Real Property Law Section Blog

The Committee on Professional Ethics of the New York State Bar Association on November 2, 2007 issued Opinion 817. According to the "Digest" of the Opinion, the Committee has taken the position that "participation in [a] residential real estate transaction that includes a 'seller's concession' and [a] 'grossed up' sale price is prohibited unless the transaction is entirely lawful, the gross-up is disclosed in the transaction documents and no parties are misled to their detriment".

Opinion 817 is posted at http://www.nysba.org/AM/Template.cfm?Section=Ethics_Opinions&TEMPLATE=/CM/ContentDisplay.cfm&CONTENTID=12115

The Columbia County Clerk has issued the following notice:

"Effective December 1, 2007 ALL Deeds that are filed in Columbia County are required to include the Columbia County Supplemental Real Estate Transfer Tax Return form (SRETTR)" .

The notice indicates that the SRETTR can be downloaded at www.columbiacountyny.com.

There is $5.00 filing fee.

The tranfser tax for Columbia County is $5.00 for each $500 or part thereof. For a one family residence the first $150,000 of consideration is exempt.

The Westchester County Clerk;s Office has issued the following notice:

"As part of a continuing effort to make records more accessible, Westchester County Clerk Timothy C. Idoni is proud to announce that 36,573 images of maps have been added to the inventory of documents which can be viewed online by daily or annual subscribers. Previously, these maps were only available via viewing stations in the conty clerk's office in White Plains. For more information about online access to records, visit www.westchesterclerk.com and click on 'Records' at the top of the screen".

Congress has modified the 80/20 Rule in Internal Revenue Code Section 216 [Deduction of taxes, interest, and business depreciation by cooperative housing corporation tenant-stockholder] requiring that at least 80% of a cooperative corporation's gross income be derived from tenant-shareholders.

The "Mortgage Forgiveness Debt Relief Act of 2007" (PL 110-142), signed into law by the President on December 20, 2007, amends the definition of "Cooperative housing corporation" for the purposes of Section 216 to read as follows:

"Section 216(b) Definitions - For purposes of this section --

(1) Cooperative housing corporation -- The term 'cooperative housing corporation' means a corporation --

(A) having one and only one class of stock outstanding,

(B) each of the stockholders of which is entitled, soley by reason of his ownership of stock in the corporation, to occupy for dwelling purposes a house, or an apartment in a building, owned or leased by such corporation,

(C) no stockholder of which is entitled (either conditionally or unconditionally) to receive any distribution not out of earnings and profits of the corporation except on a complete or partial liquidation of the corporation, and

[Subparagraph D has been amended by PL 110-142]

(D) meeting 1 or more of the following requirements for the taxable year in which the taxes and interest descibed in subsection (a) are paid or incurred:

(i) 80 percent or more of the corporation's gross income for such taxable year is derived from tenant-stockholders.

(ii) At all times during such taxable year, 80 percent or more of the total square footage of the corporation's property is used or available for use by the tenant-stockholders for residential purposes or purposes ancillary to such residential use.

(iii) 90 percent or more of the expenditures of the corporation paid or incurred during the taxable year are paid or incurred for the acquisition, construction, management, maintenance, or care of the corporation's property for the benefit of the tenant-shareholders".

This amendment applies to "taxable years ending after the date of the enactment of this Act".