Swimming Pool Liability: Practical Tips to Reduce Liability Exposure
Adding a swimming pool to your home can provide fun for your entire family and can become a social hub for your children and young adults, but it can also create serious liability issues which a homeowner ignores at her peril. A homeowner can be held responsible for...
Trusts for Minor and Adult Children
For most parents, the spouse is the primary beneficiary named in their will. In the case of a catastrophic event where both parents die, parents then usually name their children as the secondary beneficiaries. When the children are minors, common sense dictates that...
Problems with Joint Tenancy Agreements and Transfer on Death Deeds
We receive a lot of requests for the creation of joint tenancies with rights of survivorship and transfer on death deeds (“TODDs”). We understand the reasoning behind these requests. Everyone wants to avoid probate and make the transfer of property to loved ones quick...
What Is Title Insurance and Is It Required?
A couple of times a month a client will ask “Is title insurance required” or “Should I purchase title insurance”? Is Title Insurance Required? Whether it is required is easy. It is not. You may purchase and sell real estate without title insurance, provided the buyer...
Negotiating Commercial Loan Documents
We are often called upon to review commercial loan documents for clients. This usually occurs a few days before the scheduled closing. At that point, there is no time to change lenders if the loan documents contain onerous terms; all we can do is inform our client of...
COVID-19 Addendum Issues
COVID-19 has disrupted and continues to disrupt the real estate closing process. There are several addenda floating around which attempt to deal with the issues which result from the coronavirus. Most (1) extend the closing date if the closing cannot be performed due...
Estate Planning – Next Steps, Part 2
Again, congratulations! Not only have you executed your estate planning documents, but you also have reviewed the beneficiaries of your life insurance and retirement accounts and created your account with the Social Security Administration in order to appoint...
Estate Planning – Next Steps, Part 1
Congratulations! You have executed your Will, Statutory Power of Attorney, Medical Power of Attorney (with HIPAA Authorization) and Directive to Physicians. Your estate planning documents are complete, but you have more to do. In this first article, we will discuss...
What You Should Know About the Fair Housing Act
Those of you who are landlords are probably familiar with the Fair Housing Act. It is the law that makes it illegal to discriminate in housing based on race, color, religion, national origin sex, familial status or disability. What you might not know is that...
Wraparound Financing Basics
COVID-19 is rapidly turning our real estate world on its ear. We have had several clients who have had buyers who lost their loans at the last minute and are inquiring about closing using wrap-around financing. Virtually all residential and commercial mortgages...
A Thank You to Our First Responders
We realize these are stressful and trying times. We are especially mindful of the sacrifices our healthcare and first responders are making and want to do what we can to help. One thing we can do is use our resources and expertise to remove what might be one worry off...
A Seller Financing Primer
Financing for residential purchases including seller financing and unlicensed third-party lenders has been substantially affected by the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, commonly called the “Dodd-Frank Act”. Click here for a discussion of the...