real estate law Archives

April 26, 2024April 26, 2024

Michigan Deed Holders: Your Property Rights Could Change

Living in Michigan? It’s time to check your deed restrictions. Michigan deed holders should know that changes made to the state’s Marketable Record Title Act (MRTA) took effect March 29, 2024. And there’s a new deadline to record a notice under the MRTA.

KEY POINT TO KNOW: Michigan deed holders now have until September 29, 2025 to keep certain conditions on their deeds that originated 40+ years back. Otherwise, the law will effectively delete certain longstanding “rights and interests” including deed covenants, restrictions, and easements — by letting them sunset.

Now, let’s go into some details about deeds, restrictions on deeds, and how Michigan’s changes could apply to you and/or your homeowner’s association.

April 17, 2024April 25, 2024

Register of Deeds Blasts Crooks Who Steal Homes Out From Under Owners’ Funerals

The Register of Deeds of Shelby County, Tennessee recently took to a live television newscast to warn the public about scammers scouring funeral listings and obituaries. They’re looking for dead people whose homes they can steal.

They forge deeds. They record bogus title transfers.

Once they have control over their ill-gotten homes, criminals sell them, borrow against them, rent them out, and evict rightful owners.

March 18, 2024April 25, 2024

Real Property Basics: What Is a Clear Title?

A clear title. The term is commonly used to mean the deed holder can prove ownership, unquestionably. To verify that, a title company can conduct a title search.

Other parties’ claims on the title are called title defects, or clouds on title.

What do these claims look like? They might be mortgage liens, court judgments, contracts with renters, solar contracts, or any agreements to allow access to part of the property. There could be unpaid taxes in the past, claims by relatives involving their rights in foreclosures or inheritances, even liens for fees and fines imposed by homeowners’ associations.

Having a clear title matters to a homeowner. Selling isn’t an option while there are liens or claims against the title. Straightforward enough… But there are some finer points worth knowing.

March 11, 2024April 25, 2024

Florida’s Highlands County Introduces New Ordinance for Real Estate Transactions with Roadway Verification Requirement

In a recent update from the Highlands County Board of County Commissioners, a new ordinance (No. 22-23-23) has been established that directly impacts real estate transactions within Highlands County, Florida. This article aims to provide an informative overview of this ordinance, its requirements, and its implications for property transfers in the area.

February 26, 2024April 25, 2024

Could a Home Swap Turn Out to Be a Win-Win? Here’s How It Works.

Well, it’s one way to transfer property deeds between people! Yet trading homes with someone else isn’t your typical deed transaction.

In a prolonged tight market, deed exchanges are drawing growing numbers of curious and creative homeowners. Here’s a bit more about the concept.

January 11, 2024April 25, 2024

Texas Real Estate Deed Recording Fees and Estates Code Updates

Recent legislative changes in Texas, specifically Senate Bill 1612 and amendments to the Estates Code, have brought significant adjustments that impact real estate deeds and the probate process. These changes are essential for professionals in real estate, law, and estate planning to understand and incorporate into their practice.

January 8, 2024April 25, 2024

Selling Your Property When a Renter Still Lives There: Why and How?

Can you sell a rental unit “out from under” your renter? A loaded question, of course. Look at it this way. If your renters love where they live, it could be a win for all involved.

You have a few things to consider as you plan for positive outcomes, of course. This is true whether you ultimately sell with the occupant in the unit, or wait instead until the unit is empty.

Here are some scenarios — and how you might handle them with style and grace.

January 5, 2024April 25, 2024

Buying Without Your Spouse? What to Know About a Purchase Money Mortgage

Sometimes a homebuyer who’s married wants to buy property as an individual. They want to be the sole buyer, with no other name on the closing papers.

How can it work? Consider the purchase money mortgage.

As Cleveland’s CrossCountry Mortgage® company explains, “if a married person wants to purchase a property without their spouse being on the loan OR on the title, they can classify the transaction as a purchase money mortgage.”

With this mortgage, the marriage partner is (a) not responsible for repaying the lender for the mortgage; and (b) not named on the deed.

December 11, 2023April 25, 2024

Texas Warranty Deed Forgery Plot Thickens

More Houston-area deed fraud victims are speaking out. The alleged perpetrator has already been charged with a first-degree felony of forgery, fraudulent document execution, and theft greater than $300,000, in connection with warranty deeds worth some $15 million.

He would forge property owners’ signatures. Then he’d go buy their properties at a deep discount. Investigators say he tried to steal his own dad’s house. Yep.

He was arrested, let go on his personal recognizance, and told to reappear at his arraignment. He was a no-show. And that means Timothy W. is a wanted man again. What’s more, additional people have since stepped up, saying they believe the same person tried to take their homes away, too.

October 6, 2023April 25, 2024

Selling Your Haunted House?

*Some Buyers Wouldn’t Say Boo, But Most Don’t See Ghosts as a Selling Point*

Sellers who believe spirits reside in their homes should disclose this to the buyers, as haunting could be deemed a stigma. And most buyers want to know.

That’s right. Even spirits can’t escape the scrutiny of a buyer. And two out of three potential buyers might just ghost you if they hear about your other-worldly housemates.

But would paranormal activity be something to put on a formal disclosure form? Let’s open the creaky door to an exploration of seller disclosure and the haunted house. It begins with a discussion of…