Legal Question in Real Estate Law in New York
lead paint law suit
tennant moved in 11/96 signed lead discloser in 3/97 child tested positive 8/97 complied with city got letter of complience 1/98 evicted 8/99 for non payment.I garnished her wages 3/00 she served lawsuit 9/00 I put property in LLC on 1/01 suit is against me only. I re-fied personal residence so there is no equity to force a sale of my primary res. milliondollar umbrella I have does not cover lead. my 100,000.00 liab will kick in and ins. will represent me up to 100k what else can i do? go bankrupt just for the lawsuit?my wife will still have good credit..
1 Answer from Attorneys
Re: lead paint law suit
There is no simple answer to your multiple
question. A thorough examination of the
entire proceeding must be conducted before
even a preliminary answer can be given.
There could well be initial liability in
spite of the lead disclaimer due to the
inability to waive such protections. There
are considerations of potential violations
of the Debtor & Creditor Law regarding the
transfers of the property as potentially
being in defraud of creditors. This would
need to be examined. The impact of the
prohibitions of Section 523 of the Bankruptcy
Code regarding the dischargeability of
certain debts would have to be examined to
determine whether you can eliminate liabilty
with a filing. Further, any transfers to
a wife or other close individual are subject
to upset in a Bankruptcy proceeding. And,
what happens to your interest in the LLC?
Can this also be attached and thus control
over the underlying assets obtained.
I trust you have counsel, and are working
closely with the same. These financial
manipulations are much too complex to be
done without proper consultation.