If you ever watch late night television, then you have seen those infomericals touting the ability to make you an overnight millionaire by purchasing financially distressed real estate. There are many individuals and companies who have built successful lives and businesses through the acquisition of financially distressed real estate. However, unless the process is fully understood and the risks are knowingly accepted, the purchase of financially distressed...
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Owner financing in Texas has historically been a valued tool to sell real estate to parties who for various reasons couldn't qualify to borrow from institutional lenders. However, in 2008 and 2009, owner financing was directly affected by federal and state regulatory changes. In 2009, Texas was directed by federal law to adopt Chapter 180 of the Texas Finance Code, now better known as the Texas SAFE Act. the acronym "SAFE" stems from the Secure and Fair...
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When contractors are not paid for their work or materials supplied to a construction job, they have several avenues of recourse to attempt to collect the debt. One option is to file a lien claim under either the Texas Constitution (Art. XVI, Section 37) or the Texas Property Code (Chapter 53). Here are a few of the more material factors to consider in filing a mechanic's lien claim.
A contractor must always determine whether they are an original...
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The Bill of Rights: A Tale of Constitutional Compromise
With the Second Amendment debate at the national forefront, I thought it appropriate to take a short historical look into how the Second Amendment came into existence. In researching the issue, I quickly became side-tracked from my initial notion for this article (and hopefully saved myself from becoming a target of opponents on either side of the debate).
As we are all aware, the Bill of Rights...
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An extremely high percentage of real estate sales and financing transactions involve the issuance of a policy of title insurance of some type. In dealing with clients in residential or commercial transactions, I have found that most consumers of title insurance products do not fully understand what title insurance is, why they acquire it, and what benefits are...
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With a hopefully improving economy, our State and local community should see an increase in new housing development. If our past history is a good indicator of the future, then the increase in new construction will necessarily increase the number of construction defect claims between the Buyers of these new homes and the Contractors who constructed them. This article will briefly discuss the history of residential...
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The record owner of real property must sue a person who "adversely and peaceably" possesses the property within twenty-five years after the date possession first begins, provided that the person "cultivates, uses, or enjoys" the property. This statute applies regardless of legal disability (discussed below). As set forth in the previous part of this series, cultivation, use, or enjoyment is a fact question and varies depending on the particular circumstances...
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A record owner of real property may not sue a person in possession of the parcel of recovery of real property if the adverse possession claimant has adversely and peaceably possessed the property for twenty-five years before the date suit is filed. Under this statute, the adverse possession claimant must hold the property in good faith, under a recorded deed. However, the deed need not be a valid deed. Only a single recorded deed is required to establish a claim under...
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This statute is not a true statute of limitation. It creates a presumptive title claim that prima facia evidence exists that title has passed from the apparent owner to the party claiming control of the property. The elements are (1) the apparent title holder of record has failed to exercise dominion over, or pay taxes on, the property during one or more years in the twenty-five years that ends when suit is filed, (2) the adverse possession claimant has openly...
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A record owner of real property must sue a person who adversely and peaceably possesses the real property within ten years after the date on which the cause of action accrues if the adverse possession claimant has cultivated, used, or enjoyed the property for the entire ten year period. So, if an adverse possession claimant can satisfy the general elements and these additional elements, the he or she can divest the record owner of title. There is no requirement that an adverse...
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