Simply stated, caveat emptor means “let the buyer take care,” or even more plainly stated: “Buyer beware.” In real estate matters, buyers are warned that they are to “exercise ordinary care in inspecting the condition of property.” Therefore, buyers are generally urged to obtain a home inspection and take such other care prior to closing on their real estate purchase. Otherwise, the buyers may not have any relief if they find adverse conditions after taking possession.

A case arising out of Charlottesville highlights the obligations of the buyers and the sellers in the purchase of a home. In that case, the seller of the home was also a licensed real estate agent, which added another complication regarding the duty to disclose. This blog posts analyzes that court decision, which offers warnings to buyers and sellers of real estate, as well as to licensed real estate agents.

Continue reading “The Rule of Caveat Emptor in the Sale of Real Estate vs. a Seller’s Duty to Disclose”

This blog post comes from Jason Howell, our 2011 Summer Associate when he was a rising third-year law student at the William & Mary Law School. Jason is working with us this summer and debuts his first blog post.

Negotiation can be challenging. Whether you are negotiating the terms of a business agreement, trying to buy or sell property, or settling a dispute, getting to an agreement can be difficult. Even if you are successful in getting the other side to negotiate with you, you may feel at a disadvantage or worry that there is something in the final negotiated agreement you are missing.

Hiring an experienced attorney to represent you can give you advantages that can help you get to an acceptable agreement. By using an attorney in your negotiation, you can benefit from the attorney’s knowledge and skill, which can help you to reach your negotiation goals.

Continue reading “Do you need an attorney to negotiate on your behalf?”

Frequently, a homeowner contemplating renting out his property believes that he will be able to save money by writing his own lease or using a do-it-yourself lease form found or purchased online. Almost as frequently, the homeowner realizes too late that if he had spent a little money up front to have an attorney prepare a lease, or at least review his proposed lease, he could have saved himself a lot of time, money, and aggravation. By the time problems arise with a tenant, it is too late to ensure that the lease contains all of the provisions necessary to protect the homeowner’s interests.

Continue reading “I want to rent my house to a tenant, do I need an attorney to draft a lease for me?”

We frequently blog on the importance of cooperation and relationship-building in your homeowner association or condominium association. Here is an easy and practical way to build your association’s camaraderie as James City County is sponsoring a Good Neighbor Environment Matching Grant for the fall of 2013.

The county’s stated purpose of the grant ” is to enhance the sense of community and environmental wellness of our neighborhoods through the development and accomplishment of a neighborhood sustainable landscape beautification project.” Consequently, the two categories for the grant are Physical Improvement/Sustainable Landscaping and Multi-Neighborhood Project Partnerships.

The grant is not limited to “formal” HOAs or Condo Associations, as any neighborhood association or neighborhood committee authorized “to manage and/or maintain the common areas of a community” may apply. However, such a neighbor association or committee has a few more obstacles to overcome to apply.

Applications are due on September 30, 2013, and the grants will be announced on October 15, 2013. We will make this information known to our association clients, but anybody is welcome to pass along this link to the application. Let us know if we can help your association apply for this Good Neighbor grant.

Tarley Robinson, PLC, Attorneys and Counsellors at Law

Williamsburg, Virginia

Will your homeowners association or condominium association transition from developer control to homeowner control soon? Have you recently transitioned? Susan Tarley will explain a Developer’s responsibilities, help you establish your first homeowner Board of Directors, and discuss what the Association and its members can expect as they go through transition in this FREE seminar.

Details:

June 20, 2013 6-8PM

William E. Wood Building

5208 Monticello Ave, Williamsburg, VA 23188

Contact:

Monica Godman at Tarley Robinson, PLC to reserve your seat!

(757) 229-4281 or  mgodman@tarleyrobinson.com

Tarley Robinson, PLC, Attorneys and Counsellors at Law

Williamsburg, Virginia

The (“LAC”) had a busy 2013 legislative session. This is my third year on the LAC and each year brings new challenges. Our mission is to monitor and influence legislation affecting community associations. This year I served as the Chair of the LAC and we monitored over 30 bills and were active on over 10 of the bills. We were successful in getting some bills tabled, some modified, and some passed. All of the bills cited below are effective July 1, 2013 unless otherwise noted. If you have any questions on the impact of these changes for your community, please let us know.

Legislation

Continue reading “2013 Legislative Update for Virginia HOAs”

The 2012 Election is right around the corner. In Virginia we have been inundated with political ads for the two presidential candidates, a side-effect to living in a swing state. However, we have not seen any political ads on the proposed Constitutional Amendment on the Virginia Ballot on November 6. This article will discuss the proposed Virginia Constitutional Amendment and hopefully provide you with facts and access to information you need to make your decision next week.

Continue reading “Eminent Domain is on the Virginia State Ballot for 2012”

We blogged about the 4 things your HOA needs to know about Virginia’s complaint process, and provided some guidance for Implementing an HOA Complaint Procedure. Now, the Common Interest Community Ombudsman has approved final regulations for the required Complaint Procedure. The Ombudsman Regulations are effective July 1, 2012, which means that community associations have until September 29, 2012 to adopt a Complaint Procedure.

This blog post summarizes the new regulations.

Continue reading “Virginia Homeowner and Condominium Association Complaint Procedures must be adopted by September 29, 2012”

Although it’s only one case, and it probably will be appealed, a Virginia federal court judge determined that a homeowners insurance policy did not cover losses resulting from Chinese drywall. The case is TRAVCO Ins. Co. v. Ward. Frankly, the decision is not surprising, but it does provide another roadblock to homeowners looking for assistance in paying for drywall replacement. Nothing has happened thus far, including the award of a large default judgment against Chinese manufacturers of the drywall, that provides any immediate financial relief to those homeowners. Therefore, if you are in the market to buy a house, you need to take precautions when considering homes built between 2004 and 2007, the timeframe generally accepted as when the Chinese drywall was used prominently in new home construction. The Consumer Product Safety Commission and James City County Code Compliance has a wealth of information and reports regarding the ongoing investigation of Chinese Drywall.

UPDATE: The James City County Board of Equalization has reduced to $100 the home values of Chinese drywall victims. These legislative solutions will probably become the only source of financial relief for homeowners.

Tarley Robinson, PLC, Attorneys and Counsellors at Law

Williamsburg, Virginia

In S8721, S. Amend.4753 amending H.R.4853, there is some good news with respect to the long in limbo future of federal estate and gift tax legislation for taxable years beginning after December 31, 2010.   Further, it appears that the estate and gift tax amendments are likely to pass both houses of Congress this year, though nothing is certain in the current legislative environment.

Under the proposed legislation, the amount of a decedent’s taxable estate excludable from estate tax would be $5 million.  For years beginning in 2012, the exclusion amount would be indexed for inflation.  While the provisions of the proposed legislation will sunset with the entirety of the proposed tax package, this time as of December 31, 2012, the inflation index provisions as to these provisions may be an indication that there exists some consensus that the estate and gift tax components of the current tax bill may represent appropriate long-term policy.

Continue reading “The Proposed Tax Legislation and You”