On Oct. 14, 2009, these authors critiqued the then brand new Statutory Short Form Power of Attorney (POA) statute. In brief, we found it to be a disaster. Now sitting on the governor’s desk, awaiting signature, is a heavily amended version of the statute addressing a number of the issues we and others like us raised. While not all of the issues were addressed, we urge the governor to sign this version, as flawed as it still is. Whether Democrats or Republicans, the New York Legislature has real estate attorneys thinking about Ronald Reagan’s comment that the nine scariest words in the English language are “I’m from the government and I’m here to help.”
Real estate fraud has rocked our nation, causing shattering amounts of property and money lost and causing the creation of special branches at the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the U.S. Attorney’s office and even at the New York District Attorney’s office. In spite of this, last year’s POA law gave fraudsters ample reason to celebrate. The POA, allowing fraudsters to steal without even showing up to the heist, is the most common device used to commit mortgage and property fraud by allowing fraudsters to pretend that they were asked that they close the deal on the owner’s behalf.
This content has been archived. It is available through our partners, LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law.
To view this content, please continue to their sites.
Not a Lexis Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
Not a Bloomberg Law Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law are third party online distributors of the broad collection of current and archived versions of ALM's legal news publications. LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law customers are able to access and use ALM's content, including content from the National Law Journal, The American Lawyer, Legaltech News, The New York Law Journal, and Corporate Counsel, as well as other sources of legal information.
For questions call 1-877-256-2472 or contact us at [email protected]
