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Efforts Expected of a Contractor When Efforts Clauses Are in Dispute

Originally published by the Daily Journal of Commerce on May 18, 2023. You will often see in construction contracts terms directing the contractor to use “best efforts” or “reasonable efforts” or “commercially reasonable...more

Idaho’s Supreme Court Raises New Questions About the Essential Elements of a Lease

Idaho’s Supreme Court recently issued a new opinion discussing the requirements to form a valid lease agreement. Unfortunately, the case raises as many questions as it answers....more

Another Risk Management Tool for Private Owners in a Volatile Market

Given, well, the state of everything, private owners should seriously consider requiring the contractor to secure a performance bond (a third-party surety guaranteeing the contractor’s performance under the contractor’s...more

The Idaho Supreme Court Is Making It Easier to Inadvertently Lose Property Rights

While the Idaho legislature has been making it harder to lose real property rights through carelessness or inaction, the Idaho Supreme Court has been making it easier. In Idaho, and most other states, it has long been the law...more

Recent Cases Show How Idaho Courts Can Salvage Oral Real Estate Agreements

Two recent opinions of the Idaho Supreme Court, both filed on the same day, concern what the Court described in one those cases as “a sadly familiar story: an oral real estate transaction gone terribly wrong.”...more

Three Tips for Owners and Contractors to Improve Success in 2021

Congratulations! It’s no longer 2020! Yet 2021 begins as déjà vu for the present time. We should anticipate a slow vaccine rollout, ongoing COVID-19 disruptions and possible shutdowns, the need to keep projects under strict...more

Disgorgement Liability in CA for Unlicensed Contractors Runs One Year from Completion or Cessation

In a very recently published case dealing with issues of first impression in California, here, the Second Appellate District in Los Angeles determined that the disgorgement penalty under BPC 7031(b) triggers a one-year...more

Tips for Owners and Contractors with Projects in the “Grey Area” of California’s COVID-19 Orders

In response to COVID-19, construction projects in California are currently subject to a statewide Executive Order and potentially other similar (or dissimilar) “stay home” or “shelter in place” orders or directives issued by...more

Cyber Risk Update for Construction Companies

Scammers are always seeking new ways to target victims for Business Email Compromise (BEC) scams, where they leverage email to try to convince you to give them credentials, send them confidential information like W2s, send...more

Understanding This Pension Rule May Help Contractors Avoid Costly Liability Assessments

If you use union employees in your projects, you may contribute to a multiemployer pension plan—perhaps a few cents or few dollars per hour worked. However, some employers are surprised to learn they could be assessed with...more

It’s Not Easy to Fix an Error in a Deed

Every once in a while we run across a client who asks us to draft their real estate purchase and sale agreement, but then opts to go it alone when it comes time to close the deal. The recent case of Lee v. Willow Creek Ranch...more

Idaho Real Estate & Development Law Update: Recent Idaho Case Highlights Risks of Dealing with Warranty Deeds and Unsurveyed Land

The recent Idaho Supreme Court case of Nielson v. Talbot, Docket No. 44864 (Idaho 2018), highlights some risks of dealing in land that has not been surveyed and of using warranty deeds....more

Idaho Real Estate & Development Law Update: Recent Case Highlights Vital Lessons for Holders of Rights of First Refusal

The Idaho Supreme Court provided important lessons to people who deal with rights of first refusal (ROFRs) on real property in its recent decision Mulberry v. Burns Concrete, Inc., No. 45184 (Idaho Feb. 21, 2019). A ROFR is a...more

Reminder of January 1, 2019 Mandatory New Notice Requirement by CA Residential Solar Contractors

In 2017, the California Legislature passed a bill that resulted in Business and Professions Code (BPC) section 7169, which ultimately would require Home Improvement Contractors, which include contractors that install solar...more

California Court Finds Coverage When “Property Damage” Doesn’t Require Physical Injury By Definition

Although it may seem strange at first, the recent ruling by the California Fourth Appellate District Court in Thee Sombrero, Inc. v. Scottsdale Co., (2018 EL 5292072), holding that an insurer must pay for a claim where there...more

Developers and Builders Gain Time from Permit Expiration in California with AB 2913

After decades of dealing with a hodgepodge of local adoption (or not) of administrative codes relating to building permit extensions, California Governor Brown’s September 21, 2018 signature on AB 2913 is a welcome addition...more

California Contractors State License Board (CSLB) Issues FAST FACTS for Contractor Referral Businesses

There is no doubt that our national economy relies heavily on e-commerce. This is true with regard to contractors in California as well. As individuals and businesses look for quality builders, trades and services in the...more

Solar PPA Provider That Only “Arranges” Installation of System It Owns Is Not a “Contractor” in California

In the recently issued but unpublished decision Reed v. SunRun, Inc. (Los Angeles County Super. Ct. No. BC498002, Feb. 2, 2018), the Second District Court of Appeal ruled that a solar power purchase agreement (“PPA”) provider...more

Idaho Adopts New Laws Governing Notaries and Acknowledgments

Anyone who deals with interests in real estate should be aware that Idaho recently adopted a new set of laws governing notaries and acknowledgments. This is important because Idaho law gives special protection to interests in...more

In Idaho, Make Sure Your Deal Includes an Exact Description of the Land Involved

Two recent opinions from the Idaho Supreme Court demonstrate the risks you take when you document a real estate deal without an exact description of the land. In Hoke v. Neyada (Docket No. 43343) (Idaho 2016), the seller of...more

Debtor May Be Entitled to Credit for “Reasonable Value” of Property Purchased by Lender at Mortgage Foreclosure Sale

In Idaho, it has long been understood that a secured creditor that has foreclosed a mortgage may be able to also get a judgment against the debtor for the remainder of the debt, if the proceeds of the foreclosure sale are not...more

Idaho Real Estate & Development Law Update: In Idaho, an Easement Owner Has the Duty to Maintain the Easement, Even if the...

A recent case in the Idaho Supreme Court serves as a good reminder that Idaho takes a somewhat unique approach to allocating responsibility for easement maintenance. In Fletcher v. Lone Mountain Road Association, Docket No....more

Idaho Real Estate & Development Law Update: How Much Diligence is Due?

All buyers of real estate know they need to do their homework. That process is sometimes called “due diligence.” But how much diligence is due? The recent decision of the Idaho Supreme Court in Tiller White, LLC v. Canyon...more

Priority of Future Advances Under Idaho Deeds of Trust Now in Doubt

In Liberty Bankers Life Insurance Co. v. Witherspoon, No. 41993, 2016 WL 74987 (Idaho Jan. 6, 2016), the Idaho Supreme Court examined a loan modification agreement in which a lender agreed to release real property from its...more

Idaho Statute Protecting the Priority of Future Advances Does Not Apply to Deeds of Trust

In Liberty Bankers Life Insurance Co. v. Witherspoon, No. 41993, 2016 WL 74987 (Idaho Jan. 6, 2016), the Idaho Supreme Court examined a loan modification agreement in which the lender agreed to release certain real property...more

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