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A little over a year ago my husband and I were looking for a home to buy with no help from a realtor/agent. We found one via a model home. The builder is also a realtor and he is who we decided to build with. We did not use his services as a realtor/agent to help find us a home but he had us fill... View More 
answered on Jan 24, 2017
This is a direct legal question, you will need to contact a lawyer directly because Justia's Q&A is only for general legal questions. As a general rule, you should review your agreement with the realtor/builder. While, most builders are not also realtors it is possible for both to apply (I... View More
Is the defendant still required to sign and file a special warranty deed if in protest?
answered on Jan 24, 2017
There is too much missing information to answer to your question. Are you are asking if a prior contractually required special warranty deed is still valid if the court approves a partition? If this is the case, you will need to contract a lawyer directly who can review all the documentation and... View More
We recently built a home and it was completed on December 22nd 2016. We went through US Bank and have been taking draws from US Bank monthly to pay the builder who pays the subcontractors. We recently received a certified and notarized letter from one of the subcontractors stating that they never... View More
answered on Jan 14, 2017
While letters like these are not pleasant, you do not need to worry. Liens cannot be attached without legal process or a signed document by you (the homeowners) authorizing attachment as a security (this is common for lenders, but nearly unheard of for private parties). In other words, the sub will... View More
answered on Jan 14, 2017
Check with you lender(s), but there is no legal limit to the number of people on a mortgage. Note, being listed on a mortgage is not necessarily the same as people listed on the deed (although most lenders require an overlap of listing on both the deed and mortgage).
the purchase price is crossed out and instead of a new offer or a counter the new offer is written in - Is this legal ?
answered on Jan 9, 2017
Handwritten modification are still valid. To be safe, it is recommended that all parties initial the handwritten portions. You can also request that the contract be re-typed. FYI: most offers have handwritten modifications (esp. if purchase prices are still being negotiated).
Buyer terminated contract so he would not loose earnest money because his lender was not ready to close. Buyer still wants to buy. Am I still bound to any previous contracts or amendments or due earnest money?
answered on Jan 6, 2017
This is a direct legal question and is beyond the scope of Justa's Q&A (which is for general legal questions). As a general rule, if an offer is terminated for any reason all accompanying documents/contracts are usually also terminated. However, you will need to review all the contracts to... View More
My realtor never sent me the contract to sign. I did sign an amendment to lower price. If I didn't sign the original contract am I still bound to contract.
answered on Jan 6, 2017
If no contract was signed (!) the answer becomes unclear. Contracts can be imputed with action (performance) and/or reliance. This usually does not apply for real estate contracts (which tend to favor strict construction rules), but there is a level of uncertainty for the services by the realtor... View More
Why do I need one?
How much will it cost?
How quickly can I obtain a Lawyer?
answered on Dec 11, 2016
You do not always need a real estate attorney when selling property - it depends on your particular circumstances. You can search for real estate attorneys in the Find a Lawyer section of this site.
I have 1,200 deposit on my apartment 3 years ago, never late on my rent. I bought a home in another State. I provided a 60 day notice to vacate found a qualified applicant who made her own deposit and is moving into my unit right away,no loss in funds for the management company. I painted my unit,... View More
answered on Nov 24, 2016
From your facts, it sounds like you have a solid case. Since the sum is small by legal standards, you qualify for small claims court. Small claims court has simplified court procedures and is intentionally directed towards non-lawyers. Lawyers can also represent parties in small claims court, but... View More
We are interested in a home in Pine, CO that is a "for sale by owner". Since I have no experience in this area, we are going to get a real estate lawyer. I just wanted to know if it is required and what does it involve.
answered on Nov 17, 2016
No, a lawyer is not required. Real estate lawyers primarily do two things for residential real estate: (1) draft sale agreements and (2) review various agreements. A lawyer is not required for either and the overwhelming majority of sales have no lawyers involved. An agent (or for sale by owner... View More
I am a broker is a class and there is a question if there is a limit to a listing agreement. I had read something about Colorado having a 1 year term for contracts. Is that true?
answered on Nov 15, 2016
The term of the listing is defined by the listing contract. Colorado prevents an indefinite listing agreements, but does not give a firm cut-off period. Look at the approved listing agreement form the CO Division of Real Estate--section 3:... View More
Thru the RealEstate Co even tho the contract has expired?
answered on Nov 14, 2016
Since you are referring to the listing agreement, I assume that you are the seller. Review your listing contract. Most contracts have an "exclusive" listing period and many contracts also have a "blackout" period after the exclusive period to catch sellers who try to wait-out a... View More
Scenario: Male and Female own a house together in Denver, CO. They were together but not Married or Common Law. They Both are on the mortgage as owners. Male and Female ended relationship. Male stayed at the location and female has not lived there for 6 months.
answered on Nov 13, 2016
No, you and the woman are co-owners. If you seek a court order forcing her to leave, the home must be put up for sale (or you can offer to buy-out her portion).
Our mother won't listen to council given by son currently working for her and threatens to fire him on a regular basis. Her current decision making seems to not be in the best interest for the ranch and it's a mutual feeling that she may end up destroying the ranch.
answered on Nov 13, 2016
If your mother lawfully inherited the property, she has the right to do anything with the property that she wants (including running range into the ground). If you feel your mother lacks mental capacity, you can look into declaring her mentally incompetent (be warned this should only be considered... View More
A landowner has 60 acres he wants to subdivide into a minor development. It has been zoned AG for 21 years. The other landowners own and maintain the private road which he uses for access. He wants to have the property re-zoned to AR for a subdivision. The road is not county maintained. The... View More
answered on Nov 10, 2016
As a condition to approval of the rezoning and subdividing, the planning department and/or zoning officials will have to assess whether there is adequate and legal access to the proposed lots. In addition to a primary access point, most development plans also must have a secondary access for... View More
The landlord rented a house to his daughter and two friends. the utilities are in his daughters name and after he tried to presen a fake lease to our third roommate, and she found out, she decided to move out of the house before signing the lease. I also decided to move out as the landlord told us... View More
answered on Nov 8, 2016
Review the lease agreement for any discussion of utilities. It is possible that you must pay your allocation portion of the utilities for the period in which you resided in the home. It is very unlikely that you would be personally liable for utilities after you terminated the lease. If the... View More
This landlord is a business owner and shared the space with me. In my lease it states that I was not to smoke anything indoors. I am a cigarette smoker of about 15 years now. I do NOT smoke inside because it sticks in everything and absolutely will not. I do not throw my butts on the ground because... View More
answered on Nov 8, 2016
Without seeing the area I cannot say for certain, but you likely have no reasonable expectation of privacy in a public or outside area. There is nothing improper or illegal in filming a public space. As for private property, the answer gets a little more complicated. Unless the filming is in a... View More
I'm told technically the contract is not valid. I ask because my uncle singed the contract, and I was under the impression that the contractor is responsible to fulfill his obligations under the contract to the person signing, regardless of whether or not the person signing is on the actual... View More
answered on Nov 2, 2016
It is not a requirement that the party contracting for services on real estate be on the deed. However, as a general rule contracted work on any property requires the consent of the owner. Based on your facts, it would be imputed that your uncle had implicit authority to act as your agent (via his... View More
Can he do this as he is the sellers agent. Also with a home inspection there have been problems arising regarding disclosures from seller ect. Do I need a real estate lawyer and should I use one referred by sellers broker?
answered on Oct 26, 2016
Brokers can handle a sale for both the buyer and seller, but there are limitations. Specifically, the broker is an agent of the seller and cannot (and should not) provide any advice or opinions to the buyer. In short, the broker should not assess whether the offer is a "good deal" or... View More
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