The residential real estate market is no stranger to floor plans — they’re often part of the home-buying process, typically as a marketing asset on a listing. However, in recent months, floor plans have significantly increased in importance to the sale, moving from a nice-to-have to a must-have for real estate professionals. Why have floor plans shifted to secret superpower status? And how can real estate professionals take advantage of them before they become table-stakes on listings? Read on to find out.

Recently, Maine Governor Janet T. Mills signed into law The Revised Uniform Law on Notarial Acts (the “Law”), which provides for the electronic notarization and remote notarization of documents. Previously, Maine enacted H.P. 1033, which temporarily extended the state’s remote notarization provisions, among other things.

West Virginia recently promulgated a rule to establish practices and standards for West Virginia county clerks that participate in real property electronic recordings. The rule harmonizes the standards and practices of West Virginia county clerks with the standards and practices of clerks in other jurisdictions that also substantially enact the Uniform Real Property Electronic Recording Act.

West Virginia amended its existing rules pertaining to electronic notarization to also provide for remote online notarizations of electronic documents and remote ink notarizations of paper documents. The amendments include the addition of a definition for both “remote online notarial act” and “remote ink notarial act” and generally expands the existing rules setting forth standards and guidelines for electronic notarizations to also apply to remote online notarizations and remote ink notarizations.

Governor Brian P. Kemp signed into law HB 974 which revises the provisions regarding the recording of certain documents, including deeds, mortgages, and liens. The bill provides that certain information be provided for the document on the first page of the document to be recorded, including, but not limited to, the date of the document, names of the signatories, parcel identification information, as applicable, the original loan amount, and the initial maturity date.

Remote online notarization will continue in Massachusetts through July 15, 2022. Originally approved on April 23, 2020, Chapter 71 of the Acts of 2020 “An Act Providing for Virtual Notarization to Address Challenges Related to COVID-19” gives Massachusetts residents the ability to use videoconferencing technologies to meet virtually with a notary public to sign documents during the COVID-19 state of emergency.

Week Ending March 25, 2022

A few weeks ago, the Superior Court decided a case where the books and records of the business were so bizarre that no sense could be made of them. In an odd twist the Superior Court remanded the case out of concern that the party who kept the books may have been treated unfairly. Snyder v. Snyder (April 20, 2022).

The decision in Foster House Tenants Association v. New Bethel Baptist Church Housing Corporation, Inc., et al., focuses on whether a ground lease or transaction that includes something less than an absolute transfer of title of multifamily property is considered a "sale" under the District of Columbia Tenant Opportunity to Purchase Act (TOPA).

The relationship between farmland owner and tenant often goes beyond just a business transaction. It is common for the tenant to lease the same farmland for many years or for the tenant/landowner relationship to span several generations. The relationship between the parties may evolve into one of great trust and respect – the landowner knowing that the tenant will treat the land like their own and the tenant knowing the landlord will always be fair with them.

Most easements are created by a recorded instrument. Not so with one of the more exotic species of easement — the “equitable easement.” A case recently published by California’s Second Appellate District — Romero v. Shih — describes what it takes to establish an equitable easement.

My dad and I traded properties because of his health. When the title company did the deed, it put title to the property in both his name and the name of his home-care lady. She was named as part owner of the property. Both my dad and his home-care lady died more than 10 years ago.

Cryptocurrencies are proving that technology makes it difficult for policymakers to find the balance between encouraging valuable financial innovations and regulating dangerous economic hype. Data-sharing applications that facilitate open banking are the latest examples of technological innovations that boast of valuable new competitive opportunities for financial institutions and their customers. But by now, policymakers should realize that cyberspace is a buyer-beware zone.

Something curious appeared this week on NFT marketplace OpenSea: a $26.5M building in one of New York City’s most fashionable neighborhoods.

The seven-story building in Manhattan’s Flatiron District includes ground-level retail space with apartments above. The seller, Okada & Company, has been in the commercial real estate business for almost 60 years, CEO Chris Okada told The Defiant in an interview Friday afternoon.

To what extent does the state control mining rights in your jurisdiction? Can those rights be granted to private parties and to what extent will they have title to minerals in the ground? Are there large areas where the mining rights are held privately or which belong to the owner of the surface rights? Is there a separate legal regime or process for third parties to obtain mining rights in those areas?

The House of Representatives passed a bill on June 1 that allows Brazilians to levy their homes, using it as a guarantee for different loans. The bill will now move forward to the Senate.

A federal bankruptcy court judge removed developers Michael Lichtenstein and Toby Moskovits from control of the bankrupt Williamsburg Hotel in Brooklyn, after finding that the two might have committed fraud and can’t be trusted with their swanky flagship property.

For agents interested in growing their business by expanding into multiple states, we’re here to make the process simple and profitable. We offer you one point of contact to streamline your options and solutions.

“Two of my top choices did not have a refrigerator,” lamented Maloney, 43, who works in marketing for a beverage company. “It’s ridiculous. It’s the most backward thing I’ve ever heard of. I can’t wrap my mind around it.”

A 540-square-foot home on a treeless island off the Maine coast that attracted hundreds of callers and a half-dozen showings is still out at sea more than a year after it hit the market.

Interstate 75 slices the city of Cincinnati in half like an orange. On one side is the city’s Catholic working class west, while the east side is favored by the wealthier academics and industrials holed up in enclaves with names like Indian Hill. On all sides are cars..

Alameda Spite House

Houses (and fences) of spite are built when a land owner has the time, money, and just the right amount of malice to use construction as a weapon. Their purpose is to annoy neighbors, create an eyesore, or thumb their noses at authority.

Scams are in the zeitgeist right now, which means they’re popping up in podcasts all over the place, in shows from the biggest media companies to the tiniest of indies. From mysterious boys emerging from the wild to con a whole town in Chameleon: Wild Boys to an entrepreneur bilking investors out of millions of dollars for bunk science in The Drop Out, each of these true life tales is dripping with lies and deceit.