August 8, 2017 by Adam Leitman Bailey and John Desiderio In Stonehill Capital Management v. Bank of the West, 28 NY3d 439 (2016), the New York Court of Appeals held that an agreement to sell a distressed loan, in the auction loan trading market, was enforceable without the execution of a formal written contract. While Full Article…
About John Desiderio
John M. Desiderio, Partner and Chair of the Real Estate Litigation Practice Group, has been a practicing attorney in New York City for over forty years. His practice is concentrated in cooperative/condominium representation, real estate litigation, title litigation, mortgage foreclosures, and counseling in antitrust and trade regulation matters.
John M. Desiderio is rated by Martindale-Hubbell as “AV Preeminent” signifying the “Highest Possible Rating in Both Legal Ability and Ethical Standards.” Mr. Desiderio has been rated “AV Preeminent” by Martindale-Hubbell for over 30 years and has been named a Super Lawyer in the New York Metro Area.
Mr. Desiderio received his A.B. degree from Fordham University in 1963, an LL.B. degree from the University of Pennsylvania Law School in 1966, and an LL.M. degree from New York University School of Law in 1969. He served as a Captain in U.S. Army Intelligence from 1966 to 1968.
From 1969 to 1980, Mr. Desiderio was an Assistant New York State Attorney General under Attorneys General Louis Lefkowitz and Robert Abrams, and from 1972 to 1980 he served as Chief of the Attorney General’s Anti-Monopolies (now Antitrust) Bureau. He entered private practice in 1981 and represented clients in antitrust, Civil Rico, real estate, and general civil litigation. From 1989 to February 1999, he was a member of a prestigious litigation firm.
He has extensive experience in conducting and defending depositions and in conducting trials and arguing appeals in both New York State and federal courts.
Mr. Desiderio has extensive litigation experience in representing both landlords and tenants in commercial and residential real estate litigation. His cases in this area have involved issues relating to ownership of title to property, the right to enforce contracts of sale, landlord obligations to furnish habitable dwellings, tenant obligations to meet conditions of their tenancy, and the applicability of common law and statutory warranties to newly constructed or converted condominium and cooperative apartments. Mr. Desiderio also leads the firm’s American with Disabilities Act defense practice.
The Rules for Allowing Pets in ‘No-Pet’ Buildings
April 13th, 2016 By Adam Leitman Bailey and John M. Desiderio When determining whether an owner’s pet qualifies for admittance in no pet buildings, cooperatives and condominiums must be extremely careful to follow the federal, state, and city fair housing laws governing how far a board can go when investigating and denying an animal’s entrance. Full Article…
Court Clarifies Condo Owners’ Right to Inspect
December 20, 2016 By Adam Leitman Bailey and John M. Desiderio In their Condominium Law column, Adam Leitman Bailey and John Desiderio discuss the recent First Department case ‘Pomerance v. McGrath,’ in which the court has clarified the rights of condominium owners to inspect management books and records. In its 2013 decision in Pomerance v. Full Article…
Seven Secrets to Drafting An Effective Commercial Lease Default Lease
An effective commercial lease will dictate the future relationship between a commercial landlord and tenant. The more clauses forcing the commercial tenant to comply with its obligations, the better chance the landlord will have in not only have a successful relationship but also ensuring that the rent is paid and the tenant behaves. Below are Full Article…
Q&A: Parking Spaces for the Disabled
Q. My question refers to how many handicapped parking spaces must reserved in a particular co-op or a condo. Is there any legal requirement to set aside a certain number of spaces? Must a multiple dwelling with parking spaces used exclusively on an accessory basis by residents of the building set aside handicapped parking spaces Full Article…
Court Grants License To Change Licensing Law Rules
By: Adam Leitman Bailey & John M. Desiderio August 13th, 2014 Since at least as early as 1849, in the case of Dolittle v. Eddy,1 New York law has defined a license as the “authority to enter on the lands of another, and do a particular act or series of acts, without possessing any interest Full Article…
Q&A: Setting Aside Accessible Parking
By: Adam Leitman Bailey & John Desiderio August 1st, 2014 Q: Who owns the handicapped parking spaces set aside in the parking facility of a newly constructed condominium? Keeping it Accessible in Kings County A: “Sponsors of newly constructed condominiums are responsible for creating the condominium as a legal entity and for constructing the physical Full Article…
Adverse Possession Changes Make Results Less Certain, New York Law Journal
By Adam Leitman Bailey and John Desiderio February 11th, 2009 On July 8, 2008, Governor Paterson signed into law S.7915-C, which amended New York’s adverse possession law, and two centuries of New York adverse possession doctrine came to an end. The new law is intended to prevent an absentee landowner from losing title to his Full Article…