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 20 months from the original estimate, with the developer having a further nine months to complete construction without penalty. The firm was able to obtain a full refund of the couple’s contract down payment, plus interest, from the developer.
In representing new construction purchasers, Adam Leitman Bailey, P.C. uses a wide range of state and federal laws to obtain refunds or concessions from developers. After reviewing the project and contract documents, the firm identified a provision of the New York attorney general’s regulations under the Martin Act required that a purchaser of a unit in a development that would be subject to a homeowners association have the right to cancel his or her contract if the closing of the sale of the unit were delayed more than one year after the original estimated closing date. The developer’s purchase agreement had a provision embodying such a right of revocation, though it required that the revocation be made within a ten-day window immediately after the one-year delay.
Adam Leitman Bailey, P.C. also identified that the developer had failed to comply with the Interstate Land Sales Full Disclosure Act (“ILSA”), a federal law protecting buyers in new construction developments. As the developer had not registered the project with the Department of Housing and Urban Development or qualified for an exemption, and had not given the buyers the required federal disclosure report, the buyers were eligible to seek a refund under ILSA.
Because the buyers contacted Adam Leitman Bailey, P.C. shortly before one year had elapsed from the original estimated closing date, the firm was able to submit a written demand to the developer that the contract be revoked and the deposit refunded under ILSA, the attorney general’s regulations, and the contract within the ten-day window expressly specified under the contract. As a result of the firm’s demand, the developer’s lawyer promptly acknowledged the buyer’s revocation and provided a full refund of the contract deposit plus accrued interest.
Adam Leitman Bailey represented Adam Leitman Bailey, P.C. in this matter.