I believe you separately emailed my office, directly. The response is the same--Your recourse is through the Condo rules, and possibly a court action if the HOA is not following its own rules. However, while you may be able to obtain equitable (non-monetary relief), you are not going to recover for... View More

A Maryland attorney could advise best, but your question remains open for two weeks. I'm sorry for your ordeal. Some questions go unanswered here, but you might have better chances of a response by including the "Real Estate" category. Given that time is of the essence here, and that... View More

I am not a Pennsylvania lawyer. You need a local counsel who knows about express easements in the chains of title, and possible adverse use easements, easements by implication, necessity, and those created by plat. Good luck!

You describe an interesting issue- assuming the historical documents show an intention to include your mother's property in an HOA regime, but was omitted, can the HOA be compelled to admit her property. This will take any lawyer experienced in this area of title law several hours of research... View More

Your prenup is statement of intention. Only a recorded deed can pass an interest in land, or create a life-estate. For years our Firm has litigated this issue because the family law lawyers often don’t know how to handle the real property side of a separation agreement. It’s not hard, but it... View More

For what purpose? An appraisal is required of real property in an estate to ascertain its value as of the date of death of the decedent. This fixes the stepped-up tax basis of the heirs for calculating capital gains tax (or loss) following that date as the market value changes. If there were any... View More

The license agreement likely includes language acknowledging the true owner, and stating that permission was then extended to maintain the shed. All this prevents adverse possession from running. In MD, "permission" continued until revoked. And the license can be terminated as per its... View More

Most of your question involves "governance" of the HOA. I'm sure you are familiar with the by-laws, rules and statutes that dictate how management is conducted, and how leadership can be changed. Are you a Board member? Perhaps you should be.

The courts give the Board great... View More

Without a professional (lawyer or broker), you have very little protections. This type of entity preys on distressed sellers to scrape as much of the equity as is possible. They often ignore the consumer protection that is built into existing statutes and local ordinances by treating yours as a... View More

Thanks for your post. One beneficiary/heir buying out the other(s) presents a fairly common scenario.

When an estate has enough other liquid assets, then to eliminate transfer taxes it often makes sense to distribute the real estate entirely to the child who wants to acquire it and... View More

As you describe the situation, the evidence seems minimal. You don't say where the property is located. For example, in the City, mice will move from neighbor to neighbor, as one exterminates. Also, there are alternate reasons to use foam to fill voids-- energy conservation. It is one of the... View More

The two concepts are not at all related. First, in Maryland there is no restriction on where human ash may be scattered. You only need permission if on private property. They really are no different than the ashes from your BBQ grill, and there is no tax break for scattering the ashes from your... View More

In most jurisdictions, the law and the courts treat HOAs as local democracies. If they violate their "constitutions," i.e., the Declarations and, to some extent, other adopted "laws," you might get a court not to grant a motion to dismiss. For the most part, your remedy is to... View More

In what State and County? Your question deals with issues of local subdivision rules, State taxation rules, and local zoning laws. The act of surveying land is performed in service to issues raised by any one or all of these bodies of law. All good questions, but ones best asked while sitting... View More

The answer depends on whether the liens are recorded on the property or, under state law, are implicitly liened against title, so the correct answer is to get a lawyer, do a title search, and resolve title. But, as a general matter, if, under state law, the lien was recorded against the property,... View More

An attorney would first need to know what you mean by "wholesale" -- do you intend to try and sell the property without ever coming into title? Or do you simply mean that you intend to buy property in bulk and once you have acquired same in your / your business name, resell to third... View More

The only discharge granted was to your personal liability on the mortgage. The lien on the property remains. If you cannot afford the payments and stop paying, then the mortgage company can still foreclose and sell your house at acution to enforce its lien. What it cannot do is sue you and... View More

Most townhouse developments ae governed by an HOA and the parking lots outside the rows of homes are private--not public-- parking lots. In that situation, you need to look at the governing documents and HOA rules for what remedies are available, which usually involves private towing contracts.

Great question! In many situations, a new deed will trigger the "due on sale" clause in loan paperwork and require immediate repayment of the mortgage in full (for example if someone deeds all or part of their home or attempts to sell the house without paying off the loan).

A... View More

You could be liable for the damages if it was caused by your negligence in maintaining the gutter. If they make a claim, you can turn it over to your homeowner's insurance which should cover it.