Park & Caporrino Law Offices

11/02/2023

The influential National Association of Realtors and several brokerages were ordered to pay damages to home sellers who said they were forced to pay excessive fees to real estate agents.

By Debra Kamin
Oct. 31, 2023
New York Times

A federal jury ruled on Tuesday that the powerful National Association of Realtors and several large brokerages had conspired to artificially inflate the commissions paid to real estate agents, a decision that could radically alter the home-buying process in the United States.

The realtors’ group and brokerages were ordered to pay damages of nearly $1.8 billion. The verdict allows the court to issue treble damages, which means they could swell to more than $5 billion.

It’s a decision that has the potential to rewrite the entire structure of the real estate industry in the United States, lowering the cost of moving homes by reducing commissions. Under a N.A.R. rule, a home seller is required to pay commissions to the agent representing the buyer, which sellers claimed forced them to pay excessive fees to the agents. The home sellers said the brokerages collaborated with N.A.R. to enforce what is called the “cooperative compensation rule.”

But under the verdict, the sellers would no longer be required to pay their buyers’ agents, and agents would be free to set their own commission rates, which could be slashed in half or less. For example, a home seller with a $1 million home can now pay as much as $60,000 in agent commissions — $30,000 to their agent and $30,000 to the buyers’ agent.

08/03/2023

The New Jersey Supreme Court in a July 14, 2023 Order has refined certain aspects of the landlord tenant reforms that it authorized in 2021. Effective September 1, 2023, mandatory case management conferences will no longer take place. As of that same date, landlords will be required to file the Certification of Lease and Registration Statement and the Landlord Case Information Statement with the complaint.

The Court's Order reinforces the continuation of other landlord tenant reforms designed to support fairness for all parties, including the availability of trained neutrals to facilitate conferences on the date of trial and potential adjournments of trial dates for up to 60 days if a party provides documentation of a pending application for rental assistance.

02/11/2022

Financial Assistance for Homeowners Now Available!
Mortgage assistance
This week, the New Jersey Housing and Mortgage Finance Agency (NJHMFA) opened the application portal for the Emergency Rescue Mortgage Assistance program (ERMA).

To help protect homeowners from foreclosure, this program will provide assistance to cover mortgage arrearages, delinquent property taxes, and other housing costs for eligible homeowners negatively impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. If eligible, you could receive up to $35,000 in the form of a three-year forgivable loan, with no interest or payments due.

NJHMFA will also provide free housing counseling services to help New Jersey homeowners apply for this program, guide them through all available options, and even work with their loan servicers to achieve the best outcome available for their families. These counselors will also ensure that the process is accessible to those without access to internet or anyone needing assistance with the application.

Visit NJHMFA to learn more and access the application.

08/15/2021

Answer phones an perform clerical tasks. Must have law firm experience. Fluency in English and Korean required.

08/04/2021

Mr. Caporrino has been approved as a landlord-tenant case settlor by the New Jersey Superior Court.

07/27/2021

The New Jersey Judiciary will institute a series of steps to reform the residential landlord tenant process in New Jersey and allow for greater opportunities for the parties to work with trained staff to resolve disputes without a trial, under a new Supreme Court order.

Taking effect Sept. 1, the order enumerates new procedures that support efforts to resolve residential landlord tenant matters expeditiously while upholding and balancing the rights and responsibilities of both landlords and tenants.

Proceedings will be held primarily in a remote fashion but can be in-person on a limited basis, when appropriate. The Judiciary will provide on-site technology to enable participation for those who need such assistance.

The Order states, “In rented premises, as in owned homes, housing security is critically important to the resident and the surrounding community. At the same time, rental property owners must be able to meet their obligations, both to retain the property and to keep it as available housing for renters. In light of these significant needs, a court system in the pursuit of equitable justice must support processes that uphold and balance the rights and responsibilities of both landlords and tenants.”

On July 1, the Supreme Court authorized mandatory settlement conferences to help resolve more than 56,500 pending landlord tenant cases without proceeding to trial.

07/16/2021

For immediate release: July 15, 2021

N.J. Supreme Court Order Institutes Reforms to Help Resolve Landlord Tenant Cases.

The Judiciary will institute a series of steps to reform the residential landlord tenant process in New Jersey and allow for greater opportunities for the parties to work with trained staff to resolve disputes without a trial, under a Supreme Court order issued today.
Taking effect Sept. 1, the order enumerates new procedures that support efforts to resolve residential landlord tenant matters expeditiously while upholding and balancing the rights and responsibilities of both landlords and tenants. The procedures will enable early identification of issues and provide opportunities for
parties to connect with rental assistance and legal assistance resources.

The order and related administrative determinations act on the April report of the Judiciary Special Committee on Landlord Tenant, chaired by acting Administrative Director of the Courts Judge Glenn A. Grant, to address longstanding issues as well as the pending and anticipated filings in landlord tenant matters which increased during the COVID-19 pandemic.

In matters involving public housing or other subsidized housing, judiciary staff will review the cases to identify deficiencies that landlords would be required to rectify.

Proceedings will be held primarily in a remote fashion but can be in-person on a limited basis, when appropriate. The Judiciary will provide on-site technology to enable participation for those who need such assistance.

The order signed today by Chief Justice Stuart Rabner states, “In rented premises, as in owned homes, housing security is critically important to the resident and the surrounding community. At the same time, rental property owners must be able to meet their obligations, both to retain the property and to keep it as available
housing for renters. In light of these significant needs, a court system in the pursuit of equitable justice must support processes that uphold and balance the rights and responsibilities of both landlords and tenants.”

On July 1, the Supreme Court authorized mandatory settlement conferences to help resolve more than 56,500 pending landlord tenant cases without proceeding to trial.

The Judiciary will continue to work closely with the state Department of Community Affairs to make any necessary adjustments to its procedures.

Information about rental assistance and legal assistance for tenants and landlords affected by the pandemic is available at njcourts.gov.

STUART RABNER
Chief Justice of the New Jersey Supreme Court
For more information contact :

Office of Communications and Community Relations
609-815-2910 www.njcourts.gov
RICHARD J . HUGHES JUSTI CE COMPLEX · P.O. BOX 0 37 · TRENTON , NJ 08625-0984

06/04/2021

The New Jersey Supreme Court has lifted the suspension of all commercial eviction trials effective immediately.

Pending and newly filed commercial evictions will now be scheduled for trial, which, in general, will be conducted in a remote format. While it remains to be seen exactly how and when these cases will be scheduled for trial by individual counties, this is a step in the right direction.

If you are a commercial landlord seeking to evict a tenant, contact Park & Caporrino. we're here to help.

04/27/2021

The federal Small Business Administration is opening applications on May 3 at noon for the Restaurant Revitalization Fund, a $28.6 billion pot of money to help the restaurant industry devastated by the COVID-19 pandemic over the past year.

Registration for the applications begins April 30 30 at 9 a.m., the federal agency announced, and applications will remain open until funds run out.

Grants are capped at $10 million per business, and $5 million per location, and have to be completely used by March 11, 2023.

In order to target smaller employers, there are tiered set-asides for businesses depending on how much revenue they earned in 2019: $5 billion for businesses with up to half a million dollars in gross revenue, $500 million for businesses with up to $50,000 made in 2019, and $4 billion for restaurants that made between half a million dollars and $1.5 million in 2019.

04/05/2021

The Firm is pleased to announce that James A. Caporrino, Esq. has been appointed to the Board of Directors of the Solo and Small Firm Section of the New Jersey State Bar Association.

03/18/2021

About $353 million will be made available to low and moderate-income households that have had a substantial reduction in income as a result of the pandemic. The application period begins Monday, March 22. Learn more about the program here.

Here's how it works, according to the New Jersey Department of Community Affairs (DCA): "Applicants for the COVID-19 Emergency Rental Assistance Program Phase II (CVERAP Phase II) may be eligible for up to 12 months of rental assistance to help pay for rent arrears incurred after March 13, 2020, and future rent to the extent that funds are available. Households that already received assistance in Phase I of the program but need additional rent support and have not yet received the maximum 12 months of emergency rental assistance (including CVERAP Phase I) can apply for additional funding. Every three months, the applicant's household income and COVID-19 impact will be reviewed to determine if assistance is still needed and then recertified. If deemed eligible, applicants may only receive a maximum of three months of assistance at each recertification for future rent payments. Assistance that is no longer required will be used to serve additional families."
Here's who qualifies:

New Jersey resident 18 years of age or older
Qualifies for unemployment or has experienced a reduction in household income, incurred significant costs, or experienced a financial hardship due, directly or indirectly, to the COVID-19 pandemic
Demonstrates a risk of experiencing homelessness or housing instability
Has a household income at or below 80 percent of the area median income. Maximum income limits can be found online at https://www.nj.gov/dca/cverap2.shtml
The program will also help provide households that are very low-income and homeless with six months of future rent. Additionally, it will assist in paying for security deposits and case management for homeless households to help them "bridge to more sustainable support" by the end of the six months of rental assistance, officials said.

CVERAP Phase II applications can be submitted online starting at 9 a.m. on March 22 at https://njdca.onlinepha.com. People with disabilities or limited English proficiency can contact DCA applicant services at (609) 490-4550 for assistance from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., seven days a week during the open enrollment period.

03/10/2021