Everybody is familiar with the part of a wedding where the audience is given an opportunity by the person officiating to express why the couple about to be married should not proceed with the ceremony, telling all present to...more
As any parent with more than one child can attest, most people, including not only children but also adults, believe that if another person commits the first offense, then a counter, or retaliatory offense is justified. Such...more
There are many situations, both in real estate transactions and in non-real estate transactions, when a party to a contract wishes to transfer, or assign, its contractual rights to somebody else. Assignments are commonplace...more
Many real estate contracts include an “arbitration provision,” whereby the parties to the contract agree that they will resolve any disputes which may arise between them through arbitration, and not through the judicial...more
The reason that many people want to live in a community that is governed by “Codes, Covenants and Restrictions” (“CC&R’s) is to have the peace-of-mind that comes with knowing that everybody in the community is “playing by the...more
Owning a piece of land without any means of accessing it is akin to owning a car without the keys. While the absence of access to land, like the absence of keys to a car, does not have any impact on the fact of ownership, it...more
Most anybody who works in real estate knows what a mortgage is. Simply stated, a mortgage is a lien against property given by the property owner to a lender to secure the repayment of a loan made by the lender to the property...more
A basic truth about contracts is that once the contracting parties have come to a meeting of their minds regarding the terms of their contract, absent some overriding law, such as one that makes the contract illegal, or some...more
As hard as real estate agents, title companies, attorneys, and anybody else who drafts contracts, may strive for perfection in their drafting, it is not unusual for the finished product to include a provision that is...more
One of the great things about being a real estate agent is that when a transaction closes, the agent gets paid his or her commission regardless of how much time and effort expended by the agent in connection with the...more
7/16/2020
/ Breach of Contract ,
Burden of Proof ,
Buyers ,
Compensation ,
Homeowners ,
Liquidated Damages ,
Real Estate Agents ,
Real Estate Brokers ,
Sales Commissions ,
Sellers ,
Withdrawal Liability
When a commercial tenant leases space in a shopping center or mall, a primary consideration for the tenant is the expected benefit to their business of the foot traffic from the customers that will be attracted to the other...more
4/30/2020
/ Assignments ,
Business Closures ,
Co-Tenants ,
Commercial Leases ,
Commercial Tenants ,
Contract Terms ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Financial Distress ,
Landlords ,
Rent Reduction ,
Shopping Centers ,
Shopping Malls
In the not-so-distant past, if you wanted to get from one place to another without a car of your own, you would call a taxi, with your only choice being which of the many taxicab companies to call upon. Now, of course,...more
11/15/2019
/ AirBnB ,
CC&Rs ,
Homeowners ,
Homeowners Association (HOA) ,
Local Ordinance ,
Rental Property ,
Restrictive Covenants ,
Sharing Economy ,
Short-Term Lease ,
State Legislatures ,
Vacation Rentals ,
VRBO.com
Has it ever crossed your mind — even if only for a moment — that if you are extra super nice to rich old Aunt Harriet (or whomever the “Aunt Harriet” in your life may be), who is getting up there in years, never had any...more
Anybody who has ever had a child has heard the refrain “but that’s NOT FAIR.” While the concept of “fairness” plays a big role in how the world should operate in the minds of children, there is sometimes a disconnect between...more
All real estate professionals and investors are familiar with the concept of the priority of liens. As a general rule, when there are multiple liens recorded against a property, the one that is recorded first is “superior”...more
Most tenants and their real estate agents who negotiate commercial leases accept that many of the terms in the landlord’s “form” lease favor the landlord. One term, however, that favors only the tenant, and which every...more
After months of searching, you have finally found the house of your dreams, and much to your delight the Seller has accepted your offer of $500,000. You deposit your $15,000 “earnest money” with the escrow company, and an...more
8/3/2015
/ Breach of Contract ,
Buyers ,
Damages ,
Default ,
Due Diligence ,
Home Buyer ,
Inspections ,
Land Titles ,
Lis Pendens ,
Mortgage Escrow Account ,
Remedies ,
Residential Real Estate Market ,
Sellers ,
Specific Performance
There are seemingly two types of people who live in houses or condominiums that are subject to rules and regulations, known as Codes, Covenants and Restrictions, or “CC&R’s.” There are those who live there because there are...more
In commercial leases, it is common for the tenant to be given the “option” to continue to lease their premises for a new term commencing immediately upon the expiration of the existing term. Although the option only favors...more
While it is true that you most often cannot tell much about a book by its title, the same does not hold true when it comes to real estate, as how title is held to real estate, does tell you a lot. The question faced by a...more
So Joe, who lives and works in Chicago, has decided that he wasn’t getting enough use out of his second home in Scottsdale, located on the 15th fairway of a very challenging golf course, and has, with some regret, put it up...more
While most commercial leases contain a requirement that the tenant will execute a “Subordination, Non-Disturbance and Attornment Agreement,” commonly referred to a an “SNDA,” a majority of tenants who have signed such leases,...more
Many people use the terms “mediation” and “arbitration” interchangeably, mistakenly believing they are two different words that mean the same thing. While the English language is curiously replete with examples of different...more