Tag: Real Estate Law

On A Real Estate Contract

Nyack, New York, sits a few miles away from New York City but far enough away from the metropolis that it feels like the country. Nyack is on the water, and that also helps to make the real estate prices in the town rather high. Picturesque water views and a quaint village atmosphere combine to make Nyack an incredibly desirable location to make your home. It’s the perfect place to live in and easily commute to the city. That’s what Jeffrey Stambovsky had in mind when he put down some earnest money on a nice waterfront property in Nyack around 1990.

Even then, the price for an average waterfront residence was almost three-quarters of a million in Nyack. The Stambovsky family was incredibly excited by the prospect of moving out the crowded, noisy, and busy city and into the calming, soothing village. Not too long after committing to purchase the place, Jeffrey and his wife made the short trek out to Nyack to visit their soon-to-be home and to speak with the owner, Helen Ackley, Ackley’s family had owned the home for some years; in fact, the family had renovated it from the shambles it had become after years of neglect. They lovingly restored it to its former glory, keeping as many original fixtues and features as the building codes allowed. The house had been constructed in the Victorian Style in the late 1800s. It featured 5 bedrooms and 3 1/2 baths and boasted over 4,000 square feet of living space. And, in keeping with the local aesthetic, the Ackleys had painted the house a crimson red. All of this history was fascinating to the Stambovskys, and they seemed to be keen on keeping the house in as close to original condition as possible.

Now, when anyone purchases a house, the person is responsible for doing what is called due diligence. That means that it is the purchaser’s responsibility to find out about the condition of the house, any issues that may be a part of the property such as mineral rights belonging to another, easements, and even if any major repairs are needed to be completed in order to live in the house. And the seller also has a responsibility to disclose whatever they know of the place; to keep such information hidden from the buyer is illegal and could render any agreement to sell the house null and void if they fail to tell the buyer about an issue. And that’s what happened with this house in Nyack. It seems that Ms. Ackley tossed off some information about the house that the Stambovskys heard but didn’t completely understand–or at least they didn’t fully grasp the ramifications of the information. And that information is what Ms. Ackley divulged that weekend when the Stambovskys visited the house in the days leading up to the house closing.

When the reality of the house issue hit Jeffrey Stambovsky, he backed out of the sale. Now, he had put down over $35,000 in earnest money as a promise to buy the house, and, if he backed out now, it stood to forfeit that money. But Stambovsky felt that the information Ackley now told him should have been made clearer earlier in the purchase process. In other words, Stambovsky said that if he had known about the issue earlier, he wouldn’t have put down the earnest money. And, so, he sued Ms. Ackley.

As the case made its way through the court system of New York State, it drew attention because of its unique nature. And when the final verdict was handed down (after an appeal), it favored Stambovsky. The court said that he should have been notified of the issue sooner in the buying process and thus was due to receive his earnest money back.

So, in the court case, Stambovsky v. Ackley, it was decided that a house owner must inform any prospect purchaser, up front, that the house they are buying is haunted.

On a Law Code

The history of the compilation of legal statutes is as old as the concept of ownership. In other words, the written law began with owning land and other property. Think of all the issues associated with owning land: Deciding who is the proper owner, where the boundaries of the land is, who owns things like mineral rights, how one accesses the property (what land you have to cross), etc. All of that requires regulation and thus, a written law code. And law codes mean adjudication. And that gave rise to things like courts, judges, and even lawyers. And it all began with ownership.

Today, the law continues to define what exactly constitutes property and the associated rights of it. The idea of something that is property also includes intellectual (that is, not physical) property and rights. We also think of land being lateral, but it can also be vertical as well. People have the rights to the space above their property as well–for example, I can’t build a bridge over your house if I own the property on either side of you. This concept is still being defined legally as time goes on.

Some people have been thinking about this concept of what is above you for almost a century. A Czech lawyer was one of the first to attempt to codify what legal rights people should have over the space above them. His name was Vladimir Mandl. He published his thoughts on it way back in 1932. Das Weltraum-Recht: Ein Problem der Raumfahrt was his treatise on the subject, published in German, and it was obviously way ahead of its time. As the 20th Century progressed, others added to Mandl’s propositions. Cases began to be heard in various courts around the world that added to and clarified the proposition. Now, international law is understandably dicey because of the various laws in the nations involved. But the idea is that international legal consensus be built so that rights can be applied equally across the globe. Think of the world-wide standards for things like war (the Geneva Convention, for example) and other issues that have global implications and applications.

The United Nations also took up the issue. The laws become more defined. Agreements were signed. Conventions were held. Universal agreement was reached. Courts have been hearing cases involving one major point of contention: The definition of what it is above you. How far do your rights go? Can I claim the air over my land to the point that I can tell drones or even airplanes that they can’t fly over me? Also, remember that, since we are on a globe, the are above us grows in a cone shape the higher up we go. Do we as individuals or nations own that? And thus, the law is evolving and changing as it always does. But we go back to the original concepts of Vladimir Mendl. He set the standard for how we view what’s above us and how it should be regulated, and he did it long before we began traveling so far “up” that we were actually “out.”

By the way, the translation of his publication in English is Space Law: A Problem of Space Travel.