…contract void? Response 1: The Real Estate Commission approved contract does not address the date by which the earnest money must be tendered if the earnest money is to be tendered after the contract is formed. The Real Estate Commission approved contract assumes that the earnest money will be delivered with the buyer’s offer. The contract is not void. A void contract is one which was essentially never formed. The…
You think you have a construction defect and you want to sue now? New law requires notice process. On April 25, 2003, Governor Owens signed House Bill 03-1161 changing construction defect law. This article summarizes the new notice requirements before a lawsuit can be filed for defects in residential property. The article does not address how the law affects commercial properties or the limitations on what can be recovered from…
…term ‘backup’ here indicates only that, in accordance with its specific terms its effectiveness was subject to an express condition precedent, . . . ” The actual language of the backup contingency is much more important than the “backup” label. The outcome of these cases depends on the wording of the backup contingency. In the Sandstone case, Contract 2 was contingent upon Contract 1 closing by a specific date. In…
…family limited liability companies) have become the form of business entity which is most commonly used to take advantage of valuation discounts applicable to the calculation of estate and gift taxes on family real estate or business assets. Limited Partnerships General Limited partnerships are partnerships in which there are two classes of partners, general partners and limited partners. The general partners are generally the founders or organizers of the partnership…
…if your company offers a policy, buy it. Should you have a claim, the primary policy (state-endorsed or -mandated) will cover you first, and then the company policy will kick in. Remember: No one expects to file an E&O insurance claim. But the entire purpose of the insurance is to protect you from the unexpected crisis. It’s well worth the cost: After you’re sued, you won’t be able to buy…
…deserve an explanation. Who, besides the individual owner of a property, has access to CLUE Reports? Insurance companies. CLUE is mainly used by insurance companies for evaluating potential customers. Only insurance companies that provide information to ChoicePoint on claims made by their current policy-holders are allowed to access the CLUE database which contains the claims information from all other participating providers. Currently, approximately 90 percent of American insurance companies participate…
…the court held that the principle from Moore & Company v. T-A-L-L, Inc., 792 P2d 794 (Colo. 1990), that an agent who breaches his or her fiduciary duty to a seller forfeits the commission, regardless of the damages caused to the seller, was not applicable to a transaction-broker. To avoid paying a transaction-broker a commission, the unhappy client must prove he has suffered actual damages caused by the transaction-broker’s mistakes….
…person determination, “[t]he crucial inquiry is whether the person had the effective power to pay the taxes–that is, whether he had the actual authority or ability, in view of his status within the corporation, to pay the taxes owed.” Taylor v. IRS, 69 F.3d 411, 416 (10th Cir. 1995). While corporate office alone is not enough to render an individual responsible person status within the scope of Section 6672, individuals…
…agreement is needed to form a general partnership, and as a result, any business enterprise involving two or more owners will be a general partnership unless the participants make a different agreement. The most significant characteristics of a typical general partnership include the fact that (i) each partner has an equal right to participate in management, (ii) each partner has the authority to make commitments or enter into binding agreements…
…the transaction has closed before forwarding the deposit to the seller. Let’s look at a common situation that illustrates the confusion that can occur when a seller refers to a nonrefundable deposit as earnest money. First-time buyers Monique and Alex make an offer on a planned $100,000 new-construction house. The builder insists on using his own contract, and the buyer’s agent explains, “If you want to buy that house, you’ll…
