Insights
Updates on immigration, personal injury, real estate law, and news from Baltazard Law Office.
Real Estate
A New York appellate court has ruled that the state's 2022 Foreclosure Abuse Prevention Act can be used, years later, to revisit an already-denied motion and defeat a foreclosure action — reinforcing that lenders can no longer rely on a voluntary discontinuance to reset the clock on how long they have to sue
Personal Injury
A New York appellate court has reinstated a car accident lawsuit against a rideshare driver, ruling that a defendant seeking dismissal under the state's "serious injury" threshold must also prove the plaintiff's injuries were not caused by the crash — not simply that the injuries fall short of the legal definition
Immigration
A new executive order signed September 18, 2026 directs the Departments of Labor, Homeland Security, and State to factor an employer's recent and planned layoffs into H-1B visa decisions at every stage of the process, from wage certification through consular interviews — a shift that reaches sponsoring employers and prospective visa holders nationwide and abroad
Real Estate
New York City's first-ever annual surcharge on second homes and investment apartments, the so-called pied-à-terre tax, reached a key procedural deadline this month: property owners who wanted to contest the city's non-primary-residence determination or its valuation had until September 18, 2026 to do so, even as a separate legal fight over how the tax was rolled out continues in the background
Personal Injury
A New York appellate court has reversed a lower court's decision that had cleared a property owner of liability for a tenant's fall during a snowstorm, ruling that a defendant cannot win dismissal simply by showing snow was falling at the time of the accident — it must also rule out the possibility that the ice underfoot was left over from an earlier storm
Immigration
The White House has extended the $100,000 fee on new H-1B petitions for another twelve months, even as the fee remains legally unenforceable while federal courts continue to review whether it was ever lawful in the first place — a split that leaves employers nationwide, and the foreign workers they hope to sponsor, in a familiar state of limbo
Real Estate
A significant rewrite of the New York law that lets property owners seek court-ordered access to a neighbor's land to complete construction and repairs, signed by Governor Hochul in December 2025, continues to change how these disputes are handled as building projects move forward across the state
Personal Injury
State Senator Kristen Gonzalez and Assemblymember Diana Moreno have introduced legislation that would bar New York retailers from selling or advertising battery-powered bikes and scooters capable of exceeding 20 miles per hour as though they were ordinary, street-legal e-bikes or e-scooters, following a string of fatal crashes tied to illegally modified devices
Immigration
A federal judge in Maryland has temporarily blocked the Trump administration from enforcing a new executive order that would strip automatic U.S. citizenship from certain children born on American soil, the latest turn in a legal fight that reaches families nationwide, and those planning to give birth while visiting or working in the United States, over one of the Constitution's oldest guarantees
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