legal liability for sf representations; units sold numbers

I am not a real estate lawyer but I would imagine yes especially if these pieces of information induced you to make your purchase and there is no disclaimer/disclosure in the offering plan to explain away their approximations. I would imagine its certainly an argument to get out of a contract. Not sure it would fly but on the right facts I think there are strong grounds for it to fly.

My question is in regard to material misstatements, (what is material is an issue but I think it would be at least greater than say one or two percent in magnitude)

i dont think that promotional materials count and....i have never heard of a real estate contract that mentioned square feet. as fair as reps re: units under contract seems like that could easily be squirmed out of based on contracts falling through as well as the fact that those reps are usually verbal.

Caveat emptor- count SF yourself. I'd say once you close, it's a done deal; prior representations (like an owner's SF fantasy) cannot override the closed contract: it's called the Statute of Frauds. Always do due diligence, trust, but confirm.

Apparently condos state sqf but coops don´t. Something to do with owning shares, not the concrete place. There is also no uniform way of counting. Some count from outside wall, others the inside, some count shared space, some don´t. It seems there is no one specific protocol about measuring RE in NY. Adding to the problem, I see houses in propertyshark that are identical, and one shows as having 3OOO feet and other has 4OOO. Some are old valuations that dont consider the basement or, in some cases, even the garden floor.

On most of the major brokers' web sites, you'll see all kinds of disclaimers about square footage. E.g., Prudential Elliman only lists "Approx SqFT" and caveats: "All square footage and dimensions are approximate. Exact dimensions can be obtained by retaining the services of a professional architect or engineer."

I believe it is a real estate best practice not to advertise any square footage without "approximately" in front of it. Some agents I've known won't advertise square footage at all. Others will only list square footage if they can cite a source like tax records, a professional's measurements, etc. Advertising square footage with no "approximately," disclaimer, and/or source for the measurements is asking for trouble.

And, I'm not entirely sure about NY, but I believe most square footage measurements are from exterior wall to exterior wall and do not include below-grade space.

Further to developers not having just rolled off the turnip truck, here's some typical Offering Plan language. There's probably corresponding verbiage in purchase agreements and other docs.

"Purchaser acknowledges that Purchaser has not relied upon any architect's plans, sales plans, selling brochures, advertisements, representations, warranties, statements or estimates of any nature whatsoever, whether written or oral, made by Sponsor, Selling Agent or others, including, but not limited to, any relating to the description or physical condition of the Property, the Building or the Unit, or the size or dimensions of the condition of the Property or the rooms therein contained or any other physical characteristics thereof, the services to be provided to Unit Owners or the estimated common charges . . ."

If it's not big enough, don't buy it.

It would seem there would have to be recourse if one went into contract on a pre construction unit based on plans and for sake of example signed on for a 1900 sf 2 bdrm and when you went to close your unit was now 1000sf.
In an example i'm familiar with it was specified in the contract that if there was greater than a 5% variance of sq footage described in offering plan that contract could be nullified and deposit returned.

great...if you're right...time to nullify.

looks like there's life after death.

Most contracts include clauses in which you disclaim any reliance on such matters. Even if the contract does not, the further off the numbers are the less "reasonable" anyone can claim that they relied on misstated square footage. Frankly, I would say anyone relying on square footage claims in NYC acted unreasonably without further analysis. Now, if someone gave you a floorplan, particularly in a new development where you might not have actually saw what you were buying, and the room dimensions were actually false, that might present a different situation.

nyc_sport- that's what i was referring to (new construction- buying off plans). my question arose from another thread regarding people saying northside piers is dramatically overstating the square footage. my thought was that if true, this could bite them in the ass come closing time.
but i agree, if you are buying something that actually exists, the stated sq footage would be less important

No, sellers and agents are NOT liable. Nearly all listings have fine print that says something like "All square footage statements are approximate. Hire your own architect for the exact measurements."