Condo Square Footage Dispute Settled for $150K

In New York City's cramped housing market, where closets pass for studio apartments, every square foot counts. So when Brooklyn, N.Y., homeowners Rishi and Heather Bhandari discovered that their brand new condominium unit was built nearly 20 percent smaller than promised, they fought back.

After a nearly four-year-long dispute over a 109-square-foot discrepancy, the couple agreed to settle with luxury developer Two Trees Management for $150,000. The couple refused, however, an additional $20,000 to stay quiet about the terms of the settlement.

"It's not right," Rishi Bhandari, pictured above, told AOL Real Estate. Bhandari, who is also a lawyer, represented the couple in the dispute. "They knew they were lying. If we had walked away, the next buyer would have been deceived by the same floor plans."

Find out after the jump how to prevent a bait and switch on your next condo purchase.