Real Estate Legal Questions

A power of attorney and an LLC are different. An individual is authorized to execute documents on behalf of another individual. An LLC requires a manager or member. The operating agreement controls the authority. Contact me at sgarciavidal@garciavidallaw.com if you have any questions.  Thanks. ... Read More

It's going to depend whether 1) you had an "as is" clause in your contract, 2) whether you had a home inspection as part of your purchase agreement and 3) whether the crack was something a home inspector could have found. If there was an "as is" clause, you cannot recover for simple non disclosure, there has to be actual fraud. If you had a home inspection, and they should have found it, then you can't recover. The only way you could recover is if you had a home inspection and the inspector COULDN'T have discovered it with an ordinary inspection.   The biggest issue, however, is whether the seller is collectible. If they don't have enough money to compensate you, then this is a moot issue.... Read More

Liens against real property can be established either by voluntary action (the owner of the property agrees in writing to do so), by operation of law ( such as in filing a mechanic's lien) or if you have obtained an enforceable judgment, by recording an abstract of that judgment in the county where the judgment debtor owns real property. In you situation, the only avenue that you have availalbe is through seeking a judgment and recording an abstract of that judgment in the county where the proeprty is owned. Please feel free to contact us if you have any  further questions     Hatkoff & Minassian, ALC         email: nminassian@hatkofflaw.com    ... Read More

It is usually the landlord's responsibility to repair the air conditioning. Check the terms of your lease on this. You do not have the ability to withhold rent. What you DO have the ability to do is deposit the rent with the court until the landlord has fixed the issue, or alternatively vacate the premises after giving them thirty days written notice.... Read More

What you can do is largely controlled by your agreement with your landlord.  What you propose to do may or may not be permitted.  You should definitely retain an attorney in such a transaction becuase there are a number of issues you will need to have properly handled in any agreement with the assignee. ... Read More

Whether one whose name is on the deed is living there or not is not particularly relevant.  But your question indicates a few possibilities with different implications.  If a married couple owned the property at the time the mortgage was signed and only signed the mortgage, the mortgage most likely would be invalid. There might be grounds for reformation but that is not a given. If multiple people not married to each other owned the property at that time and not all signed the mortgage, the mortgage may be valid against the partial interest in the property owned by those who signed so foreclosing could lead to you being a tenant in common with the others.  That could be subject to a survivorship interest if the owners held title as joint tenants with full rights of survivorship, but the survivorship interest would not apply if they were tenants in common or joint tenants.   Another common scenario would be that only one held title at the time the mortgage was sigend and then, after that, transferred title to him/herself and another, the mortgage could be valid against both owners and you would forclose against the full title of the property and get full title to the property upon the expiration of the redemption period. This is the most likely scenario. You would also be able to pursue a personal claim against all who signed the promissory note, regardless whether they all still own an interest in the property or live there.   ... Read More

I'm a little confused by the question. This was a property that you won? As in a game show? Do you mean that you purchased the property at auction? If this was purchased at a foreclosure auction then you absolutely purchased it in its as-is condition and that's the risk that you bear. ... Read More

Potentially. If you had a home inspection and moisture or mold was noted then you probably don't have any way to force the seller to do anything. If they claimed the mold problem was fixed, you had an inspection and it came up empty, and they KNEW that the problem wasn't fixed, then you may have a cause of action. Real estate law is very tiled in favor of home sellers as opposed to home buyers under Ohio's doctrine of caveat emptor ("buyer beware"). In most cases, only active fraud or concealment is enough to create something you can sue over.... Read More

You will need an Offer to Purchase Contract that is to be signed by all parties to the transaction.  Once you have the signed contract, contact an attorney near your home to assist you with the closing.  SC is an attorney state meaning only an attorney can certify the title to the property.... Read More

Typically a creditor can't "claw back" spent funds and is limited to collecting whatever the debtor has once they've successfully sued them. The only exception to this is any kind of fraudulent transfer in which a debtor spends funds or transfers funds with the express intention of avoiding creditors. Unless you are spending it for the express purpose of avoiding it being garnished, you should be fine in spending the money however you feel like.... Read More

Unlikely. Because you broke up and then got back together again (as opposed to just breaking up and then later getting around to a divorce) the court will likely consider the the LLC to be marital property, including the house that's in it. You can certainly ask him to leave, and he may, but you don't have a strong legal argument to force him out. If you wanted to do that, you would need to file for divorce and move for an order for him to vacate the property so that you have exclusive use of the property.... Read More

This is a very unusual situation. You have a discharged note that is giving you no credit for making payments on it but have been doing that for ten years. I speculation (I know, we shouldn't do that) is that the note was reaffirmed at some point, otherwise you would have a cause of action against the bank for unjust enrichment for accepting payments on a voided note.    I would contact your servicer and see if you can get credit for your payments over the past ten years.They may be able to report these timely payments to teh three credit bureaus, which will substantially increase your score.   Failing that, if this truly is not showing up on your credit report, which I think has a low liklihood, then there is nothing stopping you from applying for an additional mortgage as the currrent note no longer exists.... Read More

Has anyone filed an affidavit of heirship or any type of probate proceeding? You can determine the fair market value of the land through the tax records and research on real estate sites. The amount your sibling pays should be based on the fair market value with each person getting an equal amount for their share of the land. You could agree to accept less, but if you sold the land to an outside person, each of you would get your share (1/3) of the fair market value. Also, you could ask the court to sell the land in a probate proceeding if you all are not able to come to an agreement.... Read More