Real Estate Law Title

You know that old saying relating to buses; you wait ages for one, then two come at once? Well, for those who believe that solicitors who abuse their power should face tough charges, this phrase could not be more true!

In totally unrelated events, two solicitors have recently been jailed for illegal behaviour, causing a wave of appreciation among those members of the general public that believe that lawyers can get away with anything. One lawyer, a Liverpool conveyancing solicitor was charged with allowing criminal criminal property to pass through his client’s account, while the other lawyer, who hails from Northern Ireland was charged with failing to report suspicions of money laundering.

The fact that they were both caught and jailed at similar times was a total coincidence, yet picked up by the press and their cases splashed across the pages of the tabloid’s. The Liverpool conveyancing solicitor’s case was an unfortunate one, with the real criminal being his client who was laundering money through his account.

The solicitor, who has now been struck off the legal register and is facing a jail term, had been aware of large sums of money passing through his client’s bank account, even allowing £66,500 to go through the books one week without reporting it to any authority figure.

Now, client confidentiality can be a tricky subject, as no solicitor wants a reputation for telling the authorities about even the slightest suspicious behaviour; however, there is a limit to how far this confidentiality can and should go, and in this case, the solicitor must have been aware that something illegal was taking place.

The other solicitor was also involved in conveyancing work, operating out of Shrewsbury, and had failed to alert the authorities when a house sale that the was involved with went for a third of the asking price; it turned out that the property was owned by drug traffickers and they were making a quick sale in order not to lose it as an asset, pending an upcoming trial.

Both solicitors showed either great naivety, or professional negligence, neither of which cannot be tolerated by the law when it comes to such cases; they have both paid a heavy price for their mistakes.

If you have a query concerning the conveyancing process and would like some legal advice from a professional lawyer (who is still on the legal register!), then contact a Liverpool conveyancing solicitor today.

If house prices fall, it’s not only the people selling the properties that are affected; professions within the conveyancing industry are hit hard as well. With a recent decline in house prices, particularly in the North West of England, the country’s conveyancing solicitors are being forced to tighten their proverbial belts.

After a recent report showed that property asking prices dipped by 5,000 pounds in the last month, the summer lull has divided homeowners straight down the line, into those who have the luxury of retaining their asking prices, or even increasing them, and those forced to make the drop. This will affect the nations conveyancing solicitors, as they will be forced to choose between which clients to represent, the affluent few, or the poorer many.

Conversely, there has been a recent surge in the amount of people looking to buy a property, in alignment with the recent drop in prices; one would have thought that this would mean that the prices would move up, yet unfortunately the mortgage lenders are toughening up their selection policies in a reaction to the recent recession.

With many areas in the North, such as Wakefield affected badly by the recession and the knock-on affect of the housing crisis, Wakefield conveyancing solicitors are seeing a decline in the number of ‘proper’ applicants for the conveyancing process.

Some groups of society are actually effectively ‘locked out’ of the conveyancing process due to the fact that they have borrowed heavily and are now in negative equity, or simply cannot get the resources to begin buying again. These groups of people, who a Wakefield conveyancing solicitor may once have been of potential use to, now have no need for their services.

However, there is still hope to all affected by this housing slump; as the summer draws to a close, the market is expected to level out a bit more, with asking prices becoming more reasonable, allowing seller to purchase bigger and better properties. This will have a knock on effect throughout the economy, particularly in the housing area, where home sellers will hope to begin the conveyancing process again.

If you have a question or query about the conveyancing process, or are in the market to buy or sell a house, then contact a Wakefield conveyancing solicitor for a professional consultation; remember, even if there is a recession on, there is always the opportunity for a bargain!

We are all aware that the process of selling one’s house can be a tricky business; especially if you are new to the game and aren’t aware of all the ‘hidden costs’ that one may incur in making the sale; however, a Manchester conveyancing solicitor has criticised a new bid by the government to put even more costs on to the process of selling a property.

New laws within the conveyancing world have been proposed, laws that would cause homeowners to pay approximately £600 simply to put their property on the market; the government aims to make the much-contested Home Information Pack compulsory in an upcoming Housing Bill.

This move has been labelled a ‘disgrace’ by its opposers and one Manchester conveyancing solicitor has stated that it will ‘open up a can of worms’. The crux of the new law means that before a seller puts their property on the market, they must prepare one of the aforementioned Home Information Packs, or HIPS.

This will require many aspects of conveyancing that would not necessarily be needed under regular circumstances, including a surveyor’s report and land registry documentation. Dependant on circumstances, this could take up to and exceeding six weeks to properly prepare.

This law is an unnecessary addition to the conveyancing process, as it will be much more hassle than it is worth. One point that is that if the person looking to purchase a property is aiming to borrow money for the buy, which almost all buyers are, then the building society or bank that they wish to borrow from will insist on using their own surveyor.

The very nature of surveying leads to a certain element of subjectivity, therefore if the two surveyors disagree on some parts of the process, which they inevitably will do, then this will lead to unnecessary complications.

Now, this may be all very well for the surveyors, who can clock up more billable hours when discussing such complications, but it could be a financial nightmare for the buyer, and an administrative nightmare for a conveyancing lawyer. We have a good system now, so the rule of, ‘if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it’ should apply.

With all this confusion and speculation surrounding the process of buying a house, it is essential that you receive the best legal advice that you can get; contact a Manchester conveyancing solicitor today, to see if you can make the conveyancing process just a little easier.

Ten months after escrow closed, Vig, an assignee of the original parcel contract purchaser, brought an action against Nix for breach of contract and statutory rescission, on the basis that Nix’s affidavit of disclosure did not comply with A.R.S. 33-422(F).  The trial court held that the affidavit of disclosure really did comply with 33-422, so an appeal was filed, leading to the opinion in Vig v. Nix Project II Partnership, 2009 WL 565024 (March 5, 2009).   Vig’s beef regarding the affidavit’s substance is that in a question about whether there is legal access to the property or not, the Seller “ticked” the box (how they say “check,” in Australia) for “is NOT,” but did not fill in the blank provided in the state statute’s proposed form where room is provided to give an explanation of that answer.  Like so: “Explain ________”

The Arizona Appeals Court first held that an affidavit of disclosure complies with A.R.S. § 33-422 so long as it is furnished to the buyer at least seven days before closing, and that the buyer’s failure to formally acknowledge receipt has no legal significance.  Second, the Court held that so long as the affidavit of disclosure is self-explanatory and puts the buyer on inquiry notice of all relevant conditions within the scope of the statute, it complies with 33-422(F).

The court said that in the event of an answer that is “self-explanatory” there is no further “elaboration” required to satisfy the statute’s purpose.  Since the seller disclosed the “defect” of access, no further explanation was required; the checked box was sufficient to create “inquiry notice” on the part of the buyer. The court fails to describe the contours of “inquiry notice”; probably, that’s because the language of the opinion is self-explanatory!  That leaves something of a hole in the ozone ceiling above the territories of real estate agents and title companies; the former are fiduciaries in some respects, while the latter are supposed to insure transactions based in part upon the review and assessment of recorded documents.  The omission of a working definition of “inquiry notice” is most unhelpful.  A law dictionary tells you that it’s notice sufficient to alert an ordinarily prudent person to investigate the circumstances further.  So how does that work, exactly? 

Suppose, for instance, the seller checks the box on the disclosure affidavit that indicates “yes,” there is physical access to the property, but doesn’t reveal that a pipe–installed just far enough beneath the graveled path of physical access to be invisible–could burst and spill water, sewage or natural gas all about, if grading of the dirt path with a backhoe punctures the pipe?  Would that failure of disclosure of a material fact constitute a violation of the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing?  The delivery of the affidavit occurs beyond the stage of negotiating the purchase and sale contract-and since it’s seller’s performance of the contract that triggers making the affidavit, omission of a material fact may qualify as a breach of the implied good faith covenant, if such a material disclosure isn’t made in the affidavit of disclosure. 

So, what’s a Superior Court judge going to do when determining whether the disclosures in the seller’s affidavit are sufficient-or not–to create inquiry notice?  The Court of Appeals a few years ago provided the missing narrative, I suggest.  If the seller fails to disclose a known latent defect or fails to give a buyer to an appropriate opportunity to discover latent defects, caveat emptor does not apply in Arizona; that vendor must disclose that material defect or, at a minimum, be subject to tort liability for nondisclosure. 

Probably the standard of “bad behavior” constituting a breach of a legal duty to disclose a known, concealed defect to a buyer isn’t so far removed from the standard constituting a breach of the seller’s promise to give a buyer a fair opportunity to obtain the benefit of his bargain.   

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If you are interested in becoming a commercial property lawyer, the following article explains everything you need to know. Perhaps you’ve had experience of working in a law firm, or have had experience of buying or selling property before, and it’s an area that interests you.

What does a commercial property lawyer do?

The cases which a commercial property lawyer will work on generally involve the sale, purchase and lease of property for use as business premises. This includes offices, industrial units, retail units and manufacturing plants. Their role is to deal with legal implications of these property transactions. Specifically, they will look at issues such as Land Registration rules, rent, deeds and property licenses.

What attributes do commercial property lawyers have?

Due to the nature of their work, commercial property lawyers must be able to cope under pressure, and be able to meet demanding deadlines. They must be commercially aware, and be able to process large amounts of information quickly, requiring strong analytical skills. They will work within a team, meaning that excellent teamwork, interpersonal and communication skills are all essential prerequisites. It might be that the client will need additional legal services.

What qualifications do I need to become a commercial property lawyer?

Usually, candidates will be expected to have attained an Honours degree at 2:1 level or above. Those with a foundation degree or an HND only will not be considered, however, you can enter a training programme by first qualifying as a Legal executive.

Although entry is open to graduates in all disciplines, those without a law degree will have to undertake a one-year conversion course, known as the Common Professional Examination (CPE) or Graduate Diploma in Law (GDL). It is not to the detriment of candidates to have a degree in another discipline to law, as many firms will appreciate the broad background and knowledge which this offers.

After attaining either a BA law degree or the CPE/GDL qualification, candidates must then take the one-year Legal Practice Course (LPC) before starting a two-year training contract with a law firm.

With fierce competition for training contracts, relevant work experience within a law firm will stand those looking to become commercial property lawyer in good stead. If you are at college or university, you should approach as many firms as possible in order to attain a placement over the academic holidays.

So, if you’re interested in becoming a Commercial Property Lawyer, what are you waiting for?

Learn more about the role of a Commercial Property Lawyer and a Conveyancing Solicitor; could this be the ideal job for you? Find out more at http://EADSolicitors.co.uk Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=M_James

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