The Ask the Real Estate Lawyer column by Samuel Tamkin answers your questions about real estate and the law. These helpful articles by Ilyce Glink and real estate attorney Samuel Tamkin cover all sorts of topics, everything from buying a vacation home to selling investment property.
Quit Claim Deed And Divorce
What does it means to sign a quit claim deed? If you're ever asked to sign a quit claim deed read it carefully. Quit claim deeds can be used to add or remove someone's name from a title. What effect does signing a quit claim deed have on a person's rights to the home? And what happens to the property during a divorce?
Quit Claim Deed And Mortgage Assumption
Managing real estate from out of state can be difficult. You may be able to get a family member to agree to take over mortgage payments on a property that you own but your name remains on the mortgage loan unless that loan gets refinanced. A quit claim deed transfers property ownership rights but does not change who's responsible for the mortgage. You should first try to work out a situation like this with family members and if it doesn't work out you may have to hire an attorney.
Quit Claim Deed May Not Protect Property In Lawsuit
Transferring property just before or during a lawsuit without payment may be seen as a fraudulent conveyance -- as if you were trying to shield assets from the lawsuit. Even if you sign a quit claim deed giving up your interest in a property, the court can overturn that quit claim deed and award the share of the property to the victor in the lawsuit. Learn more about how the timing of a quit claim deed can put a property at risk.
Homeowner Finds Home Foundation Issues, Seller Liable?
A home owner asks about who should pay for repairing his home's foundation. He discovers his home needs foundation repair five years after buying it. Whether to sue the seller depends on the cost of the foundation repair and the extent of the foundation's damage.
Quit Claim Deed Means Giving Up Ownership Rights
When you sign a quit claim deed you're giving up your ownership rights to that property. If the person who has the remaining ownership rights dies, his or her heirs will inherit the property. Former spouses who sign quit claim deeds give up all rights to those properties. Learn about some possible inheritance scenarios after quit claim deed has been signed.
Escrow Money Treated As Income For Taxes
When you receive money from a canceled contract, it's usually treated as ordinary income for taxes. When a real estate contract goes bad, the money put into escrow is treated as income as opposed to capital gains. The escrow money will be taxed at a higher rate because the ordinary income tax rate is higher than the capital gains tax rate.
Real Estate Advice In Relation To Divorce
When you go through a divorce you may need to hire a real estate agent to help you sell the home you shared with your soon-to-be-ex-spouse and also to help you buy a new home. Each real estate agent uses different techniques to do his or her job and sometimes the person going through the divorce may have a hard time with some of them. Who can help you in such a situation? It helps to contact attorneys specializing in divorce and real estate prior to selling a home.
Neighbor Law: Fences, Trees, Boundaries & Noise
Neighbor Law: Fences, Trees, Boundaries & Noise by Cora Jordan. In plain English, Neighbor Law explains how to find the law in each circumstance a...