PCDS the $500 surprise!

New York State has always been a "buyer beware" State also known as Caveat Emptor, which basically requires a potential buyer to do his or her "due diligence" before purchasing property. Of course there are exceptions like fraud on the part of the seller, but generally a buyer cannot complain after a closing about physical conditions existing in the premises.
Then, in 2002, specifically March 1, 2002, along came the Property Condition Disclosure Act, which, in a nutshell, requires sellers of one to four family houses in NY (specifically excluding coops & condominiums and with some other minor exceptions) to provide potential purchasers of those included properties, a 48 item questionnaire detailing various aspects of the property. While the legislation may have been well intentioned, I believe, it has, for all intents and purposes, failed.
The law provides, that if the sellers of properties mentioned above, fail to provide the questionnaire, also known as the PCDS (Property Condition Disclosure Statement) the buyer shall receive, at closing, a credit from the seller of $500.
So, how has this played out in real life?
No seller wants to risk making 48 individual representations relating to the property, knowing that if, intentionally or not, a misstatement is made, they may be open to litigation for up to six years. It is possible additionally, that even if the statement were accurate, but something went wrong with the property after the closing, the buyer would still be able to allege a misrepresentation in the PCDS and sue the seller.
So, in the six years or so that the Property Condition Disclosure Act has been the law, how many PCDS's have I seen? None! Not one! In each and every 1-4 family house that I have been involved in, either as a buyer's attorney or as a seller's attorney, no PCDS is provided and the buyer has received his $500 credit at the closing.

Perhaps, the ultimate result has been that the sellers' have been forced, via the PCDA, to pay for the buyers' homeowners inspection, also known as an engineer's report, the need for which, I shall discuss in an upcoming post.


CLIENT NEWS:

In a recent post I opined about Sarah Blaze and her recital, which I was thrilled to attend and which provided an amazing range of emotions. At some points during the recital, one could hear a pin drop; at others the audience was erupting in cheers and applause. I will eagerly look forward to seeing her again in larger, Broadway type venues, where she shall shine! Lookout world, here comes Sarah Blaze!

My next, proud Papa moment has to do with dance, a skill foreign to me and both of my left feet. Not so, my client, Amy Young, a shining star in the Paul Taylor Dance Company. A Juilliard Graduate, no less!

Next week, Amy will be guest-starring with TAKE Dance Company in a three night series of performances which are detailed below.

That's Amy, being held high, below.

We can all stand a little extra culture, can't we?
Please join me.

"daring athletic quality and visceral impact"

TAKE Dance Company comes to Miller Theatre with two world premieres and several revivals.
WHEN:Thursday, May 15, 8pmFriday, May 16, 8pmSaturday, May 17, 8pm
WHERE:Miller Theatre2960 Broadway (at 116th St.)212.854.7799http://www.millertheatre.com/
TICKET INFORMATION:General Tickets: $25Student Tickets: $15
RESERVATIONS:Call Smarttix at 212.868.4444http://www.smarttix.com/
Dancers: Kristen Arnold, Elise Drew, Jill Echo, Kate Hirstein, Kile Hotchkiss, Andy LeBeau, Sharon Park, Nana Tsuda, Takehiro Ueyama Guest Artists: James Samson, Amy Young (Paul Taylor Dance Company)John Eirich (Taylor 2)Choreography: Takehiro Ueyama, Asun Noales (Huella) Guest Composer:Damian Eckstein (Looking for Water)Lighting Design:Jason JeunnetteCostume Design: Sabado Lam, Cheryl McCarron, Camille Branton
Photo by: Philip Echo

email: elise@takedanceny.com voice: 203-494-3209 web: http://www.takedanceny.com/