Nevada Real Estate Legal Questions

You do not need to go to Florida to do this.  You need to sign (before a notary) a quitclaim deed in a form that complies with Florida law, then mail it to Okaloosa County to be recorded.  You'll need to pay recording fees and possibly a "transfer fee" (although you may qualify for an exemption so that no fee is due).  You can call the Okaloosa County recorder to find out the amount of fees, or check the County's website.  You need to send them both the original and a copy and request that they return the copy "file stamped" showing the recording information.  They will later return the original (usually takes a few months).  You can mail the deed to a local title company or to someone you know in Florida and ask them to walk it into the County to be recorded, rather than mailing it directly to the County.  There is a website where you can pay $17.97 to download forms with appropriate information.  I can't vouch for this website, but it is www.quitclaimdeed.com (search for Okaloosa County, Florida).  What you're wanting to do is governed by Florida law, not Nevada law, so as a Nevada attorney I cannot vouch for Florida law.  There may be a requirements under Florida law, such as the grantee "accepting" the deed, which may affect what you are trying to accomplish.  You have not indicated why you are wanting to quitclaim the property.  For instance, quitclaiming the property will not free you of liability for debt on the property if you are a co-debtor on a mortgage.  Therefore, you may need additional legal advice, depending on your goals.       ... Read More

In order to put a lien on someone's property, the person wanting to lien the property has to have either a statutory lien right (e.g., building contractors) or a written contractual lien right.  A "verbal contract" cannot give someone a right to lien your property.  It can obligate you to pay the $1,500 bill, but if you don't pay it then the owner can sue you in court to collect the sum.  Once someone has a judgment against you, then they have a statutory right to put a judgment lien on your property.  However, you say your are in a shopping center and most shopping centers have written, recorded agreements governing the operation of the center:  restrictive covenants (CC&Rs) and common area maintenance agreements (CAM Agreement) in which the various owners share the maintenance of the parking lots, etc.  Typically, CC&Rs and/or CAM Agreements have a provision in them that says that if one owner pays for improvements benefitting the other owners in the center, then those other owners owe their share of such costs and if they don't pay their share then a lien can be put on their property.  If your shopping center has such agreements, those agreements "run with the land" and are equivalent to you signing an agreement to let someone put a lien on your property.  If your shopping center has such agreements, then he can lien your property.  ... Read More

Refunds on security deposits are governed by NRS 118A.240 to 118A.250.  The Landlord can withhold from your security deposit amounts reasonably necessary to repair damages, excepting ordinary wear and tear.  Minor marks on walls are ordinary wear, but gouges in walls that require patching/painting constitute damage rather than ordinary wear.  The Landlord must provide you a written itemized accounting of the disposition of your security deposit within 30 days after you surrender the property.  If you dispute the accounting, you need to put that in writing to the Landlord within 30 days after receiving the accounting.  So, I would say "no" the Landlord did not have to notify you first, he just had to notify you in his accounting of the security deposit afterwards.  Your only basis of complaint is to argue that the cost was unreasonable--perhaps painting 2 walls was excessive, although that depends on the facts of the case (e.g., was it necessary to "blend" with the existing paint?), but you would probably have to get a lower estimate from someone else to do the work to prove it was excessive.  The fact that the owner is a contractor who may be able to do the work for less out of pocket cost than some other owner does not prevent him from charging you the fair market value of the work.  Finally, there may be specific terms in your lease by which you agreed to something different on this issue, but I doubt it.  ... Read More

When you entered into your mortgage loan agreement, you signed a Note promising to pay the loan back at a specified rate of interest and according to a specified schedule.  You also signed a mortgage which assured the lender that you would discharge your obligation under the documents in a timely fashion - otherwise the lender could foreclose the loan and take the property in substitution of your scheduled payments.  If you have defaulted on your payments (that is, failed to make timely payments according to the schedule), you don't have very many options.  The question becomes, "how bad do you want to keep the property?"  Your lender could simply foreclose and give you no chance at all to keep the property.  If the lender has offered a work-out arrangement to allow you to keep the property if you make "catch up" payments in some way, it is up to you to decide whether it's worth it to you to do that.  If the only way you can make the catch-up payments is to access your 401 K Plan, then that is your choice to do so.  It is also your choice to say "no".  In such event (if you can't raise the money some other way) the lender will almost certainly foreclose.  You are encouraged to confer with competent real estate counsel if it appears a foreclosure is going to occur.  If the lender loses money on the foreclosure, there is a possibility that it will sue you on the Note to recover its loss.  Deciding to allow a foreclosure to occur when there is some means to avoid it does involve some risk.      ... Read More

If by "military clause" you are referring to the Homeowners Assistance Program (HAP), then you must meet ALL the eligibility requirements: (1) owned home prior to 7/1/2006, (2) have permanent reassignment to a new duty station outside a 50-mile radius of former station, (c) received PCS orders between 2/1/2006 and 9/30/2012, (d) the home was formerly your principal residence, and (e) you suffered at least a 10% home value loss between 7/1/2006 and the date of application to the HAP program (both a 10% loss of values in the community and a personal 10% loss).  In addition, the program does not cover 2nd mortgages.  If HAP funds are available, then the sale is not treated as a short sale.  Instead, HAP funds are sent to the closing to pay off the first mortgage.  The formula for determining how much money the HAP program will provide toward paying off the first mortgage can be found in the powerpoint program available at hap.usace.army.mil.  The program is good while funds last.... Read More