Junior Lienholders: Know When To Admit Defeat
As any real estate lender or investor can testify, holding a junior lien on real estate security can be perilous. Sure, the yields are higher (and…
Commercial Lease “Co-Tenancy” Clauses: Unconscionable, Penalty, or Enforceable?
When a court of appeal announces that it is tackling a new commercial lease issue for the first time ever in a published decision, it’s wise…
Alterations Don’t Always Render a Deed Void (or How NOT to do Foreclosure Investing)
Most real estate investors assume that when a deed is altered by someone other than the grantor, without the grantor’s knowledge or consent, before it is recorded,…
Construction Loans Gone Bad
In January, I posted about a recent decision from the California Court of Appeal (Fourth District in Riverside), California Bank & Trust v. Del Ponti, which addressed…
Loan Prepayment Fees: Normally Enforceable, But ….
Lenders sometimes impose fees triggered by the borrower’s payoff of the loan before the maturity date. Normally, the “prepayment fee” issue is a subject for negotiation at the outset of…
Guarantor Waivers Can Only Go So Far
As I mentioned in a prior post, guarantors are usually in a tough position defending litigation by the lender because most guarantor defenses are lawfully waived…
Perils of the Full Credit Bid
At a nonjudicial foreclosure sale (also known as a trustee’s sale) a lender is entitled to make a “credit bid” — i.e., bidding all or portions…
Seven Critical Mistakes Real Estate LLCs Make (and How to Avoid Them) — Mistake #7: Sinking Profits on Messy “Business Divorce” (Judicial Dissolution)
We’ve come full circle from MISTAKE #1: Choosing the Wrong Business Partners. Often, choosing the wrong business partners ends in messy divorce, otherwise known as judicial…
Seven Critical Mistakes Real Estate LLCs Make (and How to Avoid Them) — Mistake #6: Failing to Protect Trade Secrets
It’s not just technology companies that have intellectual property. As I’ve written about before, real estate companies have I.P. too! Trade secrets are a form of…
Seven Critical Mistakes Real Estate LLCs Make (and How to Avoid Them) — Mistake #5: Misunderstanding Secured Loan and Guaranty Rights/Liability
Real estate secured loans inspire all sorts of litigation. I see it from both sides of the coin, since I represent developers and investors (who are…