What is equity? This question keeps cropping up regularly. People who are worried about whether to opt for bankruptcy or go for IVA are not clear about the options that are available to them and what will happen to their home.
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Among the lesser known of the legal arts, real estate lawyers are not considered nearly as quickly as divorce lawyers, criminal defense attorneys or even personal injury lawyers. During many instances in a person’s life, he or she may consider hiring a lawyer for a variety of reasons. Buying a home or piece of land is normally not one of those instances for most people until the time comes to review the documents associated with the process.
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This is an interesting question that comes up often in eminent domain law in one primary scenario. Let’s say you are the owner of a Taco Bell in Seattle, Washington and you have built your Taco Bell on a street that is right off Highway 527. To get to your Taco Bell, people simply slow down or stop, make a turn onto your street, and travel the one block drive to your store. And business is good. That is, until the Seattle department of transportation comes along and wants to change everything. They have analyzed the highway corridor that contains your business and have decided, because of ever increasing vehicle counts, that highway access needs to be restricted to interchanges spaced out at one mile intervals. Which is fine, except they didn’t pick your intersection for an interchange. What was once a one block drive from the highway will be, once the highway project is complete, at least half a mile - and you can bet people will be building plenty of places to eat right off the interchange. You call the Seattle Department of Transportation and demand to be paid for the lost business and lost property value you’ll surely experience once the project is built, but they dismiss your complaint and tell you they don’t owe you anything.
As a Seattle, Washington eminent domain attorney who has worked for both landowner and the government, this is a scenario seen often. And the answer, for the most part, is that the loss is not compensable. The SDOT is correct in turning down your request for compensation. But how can this be? They are clearly diminishing my property value and taking my business, you might be saying to yourself. Well, three concepts are working against you in this scenario.
The first concept working against the property owner is that business profits are not a compensable item under the law, generally. This is because the law of eminent domain is not in place to compensate people for lost business profits, but for lost land. The loss of business is just a tragic byproduct of losing property (or access), but the law sees businesses as something not tied to any property - the thinking is that if your business is successful in one place it can be successful in another. It’s a troubling concept if you are a business owner, but the fact is, this is the way you will be treated.
The second concept working against you, the Seattle property owner, is the idea of “police power.” Police power is a constitutional concept that bestows upon the government the authority to regulate pretty much anything if it involves the health, safety, and public welfare of its citizens. This theory holds for road construction as well. So, in the above example, Seattle will argue, successfully, that the closure and limitation of access to interchanges is done in order to preserve the safety and welfare of drivers on that road. And, assuming they have traffic studies and things of that nature to back up what they are saying, the Court will take them at their word. There is a very narrow exception to this if your property is significantly injured separately from the general damage incurred by other property owners in similar circumstances. But this doesn’t apply to traffic flow of cars to fast food restaurants - traffic flow is seen generally as an exercise of the government’s police power.
Finally, in order for your Seattle condemnation attorney to successfully argue for a taking under eminent domain law, they would have to show that some property interest of yours has been taken. A loss in the value of property in and of itself is not viewed as a taking under condemnation law (generally). In other words, if the SDOT is not physically taking or touching something of yours, it is extremely difficult, if not impossible, to allege inverse condemnation.
So, the short answer to the question of compensability after a long explanation is that generally you, the Seattle property owner, would not be eligible for money in the above scenario. But, let me add, that if you are in this situation, it can’t hurt to contact a Seattle eminent domain attorney to look at your case. There are exceptions to every rule. Maybe your property is one of them.
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In the midst of the credit crunch the old adage is truer than ever - cash is king.
Without a healthy cash flow, your business could stall and ultimately splutter to a standstill.
Every sale feels like a milestone in today’s tough market place, but after the buzz has worn off, it is more important than ever to make sure you qualify the purchaser. Ensuring that mortgage finance and an appropriate deposit is available is proving critical with mortgage lenders having tightened their loan to value lending criteria considerably over the last six to twelve months.
It is also vital that the purchaser and the vendor have the correct legal representation. A good conveyancer should ensure searches and title checks are completed quickly, and this can make the difference between achieving a sale and it falling through.
Given the falling number of transactions it is imperative to look after every element of the legal process, starting with the choice of conveyancer. In this market place there are no excuses for poor service. RICS figures show that some 1.2 million transactions were registered at the Land Registry throughout 2007, which dropped to 600,000 in 2008. The vast majority of conveyancers, like estate agents, have been affected by the down turn, so should be working even harder to provide a great service and assure repeat business.
Communication throughout the sale process is of paramount importance. Large conveyancing practices are leading the way with online case tracking systems, which allow estate agents and their clients to case track the progress of transactions. This shift to e-conveyancing will gain pace over the course of the next few years, and can speed up the process significantly.
However this is not a substitute for the reassurance associated with a quick telephone call. Telephone contact with the client is needed at key stages throughout the transaction to keep the process moving. Conveyancers and estate agents need to ensure that clients have a point of human contact, preferably the same person, every time they telephone and that calls are always returned promptly.
Timing is critical to transaction success in today’s market place. Any transaction moving into a 90 day period between the date the sale was agreed and exchange of contracts is likely not to complete. The consistent devaluation of property on a month by month basis, together with the tightening of mortgage finance means that property deals that are not concluded quickly are in jeopardy of not concluding at all. Conveyancers were recording attrition rates of up to 45% throughout 2008/9, in comparison to 25% in 2007. Conveyancers should aim to exchange within eight weeks of instruction at the latest.
Don’t forget that the commission to be earned from peripheral products such as legal referrals are important. Estate agents can earn anything from £100 to £400 per transaction from conveyancing referrals, and such payments can seriously improve your cash flow.
Completing sales quickly will mean your commission and fees are where they should be - in your pocket. Fast-paced conveyancing can be a real boost in a market where sales are scarce, and simple steps like keeping an eye on the speed of the process and keeping the lines of communication open at all times will help you achieve them.
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Every state has its own set of real estate laws. Generally, the help of a real estate agent is not legally required, even though he or she can help you with items that may skirt legal ones, including preparing a home purchase contract. That being said, in some states only a lawyer is allowed to prepare home purchase documents, perform a title search, and close the deal. If you are a first-time homebuyer or are buying or selling a home without the help of an agent, a real estate lawyer can answer your questions, help you negotiate, and keep you in the know with the gritty details of property law. Here is a short guide on how to find a good property lawyer in your area.
First, get referrals. Whether you get them from family members, friends, or co-workers, past clients are in the best position to give you advice on where to go to find a good lawyer. If all else fails, your state’s bar association, local real estate brokers, and local realtors’ association can also provide reliable referrals. Keep in mind that you will get the best service for your money if the attorney either is also a licensed real estate broker or offers state bar association “certified real property law specialist” services. The combination is unbeatable in providing you with the most knowledgeable help.
After gathering a list of referrals, informally interview them with a list of questions that pertain to your situation. Most attorneys will answer simple questions over the phone for free. Important information to gather during these conversations include how much each lawyer charges per hour and an estimate of the time required to complete the items you require, such as looking over contracts, handling disclosures, and assisting with the closing. Many attorneys are willing to handle multiple tasks for a fixed price or retainer.
Once you’ve narrowed down your list, pick the attorney you feel with meet your needs the best for the lowest cost.
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Many lawyers that specialize in mold lawsuits in real estate claim that they are helping the people who live in these properties from disease and sure death. That’s rather silly if you think about it because humankind has always lived around the mold. Humans used to live in caves and I’m sure there was mold there, don’t you agree? Mold has been around for a lot longer than Human Beings, and we have learned to live and evolve all along side of it.
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After the buyer and seller agree on a price, there are still many more steps that occur before closing. While a buyer will have pre-approval for a maximum loan amount from a bank, the buyer will now have to contact the bank in order to draw up documents relating to the specific loan amount that the buyer will need for this transaction. If started right away, this part of the process should not impede the actual closing, but it can take time if the lender requires various conditions be met before closing.
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City planners make up the lay of the land for a geographic area , setting boundaries for city property and buildings as well dividing the land within the city limits into zones. Each zone is specific to the type of development that will be built or used for so that industrial, commercial and residential boundaries do not cross each other and people living in a quiet suburban neighborhood will rest assured that they are not have their residential peace interrupted by the building of a high rise office block or warehouse space.
Urban development is a large part of the city planning offices duties, but when builders and developers approach the city for permits and expansive build project permits it is often necessary to conduct an environmental impact study or possibly rezoning of an abandoned warehouse by the waterfront for a condominium and shopping center development. When a real estate development project requires the expertise of an attorney the developer will bring in a specialist to handle the legal questions and ramifications for the builder.
In some larger cities real estate law is a common practice for big developers and many larger construction companies and land developers keep an attorney busy filing injunctions or sending briefs about the project to city officials or real estate developers to ensure that a project moves ahead as scheduled without being tired in a lot of bureaucratic red tape down at city hall. Hiring an off staff attorney team makes sense for large real estate developers that handle multimillion dollar building projects, but for smaller disputes of property lines and land usage disagreements putting a real estate lawyer on retainer will suffice.
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http://www.nochumson.com provides superior Philadelphia real estate lawyer representation to businesses, individuals, and professionals throughout Pennsylvania and New Jersey. Billings Farnsworth is a freelance writer. Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Billings_Farnsworth |
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Judicial Foreclosure and Non-Judicial Foreclosure are both methods comprising Arizona Foreclosure laws. Under this legislation, a Judicial Foreclosure simply requires a lawsuit in order to obtain a court order to foreclose. This becomes necessary when there is not a power of sale written into the mortgage or the deed of trust.
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I have developed a loan modification and foreclosure defense method for Massachusetts homeowners that: (1) increases their chances of a successful workout agreement; (2) gets their cases prioritized and handled by the mortgage company lawyers, rather than a call-center operator with no authority; and (3) protects my clients’ credit.
When I receive a call from a potential client looking for help with a loan modification or stopping a foreclosure, the most important question they ask me is “What are you going to do for me?” They want to know whether they’re going to get results. My typical client is someone who has worked hard all their life and doesn’t want to waste legal fees on some lawyer who’s just going to do the bare minimum. Another question they have is “What makes using a lawyer different than using one of those ‘loan modification companies’?” The difference is simple. There are only two types of people who are allowed to legally represent you: you yourself, and a lawyer licensed in your state. This means that if you want your rights, your family, and your home protected, you either need to represent yourself or get a lawyer. And chances are that it will cost about the same dollar amount whether you use a loan modification company or a licensed attorney.
What does the average loan modification company do? Not much. They ask you to fill out a financial questionnaire, collect documents that show your income and expenses, such as your tax returns, pay stubs, and utility bills. Then they ask you to give them those documents. Then they submit those documents to the mortgage company. That’s all they do! They collect your documents and submit them — something you could easily do yourself — and charge you thousands of dollars to do it. No wonder the loan modification industry was recently called a “scam” by one of the most prominent state attorneys general in the country.
The method for Massachusetts loan modifications and foreclosure defense. After spending considerable time researching federal and Massachusetts mortgage and consumer-protection law, I have come up with a six-step process for getting a loan modification. It’s legal, it’s effective, and it’s relatively simple.
1. Send a RESPA “Qualified Written Request” to the mortgage company.
The Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act governs what your mortgage company (called a “loan servicer”) must do if you have a dispute with them. But the first thing you need to do is see if there is anything that is legitimately worth disputing. There could be over-escrowing, allowing the loan servicer to hold on to your money without any good reason. There could be disputes over how much you owe for certain fees the servicer is charging you. There are myriad problems. No matter what the problem is, the method for dealing with them is the same: sending a “qualified written request.”
A qualified written request is simply “a statement of the reasons for the belief of the borrower, to the extent applicable, that the account is in error or provides sufficient detail to the servicer regarding other information sought by the borrower.” This means that you have to tell the servicer what they did wrong, and give them enough information to verify that that something was actually done wrong.
After you send the qualified written request, the mortgage company has approximately one month to send an acknowledgement letter to you (simply stating your request was received), and three months to resolve your issue. If they fail to do either of these in a timely manner, you can sue them for money damages.
And, perhaps most importantly, it protects your credit. While the qualified written request is pending, the mortgage company is absolutely prohibited from doing any negative credit reporting about your account. This means that if you stop making your mortgage payment during this time, they can’t report it to the credit bureaus. This is immensely important, especially if you are trying to refinance or keep your credit score up.
2. Demand the mortgage-related documents and payoff information from your mortgage company.
Here in Massachusetts, we have a wealth of consumer-protection laws. Take advantage of them. Some of our fellow citizens in other states aren’t quite so lucky, no matter what your opinion is of the lawmakers on Beacon Hill. For instance, if you send a demand for the payoff amount (the amount you would have to pay to pay off your entire loan today), the mortgage company is required to inform you of the amount within five business days. Further, if you send a demand to your mortgage servicer for a copy of all documents related to your account and all documents that have your signature on it, you must received a response within five days.
In the real world, most of these mortgage companies don’t care enough to send you this important information within the time allowed. That means that, if they don’t send you the information in time, you can sue them for statutory damages, as well as for attorney’s fees (if you get an attorney).
3. Analyze your mortgage documents for legal claims.
Getting a mortgage is a complicated process, and there’s a lot that can be done wrong during it. Even when you get the mortgage, there can be many reasons that the documents you signed at the closing are defective or could give you a claim against the mortgage company or its agents. It is a highly regulated process. For example, did you know that certain Truth in Lending Act violations actually allow you to rescind your mortgage and get back every single dollar in interest that you’ve paid to the mortgage company? Did you know that if you paid fees at the closing that are unfair and deceptive, you could have a lawsuit against your mortgage broker? Did you know that it’s an illegal trade practice if your broker put you into your loan at a high interest rate, telling you that the mortgage is only temporary and that you can refinance in a few years? From the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act to the Truth in Lending Act, to the Massachusetts Consumer Credit Cost Disclosure Act to the Massachusetts Consumer Protection Act, there are many potential claims that you have against your mortgage company.
But what do all these claims give you? Leverage over the mortgage company. You can hold the threat of these claims over the mortgage company’s head and use them to force the company to give you a loan modification.
4. Analyze the mortgage company’s responses to 1 and 2.
In addition to the claims in the previous letter, you can also analyze the mortgage company’s responses to the demands you sent mentioned in Paragraphs 1 and 2. If there are any issues that were ignored, responses that weren’t given, or documents that weren’t presented (or weren’t presented within the time requirements), you have additional claims. Most times — at least in my Massachusetts law practice — the mortgage company doesn’t respond in time. This gives you even more leverage on top of the other claims you found described in the previous section.
5. Send a demand letter under the Massachusetts Consumer Protection Act.
This is usually the last step. Let me be clear — the goal here isn’t to go to court, it’s to get you a loan modification. But you need to threaten the mortgage company with a lawsuit or else they won’t pay attention.
Under the Massachusetts Consumer Protection Act, M.G.L. Chapter 93A, there is a specific process that a consumer must go through in order before he or she can file a lawsuit under that act. The process is that a consumer must send a “demand letter” stating what the mortgage company did wrong, and requesting a dollar amount that will right the wrong. If the company doesn’t send a response with a “reasonable” offer of settlement within 30 days, and you then file a lawsuit against them and win, the amount you win will be tripled by the court. This is a form of punitive damages that encourages companies to try to settle consumer disputes before they go to court.
What will probably happen is that you’ll receive a call from someone at the mortgage company asking you to hold off on the lawsuit in exchange for a loan modification agreement. You’ll get to work with someone higher up in the mortgage company hierarchy; someone with decision making authority who will realize the strengths of your position. At this point, you will of course need to submit information to the mortgage company documenting your income and expenses, and then you’ll be done — hopefully with lower payments and more money in the bank to take care of yourself and your family.
6. File a lawsuit to enforce your rights.
This is the last step, and one that you may not have to take. Your hope, if you are like most people, is that you will simply get a loan modification, resume making payments (although at a lower, more reasonable rate), and get on with your life. This process can be draining, and most people are glad to conclude it.
But if the mortgage company is being difficult, this is a guaranteed way to force them to deal with you, one-on-one. At this point, the best thing you can do to protect yourself is get an attorney. Keep meticulous records during the preceding process and present them to the attorney. The dollar amount of your claims will bring the mortgage company to the table.
Conclusion. By following the above steps, you have a much higher chance of getting the loan modification you’re looking for. The mortgage company will be forced to deal with you, and you’ll get the benefit of dealing with someone with the authority to give you what you want for your loan modification. Remember, these steps are specific to Massachusetts homeowners. Good luck!
DISCLAIMER: This article is made available by Culik Law P.C. and Attorney Josef Culik for educational purposes only as well as to give you general information and a general understanding of the law, not to provide specific legal advice. By reading this article you understand and acknowledge that there is no attorney-client relationship between you and the author. This article should not be used as a substitute for competent legal advice from a licensed professional attorney in your state.
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