Jon GoodmanThis 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
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
Co-Author: Amy E. Allison, Esq. Last month we looked at what constituted a trademark and how to search to see if there were any pre-existing marks that were similar. This month we address how to register a mark and therefore protect your rights in it. Registration A state trademark is one that is used within … Continue Reading
Part II In Part I of this article, the differences between listing agreements and property management agreements were discussed. A primary difference is that listing agreements are short-term, while property management agreements contemplate a continuing relationship between manager and owner. There are no Real Estate Commission approved forms for property management. Owners and managers routinely … Continue Reading
Do you have customers who, but for a mistaken entry on their credit report, would otherwise qualify for a mortgage? Recognizing the importance of the credit reporting system, and its potential for error, Congress, in 1970, enacted the Fair Credit Reporting Act (Title 15, United States Code, Section 1681 et seq). Among its purposes … Continue Reading
