimated delivery date back...
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The Real Deal Highlights Four Adam Leitman Bailey, P.C. Cases in their Anniversary Issue About the Standout Cases Over the Past 10 Years
The Real Deal Highlights Four Adam Leitman Bailey, P.C. Cases in their Anniversary Issue About the Standout Cases Over the Past 10 Years
The Real DealBy: Lauren Elkies Schram April 1st, 2013 It’s been quite a roller coaster ride for New York City’s real estate industry since The Real Deal launched a decade ago. Between the boom, the bust and the recovery, there have been many highs and lows for the industry from record deals like Google’s purchase of its headquarters for $1.8 billion to the now-notorious default on the loan at Stuyvesant Town and Peter Cooper Village. That’s not to mention all of the...
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Adam Leitman Bailey, P.C. Obtains Ruling Sustaining Contract, Fraud, and Fiduciary Duty Claims Against Condominium Sponsor And Its Principals
Adam Leitman Bailey, P.C. Obtains Ruling Sustaining Contract, Fraud, and Fiduciary Duty Claims Against Condominium Sponsor And Its Principals
New York Law JournalBy: Scott E. Mollen November 21st, 2012 A board of managers and a group of purchasers of commercial condominium units commenced an action against the sponsor, principals of the sponsor (principal) and architect, alleging “construction and design defects.” The architect and the sponsor moved to dismiss the complaint. The offering plan (plan) had been accepted for filing by the attorney general on or about April 26, 2006. The plan contained representations by the sponsor that it would construct the building...
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Legislators Say New ISLA Bill Offers Developers “stability”
Legislators Say New ISLA Bill Offers Developers “stability”
Real Estate WeeklyBy: Sarah Trefethen September 5th, 2012 New York’s representatives to the United States Senate and House of Representatives early last month introduced a pair of bills intended to exempt condominiums from the Interstate Land Sales Full Disclosure Act, or ILSA. After the market crash of 2008, federal courts ruled that the 1969 law protected purchasers who had signed contracts to purchase condominiums prior to their construction, only to see both their own financing and the funding for the construction project...
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Adam Leitman Bailey Featured in “The Lawyers You Call 2012” Edition of The Commercial Observer
Adam Leitman Bailey Featured in “The Lawyers You Call 2012” Edition of The Commercial Observer
The Commercial ObserverBy: Daniel Edward Rosen & Daniel Geiger, August 8th, 2012 Every year, one of the most important real estate publications, The Commercial Observer, chooses from the best real estate attorneys in New York to profile. This year’s issue titled “The Lawyers You Call 2012,” features Adam Leitman Bailey and one of the firm’s landmark cases. The Case of the Loophole & The Greek Shipping Magnate Other than the J-51 lawsuit that upended Stuyvesant Town and Peter Cooper Village, perhaps no...
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The 15 Most Fascinating New York Real Estate Cases of the 21st Century
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The Commercial ObserverBy: Daniel Geiger August 8th, 2012 The Case of the Loophole & The Greek Shipping Magnate Other than the J-51 lawsuit that upended Stuyvesant Town and Peter Cooper Village, perhaps no other case demonstrates how the city’s real estate market can hinge so seismically on legal technicality. In 2008, the economy collapsed into a deep recession and the residential real estate market in the city came crashing down. The situation seemed especially dire and cruel for condo buyers who were under...
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New York Observer: Power Broker, “He has built a remarkable law firm. I don’t think everyone understands that what he has done is a huge accomplishment”
New York Observer: Power Broker, “He has built a remarkable law firm. I don’t think everyone understands that what he has done is a huge accomplishment”
The New York ObserverBy Daniel Geiger February 21, 2012 Adam Leitman Bailey strode into the lobby of his lower Manhattan law firm dressed in a dark blue suit and blue shirt, his extended cuffs all but dangling from his jacket. No sartorial misstep, Mr. Bailey would explain. The cuffs protruded noticeably beyond his jacket sleeves for a reason. “It’s essential,” said Mr. Bailey, the attorney who last year garnered national attention as counselor for the Ground Zero mosque developer Sharif El-Gamal. “I’ve studied...
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2nd Circ. Must Close Condo Deal Escape Hatch: Developer
2nd Circ. Must Close Condo Deal Escape Hatch: Developer
Law 360By: Richard Vanderford November 02, 2011, A district court decision that let a cash-conscious couple use a 1960s-era law to escape a $3.4 million condominium purchase deal threatens to upend the condo construction industry, the property’s developers told the Second Circuit on Wednesday. There is “no question” that the condo construction business model will collapse if the Second Circuit upholds a district court’s status quo-busting reading of a federal property disclosure law, said [an attorney] for the developers of the 193-unit...
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Condo Can’t-Do
Condo Can’t-Do
The New York PostBy: Steve Cuozzo June 30th, 2011 Sponsors of the massive, $1 billion Sky View Parc complex in Flushing will refund 75 percent of $5 million in down payments to buyers who backed out of contracts on $50 million worth of luxury apartments — a settlement likely to send shivers through the ranks of the city’s condo developers. The agreement will recoup $3.69 million plus interest for 118 buyers represented by Adam Leitman Bailey, a lawyer who has filed suits for...
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After Real Estate Bust, a Legal Remedy for Buyer’s Remorse
After Real Estate Bust, a Legal Remedy for Buyer’s Remorse
The New York TimesBy: Christine Haughney October 20th, 2010 Rebecca Schlanger used her life savings for a down payment on an apartment in Miami. Now she is suing to get her money back, under a 1968 federal law intended to protect buyers from unscrupulous developers and brokers. In May 2008, a few months before the financial industry’s meltdown, the shipping executive Vasilis Bacolitsas signed up to buy a $3.4 million apartment at the Brompton, a luxury condominium tower being built on the...
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Opinion May Deliver Help for Condo Buyers
Opinion May Deliver Help for Condo Buyers
The Wall Street JournalBy: Robbie Whelan May 11th, 2010 An exclusive gated community in the rolling horse country of northern Virginia would seem to have little in common with luxury condominiums in Manhattan and elsewhere. But hundreds of New York condo buyers are hoping that a recent legal ruling involving homeowners in the Virginia community will reverberate here. Since the New York real-estate market’s meltdown in 2008, hundreds of potential buyers who laid out hefty deposits to buy condos have tried to use...
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Navigating Buyers and Developers Through New Construction Deals
Navigating Buyers and Developers Through New Construction Deals
New York Law JournalBy Adam Leitman Bailey and John M. Desiderio In late 2008, the real estate sky had started to fall and fall quickly. As a result of the loss of financing and wages, many purchasers in contract to buy a unit in a newly constructed building were either no longer able or willing to close on their units. To make matters worse, the credit markets had been greatly curtailing the flow of money into the hands of developers from purchasers. In...
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Where are buyers backing out?
Where are buyers backing out?
The Real DealBy: Sarah Ryley December 1st, 2009 1. The 505 at 505 West 47th St. in Hell’s Kitchen: Parkview Developers At peak, buyers of 55 out of 108 units (51 percent) had cases in federal court to rescind their contracts, which were worth a combined $43.1 million. Six have since dropped their cases, and three have closed on their units (one received a 3.5 percent discount). The plaintiffs claimed Parkview, headed by Ian Reisner and Mati Weiderpass, failed to provide the...
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Cracking Down on Bailing Buyers
Cracking Down on Bailing Buyers
The Real DealBy: Michael Rudnick September 2nd, 2009. In this weak real estate market, new condo developers possess relatively little in their arsenals to arm themselves against the onslaught of purchasers seeking to back out of contracts. But there are a few measures developers can take to protect themselves without scaring off potentially legitimate buyers. Some developers, for instance, are using new clauses designed to prohibit buyers from litigating their way out of deals. Real estate attorney Adam Leitman Bailey pointed to...
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