U.S. Supreme Court: REITS Have Citizenship of their Members
Many entities that get sued with any regularity prefer being defendants in federal court, rather than state court. The reasons for this preference are varied, but essentially…
Rescinding a Foreclosure Sale (or Any Other Real Estate Deal) — Act Quickly, or Lose the Remedy
In a prior post, Respect the Remedy of Rescission in Real Estate Disputes, I highlighted the often under-appreciated remedy of rescission. With rescission, both parties are…
Money and Dirt: Reviewing 2015; Previewing 2016
We’ll end 2015 with a quick look back at some of the important developments in California real estate and secured lending law covered in this blog,…
Mind Your Real Estate Partnership Agreement Even In Bad Times (or be prepared to pay “reliance damages”)
Most sophisticated real estate investors are wise enough to know that they should abide by the terms of their investment entity’s governing agreement — the partnership…
Sham Guaranties Are Hard To Come By
In prior posts here and here, I highlighted the difficult position occupied by guarantors of real estate secured loans. In short, while California law extends very strong anti-deficiency…
LLC Managers Are Not Above The Law (Or Equity)
In an earlier series of posts, I flagged several mistakes frequently made by real estate LLCs. One of those mistakes is ignoring member rights and duties. That…
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,…
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…
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…