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31 Jan, 2008 by Anonymous
We bought a condo recently, and Karen helped us all through the way. She's exceedingly thorough, particularly with due diligence on our building, and especially at understanding how those issues compared to other buildings on Manhattan or other recent transactions. More than that, she took time to explain exactly what was going on in simple lay terms. Also, she was comfortable communicating relatively quickly over e-mail/Blackberry, which was a plus for us (since we're e-mail addicts as well). She's probably a victim of her own success, in that her schedule is often booked with closing meetings and she's occasionally hard to reach while she's in one of those meetings -- so e-mail was often a faster way to reach her than phone -- but I would hands-down recommend her to anyone considering a real estate attorney for purchase or sale of a condo or co-op in Manhattan (or beyond for that matter).
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05 Jan, 2024 by Perry
We hired Joe to represent us buying our house in an HOA in Dobbs Ferry NY.
Right before we were set to wire our 10% deposit to Escrow for our house, Joe called to tell me, at the last minute, that there was a potential assessment we would face (we moved into an HOA with 116 units). We asked him for what and how much. He said he would call me back, and when he did he said "it's to repave XYZ Road, they are not sure it will happen, but if it does it will cost me only$ 1,000 or so." We trusted him and proceeded with the transaction.
When we went to the annual board meeting of our HOA a month after close (we closed 10/11, the board meeting was 11/16), one of the major topics discuss was the "infrastructure project" which is a massive project that has been in discussion for more than a year and is estimated to cost $700,000 to $1,000,000 dollars. At that point it was clear it would cost us, when it went through, ~$6,000 to $8,600 depending on the final bid.
Initially we thought the seller lied to us and committed fraud. I joined the board at the annual meeting and had access to the board minutes from the prior year meeting at which the board mentioned the project could cost $850,000 to $1,000,000, and I had the sign in sheet showing the seller was in attendance. Clearly he was aware of the project and the cost which was improperly relayed to me. When I asked Joe to help me go after the Seller for fraud, he said he'd "check his notes" and never got back to us after checking in with him for a month.
After speaking to others around the transcation, and given Joe refused to help us, it became pretty clear Joe has a reputation for rushing transactions to collect his fee, and most likely fabricated the $1,000 number so we would not back out of the transaction.
To this day Joe has not produced any kind of evidence, written or otherwise, that the seller told him this $1,000 amount or that the seller told him any amount. At best, its negiligence and incompetence on his part for not digging deeper and even requesting HOA minutes, but we firmly believe he actually committed fraud. Joe is at the tail end of his career and is looking for easy; he is not someone who will exert any extra effort advocating for his clients and will say and do whatever is needed to complete a deal and collect his flat fee. Avoid at all costs. Feels a lot like the experience had by the first reviewer below (2013, 2 stars)
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10 Nov, 2017 by Anonymous
He got me on the right track. Couldn't have accomplished goals without the guidance.
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25 Feb, 2016 by Diane
Joe represented me in 1999 when I purchased my home in Dobbs Ferry to my satisfaction. I am now selling my home and could not find his contact info readily and hired one of the attorneys recommended by my real estate agent. My closing attorney requested a copy of my deed, title insurance and survey. I found my deed, but had already packed the other documents with my closing documents as I did not know that I would need those to facilitate the closing. I found Joe's contact info with my deed paperwork. I called his office today and within 6 hours Joe personally called me back and emailed me the documents I needed. He clearly knew that I had hired another attorney or I would not be asking for these documents. I found him to be professional, courteous and a pleasure to work with.
I recommend him.
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