Real Estate Law Articles

A life in condominium is different from life in ordinary house. Tenants not only have next door neighbours but also have upstairs and downstair neighbours. In condominium there is also a governing body that regulates the management of the condominium environment, maintenance and the construction of environmental infrastructure and social facilities for the purpose of living together with all tenants in condominium.

Housing and residence are every human being basic needs. With the increasing number of inhabitants, the land space provided becomes very limited. Because of that, houses are made in a multistory structure or commonly known as condominium (rumah susun).

The purpose of the Government Regulation No. 41 of 1996 (the “GR No. 41”) is to give a legal certainty for foreigners who own property in Indonesia. Foreigners who are domiciled in Indonesia are foreigners who give benefits for national development.

Indonesia as a developing country is one of the investment destination for developed countries to expand their global business activities. That is why more foreigners domiciled in Indonesia to do their business. However, there are boundaries or conditions for foreigner to own a residence especially a strata title, which is going to be discuss further here.

Batam has a strategic geographical location as the closest island to Singapore and Malaysia, which strategically located in the international shipping route. As the special zone for multinational trade area, Batam has a special treatment from the Government of Indonesia.

This Article examines the legal situation of Sales of Real Estates to Foreigners in Turkey. The recent changes in Turkish legislation in regard with real estate had been also taken into account. One of the influence of globalization to nation states is concerning with sales of real estates sale to foreign entities. In this article, you can find the story of EU candidate Turkey and Europe in relation with sales of real estates.

This text reports some myths relating to the contingency fund that we identified through the exercise of our specialty. Following is the list of the syndicate's obligations relating to the contingency fund.

There are strict and very very short deadlines for recording and filing suit on a mechanics lien (or a stop notice) on a private construction project in California that run from "completion" of a construction project, or from the owner's recording of a "notice of completion" or "notice of cessation of labor" on a project. Failure to meet these deadlines for recording and filing suit can result in the complete loss of your lien rights and your ability to collect what is owed.

While the laws might seem to some to create an opportunity for an owner or general contractor to hire an unlicensed person at a discount very cheap to what an experienced licensed contractor might charge for the same job, and then still be able to avoid paying the unlicensed builder and even sue him or her to get back the money you paid them, this is not a good idea.

Condominium is a multistory building for residential purpose, which every unit of it can be owned separately. As a residential building that can be owned separately, tenants of condominium have boundaries in making use of spaces and facilities inside of condominium. In a condominium there are common equipment, common facility, and common land.

Not all land has a pure rights over land. There is a Right to Manage (Hak Pengelolaan Lahan – HPL) over some lands, like in some areas in DKI Jakarta, for example Senayan, Kemayoran, Pulomas, etc.

A life in condominium is different from life in ordinary house. Tenants not only have next door neighbors but also have upstairs and downstairs neighbors. In condominium there is also a governing body that regulates the management of the condominium environment, maintenance and the construction of environmental infrastructure and social facilities for the purpose of living together with all tenants in condominium.

Anyone who owns commercial real estate knows that there are cycles in commercial real estate. There are times when the commercial real estate market is “hot” and times when the real estate market is oversaturated and is considered “soft.”

This article thoroughly discusses the legal framework on the lease of real property in Turkey.

Under premise liability law, property owners and tenants are liable for injuries and accidents caused by their failure to maintain a safe environment for visitors, clients, and members of the general public.

During this era of record high home foreclosure and unemployment rates, many Americans are behind on mortgage payments and are understandably concerned about losing their family home.

Buildings are made to support people’s need of spaces. Building has many functions such as work space, business place, education place, recreation place and many more. In developing countries, especially for small countries, building is used to maximize the use of spaces.

The rental of dwellings in an immovable in divided co-ownership is common in Quebec. Nevertheless, this is a delicate operation, requiring several measures of precaution and should never be done blindly.

A practical guide about how to build a construction for a country house in Spain. With taxes, steps of the process, legal and administrative requirements, licenses, and permits for construction, and explanations of the main concepts.

Many Americans unfortunately find themselves having difficulty paying their mortgages. When a family falls behind on their mortgage payments, there are a number of ways to deal with the situation. Houses go into foreclosure for a variety of reasons including loss of employment, divorce, injuries, illnesses and disabilities.

If you have decided to buy a home in Spain, , follows some information regarding the legal aspects of the purchase. Buyers of property in Spain naturally find the formalities and procedures involved, strange and confusing and this is often compounded by problems of language and difficulty in obtaining local professional advice that they can understand.

Before explaining the bad things, please let me clarify that if you use a solicitor, and he follows normal procedures, the Spanish system allows for 100% safety. When talking about illegal houses , the cases are diverse, but in all of them their is a certain element of blame to be assigned to the purchasers in different degrees. In 100% of the cases their situation is unfair.

If you wish to calculate what your expenses will be if you sell your property in Spain, please read this article.

If you have decided to purchase a property under construction, choose a good solicitor.

Subject advanced for your attention, is very actual in terms of protection of the interests of investors operating and those who intend to invest in the sphere of subsoil use in the Republic of Kazakhstan.

This text provides a brief and concise description of the necessary steps for the acquisition of real estate property in Greece.

In this time of economic crisis where home values have plummeted, often real estate owners are faced with the ugly specter of foreclosure proceedings. It is important to note that there are options to save your home and/or preserve your credit rating. Review this report.

Capital gains tax on real estate is imposed on any gaining one might have from selling his or hers rights at a real estate. The tax is imposed on the selling of ownership or lease which is above 10 years.

Legal comments on the matter concerning the Preliminary contracts for sale-purchase and construction - one or two contracts implemented in one document?

Thailand property laws do not greatly differ from those of other countries. Excepting the prohibition on foreign ownership of land, the same legal concepts and regulations operate in dealing with real property.

If your property is sinking or threatened by nearby land movement, this article is for you. Soil subsidence and landslides are devastating and often times not covered by homeowners insurance. Thus, if you are damaged by soil subsidence or landslide, you may be facing significant personal and financial loss. Time is of the essence! This article will walk you through what you need to do if you are dealing with a soil subsidence or landslide problem.

Land development and construction in Thailand are primarily regulated by two laws: the Building Control Act and the Town and City Planning act, both of which have been passed and continuously revised starting in 1992.

Condominium units are the exception to the general rule that foreigners are not allowed to have any direct interest over real property in Thailand.

The use of a Thai holding company as a means of circumventing the prohibition against foreigners having a direct interest in land may no longer hold true in the near future. With the advent of the proposed amendments to the Foreign Business Act and the continued application of previously issued policy guidelines, land registration in favour of a Thai limited company has resulted in a more stringent and rigorous process.

In a lease agreement, the owner of the building or land, commonly known as the landlord, relinquishes in favour of the person leasing the property, known as the tenant or leaseholder, temporary possession and occupation of the premises for a fixed sum of money. Leasehold in Thailand is governed primarily by the provisions of the Civil and Commercial Code particularly the provisions on hire of property.

In an effort to encourage the sustained growth of its burgeoning Thailand property sector, Thai officials deemed it necessary to further extend the period of reduced tax rates on property transfers.

Ideally, contracts are forged with the view of attaining a fair and just agreement between the parties. In practice, however, this is not always true as market forces, unequal bargaining positions and fraud mire the negotiation process. Thailand real estate contracts suffer from the same malady as developers and buyers often stand in unequal and sometimes opposing terms.

Thailand is a country blessed with an abundance of rich natural resources. Its lush pristine forests are home to a vast variety of species of flora and fauna indigenous to the country. As such, the Kingdom has taken great pains in preserving its natural wealth by passing laws designed to control and regulate the amount of waste and pollution produced each year. Thailand residents desire to live a quality life while living in a Phuket villa or Bangkok condo.

A homeowners association (HOA) is a legal entity that governs a community of homes, including subdivisions, condominiums, townhomes, or planned community. HOAs operate within state statutes to enforce regulations and collect assessments from homeowners, while also taking care of maintenance repairs of common areas.

Although Foreigners are not allowed to own land in Thailand, the law does not prohibit them from owning structures and other improvements constructed on lands. This gives foreigners the latitude to set in place legal security measures to protect their ownership rights over the property.

As the real estate market develops in Turkey the Condominium Law is becoming the center of attention. Turkish Parliament amended the Condominium Law No. 634 with a new Law No. 5711 and it was published in the Official Gazette at November 28, 2007 (‘Turkish Condominium Law’ or ‘TLC’).

Depending on the circumstances surrounding the sale, you may have remedies available under Massachusetts law to recover from the party who failed to disclose the defect.

In this article, the author will be discussing what happens if you change your mind after signing an offer or purchase agreement.

Generally, the deposit a buyer puts down in respect of an agreement of purchase and sale is only released by the listing brokerage in very limited circumstances.

This article covers various standard terms in the agreement of purchase and sale of property relating to parties, property, purchase price, deposit, schedules, fixtures and chattels, rental items, dates/searches & requisition date, conditions, agreement in writing, and execution and acknowledgment.

This article discusses some scenarios applicable to compensation for the services of Realtors.

At any time before a buyer can make an offer to purchaser property, they must sign a “Buyer Representation Agreement” with the brokerage. This article discusses the implications of the agreement and obligations.

So what are the legal obligations of Realtors? In a nutshell, they include professional, ethical, fiduciary and contractual obligations, each of which will be briefly discussed in turn.

Under “Premise Liability” law, landlords and tenants are generally held liable for injuries and accidents caused by dangerous property which has shoddy building materials, hazardous constructions, faulty design, or clutter.

Injuries due to landlord negligence usually occur when unscrupulous renters try to maximize profits by spending just the bare minimum on property maintenance. These landlords usually own properties in poor neighborhoods while boasting low rent as a come-on to tenants who cannot afford living in better neighborhoods or who cannot pass a credit or background check. Besides the threat it poses to tenants’ safety, landlord negligence may also lead to declining property values in entire neighbors.

Prospective buyers of new apartment developments in Hong Kong are often misled by artists’ impressions of grand clubhouses, photos of unobstructed sea views or lush greeneries appearing in sales brochures even though the development sites are actually located near public residential housing, landfill sites or sewage treatment plants.

An inside look and unfocused analysis of the Collins Center for Public Policy foreclosure managed mediation process and hopeful prospects for success in the State of Florida and perhaps around the foreclosure-ravaged country.

As an Ontario homeowner wishing to sell your property, you will likely ask your Realtor to list it (among other things). Much of the discussion of listing the property revolves around the appropriate listing price. Here, the Realtor will generally conduct a comparative market analysis. He or she will look up comparable homes in the nearby neighborhood that sold recently. The article discusses some of the listing agreements and processes involved with selling a property.

A Realtor is initially engaged by a buyer to help find the right type of home at the right price. The Realtor will advise on the comparative market value of the home and discuss negotiation strategy, the responsibilities of the buyer, and various standard and non-standard terms and conditions in the agreement.

As a homeowner, the thought of being a victim of real estate fraud is scary. While uncommon, identity fraud exists and should be guarded against. A fraudster, for example, can impersonate the registered owner of real property and transfer the property to him, herself or a third party. Moreover, a fraudster could acquire a mortgage fraudulently through false information or identification and then run away with the money. This could happen repeatedly with the same property before being discovered.

Organized real estate in Ontario is made up of: brokerages, brokers, salespersons, the designated government authority, and federal, provincial and local real estate associations and boards. Each so called “actor” will be examined in turn.

The Michigan legislature has recently enacted a new Foreclosure Prevention bill into law. This law is designed to give homeowners more time to work out a modification on their mortgage and remains in effect for two (2) years from the date of enactment.

As a follow up to my previous articles about the Agreement of Purchase and Sale, in this article, I’ll be discussing the execution and acknowledgment section of the Agreement of Purchase and Sale.

In this article, I’ll be talking about inspection rights, price adjustments, and the Ontario Family Law Act.

As a follow up to my previous article about Agreements of Purchase and Sale (for residential properties) which dealt with the Information Section, Price, Deposit, Irrevocability Clause, and Completion Clause, I will continue with discussion highlighting certain parts of OREA’s standard form. In this article, I’ll be talking about chattels and fixtures, rental items, and title search.

This is the first of a series of articles about Agreements of Purchase and Sale in Ontario.

Real estate fraud in Ontario generally includes “mortgage fraud” (e.g. fraudsters acquire a mortgage fraudulently through false information or identification and run away with the money, leaving the true home owners with a significant liability) and “title fraud” (e.g. fraudsters use stolen identity or forged documents to transfer a registered owner’s title to him or herself without the owner’s knowledge).

Organized real estate in Ontario is made up of: brokerages, brokers, salespersons, the designated government authority, and federal, provincial and local real estate associations and boards. Each will be examined in turn in part 14 of the Real Estate article series from Dynamic Lawyers Ltd.

Like most of the country, Texas has been hit hard by the ongoing downturn in the housing market. This decline has had a wide range of consequences, leaving many homeowners with upside-down mortgages, cities with reduced revenues and consumers with little confidence in their financial affairs.

After construction litigation begins, every homeowner inevitably thinks about what they could have done to prevent the nightmare of being stuck with an unfinished project. As in any case, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

Everyday in Georgia a builder and a homeowner have a dispute about a project and sometime those disputes result in litigation.

You have a dispute with your association. You wish to plant artificial grass in your front lawn, but the association states that it will not allow you to do so. You do not wish to engage in expensive and time consuming litigation over this issue. You are looking for a non-litigation alternative to resolve your dispute with your association. Are there any such alternatives available?

You are an owner-occupant within an association. You operate a chiropractic office out of your residence. The CC&R’s provide that your residence can only be used for residential purposes. The association notifies you that you must discontinue your chiropractic business because it violates the residential use restriction in the CC&R’s. Can the association force you to discontinue your business?

You have a dispute with your association. You wish to plant artificial grass in your front lawn, but the association states that it will not allow you to do so. You do not wish to engage in expensive and time consuming litigation over this issue. You are looking for a non-litigation alternative to resolve your dispute with your association. Are there any such alternatives available?

After paying your association dues for many years, you inadvertently neglect to pay your association dues for one month. You realize you forgot to pay the association dues the following month. So you pay two months of association dues in the second month. The association returns your check stating that you have to pay a late fee. You request the association to waive the late fee. You then receive a letter from the association’s attorney stating that you not only have to pay the late fee...

Your association is 30 years old. The common areas are in disrepair. The sidewalks are cracked. The play equipment on the playground is broken. The swimming pool cannot be used because the filtration system is inoperable. You request the board of directors to take action to improve the common area. The board fails to take any action. The next election of the board is not for 2 more years and you do not want to wait 2 years to replace the board...

Amendments to Pennsylvania's Mechanics' Lien Law are effective October 10, 2009.

Defaulting on your mortgage...dreaded topic if you're going through it...but important to know if you're unaware or considering it...

Short Answer: Generally speaking, under Georgia law, someone that performs work on someone else’s property should be paid and Georgia Lien law can protect that person or company regarding payment for work done. However, one needs to do it correctly or the lien could be invalid. It is important to note that major portions of the Georgia Lien law have changed effective March 31, 2009.

It is no secret that for quite some time, the Cambodian government has been working on legislation that would allow foreigners to have an ownership interest in real property in Cambodia. Following the real estate market slump last year, legal commentators believe that if foreigners are allowed to own land or buildings, the market could see the surge it so desperately needs.

This overview is describing the fundamental concepts of agrarian law in Indonesia. It will also relate to any aspects of real estate project because they all derive from agrarian law. This article also explains the strata title concept. The intent of this article is to give legal highlight for the foreigner or foreign entity who wishes to own or build the real estate project in Indonesia.

Superblock is developing largely in Indonesia nowadays. Almost all property conglomerates are starting their prominent project of superblock over large cities in Indonesia. There are certain legal aspects that a developer needs to be aware of in order to be successful in the building and managing of the project. This article is best for a property developer, especially foreign property developer that is already establishing its entity in Indonesia or is intending to do so in the near future.

Real estate investors work together all the time. More and more, we see combinations of brokers, money investors, contractors and other folks flipping or developing properties. As members of a real estate venture, these folks need a formal structure to govern their relationships within the venture.

Anyone involved in commercial real estate in California is undoubtedly familiar with the American Industrial Real Estate Association (“AIR”) standard lease forms. The ease and affordability of the AIR lease forms have garnered them immense popularity in California for both landlords and tenants alike. Generally, however, the parties merely fill in and sign the standard form while making little, if any, changes to the language of the lease.

There appears to be a misconception that a deposit must be made by a buyer of real estate to seal the deal. The Standard Contract for Sale and Purchase often requires a deposit be paid, however, the failure of the buyer to deliver the deposit does not render the contract unenforceable.

Real property in Florida is subject to the Marketable Record Title Act

A lis pendens is a recorded document describing real property that provides notice to all the world of a dispute.

We hear it in the news every day, foreclosures and homelessness are rising and compounded by jobless rates. I’m really surprised about the number of people who sit back and let it happen to them. Homelessness is prevented every time a foreclosure is prevented.

Restrictions on Foreign Ownership of Land in the Philippines

How to protect real estate and other assets.

There has been an explosion of home building in Central Florida.

Foreclosure actions are routinely filed by banks against homes if the borrower defaults in payment. Homeowners can also be subject to foreclosure actions for failure to pay homeowner’s association dues, assessments or mechanics liens.

If you miss a lease renewal deadline consult an attorney.

Recently I was asked to research whether or not a homeowner’s association could prevent its members from using the street in front of their houses as a parking lot. Several homeowners in the subdivision routinely parked in the roadway which presented an obstacle to traffic and otherwise decreased the aesthetics of the neighborhood.

There has been a proliferation of protective strategies employed by various industries in order to safeguard their members. One device has been to adopt an arbitration provision which requires the unwitting customer who signs a contract to participate in binding arbitration with a panel composed of other like-minded industry representatives.

The housing market has boomed in recent years in Central Florida. New home construction has strained the capacity of local builders, laborers and material suppliers. Litigation concerning faulty design or construction methods respecting homes is likewise on the rise.

The Florida Legislature has enacted statutes which limit the time that a party may bring a lawsuit to recover damages related to construction. Specifically, 95.11(c) applies to any action founded on the design, planning, or construction of an improvement to real property.

If you are a homeowner in Florida, you will no doubt have occasion to contract for repairs or improvements to your property. You should know that the Florida lien law provides homeowners certain protections and also provides particular warnings to help homeowners navigate payment of multiple bills often from unknown suppliers, subcontractors and laborers.

One sided lease agreements in the Philippines are the rule of thumb and don’t imagine for a second that they are in favor of the lessee.

First time home buyers and even some foreign investors wishing to purchase real estate are always shocked at the additional or closing costs involved all throughout the transaction.

If you are interested in residing in The Bahamas on an annual basis, applying for an Annual Residence Permit may be the more efficient means of acquiring this right.

In the current construction climate builders often dictate the terms of a construction contract. For some large builders form contracts are the norm. However, smaller contractors often negotiate the terms and don’t rely on form contracts.

In the ordinary real estate transaction, the buyer expresses his interest in a property by executing a contract. One routine provision is to require the seller to put up a good faith deposit.

There is a significant hidden federal tax lien that may attach to real property conveyed by a foreign Seller. It may not turn up in a search of the public records and, ultimately, impose an obligation on the Buyer to pay a portion of the Seller’s income tax obligation.

The Republic of Cyprus has now introduced amendments to the laws governing mortgage of immovable property, which simplify the process of re-mortgaging and minimising the costs involved in such transactions.