Welcome to September! We cannot believe how quickly the year is going and that Catina & Mara, PLLC will soon be celebrating its first anniversary! Over the past year, we have really focused on how we can best serve our clients, including our small business clients. Over the years, we have both represented small businesses...Read More

Simply put, a title search is an examination of the records concerning a property to ascertain the current ownership of the property and whether there are outstanding liens, judgments, foreclosure or bankruptcy proceedings and/or other encumbrances on the property that could impede the sale of marketable title to a purchaser. In a real estate transaction,...Read More

What is title insurance and do I really need it? This is a question we get quite often from clients who are purchasing a home. Whether you’re purchasing a new home, or an existing home, title insurance will protect you from most problems that could affect title to your home. In New York, title insurance...Read More

After finalizing the contract of sale and any riders thereto, the next steps in the process involve obtaining a home inspection and ascertaining what – if any – repairs the buyer will request the seller to address. A home inspection is a deep-dive into every nook and cranny of the property by a professional, licensed...Read More

We started this month talking about the professionals that you will work with that will get you to the closing table. It’s important to understand all of the different people you will need to coordinate to close on a property. It’s also important to know what some of the most important provisions are that will...Read More

Until you enter into the realm of purchasing or selling real estate, you may not be aware that a real estate transaction requires the intersection of many, many professionals in order to get to the closing table. In this blog post, we want to highlight for you some of the professionals with whom you will...Read More

If you have ever owned a business or thought about starting your own business, we are sure you have heard the phrase, “corporate books and records.” And someone likely told you to “maintain and update” those books and records. Right?Irrespective of the kind of business entity you have, a business’s books and records typically includes...Read More

Among the many other things that a business owner has to consider when starting a business, one of the most important things, if not the most important thing, that a business owner has to consider, is what legal structure is best for the business. In the beginning, there are many factors to consider.The most common...Read More

Laura and I (Amy) have helped our business clients maneuver through various aspects of their business operations: personnel issues, customer collection matters, contract revisions, and vendor disputes. Oftentimes, these issues can be resolved, and new practices can be implemented to prevent certain foreseeable issues to recur. Headaches, time, and money aside, oftentimes these issues are...Read More

Having written company policies in an employee handbook is always important, but now more so than ever. With the country opening up after more than a year of many employees working from home, businesses are grappling with employees returning to the office in person and how to go about implementing a post-pandemic return to work...Read More