At one time or another, a trusted friend or relative might ask you for a personal loan. Lending the money might seem like a good idea if you could attach the lien against the person’s home as security for repayment of the note. It would be reasonable to assume that a personal loan could be […]
Category: Real Estate Law
Cutting Encroaching Limbs from a Neighbor’s Tree
It is common for Texas residents to question whether they have a legal right to remove a neighbor’s tree limbs that hang over their property. Texas law generally allows you to remove encroaching branches, so long as you do not harm the health of the tree. However, an important exception to this general rule arises […]
The Legality of Wholesaling Real Estate in Texas
In the real estate industry, a wholesaler is someone who contracts with a seller to buy a property and then, while still under contract with the seller, assigns the contract to another buyer for a higher price. Essentially, a wholesaler is a middleman that hopes to profit on the spread between the contract price with […]
The Big Problem With Buying HOA Foreclosures
Investing in HOA foreclosures to build wealth is a viable strategy. To be successful, you will need a carefully crafted and executed strategy and an understanding of the landscape. For every success story, there are many more who have lost their capital because they did not understand current Texas laws. The number one misunderstanding about […]
Why it is Almost Never a Good Idea to Use a Quitclaim Deed
Our law firm routinely receives calls from prospective clients wanting a quitclaim deed (often mispronounced “quick claim deed”) prepared. The volume of calls we receive is so astonishing that I am convinced there must be some urban myth that leads the general public to believe a quitclaim deed is the solution for every type of […]
Contracts for Deed in Texas
Contracts for deeds have been popular methods for purchasing real property in Texas for some time. A contract for deed is an agreement between a seller and buyer to purchase real property over a period of time. Typically, the parties sign an agreement that obligates the buyer to make a down payment followed by a […]
Mitigation of Damages For Texas Leases
Defaulting on a lease in Texas is generally never an ideal situation. Breaking or abandoning a residential lease can have many adverse consequences including damage to credit and the inability to enter into a desirable lease in the future. Defaulting on commercial leases can have equally negative effects that could result in judgments against the […]
Removal of Child Support Liens in Texas
When a person fails to pay child support obligations in Texas, the Attorney General will file a lien in the real property records attempting to encumber any real estate owned by the obligor. The obligor typically discovers any recorded child support liens after receiving a tile commitment in the process of selling real estate.The preliminary […]
Closing Dates and Time is of The Essence
There appears to me much confusion surrounding the consequences for buyers and sellers when a closing date specified in an earnest money contract for real property passes without performance.The most common contract used for the sale of residential property in Texas is the TREC promulgated One to Four Family Residential Contract (Resale). Paragraph 9 A […]
Fence Issues in Residential Neighborhoods
Our law firm receives a multitude of calls about fence issues in subdivisions and urban areas. This post will answer a handful of very basic questions and then discuss the more complicated issues of extended encroachment in the context of adverse possession.First, the following are some basics about fences in Texas: If a fence is […]