In The Board of Managers of House Beautiful Condominium I v. Hong, et. al., Adam Leitman Bailey, P.C. successfully protected Bank of America N.A.’s security interest in a premises in Queens, New York, in defeating Plaintiff’s claim that the insured, Bank of America, was not the first mortgagee of record as is defined in § 339-z of Full Article…
Adam Leitman Bailey, P.C. Protects Mortgage Security for JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A.
Adam Leitman Bailey, P.C. successfully protected JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A.’s (“Chase”) security interest in a condominium unit on Lorimer Street in Brooklyn by tracking down the seemingly lost original mortgage, along with the original underlying deed and transfer documents, and successfully ensuring the expedited recordation of all. On December 21, 2011, the original documents were Full Article…
Using the Judicial System to Abate the Foreclosure Crisis
By Adam Leitman Bailey And Rachel Sigmund Many stagnant foreclosures in the United States have been stuck in the judicial process for more than two years. This article describes how several states have addressed one of the primary legal impediments clogging the pipelines of pending or future foreclosures: lenders’ inability to locate the original mortgage Full Article…
A Roundup of Foreclosure Law Decisions in 2012,” New York Law Journal
By Adam Leitman Bailey and Dov Treiman We reviewed every Appellate Division case in the first eleven months of 2012. In raw count, the lenders beat the borrowers by a rough margin of 2:1, but that number does not necessarily reflect a swing in sensitivities. The appellate division decisions in 2012 showed strict application of the laws and Full Article…
State High Court Decision Exorcises Ghosts of Liens Past
By Adam Leitman Bailey and Dov Treiman Secured borrowing and the transfer of money are the bedrock of the global financial system. However, that system finds itself in crisis. Before the current malaise can end, the system must rebuild in a manner that ensures mutual trust between lenders and borrowers. Rapid repair of the economy Full Article…
Title Litigation: Expense of Theft Prevention Dwarfed by the Cost of Fraud
By Adam Leitman Bailey At the start of this new millennium, the most effective means to rob a bank no longer includes the use of a gun. The real estate closing table has replaced the gun and mask as the most favored and effective tool of theft from financial institutions. As the New York Times Full Article…
The Warranty of Habitability: An Unexpected Hazard in Home Mortgage Foreclosure
By Adam Leitman Bailey and Dov Treiman Most attorneys and nearly all educated tenants in this State are aware of the existence of the warranty of habitability. Few may know that it is statutory in basis, fewer care that it contradicts the common law, but most would be surprised by the types of occupancy to Full Article…
Despite ‘Jones,’ Ambiguities In Title Chain Can Be Cured
By Adam Leitman Bailey and Dov Treiman When the Supreme Court decided Jones v. Flowers,1 it exacerbated a nagging problem for the title insurance industry – the necessity to do constitutional analysis when examining chains of title. With the current state of the economy, tax foreclosures are increasing. Thus, more properties have these ambiguities in Full Article…