Author Archives: Jay Butchko
Why So Much Controversy Over the FARE Act?
The conversation at housewarming parties with new homeowners is mind numbingly predictable. After a few cursory remarks about the décor, you can be sure that the host will launch into a long litany of complaints about the burdensome expenses of homeownership. First, you have to put together money for a down payment, and then… Read More »
Can Landlords Do Criminal Background Checks on Prospective Tenants?
Tenants complain vociferously about how New York’s policies about rental real estate cause financial hardship, and they often take their grievances to the ballot box. Economic conditions mean that landlords cannot afford to make repairs, but tenants cannot afford to move out of poorly maintained apartments due to financially burdensome security deposits and broker… Read More »
New York City Simplifies Requirements for Moving Into Affordable Housing
Good news is hard to find in 2025. Almost everything we can think of is measurably worse now than it was ten years ago or, if we are young adults, whenever our adult memories begin. A decade ago, before the Internet had shown the true extent of its ugliness, you could approach a food… Read More »
Geothermal Heating Is the Next Big Thing in New York City Real Estate
Around 2016, when the Internet was still innocent, a frequently shared image on social media encapsulated what makes New York City feel like home. A portly gray rat held a half-eaten slice of pizza in its jaws as it carefully maneuvered its haul down the stairs of a subway station. That rat knew that… Read More »
Low Turnover for Rentals Is Good News for Landlords
Tenants. Can’t live with ‘em and can’t live without ‘em. Landlords complain constantly about tenants who make frequent maintenance requests where the dysfunction of the appliance is at least partially due to the tenant’s careless use of it. Then there are the tenants who can’t get along with each other and frequently air their… Read More »
Starter Homes Are So Cringe
For every hundred times that journalists trash Generation Z for their unrealistic expectations and their sense of entitlement, there is one time when someone says in print what everyone knows, which is that what Gen Z is missing is not altruism or a desire for connection with other people, but rather economic opportunities. Few… Read More »
Supportive Housing in the Bronx
Complaining about one’s housing situation is as good a remedy as any for the loneliness epidemic; there are so many things to complain about, and the more creatively you do it, the more popular you will be. If you own a house, which no one does in New York, you can complain about making… Read More »
Deed Theft and Other Real Estate Crimes
All business transactions involve a fair amount of bluster, but some careers that involve persuasion have more of a reputation for charlatanism than others. People will easily assume that lawyers and used car salesmen are dishonest, but they tend to take the charm of real estate agents at face value. It helps that real… Read More »
Charitable Trusts
The beauty of estate planning is that you can use your money to benefit anyone you choose. This is true whether the value of your property is modest, you are fabulously wealthy, or anything in between. There is no rule requiring you to make your family the beneficiaries of your will. If you do… Read More »
Common Reasons for Estate Litigation
Probate lawyers often reassure their clients that probate is a routine process, more like filing an income tax return than being a party in a lawsuit. This is true except when it isn’t. Uncomplicated probate cases account for the majority of estates, but the reason that probate exists is to serve as a venue… Read More »