Ditching a condo contract? Not easy

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By AMY TENNERY

NEW YORK -- It's often said that the devil is in the details -- and for many New York City buyers and sellers, that's increasingly become the case in the down market.

New development brokers and real estate lawyers say many of the attempts they are seeing among buyers to get out of contracts are from those arguing that the measurements on their condos are different from what they were promised. They say that sometimes buyers will invoke the claim over a minor quibble, such as small floorplan discrepancies or an inch or two difference in ceiling height.

Meg Goble, a real estate lawyer and a partner at Hanley & Goble, said buyers must prove that there are "significant and material" differences between the representation made to the buyer and the finished product. However, there is little spelling out of exactly what that means.

"That's the problem with the words 'material' and 'significant' -- what's material is sort of a very subjective question," Goble said.

Goble said it's extremely difficult for buyers to get out of a contract over a floorplan discrepancy, even when they can prove there's a legitimate difference in their new home. She said she represented one buyer who recently had success after proving that the entryway ceiling was lower than promised. While the ceilings in the entire unit were supposed to be 11 feet, the height above the entryway was several inches lower.

Still, even with her one successful case, the process wasn't easy. The buyer ended up purchasing a different unit in the same building, which Goble said greatly helped his chances of reneging the original contract. ...CONTINUED

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