In Colorado, liens for unpaid real property taxes have priority over all other liens, including deeds of trust. Many of our clients know this and maintain tax escrows on loans they hold which are secured by real estate. Yet not all loans require tax escrows. Lenders with second deeds of trust rarely maintain tax … Continue Reading
This article educates readers about how to avoid inadvertently committing loan fraud. Another article on our website, “How to Commit More Loan Fraud,” intends to further help real estate professionals and sellers from inadvertently becoming caught up in such a scheme. Question: I have brokered a transaction in which the seller is willing to give … Continue Reading
Buyer and seller are under contract. After the contract is formed and before the contract closes, the market value of the property increases dramatically. Before a due diligence contingency of the deal expires, the buyer seeks an extension of the contingency. Does a transaction-broker have a duty to disclose to the seller that the … Continue Reading
Part I of this article asked – May a landlord choose to reject all tenants receiving Section 8 rental subsidies without violating Fair Housing Laws? In brief, the response to that question was that Fair Housing laws do not make all discrimination illegal. As far as this author is aware, there is no explicit prohibition … Continue Reading
May a landlord choose to reject all tenants receiving Section 8 rental subsidies without violating Fair Housing Laws? Fair Housing laws do not make all discrimination illegal. A landlord who insists upon receiving $1,000 a month rent for an apartment is discriminating against persons who cannot afford to pay $1,000 a month rent. Landlords can … Continue Reading
Co-Author: Amy E. Allison, Esq. Question: I am an architect. A builder client of mine asked me to prepare plans for an office building. After constructing the initial building, my client worked with a different architect who slightly modified the drawings to fit another site. The builder intends to construct many other versions of … Continue Reading
What Happens When Zoning Laws Change? How Can It Affect The Use of Your Property? Ms. Homeowner (“Ms. H”) has owned 50 acres of land for over 45 years. When she bought the property in 1955, it had a 2 bedroom home, a one-car garage and was zoned for agricultural uses. In the early years, … Continue Reading
Co-Author: Jonathan A. Goodman, Esq. Obstacles in Amending and Enforcing Community Association Covenants: What your Association’s Documents Don’t Say May Hurt You. The Colorado Court of Appeals recently held that an association’s original covenants allowing for changes or modifications could not be amended to add a covenant that required homeowners to start paying dues for … Continue Reading
If a title company will issue survey-related protection based on an Improvement Location Certificate (ILC), why might it be worthwhile for my client to obtain a more rigorous (and more expensive) survey? Last month’s article showed an example where an owner had a title problem which might have been detected prior to closing had the … Continue Reading
If a title company will provide survey-related title insurance protection for a buyer without requiring an Improvement Location Certificate (ILC), why might it still be worthwhile for my buyer to obtain an ILC? If a title company will issue survey-related protection based on an ILC, why might it be worthwhile for my client to obtain … Continue Reading
