Spanburgh: It’s Hard To Designate, But Easy To Demolish

About a year ago I learned about an interesting turn of events in Ramapo, N.Y. where a building was torn down with permission, but yet the bank didn’t know and there was an outstanding mortgage. The bank became curious and sent a representative to the property. The bank’s rep called the bank thinking maybe they had given him the wrong address because the property was vacant. Uh oh. I don’t remember all of the details about the Ramapo case, but here’s the point: the demolition permit did not require the signature of anyone and everyone with an interest or stake in the property. Naturally a significant lawsuit followed.

So here we are in Southampton and the same is basically true. Except in the villages of Sag Harbor and Sagaponack where I believe mortgagee waivers are required, if Mr. & Mrs. Smith own a house, and Mrs. Smith signs the demolition permit without her husband’s knowledge, Mr. Smith might just come home one day to his, well, garage, or yard, or driveway, but not his house. Bummer. Then what? Mr. Smith is going to go to the Building Department and ask, “How can this happen?” And when he doesn’t get the answers he wants, he’s probably going to sue the town.

Some see this as an issue to be addressed within a mortgage agreement or contract of sale. But all it would take on the town’s part is a simple waiver, signed by all owners and the mortgagee. Thankfully this is in the works. After all, while this may seem like one extra piece of paper in the sometimes seemingly endless amount of bureaucratic paperwork, it’s cheaper than a lawsuit, right?