Richard Fromewick Featured in LIBN's Who's Who in Real Property, Certiorari & Health Care Law

Media Source: Long Island Business News

Richard G. Fromewick is a member of Meyer, Suozzi, English & Klein, P.C. in Garden City. Fromewick is also chair of the firm’s tax certiorari and condemnation practice, which provides a range of real estate tax assessment services. These include representation with respect to all types of commercial and residential properties in tax assessment reduction proceedings, projection of real estate taxes in connection with the purchase, development and improvement of the properties, and counseling with respect to tax exemption matters.

Fromewick has successfully represented numerous owners and tenants at trial to reduce real property taxes and instituting claims against the State of New York and its municipalities based on the taking of land or other real property rights. He has handled a substantial number of tax certiorari cases involving large commercial properties that have remediation/pollution problems, resulting in sizable refunds for his clients. His expertise in the field has resulted in precedent setting decisions in his clients’ favor.

Real estate transactions require crunching many numbers, Fromewick said.

“Among the most important are the real estate taxes that the seller might have paid in advance and the taxes that the buyer has to pay going forward,” he noted. “The savvy buyer will want to know the history of the real estate tax assessment for the property. That history has to include what the assessor-and there might be more than one if the property is in a village as well as a town or county assessing jurisdiction- is assessing.”

“You don’t want to be surprised by the new renovation/extension or the old illegally installed swimming pool not yet being assessed,” Fromewick said. “The new looking medical offices might still be assessed as the old warehouse space it was two years ago.”

Real estate tax assessments are set in advance and must be protested/grieved several months or even more than a year before the tax bills are generated, he explained.”

“The buyer would want to take over any protest filed by the seller as now the buyer will be responsible for the taxes,” he said. “The buyer might have a veterans, senior or low income tax exemption. Those exemptions might keep the taxes much lower than the buyer will pay without those exemptions. Caveat Emptor – the buyer must be aware of what their real estate taxes will be.”

Fromewick joined the firm as an associate, in 1981, and a director in 1985. He has been a member of the firm’s management committee since 1991. Prior to joining Meyer, Suozzi, Fromewick was a deputy county attorney in the Land Division and deputy bureau chief in the Tax Certiorari Bureau of the Nassau County Attorney’s Office. Earlier in his career, he was an assistant corporation counsel in the New York City Law Department Condemnation Division, where he also served as assistant bureau chief and trial supervisor.

In addition to his law related memberships, Fromewick is a member of the Garden City Chamber of Commerce board of directors. He is the corresponding secretary on the board of directors of the Barry and Florence Friedberg Jewish Community Center, as well as a founding member of the Sunrise Day Camp for Kids with Cancer. Fromewick also serves on the fundraising committees for the Nassau County Mental Health Association, the Gurwin Jewish Nursing and Rehabilitation Center, the Center for Disabilities and the Kidney & Urology Foundation of America.

Founded in 1960, Meyer, Suozzi, English & Klein, P.C. has a reputation for integrity, insight and intellect. The firm’s attorneys are committed to its clients, the community, public affairs and fostering diversity. With offices in Albany, Garden City, Manhattan and Washington, D.C., Meyer, Suozzi, English & Klein provides legal advice in 18 diverse practice areas.