A few weeks ago, my partners, Jennifer Drake, Steve Mezer, Jon Polenberg and Patrick Howell and myself, held a webinar, A Multi-Disciplinary Look at Force Majeure in the Age of COVID-19. After the webinar, I had the opportunity to review the questions that came in...
The House of Representatives passed two bills in early March that supporters hope will encourage affordable housing development. HR 4351, the Yes in My Backyard (YIMBY) Act and HR 5931, the Improving FHA Support for Small Dollar Mortgages Act, both passed the House on voice...
As most of us have adjusted to the new reality brought on by the coronavirus (COVID-19), developers and lenders are forced to look at the resulting economic shut down on ongoing real estate projects. When this virus first started making the news late last year,...
The end of the year is the time of year when real estate attorneys are the busiest. We are trying to close multiple deals by year-end for our clients. With the closing rush comes the review and negotiation of stacks of documents. We work on...
As Halloween approaches, we have all probably noticed a number of pop-up Halloween costume and party shops opening around town. As soon as they close, the Christmas stores will take their place. Holiday and other pop-ups have become very popular in the retail landscape over...
It has been some time since I last wrote about operating expenses in leases. Tenants like certainty in budgeting and, because of the way most leases are drafted, landlords often have flexibility to change and increase operating expenses each year. I have previously offered suggestions...
Buyers and Sellers of Florida real estate, particularly residential real estate, generally assume that their brokers and agents are working exclusively for them. And though I have no doubt that the vast majority of brokers are ethical, honest and hardworking, the fact is that Florida...
It is not uncommon to discover the existence of open building permits in residential closings. The closing attorney or title agent will find open building permits when doing routine due diligence prior to closing. An open permit, alone, will not adversely affect title, but sometimes,...
I don’t know how many times I can write about the importance of getting a survey of your property before closing, whether commercial or residential. A survey can tell us many things and identify so many problems that buyers, and even the current owners, are...
When entering into a contract to purchase commercial real estate, experienced investors and developers generally understand that dozens of things could go wrong before the closing date that would prevent the closing from happening or could make the acquisition less than attractive, giving the buyer...