Common Title Issues and How Attorneys Resolve Them

Eugene Strupinsky • April 10, 2026

In any real estate transaction, ensuring that the title is clear before closing is essential. Title issues can delay or even derail property sales, causing stress for all parties involved. The legal landscape in New York can be particularly challenging due to the complex history of properties in neighborhoods like Brooklyn, where multiple prior owners and older deeds are common. Attorneys play a vital role in resolving these issues to help buyers, sellers, and lenders avoid future disputes or financial loss.

Understanding Easements and Their Impact on Title

Easements grant others the right to use a portion of a property for a specific purpose. In Brooklyn, for instance, shared driveways or access paths between brownstones are common examples, and discovering an undisclosed easement during a title search can raise red flags. An easement may impact future development or limit the use of the property, causing concern for buyers. An attorney reviews the title report, traces the history of the easement, and negotiates solutions such as formalizing agreements or obtaining necessary releases to clear the title before closing.

Dealing with Liens: A Common Challenge

Liens, whether they stem from unpaid property taxes, construction work, or judgments against a previous owner, pose a significant barrier to transfer of clean title. In New York's ever-evolving market, a buyer may uncover municipal liens or old unpaid utility bills attached to the property. Attorneys resolve these by:

Investigating the origin and validity of each lien
Negotiating with creditors for settlement or payoff
Ensuring all releases are properly recorded

This thorough approach prevents buyers from inheriting someone else's financial obligations at closing.

Boundary Disputes and Encroachments: Protecting Property Rights

Boundary disputes are a frequent issue in densely packed neighborhoods like parts of Brooklyn. For example, a fence encroaching over a property line or confusion due to outdated or incorrect surveys can spark disagreements between current or prospective neighbors. Attorneys address these matters by ordering updated surveys, reviewing historical deeds, and in some cases, initiating quiet title actions. By proactively resolving disputes, they provide clients peace of mind that the parcel's limits are undisputed at closing.

Clearing Title Before Closing: The Legal Process

Clearing a title is a comprehensive process that ensures all obstacles are addressed before ownership is transferred. Attorneys representing buyers or sellers perform the following actions to secure a clear title:

Conducting due diligence and a meticulous title review
Communicating with title insurance companies to identify and rectify issues
Facilitating settlements that satisfy outstanding judgments or claims
Drafting and recording legal documents to remove encumbrances

In New York, these steps are critical, considering the city's diverse property histories and intricate legal environment. A knowledgeable legal team will anticipate common pitfalls and efficiently navigate the process, ensuring a timely closing.

Ready for a Smooth Closing? Contact Khalifeh & Strupinsky, P.C. Today

If you are facing complex title issues in Brooklyn or the New York, NY area, working with experienced real estate attorneys is key to a successful transaction. Khalifeh & Strupinsky, P.C. regularly assists clients with real estate closings, title review and the resolution of easements, liens, and boundary matters unique to the local market. Safeguard your investment by calling 917-717-5007 or filling out the online form on our website to schedule a confidential consultation.

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Are Communications with AI Privileged?: Judge Rakoff delivers opinion in United States v. Heppner

By Kayla Gaisi • March 10, 2026

As generative AI becomes increasingly integrated into our daily lives, it continues to raise legal questions that courts can no longer ignore. This month, the question of whether communications between criminal defendants and public AI are protected from government inspection was answered by Judge Jed Rakoff. That answer was an unequivocal 'no.' In the case at hand, defendant Bradely Heppner was charged with fraud and arrested a month later, in November 2025. When the FBI executed a search warrant at his home, they seized documents containing communications between him and the public AI platform Claude AI. According to Heppner's counsel, these communications reflected a defense strategy Heppner had generated in anticipation of potential indictment. Heppner asserted that these documents were either protected under attorney-client privilege or by the work product doctrine, arguing that he had used Claude for the purpose of obtaining legal advice and had shared these outputs with his attorneys. However, Judge Rakoff rejected both arguments. Attorney-client privilege applies only to communications between a client and a professional who owes them fiduciary duties and is subject to discipline. It is a socially valuable human relationship. Regardless of how advanced an AI systems is, it cannot meet this definition. Claude is not a human attorney and does not have an attorney-client relationship with its users, so communications with it cannot qualify for attorney-client privilege. Aside from this, Rakoff listed other reasons why Heppner's communications with Claude are not considered confidential. Firstly, Claude is a public AI system whose privacy policy discloses that communications can be shared with third parties including "governmental regulatory authorities." Secondly, as his counsel admitted, Heppner sought legal advice from Claude on his own volition, not at their direction. Even if Heppner received legal advice and later shared that with his counsel, that does not render the initially unprivileged communication privileged. The related work product doctrine fared no better for Heppner. This doctrine protects materials prepared by attorneys in anticipation of litigation from discovery by opposing parties. Here, the AI-generated documents were not prepared by or at the behest of counsel and did not reflect counsel's strategy. Thus, they fell outside the scope of the doctrine. Judge Rakoff's ruling matters because it maintains the narrowness of evidentiary privileges that is necessary for protecting the judicial system's truth-seeking function. Extending privilege to communications with public AI systems could create a dangerous loophoole, one where parties could shield discoverable information by filtering it through a chatbot. But given Rakoff's ruling, the main takeaway here is that attorneys should explicitly advise their clients not to share personal or legal information with public AI systems. Despite how routine it has now become for many to ask public AI personal questions, these communications are not confidential, and may ultimately be used as evidence in court.