What Particular Cases Does Your Firm Cover Under Real Estate Law?
I represent buyers and sellers who are in the midst of a real estate transaction, who are either attempting to enforce their existing contract or are considering getting into contracts for the purchase or sale of a real property. I also represent neighbors, who are having any boundary or property use disputes, and property owners who have suffered a loss of some sort and are seeking payment or other action from their insurance company. I look at the title issues, preliminary title reports, and the chain of title. I analyze exclusions to title coverage or other insurance coverage in reviewing the policies.
What Are Some Reasons To Seek The Assistance Of A Real Estate Attorney?
In sale transactions, there are certain disclosures that must be made under California law. The sellers sometimes will seek out an attorney to advise them on whether they should disclose a condition or circumstances surrounding the property, and the level of disclosure that needs to be made. I will advise people who are in the midst of a sales transaction on what to disclose. Generally, everything should be disclosed that might be of concern to a prospective buyer or occupant of the property. I also represent buyers, who are in the midst of a sale on what additional investigations and disclosures they should seek from their seller.
Where there has not been a required disclosure by the seller, I will assist the buyer in determining whether to proceed with suing the seller or unwinding the transaction. When it does come into litigation, there can be several non-parties to the sales transaction that could be liable for damages that are owed to the buyer, besides the seller, such as a home inspector, termite inspection company, or a real estate professional.
Another area that we provide services in is circumstances involving a neighbor dispute, which usually arise overuse, boundaries, and easements. Our first inquiry on that is what is specifically going on, whether there has been an encroachment on the property, where the property line is, and whether there are any easements. Perhaps the encroaching neighbor has been using it for a certain period of time and developed prescriptive rights. “Prescriptive rights” means that the invader has gained rights to use the property over a period of time. If it is something that was started under a prior owner, then that is an issue that should have been disclosed in the sale transaction. If there is an adverse use, we will analyze the title insurance policy and preliminary title report to determine whether the matter was disclosed and whether the adverse use triggers title insurance coverage. For title insurance, California law has requirement under the Code of Regulations and the Fair Claims Settlement Practices portion requiring that the title insurer must take action to resolve the problem. It is not just a matter of tendering money, a Title Insurance company must investigate, and if possible, cure the problem. We help our clients in preparing the tender of the claim, advising the insurance company of these requirements, and making certain that they provide the coverage that is promised under the title insurance policy to our clients. Having the title insurance company solve the dispute with the neighbor through its own attorneys can avoid a significant expense to our clients.
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