Real Estate Law Title

You’ll want to make sure that you get the legal help and advice you need from an experienced residential conveyancing solicitor if you’re looking to buy or sell property.

Here’s why you need a residential conveyancing solicitor, when you’re buying or selling property, and more about the services they provide.

It’s important that you instruct the right firm of residential conveyancing solicitors when you’re buying or selling a house. You’ll need to choose a firm that know about buying and selling property as opposed to solicitors who normally deal with other legal issues.

By telling you what to expect, and how long things take, your residential conveyancing solicitor can help put your mind at ease, and reassure that things are progressing according to plan.

Because your property is the probably the most expensive thing you will buy or sell, you’ll want to make sure that you leave nothing to chance, and that everything is legal.

You’ll want to be reassured that your solicitor knows what they are doing, that they can help you and ensure that you are getting value for money. You don’t want to be left in the dark, or have to chase up your solicitors yourself.

Some firms of residential conveyancing solicitors will be able to recommend certain local estate agents and qualified surveyors to you. This can help to speed up the buying or selling process, and ensure that you can buy or sell your home as quickly as possible.

The services of a residential conveyancing solicitor are also invaluable for landlords and tenants too. If you’re a landlord who’s tenants haven’t paid their rent, or are not sure what your rights are as a tenant, you’ll be able to get the legal help you need.

Buying and selling property is time consuming because different checks need to be carried out. These include checks to see whether the property can actually be bought or sold, and what the property deeds say. Surveys will also need to be carried to establish the condition of the building, and whether it’s actually worth the money. You’ll need to be kept informed of the status of these checks and surveys by your solicitor.

Maybe you’re thinking of moving to a smaller or larger property, and want to know if there are any legal implications that could affect you.

You might want to build a conservatory, or extension, and need planning permission, or help buying additional land. Your residential conveyancing solicitor will be able to help you.

When you’re looking for mortgage or insurance advice, you might get the information you need from your residential conveyancing solicitor as well a a financial or mortgage adviser.

Now you know more about the work of a residential conveyancing solicitor, if you’re buying or selling a home, you’ll know how they can help you, and what to expect.

When signing a rental contract, be careful to take the following simple steps to ensure that you are covered both financially and personally.

1. Take out your own insurance

It is not safe to assume that the landlord’s house insurance will cover theft of any of your personal possessions. More often than not the landlord’s insurance policy will only cover the buildings and his or her possessions. Check the position of your lease, but unless it clearly indicates that your landlord will be responsible for insurance of your personal possessions, you should therefore look to take out your own insurance policy for any valuable possessions that you will have in the property.

2. Check whether the property is safe

You should check and get assurances or certificates from the landlord that the property complies with the following regulations:

- Furniture and Furnishings (Fire) (Safety) Regulations 1988, amended in 1993

- Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998

- Smoke Detectors Act 1991 (if the property doesn’t have smoke alarms ask if they can be installed)

- Electrical Equipment (Safety) Regulations 1994.

You are also recommended to find out if the landlord has PAT checked (Portable Appliance Testing) the electrical appliances.

The regulations place a legal obligation on the landlord to supply you with copies of the requisite certificates. If your landlord refuses to do so then you should write to him informing him of his legal duty under the regulation to furnish you with a copy at the start of your tenancy. Failing this, you should make a formal written complaint to your local Health Safety Executive which can be found via their website.

All homes being let must have an Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) from 1 October 2008. The Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) is broadly similar to the labels now provided with domestic appliances such as refrigerators and washing machines. Failure to provide an EPC could mean a fine of up to £5000.00 from Trading Standards.

3. Check that your deposit has been placed in a Tenancy Deposit Protection scheme

Since April 2007 landlords or managing agents are obliged to place a deposit paid by a tenant into Tenancy Deposit Protection scheme.

This is an authorised scheme which protects the deposit and minimises the risk of landlords unreasonably pocketing your deposit at the end of the tenancy.

Your landlord or agent must tell you within 14 days of you handing over the deposit which one of the three authorised schemes your deposit is protected by and provide you with details of the scheme. The three schemes include:

- The Deposit Protection Service which offers a free-to-use system funded from the interest earned on the money deposited

- Tenancy Deposit Solutions Ltd which is a partnership run by the National Landlords Association (NLA) and Hamilton Fraser Insurance

- The Dispute Service

If your landlord or agent fails to place your deposit within one of the protection schemes they could be liable to pay you up to three times the amount of your deposit.

4. I know the person who is letting the property to me therefore I don’t need to sign a tenancy agreement.

Oral agreements can be difficult to enforce because there is often no proof of what has been agreed. If a particular problem arises it will be difficult to enforce what may not have been discussed. Nevertheless a tenancy agreement exists even if there is only an oral agreement between you and your landlord. For example, you may have agreed with your landlord at the beginning of the tenancy how much rent you would pay and when it is due, whether fuel and bills are included, and if your landlord has the right to say who else can live in the property. If you have a dispute with your landlord or you are trying to enforce an oral agreement with your tenant or landlord you should consult an experienced landlord and tenant solicitor.

5. I have not read the tenancy agreement so I can’t be bound to its terms.

The tenancy agreement (or lease) is a legally binding document. You should be aware that by signing the agreement you will be bound for the full term of the tenancy and will not be released from your obligations (for example, to pay rent) before the tenancy expires without the consent of the landlord. The landlord should also sign the tenancy agreement. When he signs the tenancy agreement, the landlord is transferring possession of the property to you. A landlord will not be able to repossess the property before the tenancy expires unless you give up the tenancy or break the tenancy agreement; in the latter case a court order is required.

Before you arrange a date and time to sign the tenancy agreement, make sure that you (and all the other tenants if you are in shared accommodation) have seen a copy and read it through so that everyone including the landlord understands their obligations. Ask questions to clarify anything that you are unclear about.

To safeguard your position on any tenancy, consider running any questions you may have past a solicitor experienced in this kind of work.

Does it seem that the tables have been turned in the last several years so that people who rent apartments and houses have way more rights than those who own them? I raise this question because I have recently witnessed two separate scenarios, where it seemed that the property owners could have used more rights:

First of all, my brother called from California and told me about a foreclosed home he purchased. His goal was to rent the home out until the economy gets stronger, and then sell it. Well, things haven’t worked out as planned. Not yet, anyways.

The renter put down a deposit that allowed his family to move into the home. Then no further payments were ever made on the property. Ever. It’s now the fourth month, and my brother has yet to see another Abraham Lincoln penny from the renter. Keep in mind that my brother is still having to make mortgage payments - entirely out of his own pocket.

This wouldn’t seem like a big deal because one might imagine that the solution is plain and simple: Evict the renter and find a new renter. This is where it gets interesting: California State laws dictate that in order to evict a tenant, proper protocol has to be followed. This still sounds very simple and straightforward, but it isn’t. My brother-in-law has been following protocol for three months now, with no sign of progress.

Of course, State laws are in place to help people from being abused by their landlords. This is excellent. What about the landlords? Should they have more rights in the matter?

Another unrelated scenario involves another close family member - my father-in-law. He owns a rental home in the State of Washington and recently discovered that his tenant is growing five large marijuana plants in various places throughout the house. Upon this discovery, he called the cops and a police helicopter and three squadron cars showed up before he could blink twice!

What did the police do? Nothing, because the tenant pulled out a medical marijuana card. It turns out that Washington State law now allows possessors of these cards to grow up to fifteen marijuana plants in their homes - legally. On the surface, I would say “so what?” Well, growing marijuana in a home can cause major damage to the home itself. And some of it may be irreversible.

If property owners could say “I don’t want this to be done on my property, so please vacate”, then the situation would be easy to remedy. Interestingly, they can’t.

In light of the two above stories, do you believe that property owners could use more rights? I certainly don’t want to show disdain for the law, but I do want to create food for thought that maybe property owners should be entitled to more rights.

Vital Information: The House of Representatives Passes Wall Street Reform Act HR 4173 and Incorporating Mortgage Reform Provisions of HR 1728 Regulating Owner Financing was passed on December 11, 2009.

On May 7, 2009, at this time, this bill was discussed and passed in the House. After this bill was passed in the House of Representatives, it was combined with HR. 4173 and introduced into the House again. It is still required to pass the Senate vote before it is law. HR 1728 was developed due to the questionable mortgage practices and investing strategies that were initiated during the housing boom. This bill was established in response to the sub-prime mortgage crisis perpetrated during this time. Reform was required to prevent these objectionable loans from being made.

Lenders are expected to ensure the capacity of the client to pay back the loan

H.R. 1728 involves an uncomplicated federal standard for all housing loans: mortgage companies must ensure provisions be established requiring the customers to be capable of repaying the loans the customers have accepted. The lender would have to guarantee that a borrower has a “reasonable ability to repay.” This information is based on income, credit history, indebtedness and other factors. As a result, this bill will demand that all loans being refinanced provide a net tangible benefit to the consumer, prohibiting “junk” lending. This lending is driven by fees instead genuine economics. During the real estate boom, institutions had deviated from the more reasonable and honest practices of the past and initiated the tendency to foster risky, exotic mortgages and exercising procedures such as “no documentation” loans.

Excludes unfair lending procedures

The bill forbids the financial enticements for sub-prime loans that persuade lenders to maneuver borrowers into more expensive loans, including the bonuses referred to as “yield spread premiums.” As a result, loan officers compensate brokers and cause the price of loans to escalate. Many of the homeowners in the existing mortgage catastrophe were directed into more expensive loans when in reality they were not financially qualified. This bill restricts the prepayment penalties charged to borrowers who wish to terminate their loans and refinance for more affordable contracts.

Bring responsibility to the secondary market for home loans

According to this bill, for the first time, contributors in the enormous secondary mortgage market would be accountable and designated to federal law for ensuring responsible lending. This law allows clients to achieve redress directly from companies implicated in “examining” mortgages, except if the “examiner” supplied the borrower with a loan that meets the basic ability to repay and net tangible benefit standards. In previous years, mortgage loans escalated and were “sliced and diced” by organizations that “bundle and resell” home loans to investors. This process made it difficult to discover the company who was ultimately accountable for establishing the integrity of the loans.

Require creditors to be accountable for the mortgages they established

In order to more completely promote underwriting accountability, the bill authorizes compelling original federal regulations that necessitate creditors to preserve the economic awareness in the material segment (at least 5 percent) of the credit risk of each loan that the creditor transfers, sells, or communicates to a third party. The Federal Banking bureau would have the discretion to make an exemption to HR 1728’s risk retention provisions, including form and amount.

Require penalties for frivolous mortgages

Due to the frivolous loans that were initiated during the housing boom, H.R. 1728 will require the lenders and the secondary mortgage market investors, who did not adhere to these regulations (like the ability to pay and requiring net tangible benefits) to be deemed responsible by consumers for rescission of the loans and the client’s expenses for rescission, including lawyer’s fees. The consumer would also have the alternative to have a loan amended to correspond with the bill’s standards within 90 days of receiving notice from the consumer.

Increase consumer protections for high-cost mortgages

This regulation improves the safeguards attainable under federal laws on high-cost loans. This law reduces the interest rate and the points and fee triggers that are standard procedures in high cost loans. The law continues to foster consumer protections for “high cost Loans” by:

. Forbidding methods that augments the risk of foreclosure, such as balloon payments, leading a borrower to default, and forcing one to make provisions
. Forbidding extreme fees for payoff information, modifications, or late payments
. Forbidding the financing of points and fees, and demanding more pro-loan explanations

Require supplementary discovery for consumers concerning mortgage loans

This law asserts, the lien holder is obliged to divulge the maximum a client is required pay on a variable rate mortgage, with the advice that expenditures will differ based on interest rate adjustments. Lenders are also required to apprise the consumer of the complete quantity of the allotment of the settlement charges, the entire amount of expenses combined in the mortgage loan, the sum the client must pay at closing, and the commission paid to a mortgage lender. Numerous home owners did not understand the stipulations of their mortgage, particularly when acquiring sub-prime loans. This law will necessitate exposure about the loan that will disclose any relevant information related to the loan. These disclosures will assist the client in gaining the necessary data to make informed and educated decisions.

Protection for renters who’s rented homes run into foreclosure problems

A tenant that is renting a home can also be impacted by a foreclosure. The HR1728 bill will require the tenant to have proper and timely notification before the individuals are forced out of their homes. If the home is the renter’s primary residence, they will have to be notified ninety days before the date of foreclosure. This will allow the individual time to find a new residence and relocate.

The Office of Housing Counseling was created to assist the client

This law institutes an office agency called the Office of Housing Counsel associated with HUD to encourage home-ownership and rental housing counseling. This organization will direct and synchronize other endeavors to expand the access of home-ownership counseling. This office will launch a multimedia promotion such as national public service campaign to educate clients concerning financial counseling and home-ownership and the creation of a website and toll-free hot-line.

Impart legal assistance to homeowners and tenants confronting foreclosure

According to this law, home buyers will be allowed HUD measures to implement competitive grants for numerous varieties of legal assistance for low income and moderate income homeowners and tenants dealing with foreclosure associated with home ownership protection, home foreclosure deterrence, and tenancy. Preference will be awarded consideration of the top 100 areas for home foreclosures. Beneficiaries will be forbidden from utilizing any monies for any class action lawsuits.

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