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.
New Home Has Big Problems
A new home has major problems that seem to have escaped the attention of the home inspector, the seller and the real estate agent. A basement wall collapsed weeks after the new owner moved in. What kind of recourse does the new owner have? The owner should should call the inspector, the agent and a real estate attorney to help figure out what the problem is, if it is a new problem or an existing problem that was missed, whether the seller knew about it, and what needs to happen to resolve the situation.
How To Get Lien Released From Mortgage Company
A homeowner asks how to get a lien released if the mortgage company was bought out by another company. There should be a surviving mortgage company that continues to have the obligation to release the lien. The homeowner should be able to find out who purchased the mortgage company and call the department that releases liens.
New Home Development Not What Was Promised
A homeowner, and many of his neighbors, feel the developer delivered a vastly different neighborhood than what was promised. Some states require developers to disclose their development plans in advance of having a buyer sign a contract for the purchase of a home. Some states also have consumer fraud statutes that may apply to your case. The homeowners should consult a real estate attorney to determine if they have cause to bring a case against the builder.
Contract Importance: Rebate Part Of Buyer’s Agent Commission Was Oral Agreement
What happens if you make an oral agreement, instead of a written contract, where the agent would rebate part of the commission in the purchase of a condominium? If the agent does paying the rebate, then you don't have a written contract to back up your claim. Ilyce explains that oral agreements often don't hold up in real estate law, unlike written contracts, and suggests using a real estate service such as BuySide Realty.
Investment Property Inheritance And Home Improvement
How do you divide the expenses related to home improvement and repair of an investment property inheritance? An inheritance becomes more complex when the deceased person did not maintain her share of the investment property. How can the other investment property owner be fairly reimbursed prior to sale? It's up to the investment property co-owners to work it out and if they can't they may need to involve attorneys.
Understanding Adverse Possession
Adverse possession means you acquire property by openly using a home, claiming it as your own and paying all of the expenses, including the taxes, for a certain period of time. The time you must occupy the property ranges from 7 to 21 years, depending on the state.
Acquiring Property By Adverse Possession
A homeowner has been caring for the empty property next to his own for eight years. He is wondering if he has a claim to the property. It's possible to acquire property through adverse possession, but it requires a lot more than mowing the lawn and clearing snow.
Property Transfer: How To Avoid Tax Penalties
A home owner has just found out that she doesn't really own the property, but her father-in-law's name is on the title. He bought the property under a 1031 exchange and might face stiff tax penalties if he transfers the title to his son and wife. To defer taxes with a 1031 exchange, the owner must replace that property with a replacement investment property within a certain time period, usually 180 days from the sale of the original property.