Doron F. Eghbali Real Estate Law Blog

Title insurance is deemed a prerequisite in myriad of real estate transactions including but not limited to purchasing a real property. Buyers must usually acquire title insurance as lenders require acquisition of such insurance before approving a loan. In addition, for long-term commercial leases, tenants should often demand and obtain such insurance from owners. In this article, we explore, to some extent, some of the preliminary questions confronting an average title insurance consumer... Read More

Despite the fact most shopping centers use a standardized uniform lease, numerous aspects of such uniform leases should be analyzed and negotiated, to the extent possible. Among other provisions, parties could negotiate as to whether tenant pays for common areas maintenance costs and how much the tenant is to pay, as to whether tenant is to pay for alterations or improvements and how much, AND as to whether tenant can sublet or assign part or all of leasehold interests in the premises. ... Read More

From legal perspective, rescission of a contract is distinguishable from cancellation of a contract. Rescission reverts the contract to the day it had not been signed as if the contract had not been made. In fact, the rescinded contract becomes a nullity as if it had never existed. As such, it behooves us to ascertain how and when a contract is rescinded and what would be the legal ramifications of such rescission or lack thereof.... Read More

To protect the public against dishonesty and incompetency, real estate contractors in CA are required to adhere to rather stringent guidelines. Whenever such rules and regulations are promulgated by the Contractor's License Board is inconsistent with the public's interest, the public's interest prevail. It is rather imperative for contractors and public at large to ascertain and acknowledge their respective requirements and rights.... Read More

Quiet title action involves resolving any adverse claims to a property with the ultimate, not always attained, objective of insurable marketable ownership. A party need not wait until a claim is brought to defend it; such party could voluntarily initiate a quiet title action. In addition, a quiet title action could be used defensively. Let us further educate ourselves on this important real estate topic.... Read More

Hard money lenders are increasingly populating our communities seeking to exploit the unfortunate void left by banks for lending, especially mortgages. Hard money lenders could be individuals or businesses charging relatively higher than market interest rates for their services and products. Let us further familiarize ourselves with such group and exercise extra vigilance in dealing with them and intelligently eschew their overtures.... Read More

Real estate brokers, generally, might be found liable on contract or tort basis. A broker is found liable on contractual basis for not specifically complying with provisions of the stated contract. Broker is found liable on tort grounds for running afoul of statute or common law.  One of the most frequent tortious grounds is fraud. Fraud could be intentional or negligent. Let us explore this important subject matter further.... Read More

Purchasing real estate, residential or commercial, most often requires large sums of money. While potential purchasers might borrow from family and friends to consummate the transaction, financial institutions such as banks, loan associations and credit unions are the common sources of such financing. Let us explore the mechanics and some intricacies of mortgages and further enlighten ourselves about them.... Read More

Despite auspicious prognostications as to the state of real estate market long after the "Great Recession" in 2008, today still the real estate market seems to be reeling from similar turmoil. In fact, despite some specious improvement in the status of real estate market for some time, data now portend otherwise. Hence, the government with banks are speciously to the rescue. However, such rescue maybe hard to impossible for many. Let us explore some of such spurious rescue program... Read More

It often happens parties fail to fully perform their contractual obligations in sale of real estate. Often, the most immediate consequence of such contractual breach is the nature and amount of damages, if any, PLUS other conceivable remedies available at law and equity. Let us explore, to some extent, some detail of such damages.... Read More