New York Business Litigation Attorney Blog

Home prices in the United States may fall more than 10 percent again this year, leaving more homeowners facing or contemplating foreclosure in Queens and throughout the New York City area.

Our Queens foreclosure defense lawyers understand the challenges facing many New York City families. Job loss, wage stagnation and high debt levels can make it tough enough to make ends meet. Now, falling housing prices can leave homeowners upside down on their mortgages -- owing far more on a first and/or second mortgage than their home is worth.

Discussing your options with an attorney is the best course of action to protect your families current and future financial well-being. Strategic default, mortgage-loan modification, short sale and foreclosure are all among the options. Each has benefits and risks that need to be weighed against what is in the best interest of the homeowner. Some have pitfalls a homeowner may not have considered. For instance, a short sale or foreclosure may leave a homeowner vulnerable to a deficiency judgment for five years; a bank could seek to collect the difference between what a property brought at sale and what was owed on the mortgage. When it comes to loan modifications, there is little evidence of homeowners being treated fairly. In fact, banks have approved temporarily modifications in some cases, only to later reject a permanent modification and use the resulting arrears as reason to foreclose on your home.

Bloomberg News reports all of the distressed real estate can have a drastic impact on a neighborhood's overall home values, even as the economy improves.

"Distressed prices appear to have stabilized while non-distressed prices not only continue to fall, but have picked up their rates of decline," analysts said. Home prices nationwide are down 32 percent since the July 2006 peek. The large supply of bank-owned properties, and issues with home-loan financing will continue to act as a drag on the market.

For those who have weathered the economic storm, the resulting drag an underwater property can have on their financial future may last for decades. We encourage homeowners to be proactive in seeking a solution, instead of waiting until they are out of time, out of money and out of options.

Continue reading "New York City Foreclosure Defense Provides Options as Home Values Continue to Fall" »

The possibility of identity theft has become more and more common with the explosive growth of social networking sites. Money Talks News and other news providers are handing out endless amounts of advice to social networking users on how to effectively protect your identity online. It is important to protect your personal information from hackers looking to steal identities in New York and elsewhere around the world.

Our New York identity theft attorneys urge you to protect your personal information, as you would any other valuable possession. It may be easier than you think for hackers to get their hands on your personal information, which can create a nightmare of unauthorized purchases, credit card transactions and other financial crimes.

Internet users often use networking sites as a chance to network with large groups of people, most strangers, instead of keeping within their circle of friends. By doing so, you are opening the virtual doors to your personal information.

ID Analytics recently conducted a study among internet users. The results show that we're leaving ourselves entirely too vulnerable and unarmed in the hands of hackers:

-Many social networking users will accept invites from nearly anyone; men are more than twice as likely to hit that accept button.

-It's estimated that nearly 13 million users, 18-years-old and older, will accept any connection request from a member of the opposite sex, even if they do not know the person requesting connection.

-It is estimated that 5 percent of adults in the United States will accept a request from anyone, again, regardless if they know them or not.

When using these popular networking sites, it is important to follow a few basic rules to help prevent identity theft:

-When you're spring cleaning your house, try spring cleaning your computer. You'd be surprised by how much personal information is readily available to a hacker.

-Remember, there is no prize for having the most friends on Facebook or MySpace. You're not going to win some sort of cyber popularity contest. Confirming a friend request from a complete stranger is similar to picking up a hitch-hiker; each come with their own risks.

-Double check your privacy settings. Step-by-step guidelines, posted by nearly every news source, are available to help you keep you information secure.

Online thieves can wreak havoc on your financial reputation by hacking into credit card accounts, bank accounts, and can have virtually any document altered to their benefit. Those who have been victimized by identity theft should consult an attorney right away. Reclaiming your life can be a long and complex process. Failure to assert your rights can leave you liable for thousands of dollars in damages.

Continue reading "Hackers May Access Your Personal Information and Increase Your Risk of Identity Theft in New York" »

Commentators appeared to side largely with Wal-Mart after the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments in what has become the largest sex discrimination lawsuit in U.S. history, according to Reuters News.

At issue for future lawsuits, is whether employees can come together in filing large class-action civil lawsuits that allege workplace violations against some of the nation's largest retailers. Detractors claim it will be open season on chain stores. Supporters contend such large lawsuits may best force national corporations to follow the state and federal laws meant to protect workers' rights.

Our Great Neck employment law attorneys understand the challenges employees face when it comes to discrimination in the workplace. New York employment discrimination can take many forms, including age, race and gender.

Duke V. Wal-Mart Inc. centers on whether 1.5 million current and former Wal-Mart employees were properly certified as a class by a U.S. District Court in San Francisco. If the case is allowed to proceed, the 1.5 million woman argue that the company's female workers in 3,800 stores faced discrimination in pay and in promotional decisions.

Court watchers say one potential outcome would be to send it back to the lower court, where more stringent standards would be applied to creating classes, which could split the case into smaller segments.

Several justices made comments indicating the court may also uphold the plaintiff's rights to seek relief as a class, but may not award back pay or punitive damages. Such an outcome would require Wal-Mart to clarify how it pays and makes promotional decisions. Plaintiffs would have to pursue monetary claims separately.

However, a look at the court's history tends to favor the plaintiff. About 70 percent of rulings in employment discrimination cases have favored the plaintiff. This case is also the first sex-discrimination case to face a court with three female Justices.

Continue reading "Supreme Court to Decide Wal-Mart Sex Discrimination Lawsuit" »

CPP -- a provider of credit card insurance and identity theft protection -- has acknowledge that it is under investigation for "alleged failings in sales calls with customers," in the United Kingdom according to a report in The Press.

Stateside, a New York City banking law attorney or business litigation firm should always assist businesses in designing sales or marketing programs to help ensure they do not run afoul of the many laws governing such activities. On the customer side, a consumer law attorney in New York should be consulted when a consumer feels he or she has been victimized by credit card insurance, predatory interest rates and fees and other questionable business tactics.

As this case illustrates, even the allegation of impropriety can be enough to negatively impact business reputation. Barclaycard has announced it has stopped selling CPP's identity protection product until the investigation by the Financial Services Authority is complete. The company had attempted to sell customers on the service when they called to activate their cards.

Many of these services have dubious value and consumers should be alert for high fees -- often more than 1 percent a month. Most credit card agreements already limit a customer's liability in the event of a stolen credit card or identity theft.

In the current investigation, the FSA has raised concerns about the company exaggerating the need for identity theft protection and confusion over what was covered by the insurance.

Continue reading "Consumer Protection Warning about Credit Card Insurance Program" »

Two thousand people have been arrested in just a few months since New York enacted a law that specifically prohibits strangulation, according to Reuters News.

A spokesperson for the New York Division of Criminal Justice Services called the 2,000 arrests in 15 weeks "unprecedented" and "staggering." Police and prosecutors argue the new law is necessary because of issues prosecuting defendants who leave little or no visible injury on their alleged victims. The law is most often used in connection with domestic violence in New York.

Criminal defense lawyers in the Bronx and on Long Island understand the importance of properly defendant against allegations of domestic violence. Such cases are frequently brought during a contentious breakup, divorce, or custody battle. And the zero-tolerance policies of law enforcement make it one of the most abused laws in the state. Allegations can impact a defendant's relationship with friends and family, may negatively influence a pending divorce and can result in protection orders that prevent a defendant from seeing his family or even returning home.

"As these dramatic statistics show, law enforcement has been putting this statute to very good use. The statute is a great example of what can happen when domestic violence victim advocates, law enforcement, and elected officials work collaboratively to solve a real and compelling problem," said Franklin County District Attorney Derek P. Champagne. "The strangulation laws provide law enforcement with strong and effective tools to stop domestic abusers and rapists who use strangulation as a means to subdue their victims."

The problem, however, is that it allows law enforcement another means of charging a defendant with domestic violence in cases where there is little or no evidence of assault or injury. Sixty percent of the violations issued under the new law -- some 1,200 in all -- have occurred in New York City. King County reported the most with 467, followed by 248 in Queens County, 240 in Bronx County, 179 in New York County and 66 in Richmond County.

Only four counties in the state -- Cattaragus, Hamilton, Lewis and Tioga -- reported at least one arrest. Outside the city, Suffolk County reported the most arrests with 11.

The law went into effect Nov. 11, 2010 and recognizes three strangulation offenses: Criminal obstruction of breathing or blood circulation, a Class A misdemeanor; second-degree strangulation, a Class D felony, and first-degree strangulation, a Class C felony.

Class A misdemeanors are punishable by up to a year in jail. A class D felony is punishable by up to 7 years in prison while a Class C felony is punishable by up to 15 years behind bars.

Ninety-four percent of the offenders arrested were males and most were between the ages of 20 and 29. The NYPD made 1,1198 arrests, followed by the Suffolk County Police Department (106) and New York State Police (78).

Continue reading "Thousands Charged with Violating New York's New Strangulation Law in Domestic Violence Cases" »