People, remember that since NYC's real estate market is crazy, there are some unsavory types out there. The Post's Police Blotter reports that one renter paid $2,900 to man allegedly posing as a real estate broker in East Harlem. "Lawrence Paul, 49, showed the victim an apartment in a building on East 116th Street on June 27 and allegedly said a similar one on the fourth floor would soon be available, the sources said. The victim forked over cash and returned on the move-in date only to find the apartment occupied and no sign of Paul, the sources said." Paul was charged with grand larceny. Also, don't fall for the "give me the deposit, I'll send you keys later" scam. more ›

A coalition of bottled water companies—including Nestle Waters, which owns Poland Spring, and Keeper Springs, a smaller company owned by environmental advocate Robert F. Kennedy Jr.—filed a lawsuit yesterday to challenge a new state law that would require bottled water companies to charge a 5 cent deposit fee. The complaint argues that the law violates the Constitution’s equal protection clause because it exempts drinks with sugar added, such as competitors like Glacéau, makers of Vitamin Water. Lawyers also say the deposit would violate the Constitution’s interstate commerce protections the law because it could be interpreted as prohibiting companies from selling the New York-labeled bottles in other states. more ›

This weekend, the NY Times real estate section looks at tales of would-be condo buyers who have their deposits (many in the six-figure range) with banks now suddenly worried about lending. In 2005, one couple put down a 10% deposit—and were approved for a mortgage—for a Toll Brothers two-bedroom in Hoboken; when they tried to close last fall, many banks told them to increase the deposit by 15-25% for a mortgage. Since the couple couldn't, "Toll Brothers declared them in default and kept their deposit" of $93,199. That couple is suing, as is another who forfeited their 10% deposit ($173,000) on a (non-Toll Brothers) Chelsea two-bedroom, because "mortgage brokers told them that 90 percent financing no longer existed." Some buyers buying smaller units or scraping up more money for deposits, but many contracts before last fall required buyers to be committed to the property "regardless of whether they could get financing." Jonathan J. Miller, of research and appraisal firm Miller Samuel, tells the Times, “It’s going to get worse before it gets better, because it will only start to ease when credit stabilizes.” more ›