Law Offices of Michael W. Goldstein

I was looking for a New York real estate attorney to represent me in selling the house that I inherited in Brooklyn NY. I realized that I needed an attorney experienced in both NY real estate transactions, and estates (as well as real estate litigation, in case the deal imploded.). My previous attorney had represented me in getting a contract signed to sell the house to a real estate investor, but then we were faced with numerous obstacles, including the investor’s delay of the closing date, and repeated efforts to reduce the agreed purchase price by hundreds of thousands of dollars. My previous attorney was not able to complete the sale at the agreed price due to various legal issues that arose. My search for an attorney who would get the job done came up with many impressive real estate attorneys, however Michael W. Goldstein stood out to me the most. He had the experience I was looking for, and his Google reviews were from people who I could relate to. I could tell in my first conversation with Michael that he had the experience and calm assurance I wanted from an attorney advocating for me. As the transaction seemed to progress toward the closing, the buyer again used various title issues in order to pressure me to reduce the selling price. Michael was prepared every time, and assured me that we would not cave into the buyer’s attempts to wear me down into accepting a lower price. Even when I was about to give in to the buyer’s pressure, Michael fought hard and saved me from making a huge mistake that could have cost me $150,000. Michael explained that his firm responses were preparing for a potential down payment lawsuit if the buyer refused to complete the purchase at the agreed contract price. As a result of Michael’s unwavering determination and clever strategy, we forced the buyer to close the sale at the agreed contract price without any price reduction. This might seem like simply completing a sale as agreed, but in this situation, with this buyer, that was a huge victory! Michael was very knowledgeable, and easy to work with. When developing our strategy, he discussed our options, and explained how the steps he was taking would compel the buyer to either complete the purchase at the agreed price, or lose the down payment. I recommend Michael to anyone looking for an experienced NY real estate attorney who aggressively protects his client’s interests. I will certainly have Michael represent me in any future New York real estate purchaser or sale.

Mr Goldstein was amazing. I couldn’t get a response from a mechanic that refused to return my vehicle. And after one letter from Mr. Goldstein, my situation was resolved. He was worth every penny.

My wife and I used Michael last year to resolve an issue with our contractor. The contractor overcharged us for work he didn't do, and for damages his team caused. Michael was able to successfully reverse the lien and to make sure the contractor did not get a penny more than what he actually worked on correctly. We will definitely use Michael again in the future if the need arises.

Michael W. Goldstein, Esq. was essential in assisting me resolve an old real estate UCC Lien issue. His years of experience and expertise gave me a lot of peace of mind throughout the process. Michael always responded to emails and texts in a timely manner. And if that's not enough, he removed the UCC Lien to my satisfaction. I plan to use him again and highly recommend his services!

I retained Michael Goldstein to represent me in the purchase of a restaurant in Manhattan. He was recommended to me by another lawyer. Michael was very comprehensive in his negotiation of the terms of the contract, and rewriting important parts of the contract to protect my legal rights. We later learned of significant problems with the restaurant, and Michael was able to get me out of the deal and avoid the litigation that the seller threatened. When I find another restaurant that I want to purchase, I will be sure that Michael represents me in that transaction.

Michael Goldstein represented us in our purchase of our first home. Michael was very professional, knowledgeable, and conscientious from the contract through the closing. Michael took the time to review and explain the terms of the real estate contract to us. Most important, he was able to renegotiate the terms of the contract with the seller’s attorney, which ultimately changed the seller’s one-sided contract into a contract that protected our legal rights. Michael’s attention to detail and years of experience helped us to avoid potential problems that we could not foresee prior to closing, such as repair issues that the seller failed to fix. Michael’s work did not end there. He played an instrumental role in corresponding with the title company about boundary issues that showed up on the survey. The best part of working with Michael during this process is that he always made himself accessible through email and phone calls to answer any questions and concerns that we had. Once all of the legal requirements were met and the loan was cleared, Michael prepared us for closing. At the closing, we advised Michael that our inspection just before the closing revealed that several of the agreed repairs had not been completed to our satisfaction. Michael took us into another room where he presented us with several options. After we expressed our preference, Michael negotiated a solution with the seller's attorney, and drafted an agreement which was signed at the closing. This agreement as well as money held in escrow, insured that those items would be completed shortly after the closing. We could not have gone through this tedious process without Michael’s guidance. Because of his tireless work, our home buying experience was smooth, and we were able to close in a short amount of time, and make sure that the seller completed the agreed repairs. I would highly recommend Michael Goldstein to represent other home buyers.

Michael negotiated and revised the terms of a 33 page home renovation contract prepared by the contractor or the contractor's attorney. After negotiations back and forth, we finally ended up with a much better 67 page contract that protected me from the onerous terms in the original contact, and saved me many thousands of dollars in contractor's charges. I would definitely recommend Michael Goldstein for contract drafting and negotiation.

Michael Goldstein represented me and my 6 siblings in our father’s complicated estate, which included paternity issues regarding a few of my siblings. Michael submitted numerous affidavits and other evidence to the judge, which resolved the paternity issue. We were relieved that we did not have to testify at a hearing or obtain DNA samples from my siblings and our late father’s remains. The next step was getting Surrogate’s Court approval for the distribution of the settlement of my father’s accident case. Michael again submitted affidavits and other papers, and convinced the judge to approve the distribution of the estate assets in the way that my brothers and sisters and I had agreed. Michael guided us and kept us advised of the progress throughout the legal proceeding. Although the process was tedious and the court was relentless in requiring more and more proof of paternity and other facts, Michael stuck with it and finally convinced the court. He then promptly completed the estate preceding and distributed the settlement money. All of his hard work and compassion helped to bring some closure to our family. I would definitely recommend him if you have a challenging estate administration in New York.

Michael checked and amended legal documents for my business, he was very professional and thorough. Would highly recommend!

I found Michael Goldstein because I was involved in a real estate transaction in which the seller refused to return the downpayment and litigation was imminent. Michael listened to my situation patiently and attentively during our consultation and dissected the case from every angle. He drafted thorough and precise documents and offered creative solutions. Throughout this entire process, he was responsive and easily reachable. He had a great attitude and made me feel comfortable. I am extremely pleased with the outcome of this case and would recommend Michael Goldstein to anyone looking for a dependable, attentive, and creative lawyer.

Savvy lawyer and consummate professional. I enlisted Michael's assistance in a down payment dispute regarding the purchase of a house in which the deal fell through. Despite the seller's refusal to refund the down payment, and my prior attorney being unable to convince the seller to return any part of the down payment, Michael was able to negotiate a settlement in which we got almost all of the down payment returned prior to starting a lawsuit. All interactions with him were pleasant, communication was clear, and compensation was fair. This is an honest and smart-working guy you want on your side!

Great Lawyer. Michael was extremely responsive and returned my call after hours. He structured my business contract perfectly and is assisting me with me current case. I can't say enough good things about his service.

After interviewing several attorneys, we chose to retain Michael to handle our legal matter. During the initial consultation, Michael quickly assessed our situation and made impressive recommendations to have our matter resolved quickly and efficiently. I appreciated the fact Michael is always accessible, and is extremely thorough in his responses and overall management of our legal case. He truly went above and beyond and we are extremely pleased with the end results. He is great at managing expectations and respectful of our decisions. He had a great understanding of what we were looking for and was proactive in presenting multiple options to get us the results we wanted. I would highly recommend retaining Michael for all legal matters. He is a pleasure to work with, and you will not be disappointed if you choose to retain him!

Michael W. Goldstein has been representing my father in a lawsuit against someone who filed a fraudulent deed making him the owner of my dad’s house. He then rented out most of the house, and kept the rent, and forced my father to live in a small part of his own house, with no working kitchen, and an unfinished bathroom. I have read some of the papers filed by Michael Goldstein, and by the defendant’s lawyer. Michael Goldstein’s most recent submission was epic, easily one of the best responses ever, hands down! My father and I really appreciate all of his hard work and support. We don't know what we would do if we didn't have him fighting for us. We are reminded of this horrendous experience every single day, unfortunately, but knowing that we have support like his gives us hope. We truly appreciate everything he has done and continues to do for my father and me. Michael Goldstein has been a constant reminder that there are still good people in this world. Words cannot truly express our immeasurable gratitude for all of his efforts. . PS: We won the lawsuit, but a few days later, the defendant filed papers trying to reverse our victory. We are optimistic that the court will declare our victory final!

Michael Goldstein revised several contracts we used in our construction company and has also helped negotiate new agreements that were presented to us by companies we started dealing with recently. Not only were we pleased with the results, but we’ve been very impressed especially with his ability to think ahead and point things out that may otherwise go unnoticed. He’s thorough in his approach and carefully explains what needs to be done in order to protect your legal interests. Also, we enjoy working with him directly. He doesn’t pass you along to someone else, whereas in other firms you may deal with one person today and another person tomorrow. Michael sees it through from start to finish. Furthermore, he’s approachable and comfortable to correspond with via phone and email, which is one of many reasons as to why we've continuously worked with him over the last few years. He has shown that he’s knowledgeable in all areas of construction and real estate that we’ve discussed with him thus far and has gone above and beyond our expectations from day 1. We’re glad to have been able to work together and would definitely recommend him to anyone needing a business contract prepared, reviewed, or negotiated.

Commercial Real Estate Transaction | CLOSED Posted by AP January 15, 2017 We signed a contract to purchase a commercial property over the summer but the seller tried to circumvent closing. Remarkably, 6 weeks of Mr. Goldstein's involvement in a completely stalled real estate transaction managed to coax the outcome we had unsuccessfully chased for months prior to engaging him as litigation counsel. Nearly 6 months post contract signing, the seller didn't seem to think the contractual obligation to close was real, however Michael sent a series of letters declaring time of essence which the seller rejected on merit-less claims, even citing a NYS Supreme Court decision defining "reasonable period of time" to fix a closing date as 30 days. Given multiple 11th hour adjournments offering no valid reasons over the course of several months, this was laughable, at best. In response to the rejections, Michael drafted letters utilizing the contract and also cited NYS Supreme Court decisions to validate our position. We subsequently closed on the property. Though we were prepared to see this through to the end, we we were glad to avoid a lengthy and potentially costly litigation. There was a binding contract in place; we were resolute that we would not walk away from this deal. Mr. Goldstein helped us realize our goal of closing. He got the job done and he did so by paying shrewd attention to the details and stalwartly maintaining our position that there was no easy way out of completing the transaction. His letters and emails were assertive, decisive and compelling. On phone calls, he was always open, frank and conveyed a brass tacks approach to the case. He is a good negotiator and works hard to get the desired outcome. As a result, we will continue to consult Mr. Goldstein on legal matters. He absolutely earned this 5 star review. 1/8/17 Several months after opening escrow on a commercial property, we waited for the seller to commit and see the closing through. After multiple seller-initiated adjournments, we resolved to retain an experienced real estate litigator, someone to resuscitate this seemingly pulse-less deal. Mr. Goldstein wrote a series of letters restating our position as sanctioned by the contract of sale. He articulated that we as the purchaser had been, remained and would continue to be ready, willing and able to close. He responded to seller's objections with hard facts and dates that supported our position as willing to close and underscored the number of seller initiated adjournment requests, with no clear explanation for cancelling. Seller appeared to be willfully breaching the contract by steadfastly adjourning closing date after closing date without good reason. Michael pointed to the extraordinary allowances of time as well as the associated financial costs we had incurred due to these irrational and unexplained delays. A time of essence date was fixed and the clock is now counting down. Michael has been nothing short of professional, responsive and clear. He set a realistic timeline and gave us frank advice on what to expect as we neared the TOE date. He remains committed to the plan we set forth and is prepared to shepherd this deal to closing or successfully litigate our case. With Michael's guidance and support, we are confident and 100% committed to seeing this deal through to the end. We will provide updates as this case progresses...

Mr. Goldstein was great in helping me my case. He has also has been very helpful months after the case was closed in answering follow up questions I had. Would certainly recommend. UPDATE 10/11/16 Mr. Goldstein has continued to aid me in my case to this day. Extremely willing to go the extra mile!

I have known Michael Goldstein for 14 years. I have referred a number of clients who had business transactions and commercial cases to him knowing that they would be handled well. Even more so, when I had my own Commercial Litigation case, I retained Michael. I have sought his legal advice on many occasions and am pleased to state that he has come up with trenchant and perceptive approaches as a matter of course. -Lawrence Leonard, Attorney at Law

"Excellent Personal Injury Attorney" Mr. Michael Goldstein represented me in a personal injury case against my landlord. I slipped on ice on the steps in the vestibule of my apartment building, and my arm was fractured and required surgery. I am a warehouse worker, and this was a horrible injury that affected my livelihood. He immediately investigated, before any evidence disappeared, which turned out to be critical to my case. He thoroughly understood the issues involved with my injury and the impact on my work. He was masterful at developing my case and moving it quickly to completion. His persistence resulted in an out of court settlement that I was very pleased with. Mr.Goldstein fought hard for me. He was very professional and very caring. He was honest and forthright and always available to answer my questions, which he did patiently and thoroughly. I would recommend him wholeheartedly. He was the perfect lawyer to help me during an extremely difficult time.