Pennsylvania Residential Real Estate Legal Questions

I'm sorry to hear about your grandmother's passing.  If she owned the house in her name alone, someone will need to open an estate for her in order to transfer ownership of the home to someone else.  if she had a valid will, it should be offered for probate in the county where she last resided.  If she had no will, your father (and any of her children) are eligible to petition the court to open an intestate estate (i.e. without a will) for her.  It would be best if your father contacted an attorney who practices in estate administration for assistance. ... Read More

The answer to your question is probably answered by the terms of your lease.  The lease typcially sets forth who is responsible for paying water, sewer and other utilities.  If the lease is silent on that topic, you are probably responsible for paying those out of the rent that you receive.  Take a careful look at your lease and see if it answers your question. ... Read More

If your neighbor trespassed on your property to do this digging project without any right to do so, then I would say "yes" you probably have a claim of some kind against your neighbor.  But I would strongly recommend that you have your deed and chain of title reviewed by an attorney so that you can get specific, reliable advice on this situation.  Your deed may give the neighbor a right to do what they did.  Maybe there's an easement in the chain of title.  These are details that need to be addressed before you take stock of your options for action. ... Read More

The seller may have executed a document, maybe an affidavit, stating that it had no knowledge of any impending assessments.  You might review the paperwork relating to the closing to see if something like this was signed by the seller.  That may give you the basis for making a claim against the seller for the costs -- a claim for non-disclosure.  The seller may also have provided you with a signed disclosure statement concerning the property -- that's required by law. The assessment topic might've been addressed there as well.  Check your closing paperwork. ... Read More

Unless the neighboring landowner agrees to convey the property to you, you'll need to initiate a legal proceeding to adjudicate your right to the property.  Your use of the property must be "adverse" meaning that your neighbor has not given you consent to use the property.  Adverse possession claims are not commonly successful and are very fact specific and requir rigorous evidence.  You should consult with an experienced real estate attorney to obtain an evaluation of you case. ... Read More

It is unsual for pesons in a divorce to remain living in the same house together for any length of time. If you previously agreed to leave upon separation, what good will it do to quibble over the technicalities of whether you are separated?  in the event of a dispute and you're proven right, she'll conform to the separation standard and you may then need to leave.  Best bet is to negotiate a peaceful departure and move forward to try and conclude the divorce amicably. ... Read More

The power of attorney form will detail scope and extent of her powers as her parents' agent.  But the situation begs another qeuestion -- why does she want to borrow against the property?  What will the money be used for?  The loan may or may not be an appropriate thing to do, depending on the intended goal. ... Read More

the consequences are that you could have a lawsuit filed against you.  That lawsuit could include a claim for monetary damages for your failure to pay utilities or other expenses you are obligated to pay under the lease.  In addition, the costs of the suit could be filed against you.  Having a judgment agaist you will adversely affect your credit rating.  In some instances, a creditor can garnish (freese) your bank account to get the money due in the judgment.  Why chance having to deal with all of that?  If you owe the money, best bet is to pay what's due and hope the landlord finds another tenant before your lease term expires.  that's the cheaper route. ... Read More

This is a really touch situation with no easy resolution.  If you allow it to continue, it may end up being an issue for you so long as your name is on the property and/or the loan is not paid off.  I would strongly recommend taking assertive action now rather than later.  You can petition the court to partition the property.  That means she either needs to refinance/buy you out or the house will be put on the market to be sold to the highest bidder.  I would recommend that you retain an attorney to assist with the process.  It is not a do-it-yourself matter. ... Read More

Being neighborly doesn't mean you have to give a neighbor some of your property.  The short answer to your question is no, you are not bound by the agreement made by the prior owner.   An easment a right of one person (the neighbor) to use the property of another person (you) for a particular purpose without actually having ownership of the property.  An easement needs to be either identified in your deed or a separate easement agreement that is recorded with the property records in your county.  Unless the neighbor's right to put his fence on your property is recorded either of these ways, then you can rightfully demand that he remove the fence.  I would suggest that you do so in writing, although it seems overly formal.  Send it via certified mail so that you have proof.  If he refuses, then I would not recommend self-help.  Rather I would suggest that you file an action in quiet title and obtain a court order requiring him to remove the fence.     Good luck -- tough situation to have trouble with the neighbor.  I'm sure you can understand why the neighbor thinks he's in the right, given that he had permission and then spent money to build the fence.  ... Read More

I'm really sorry to hear about this -- how disappointing to buy a new house only to find it has some serious problems.  You may have a viable claim against the seller, realtor (if one was involved) and the contractor.  You'd have to look at the sales agreement to verify that you did not waive any important rights and accept the property "as is".  The seller should have also given you a disclosure statement before you bought the house that provided you historical information about the condition of the house.  Best bet would be to give the seller an opportunity to fix the problem at their expense.  If, by a date certain, they do not take you up on that, you should have the problem fixed and then consider filing suit against the seller and request reimbursement of the cost of repairs that you had to pay from your own pocket. ... Read More

Short sales, in my experience, are always tough to get done.  You have to get an offer to buy your home, meet short sale qualification guidelines (often requiring the loan to be in default for some period of time), present a package of materials for approval with the lender or FHA/HUD and wait for the processing time.  Buyers don't want to wait forever for a short sale proposal to be approved and often deals are lost as a result of delays.   Are you certain you won't get an offer sufficient to cover both mortgages?  If you don't, only then do you need to worry about a short sale.  Is your mortgage in default?  Don't let it go into default just to try for a short sale.  If you do have to go the short sale route, there are restrictions on the amount of attorneys fees that can be collected from the sale proceeds.  If the attorney you're talking to is trying to circumvent those restrictions, then I'd say "beware".  ... Read More

The answer is mostly found in the terms of your purchase agreement.  There should be a financing contingency that provides you with a fairly clear answer.  Usually these agreements provide that in the event the purchase defaults on the agreement (and I'm not suggesting that you have), that the seller is limited to retaining the earnest money as damages. You cannot be forced to buy the house anyway.  There are also ways of tweaking things to give you "cover" and be able to bail on the deal if you don't like the financing.  Hopefully your lender or attorney has relationships with some lenders who can look at your situation and maybe you can get the conventional financing you hope for. If you need some contact, feel free to contact me. ... Read More

You've got a few issues here.  First of all, a lender cannot put a "lien" on anyone's property without the borrower's permission (e.g. signing a mortgage) or after filing suit and obtaining a judgment (which is a lien on real property in the state and county where the judgment is filed of records).  Secondly, property owned by a married couple is exempt from the claims of a creditor of one of the owners.  In other words, a creditor of one of the married persons cannot cause a lien to be filed on property owned by a married couple.  If the creditor has made this threat, it may be a violation of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act.  You can file a complaint against this creditor with the Federal Bureau of Consumer Protection.  Here's a link:  http://www.ftc.gov/about-ftc/bureaus-offices/bureau-consumer-protection.  ... Read More

You should file a complaint against the landlord with the District Magistrate in whose district the property is located.  You can find the form here:  http://www.pacourts.us/assets/files/setting-897/file-771.pdf?cb=58fb7b Call the Magistrate for the filing fee and how to file.  The Magistrate will serve the complaint on your landlord and schedule a hearing.  With any luck, you'll have a hearing before the end of the year and at least the matter will have some resolution.  ... Read More

The costs of transferring property include at a minimum: 1)  the cost of preparing the deed; 2)  realty transfer taxes, if applicable.  The tax is at least 2% of the current fair market value of the property, regardless of the consideration reported on the deed (i.e. $1.00 will not avoid the imposition of the tax).  There are many exceptions such as transfers between certain family members. 3)  a recording fee charged by your county's recorder of deeds.  The charges vary widely by county but you should expect to pay between $50 and $200. If you are acquiring the property, you should have a title search and examination performed so that you can know whether there are any liens or other clouds on the title to the property.  The cost for those will be between $250 and $500.  ... Read More

This is not an uncommon situation.  You are right to be leary because allowing the seller to remain could give rise to a leasehold/tenant interest in the property by the seller.  If you have the ability to not move in on the closing date, you can agree to allow the seller to remain for a short time.  You'll want a simple written agreement addressing things such as a fair daily rental amount, insurance coverage, the deadline for the seller to turn over the house and what happens if the seller does not comply with the next move out date.  If the seller refuses to leave (usually because their new residence plans fall through) they could claim they are a tenant and force you to go through a landlord/tenant process, which has special rules that will make it difficult to get the seller out quickly.  The agreement should set forth clearly that it does not create a landlord/tenant situation and that it is not governed by tenancy laws and rules.  It should include severe financial penalties in the event the seller does not leave in time.  You should hold a substantial amount of money is escrow from the closing to ensure that the seller does leave on time and, if not, there's a pool of money to pay you damages.  Even if the seller remains after the closing date you should expect to receive keys to your own house at the closing table. ... Read More

The definitive answer to your question requires a review of the local zoning ordinance applicable to the property.  Generally if the septic tank is no longer permissible under the local ordinances (a "non-conforming use") but was permissible previously, it can continue to exist as is.  It is unlikely that you can expand that non-conforming use even if your parents added an add'l septic tank to the property and THEN transferred it to you.   ... Read More

The short answer to your questions is "no", the bank will require that a tax ID be associated with the bank account.  It can be an individual's tax ID.  But your question relates to a larger issue.  If there are two or more unrelated persons involved in some type of common enterprise or goal, you are best served by putting some type of agreement in writing concerning ownership and use of the money, future contribtuions and withdrawals of the "partners".  You can obtain a tax ID for an unincorporated association.  The instructions for the SS-4 Form are farily easly to follow. ... Read More