Legal Question in Criminal Law in New York

consumer fraud

I purchased a house in June 2007. The house was advertised on MLS by the realestate agent as a mother/daughter 6bdrm 3bthrm. I found out in Nov. from the building department that there was a pending summons against my property. There had behen an addition 7 years ago which 3 bdrms and 1 bth had been added. permits were not issued along with proper CO's. The house is legaly a 3bdrm 2 bth house. This is causing me a rather large financial strain in order to get my house up to building code. How did this happen? I hired a lawyer to assist me with the sale, he refuses my calls. Is he responsible? Who's liable. Is the realestate agency liable for consumer fraud? Or the previous owners? Please help.


Asked on 3/13/08, 5:54 pm

3 Answers from Attorneys

Steven Czik CZIK LAW PLLC

Re: consumer fraud

Accrdingto your facts, you may very well have an actionable claim against the seller, the title co and or your lawyer. You should definitely have recieved a valid CofO at closing or at least had a specific agreement as to when you would. We have substantial experience handling these types of cases, however, we would need some more information before making a complete and proper determination. You are welcome to contact us for a free consultation.

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STEVEN J. CZIK, P.C.

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New York, New York 10013

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The information provided by The Law Offices of Steven J. Czik (LOSJC) is for general educational purposes only. There is no attorney-client relationship established by this communication and no privilege attaches to such communication. LOSJC is not taking and will not take any action on your behalf and will not be considered your attorney until both you and LOSJC have signed a written retainer agreement. There are strict deadlines, called statutes of limitation, within which claims or lawsuits must be filed. Therefore, if you desire the services of an attorney and decide not to retain LOSJC on terms acceptable to LOSJC, you are advised to immediately seek the services of another attorney.

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Answered on 3/14/08, 12:44 pm
Joel Salinger Law Office of Joel R. Salinger

Re: consumer fraud

You need to discuss this matter in a live consultation. You may have legal recourse but there are questions that must be asked and answered that can not through this forum.

Some of these are the name of the attorney, title insurance company, name of the seller and what was done by the mls or realtor. In some cases the attorney is responsible, some it is one of the other parties listed. You may have an action against the original seller. You should have been given the CO's at the closing in most cases.

If you need further assistance you can contact my office at 516.746.4747 or e-mail at [email protected].

Joel R. Salinger, Esq.

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Answered on 3/13/08, 6:06 pm
Matthew Schwartz Schwartz & Ponterio, PLLC

Re: consumer fraud

You may have claim against the attorney who represented you. Generally, unless the client limits the scope of the representation, an attorney hired to represent someone in a real estate transaction has the responsibility to review all the relevant records to ensure that the client gets good title to the property and that it is legally permissible for the client to use the property as intended. In this case, that responsibility would have included reviewing the Certificate of Occupancy to make sure the use of the property is properly authorized.

Unless you told the lawyer not to undertake this work (for example, if the cost was too high), it was the lawyer's job to review the C of O or, at the very least, to make you aware of this potential pitfall. If the property is in NYC, in many cases, the C of O is available online.

You may be able to recover some or all of your costs in a claim against the lawyer.

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Answered on 3/13/08, 9:09 pm


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