Are you a California Resident?You: I am out of your state for six months and a day!California: Hold my non-alcoholic beer! Many people believe that as long as they are outside the state of California for six months and a day they are not residents of California. And...
Does the Rule Apply to Real Estate? If you invest in and/or syndicate real estate what are the duties to your investors? You owe them a duty of loyalty. But how far does that go? The issue of corporate opportunities is important. I wrote a whole chapter on it (from...
You can’t do a criminal background check on a tenant! You must rent out your property or pay a fine! You must report all of your company’s beneficial owners! Do these exclamations ring of an authoritarian bureaucracy? That bell is ringing louder in the last year as...
Many people use joint ownership (the holding of title by two or more people), without really thinking about it. It is often used as a substitute for estate planning because it is cheaper, which is why some call it the "poor man’s will". It may seem like a simple and...
Beware of Purchasing Real Estate with Unpaid Liens on It Can the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) collect a prior owner’s delinquent federal income taxes from the subsequent purchaser of real property? Yes. In Shirehampton Drive Trust v. JP Morgan Chase Bank, N.A.,...
By Theodore Sutton Binding arbitration is becoming a popular method to resolve disputes in real estate transactions. Arbitration provides certain advantages that courts do not. For instance, arbitrations are private, they resolve disputes in a more timely and...
Are You Buying A Home With All Cash? Prepare to Be Scrutinized Buying a home with all cash has become more difficult. Blame the drug dealers, criminal networks and tax evaders for new rules put forth by the U.S. Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement...
Your Home is No Longer a Full Service Tax Deducting ATM Have you ever tapped the equity in your home to pay for a new car or a college tuition? With a HELOC, also known as a home equity loan or line of credit, you could do so. Better yet, you could deduct the interest...