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Second Circuit Construes ILSA to Rescue Condominium Purchasers

By Stewart E. Sterk
August 29, 2013

Does the Interstate Land Sale Full Disclosure Act (ILSA), which permits a buyer to rescind a purchase if the buyer has not received a statutorily mandated “printed property report,” apply to single-floor condominium units? In Berlin v. Renaissance Rental Partners, 2013 WL 1859140 (May 6, 2013), a divided Second Circuit concluded that a single-floor condominium unit qualifies as a “lot” within the meaning of the statute, enabling purchasers who had bought a luxury condominium unit before the 2008 real estate crash to escape from their now-unfavorable sale contracts.

The Statutory and Regulatory Framework

As the United States Supreme Court has observed, ILSA was enacted, in 1968, to “prevent false and deceptive practices in the sale of unimproved tracts of land by requiring developers to disclose information needed by potential buyers.” Flint Ridge Dev. Co. v. Scenic Rivers Ass'n, 426 U.S. 776, 778 (1976). The statute makes it unlawful for a developer to use instrumentalities of commerce to sell or lease “any lot” unless the developer has provided the purchaser with a printed property report in advance of the signing of the contract by the purchaser or lessee. 15 U.S.C. section 1703(a)(1)(B). The statute provides that if the seller does not provide the purchaser with the required property report before signing the contract, the purchaser has a right to rescind the contract within two years of its signing. 15 U.S.C. section 1703(c).

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