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Guy protesting in front of Corcoran @ Carroll St — Brooklynian

Guy protesting in front of Corcoran @ Carroll St

slopeduder
slopeduder
edited November -1 in Park Slope

Anyone see this guy?At first I thought it was a branch of the Occupy Wall Street protest, but it was not. He had some big banners, "What ethics? We have brownstones to sell" or something, then another with Corcoran with a line through it. He seemed PISSED. Didn't have time to cross the street to ask him what was up. Wondering how Corcoran screwed him.

Comments

  • ringrunner
    ringrunner

    He said something about the fact that Corcoran let him go into a contract on a property that did not have a C of O. He told me that he can not sue them because of "buyer beware", but he is going to shame them into giving him what he things he deserves.

  • armchair_warrior
    armchair_warrior

    hmm alot of buildings don't have a co and lawyers always tell the clients etc.. he should be talking to his lawyer not corcoran. also i bet corcoran told the guy building probably doesn't have a co lol.

  • landlord
    landlord

    He obviously did not hire a lawyer for the transaction. Big rookie mistake.

  • bohuma
    bohuma

    And didn't do his homework properly. You can type any address in the 5 boroughs into the Department of Buildings Building Information System and pull up the certificate of occupancy. If you are going to be a skinflint and not hire a lawyer for an expensive transaction then you are asking for trouble. We consulted our lawyer before we went shopping for property.

  • catwalkertexasranger
    catwalkertexasranger

    depending on the building and the time of it's construction and approval there may not be a CofO. Some buildings have a letter of no objection or no disapproval and are used just like other structures that have Cert of Occupancy. A lawyer/title company could have researched the desired buildings previous uses and deeds from construction and sale.

  • booklaw
    booklaw

    That is exactly the case with my brownstone. It was built in 1903, before there were c of o's. The previous owners had recently converted it from a one-family to a two-family, which made our lawyer nervous when we bought the house, but the title company was willing to insure the title as a two-family residence, saying it had been "grandfathered" and did not require any c of o, two-family or otherwise.

    Which makes me wonder whether the guy not only went without a lawyer but also neglected to buy a title insurance policy...

  • whynot_31
    whynot_31

    Partly in order to maintain "relationships" real estate agents often provide buyers with a list of lawyers they could use to represent them in the transaction.

    To avoid the appearance of impropriety, the agents usually print something like "this list merely represents real estate attorneys in the area, you can find a larger list through advertisements and the Bar Association."

    I mention this because I would be surprised if this buyer was not given a similar list.

    While a lawyer is not always needed, this guy is learning a very hard lesson about why they are invaluable on some occasions.

    In the long run, I hope this works out for him. So far I have heard nothing that makes me conclude Corcoran is to blame. On the contrary, I suspect it is his cheapness that is to blame.

  • ringrunner
    ringrunner

    From talking to him it seamed quite clear to me that he was intending to shame/blackmail Corcoran into doing what he wanted them to do.... What he thought was ethical. Not what they were legally required to do.

  • bohuma
    bohuma

    Some people have unrealistic expectations from the professionals and others that they deal with. Real estate brokers and salespeople are licensed by New York State Division of Licensing Services, there are, I assume (I couldn't find them in a two minute search) rules of ethical conduct, mandatory disclosures etc. Real estate brokers/salespeople generally do everything they are required to do, but they don't do everything that some people think that they should. It is likely that Corcoran was acting as the seller's agent, and made the minimum required disclosures under the law, and made this guy sign an acknowledgment that they were acting on behalf of the seller. This is what happened when we bought our condo.

    Now this guy may think that the seller's broker also owes him a duty of care, sorry I don't think they do. Their duty is to the seller, not the buyer. The law prohibits them telling lies, but they are not required to tell the buyer more than the law requires.

    If you're not going to hire your own buyer's agent, attorney or title company to manage the largest transaction you've ever entered into, you cannot seriously expect either the courts or the general public to have much sympathy for you. This is not 1950 when the real estate industry was largely unregulated. We have licenses etc. and plenty of news outlets willing to publicize cases of fraud, if this guy can't get channel 7 on his side, it's because he doesn't have a case.

    There is so much information online these days, it is not very difficult to work out that NY real estate law is complex and requires specialist knowledge.

  • booklaw
    booklaw

    I totally agree with bohuma.

  • mrpthegreat
    mrpthegreat

    I think there's a lot of confusion in these posts. This guy had a lawyer and did not go through with the purchase, as he writes on his blog: buyersbewarecorcoran.wordpress.com

  • doldrums
    doldrums

    Pays to get the whole story before expressing opinions. The blog lays it out well. Would I waste my weekends doing what he's doing?, no. But the inimidation adds some juice to the story.

  • tateinbk
    tateinbk

    The guy was showing up to open houses with signs. He fully admits that Corcoran did nothing illegal. He thinks the law should be changed or Corcoran should change their policy out of the kindness of their hearts.

    The husband of the realtor he dealt with told him to not show up at more open houses to protest and may have seemed threatening. Stupid? I would say so. I don't think it's some massive smoking gun though. Could a charge of harassment/stalking be placed at the door of the protester for showing up anywhere the realtor is?

  • whynot_31
    whynot_31

    I think he is best ignored. If he has a potential legal case against Cocoran, a lawyer will seek him out.

    If he merely has a grudge, it merely sucks to be him.

  • armchair_warrior
    armchair_warrior

    I understand where the guy is coming from, hell if i count how many times things come up after the title search came back and deals didn't go through i would have a few new cars to drive. (alot of cash paid for services etc..)

    nyc really sucks why only do the title search at the end? i don't get it.

  • bkchickie
    bkchickie

    As much as I don't love Corcoran, I don't think they've done anything that any other realtor in NYC wouldn't do. As a friend once reminded me, "Real estate in NYC is just one baby step above organized crime."

    Hell, in our purchase, our lawyer was such a dip that we ended up doing some of our own due diligence. We discovered that the then-owner owed back common charges to the tune of about $25,000. This was not disclosed by the (Corcoran) broker. Deal ground to a halt until we got some written assurances that we would not be responsible for that amount. All our lawyer could do was say "Maybe this isn't the apartment for you," because she knew that securing these assurances would mean extra work for her.

    So, I wonder if there was a way that the sale still could have gone through to everyone's satisfaction, and if his lawyer was just being lazy.

    Looking back, we should have fired our lawyer right there. As it was, when we discovered this, I wanted to get a second lawyer to look at everything the first lawyer did. Huz wouldn't go for it. Luckily everything worked out.

  • booklaw
    booklaw

    Was your lawyer working on a fixed-fee arrangement, or by the hour? If the former, I'm not surprised that she would want to minimize her hours.

    If the latter, I'd be very much surprised.

  • whynot_31
    whynot_31

    Same guy also discussed here:

    http://www.brownstoner.com/blog/2011/10/occupy-corcoran-the-facts-dont-add-up/#disqus_thread

    http://blogs.villagevoice.com/runninscared/2011/10/david_huber_pissed_corcoran.php

    http://ny.curbed.com/archives/2011/10/07/one_man_march.php

    http://fortgreene.patch.com/articles/man-vs-the-real-estate-machine

    It seems he is emailing the various blogs and newspapers, in addition to sitting out front of the real estate office.

    I wonder if anyone besides him will become convinced that Corcoran "did him wrong".

    (this might become fodder for a country music song....)

  • armchair_warrior
    armchair_warrior

    he should just realize the nyc market sucks rotten disease nuts. I wish nyc market was like alot of other market easier for alot of things :p.

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