Assessor’s Parcel Numbers are usually included in the legal description of a deed. But that does not always work; there are times when the APNs do not exactly describe the individual parcel. The assessor’s office does not necessarily follow the subdivision map in assigned APNs. Parties do not necessarily have…
What if you had an easement to place roads across property to access your own, and you then developed your property into a shopping center. Could you include parking spaces in the easement area? A recent California decision points out the requirement to be clear in drafting easement language because…
A quiet title action is brought to establish, or “quiet”, an interest in real estate between adverse parties. One can establish any interest in property or cloud upon title. (CCP §760.010) A common goal is to establish title by adverse possession. Adverse possession is a way of acquiring title to…
In California real estate law, there are situations where the boundary lines as observed on the ground do not match the deed description. Disputes arise when someone has a survey completed, and does not like where the fence or other marker is located, and contact a real estate attorney. There…
<big>In commercial real estate transactions, disclosures and representations are often heavily negotiated terms. Sacramento real estate attorneys work with the Buyers and Sellers where the Buyer/Investor seeking complete disclosure and subsequent liability of the Seller, while the Seller seeks the opposite. In a recent decision, some investors were buying tenancy-in-common…
Reported in the Sacramento Bee by Nathaniel Miller is the issuance of criminal complaints against five people related to Diversified Management Consultants, Inc. for running a Ponzi scheme (Ponzi is capitalized because it is named after the first such schemer). This author, as I am sure other regional attorneys and…
The California Civil Code has an extensive pre-lawsuit set of procedures for a homeowner to follow to have their homebuilder make repairs. The builder can opt-out and provide his own pre-suit procedures; a recent court decision shows how risky that can be. First the procedures- starting at Civil Code section…
Wong was an investor in San Francisco real estate. He frequently worked with Chan, a contractor, who would repair & renovate properties for Wong, and they would share in the profit on resale. For this particular property, Chan was to get 20% of the profit. Wong died shortly after the…
A California condo owner sued his association for repair costs In plaintiff’s suit against the homeowner association for repair costs to his condo aused by a leaky sewer pipe beneath the concrete slab underlying plaintiff’s condominium. The association argued that the sewer pipes were exclusive use common areas, so the…
Prescriptive easement law evolved from the problems locating property lines in rural areas. Traditional real estate law provided the concept was that, if you used your neighbors land, by running livestock across it, building a road on the neighbors side of the property line, or so other use, the victimized…