Real Estate Transactions in New York

Residential Purchases and Sales

New York does not generally require a lawyer for a residential transaction, but attorneys are customary here. The Attorney General’s advice: “Have your own attorney review all contracts and loan documents before you sign.” According to the NYSBA, downstate “the seller’s attorney prepares the contract,” while upstate “a real estate agent often prepares the offer or contract, subject to the approval of the parties’ attorneys.”

What your attorney does

• Contract review and negotiation: price, deposit terms, contingencies (commonly a mortgage contingency), the closing date, and what conveys with the property.
• Deposit handling: down payments are often held in escrow by an attorney or broker under written escrow terms. New York’s ethics rules (Rule 1.15) treat a lawyer who holds another person’s funds as a fiduciary.
• Title and survey: reviewing the title report and survey, working through liens and objections, and coordinating title insurance, whose rates in New York are subject to approval by the Department of Financial Services.
• Closing: coordinating with the lender, the other side’s attorney, and the brokers, and reviewing closing figures.

The contract must be in writing

A contract for the sale of real property, or a lease longer than one year, “is void unless the contract or some note or memorandum thereof, expressing the consideration, is in writing” and signed by the party to be charged (General Obligations Law § 5-703(2)).

Seller disclosure after the 2024 changes

Chapter 484 of the Laws of 2023, effective March 20, 2024, eliminated the old $500 credit option. Under Real Property Law § 462, the seller of a covered home must deliver a signed Property Condition Disclosure Statement to the buyer or buyer’s agent before the buyer signs a binding contract. The amended form adds flood questions, including FEMA floodplain status, flood insurance, and past flood claims.

The seller is not required to inspect the property or search public records (§ 462(3)). Under § 465, a seller who willfully fails to perform the article’s requirements is liable for the buyer’s actual damages, in addition to any other remedies the buyer may have. The Act covers one- to four-family homes, not condo units or co-ops (§ 461), and exempts certain transfers, such as fiduciary and foreclosure sales (§ 463).

“Time of the essence”

Under ADC Orange, Inc. v. Coyote Acres, Inc., 7 N.Y.3d 484 (2006), “time is not ordinarily of the essence unless the agreement so provides,” but a party can make it so by giving “clear, unequivocal notice” and a reasonable time to perform. A time-of-the-essence notice can raise the stakes, so talk to counsel before sending or answering one.

Co-ops and Condos

In a co-op, the corporation owns the building; the buyer acquires shares and a proprietary lease and agrees to be governed by the board (40 W. 67th St. Corp. v. Pullman, 2003). A condo unit, with its common interest, “shall for all purposes constitute real property” (Real Property Law § 339-g). Condo by-laws may contain a right of first refusal; each building’s documents control.

The board package and the board’s discretion

Each co-op sets its own board application (the “board package”) requirements. Courts generally defer to board decisions “so long as the board acts for the purposes of the cooperative, within the scope of its authority and in good faith” (Matter of Levandusky v. One Fifth Ave. Apt. Corp., 75 N.Y.2d 530 (1990), as quoted in Pullman), which is one reason careful preparation matters.

Decision timelines: New York City and Westchester

New York City. Local Law 58 of 2026 (enacted over a mayoral veto on January 29, 2026) requires covered co-op boards to acknowledge application materials within 15 days and to state consent or denial within 45 days after the application is complete. If a board does not acknowledge an application within 15 days, the application is deemed complete; a board may extend the 45-day decision deadline once, by up to 14 days, on notice; and, if the board has adopted a written summer recess notice (kept in its records and available on request), the 15-day acknowledgment deadline is paused during the July and August recess, and the 45-day decision deadline is paused if it would otherwise end during the recess. HPD enforces it with civil penalties of $1,000, $1,500, and $2,000. The law took effect July 28, 2026, applies to applications made on or after that date, and does not cover buildings with fewer than 10 dwelling units, housing development fund companies (HDFCs), or co-ops whose share sales require a governmental housing agency’s approval. It sets timelines; it does not require boards to give reasons.

Westchester County. Under the county Fair Housing Law (§ 700.21-a, amended effective August 1, 2021), boards must acknowledge a completed application, or identify defects, within 15 days, then “have 60 days to approve or reject” it. A rejection notice must state “the reason for the rejection,” and applications must disclose the board’s minimum financial qualifications. Fines run from $1,000 to $2,000.

Offering plans

Sponsor offerings of co-op and condo interests generally require an offering statement filed with the Department of Law before the offering (General Business Law § 352-e). The Attorney General notes that a resale by an individual owner “is not regulated by the Attorney General,” so on a resale the building’s governing documents and financial statements carry more weight.

Commercial Purchases and Leases

We represent buyers, sellers, landlords, and tenants. Rent, escalations, repairs, use, assignment, renewal, and guaranties can all be negotiated in a commercial lease, depending on the deal. In NYC office and retail leasing, a “good guy” guaranty is a common negotiated term.

Notices to cure and Yellowstone relief

A commercial tenant served with a notice to cure may seek a Yellowstone injunction (First Nat’l Stores, Inc. v. Yellowstone Shopping Ctr., Inc., 21 N.Y.2d 630 (1968)) to pause the cure period while the dispute is decided. Under Graubard Mollen Horowitz Pomeranz & Shapiro v. 600 Third Ave. Assocs., 93 N.Y.2d 508 (1999), a tenant generally must show that it holds a commercial lease; that it received a notice of default, a notice to cure, or a threat of termination; that it requested relief before the lease terminated (in practice, before the cure period runs out); and that it is prepared and able to cure by any means short of vacating. Timing is often decisive. Since December 2019, Real Property Law § 235-h has made commercial lease clauses that waive a tenant’s right to bring a declaratory judgment action void as against public policy, but older leases and other lease terms can still affect this relief.

Nonpayment proceedings

Before a nonpayment proceeding, RPAPL § 711(2) requires a written rent demand “with at least fourteen days’ notice,” served as § 735 prescribes.

NYC Commercial Rent Tax

According to the NYC Department of Finance, the Commercial Rent Tax applies to commercial tenants in Manhattan south of the center line of 96th Street with annual or annualized gross rent of at least $250,000. The rate is 6% of base rent, effectively 3.9% after a 35% reduction, and a Small Business Tax Credit fully exempts tenants with total income of $5,000,000 or less and base rent under $500,000.

Commercial due diligence

Diligence often covers zoning, existing leases and estoppels, and environmental condition. Outside NYC, a use variance generally requires proof of “unnecessary hardship” (in towns, Town Law § 267-b; villages and cities have parallel statutes), so it is worth confirming that the intended use is permitted before signing.

Federal Superfund law (CERCLA) offers a liability defense to a bona fide prospective purchaser that acquired property after January 11, 2002, made “all appropriate inquiries” before acquisition, and meets continuing obligations such as appropriate care and cooperation (42 U.S.C. §§ 9601(40), 9607(r)). EPA’s rule (40 C.F.R. Part 312) recognizes ASTM E1527-21 Phase I assessments; E1527-13 stopped qualifying on February 13, 2024. The inquiry must occur within one year before acquisition, with key parts updated within 180 days.

Investors

1031 exchanges

Since 2018, Internal Revenue Code § 1031 covers only real property held for business or investment; property held primarily for sale does not qualify. You must identify replacement property within 45 days after transferring the relinquished property and receive it by the earlier of 180 days or your return’s due date, including extensions; the periods run concurrently. Identification is limited to three properties, or more under the 200% and 95% rules. A qualified intermediary holds the proceeds under a written exchange agreement, and related-party exchanges carry a two-year holding rule. The 2025 federal tax law (OBBBA) did not change § 1031. Our firm does not provide tax advice; we handle the contract and closing and can coordinate with your tax adviser. More on 1031 deadlines →

Buying in an LLC

• Publication: within 120 days after its articles take effect, a New York LLC must publish notice for six successive weeks in two newspapers designated by the county clerk and file proof (LLC Law § 206). Missing the deadline suspends its authority to do business in New York until cured, but does not void its contracts.
• New York LLC Transparency Act: effective January 1, 2026, but the Department of State says domestic LLCs and LLCs formed in other U.S. states are exempt. LLCs formed outside the U.S. and authorized here before 2026 must file by December 31, 2026. An expansion bill was vetoed in December 2025.
• Corporate Transparency Act: under FinCEN’s final rule effective August 14, 2026, only foreign-formed entities registered to do business in a U.S. state report, and not as to U.S.-person owners.
• FinCEN residential real estate rule: written to cover certain non-financed residential transfers to entities and trusts, the rule took effect for transfers on March 1, 2026; a federal court vacated it on March 19, 2026 (Flowers Title, E.D. Tex.), and the government’s appeal to the Fifth Circuit is pending. FinCEN says reporting persons are not currently required to file while that order is in force.

Rental investors should also plan for the one-month security deposit cap and 14-day return rule (General Obligations Law § 7-108) and Good Cause Eviction, which applies in NYC and opt-in municipalities. More on LLC reporting rules →

Closing Costs at a Glance

Rates as published by the agencies named, as of October 2026. Rates change.

These are third-party costs, separate from any legal fee. Title premiums and lender charges are additional. Read our closing-costs article →

Protecting Your Property

Closing wire fraud

Scammers impersonate attorneys, title companies, and loan officers and send last-minute “updated” wiring instructions. The FTC’s advice: “Don’t do it,” because it’s a scam. The FBI’s 2025 Internet Crime Report counts these diversions under business email compromise, a category with more than $3 billion in reported losses across all industries.

• We recommend confirming wiring instructions by phone at a number you already have. The CFPB (2019) suggests identifying “two trusted individuals to confirm the closing process and payment instructions.”
• If funds are sent to the wrong account, report the transfer to your bank as fraudulent right away by phone and ask it to recall the funds; the FBI says “time is of the essence.” Follow up in writing to create a record, and file a complaint at ic3.gov.

Which laws apply to a stolen wire can depend on how the payment was made; federal courts are divided on some of these questions, and the issue is on appeal. Banks and other parties may have their own responsibilities, and some deadlines to act are short. If closing funds are stolen, talk to an attorney promptly. See our guide to drained bank accounts and unauthorized transfers and our article on closing wire fraud.

Deed theft

Since July 19, 2024, deed theft is larceny under Penal Law § 155.05(2)(g) and can be prosecuted as grand larceny regardless of value, as a class B felony when the home is occupied (§ 155.42). Chapter 630 of the Laws of 2023 lets prosecutors seek to pause related eviction and ownership proceedings and lets homeowners seek a stay in housing court. The county clerk or city registrar must mail notice of a recorded residential conveyance to the owner of record (Real Property Law § 291). Report suspected deed theft to the Attorney General at 1-800-771-7755. Protecting your home from deed theft →

How Flat-Fee Quotes Work

Flat-fee representation is available for many residential closings. Request a quote; the quote and our engagement letter describe what the fee covers. Third-party costs (such as title insurance, transfer and mortgage recording taxes, and recording fees) are separate. A quote is not an engagement; representation begins only under a signed engagement letter. Commercial and investor matters may be priced differently; request a quote to discuss.

Request a Flat-Fee Quote

Throughout New York State

Rausa Russo Law, PLLC is based in White Plains and handles transactions throughout New York State. Local customs vary by county and region: who drafts the contract, how deposits are held, which local taxes apply, and what co-op boards expect can differ between New York City, Westchester, Long Island, and upstate.