The Ask the Real Estate Lawyer column by Samuel Tamkin answers your questions about real estate and the law. These helpful articles by Ilyce Glink and real estate attorney Samuel Tamkin cover all sorts of topics, everything from buying a vacation home to selling investment property.
Transferring Property To An LLC
What happens if I transfer a commercial property to an LLC? Is there a capital gain because the basis gets stepped up or does the owner's basis remain unchanged. You may need an appraisal of the property to determine what your gain was and depending on how long you held the property, you will owe tax on the sale.
Real Estate Attorney Can Sort Out Title
After paying back and current taxes on a property that was quit claimed to you, can you take full title to a property? The answer? It depends on how the quit claim deed was drafted and what its intent was.
Subleasing Rental Property May Be Illegal
A renter has been subletting an apartment and paying the original tenant the monthly rent. Now it turns out that the sublease is illegal and the original tenant may not have not been paying on the lease. The subleaser may be obligated to pay back rent to the apartment owner. In general, if you're going to sublease an apartment, you have to make sure the owner has knowledge of your existence, has consented to the sublease in writing and that the parties understand who will be paying what and when.
Ilyce Glink on WSB Radio – June 12, 2005
Ilyce's husband Sam, Tod Mark and Ilyce talk about real estate law, practical travel advice, rising real estate prices around the world, and "What a million dollars doesn't buy." Call in topics include: increasing your cash flow through stocks and real estate, and how to refinance your house.
Property Line Dispute With Neighbors
A homeowner has a neighbor who insists they move their fence because it is on the neighboring property. There is no survey on file for any of the lots. The owners are relying on a real estate agent's claim that a tree line is the property line. The homeowners need to hire a surveyor and a good real estate attorney or risk losing their land and trees. The attorney can also help them figure out their options if the property does belong to the neighbors.
Real Estate Contract Describes Remedy For Mistakes
Real estate contracts spell out the terms for when either the buyer or seller does not meet his obligations. If there's a breach of contract, both parties should review the contract to understand the remedy for the mistake. When a dispute arises relating to a real estate contract, either party has the right to go to court and sue the defaulting party.
The Basics About Easements
Why do we have easements? Easements can be necessary to distribute water and other utilities to the many lots within a development. In some cases, cable companies have easements to bury cable to service a community. In other cases, easements allow the public to walk through private land to reach a public beach. A community can have an easement to walk along your property to reach a boat house on a body of water. Generally, you should never build anything on easement land that could prevent the user of the easement from making use of the easement.
Access To Property Needs To Be On Record
A home buyer has purchased property that is only reached by an inaccessible county road. The seller gave them temporary access through his property until the road is repaired. Now the neighbor is selling his property and will not give them an easement. The easement is not recorded but listed in the contract as access until the road becomes available.