Adding it Up: Suit Over Condo Square Footage
The Times brings word of a long-running legal battle between Rishi Bhandari, who went into contract for a unit in 110 Livingston four years ago, and developer Two Trees over allegations that the developer’s claims about the square footage of the living spaces in the unit Bhandari and his fiancée were looking to buy were…
The Times brings word of a long-running legal battle between Rishi Bhandari, who went into contract for a unit in 110 Livingston four years ago, and developer Two Trees over allegations that the developer’s claims about the square footage of the living spaces in the unit Bhandari and his fiancée were looking to buy were “deceptive.” The whole story is juicy, as Two Trees has “countersued Mr. Bhandari, claiming he breached the purchase contract because it granted him only two options in the event of a dispute over the size: close at the agreed-upon price of $795,000 or take back his deposit and walk away.” But Bhandari, a lawyer, is a man on a mission: “[He originally] wanted the price of his apartment reduced by the size of the discrepancy — or by what an appraiser calculated to be about $111,000. The developer refused, offering to return his deposit, $79,500, plus interest, and to let him walk away. Mr. Bhandari sued, claiming the plans were deceptive. Real estate lawyers say it is extremely rare for such disputes to go to trial, but [today], that is exactly what will happen when the case of the missing 109 square feet begins in State Supreme Court in Brooklyn. ‘What they did was totally wrong,’ Mr. Bhandari said in an interview. ‘We’re trying to do whatever we can so that it’s a level playing field.” In the meantime, a rep for Two Trees says that the court has dismissed some of Bhandari’s other claims, such as “breach of contract.”
Dispute Shines Light on How Homes Are Measured [NY Times]
Photo by xymox.
Brooklander, not all NYS attorneys are RE Brokers. We have the ability to get the license without having to take the test, but the license is not automatically conferred upon us after we pass the bar. That said, your solution of having TT pay a fine to the State and the attorney/buyer getting his $$$ back with the appropriate interest is a good one.
Bhandari has his point. He is on a mission, and will advance his case in court.
What was that… about the word ‘tapemeasure’?
Where is the responsibility of the buyer in all this? Not one posting shows ‘shock’ that square footage is generally inflated. It is annoying and it doesn’t make it right; but it’s not exactly a shock to most NYers. It happens.
I presume Bhadari is savvy enough to buy the apartment, knows he’s a RE Broker (all NYS attorneys are), can do elementary math, and has 2 eyes and a brain; so why can’t he check out something as simple as his square footage? Puhleeeez!
BHScott makes the point. The Two Trees contract offers an exit strategy, which was agreed to. Now Bhadari wants to profit, KEEP the same unit for less, and further gain for pain, suffering, and what not. I wonder how often Bhadari lets HIS clients rewrite their fee contracts with his firm after the fact— to THEIR advantage?
I’d love to see both sides lose– the developer should be accountable and pay a hefty fee (to the State). Bhadari should receive his down payment back (+ interest), lose the apartment, and maybe have the rights to a book about it.
Posted by: at February 15, 2011 12:55 AM
quote:
We recently bought an apartment at be@Schermerhorn to get our son out of the house
i guess for your son? some people are so lucky
*rob*
I personally hope he kicks the crap out of Two Trees in court
Clearly I don’t know the facts of the case, but to those of you who argue Bhandari is merely acting out of opportunistic self-interest and that the offer to return his deposit with interest would make him whole, I’d say you fail to account for the loss of time and transaction costs associated with committing to buy an apartment on spec. One plans their lives around the delivery of an apartment and should be able to reasonably rely upon the promised specifications. Furniture is purchased. Lawyers are paid. Loans are researched. Investments are reallocated. One may choose to delay the stability of home ownership and continue to rent an apartment. One develops a vision of their future. When a developer fails to deliver, for them to say “sorry, here’s your money back” is a start, but it fails make the buyer whole.
In response to the post above, one could imagine a new regulatory regime penalizing brokers and developers for misleading the pubic. However, many applicable laws already exist and short of aggressive state and/or private acts to enforce the law (whether in its current state or as amended in the future), the culture of dishonesty plaguing the real estate industry will continue.
Brokers lie to get buyers in the door. Developers lie to sell apartments on spec. A certain percentage of those lies pay-off in commissions and sales. If government actors and private individuals permit brokers and developers to continue to lie to consumers without forcing such industry actors to internalize the resulting social cost, we collectively establish a perverse incentive – we collectively pay real estate professionals to lie to us.
Bhandari is more or less a hero to me as he has chosen to exercise his knowledge and social power to force the real estate industry to bear the burden of their deceptive practices. If enough individuals acted like Bhandari and chose the hard path instead of merely walking away, perhaps we’d be able to engage in real estate transactions without constantly worrying about being cheated by dishonest pseudo-professionals.
That’s a long winded way of saying I hope Bhandari skewers Two Trees and establishes a solid precedent concerning (i) how square footage is calculated and (ii) how developers may be penalized for failing to perfect delivery of a product conforming to contractually enumerated specifications.
that is true. Those fuckers know enough math to put the correct actual sq ft per those architect flr plans. Regardless of his motive, his suit might yield some good for buyers.
Not saying I agree or disagree with the attorney here, but what is the answer, short of a lawsuit, to get the developers to stop lying about square footage? Yes, you can bring your own tape measure and compare your findings to what’s on the papers, but that itself does not stop the lies. What would actually make the developer list the true square footage on the relevant papers?
Maybe if rishi and a coupla others win suits like this, developers will stop playing these games.
the last few comments assume the facts the ‘buyer’ asserts are accurate… may or may not be the case