Real Property Transfer
Articles across the publication that deal with real property transfer.
-
Property & Housing
Accessory Dwelling Units: Permits, Setbacks, and Rental Restrictions
State law has pushed cities to allow accessory dwelling units, but zoning approval, building permits and recorded covenants are three separate hurdles that fail for different reasons.
8 min readExplainer -
Property & Housing
Phase I Environmental Site Assessments in Commercial Transactions
A Phase I report is not a formality. It is the record that supports a buyer's statutory defense to Superfund liability, and it only works if it is completed before the property changes hands.
8 min readGuide -
Property & Housing
Adverse Possession and Prescriptive Rights: Elements and Proof
A misplaced fence can quietly turn into a legal claim. Here are the elements every state asks for, the sharp difference between owning land and merely having a right to cross it, and the proof courts expect.
8 min readAnalysis -
Property & Housing
Manufactured Housing: Titles, Land, and Community Rent Rules
A manufactured home, the land under it, and the piece of paper that proves ownership are three separate things. Almost every problem owners run into traces back to that split.
8 min readExplainer -
Property & Housing
Renters Insurance and Damage Claims: Who Pays After a Loss
The landlord's policy covers the building and a renters policy covers the tenant's side. What happens when a tenant causes the loss is a genuine state-by-state split.
8 min readGuide -
Estate Planning & Elder Law
Ancillary Probate: Handling Property Owned in Another State
Real estate is governed by the law of the state where it sits. That single rule is why an estate with a cabin two states away often needs a second court case to sell it.
6 min readGuide -
Estate Planning & Elder Law
Transfer-on-Death Deeds and Payable-on-Death Accounts
A recorded beneficiary deed or a payable-on-death form can move an asset at death without probate, without a trust, and without giving anyone rights while you are alive.
6 min readExplainer -
Criminal Law & Civil Rights
Diversion and Deferred Adjudication: Eligibility, Conditions, and Dismissal
Diversion trades conditions now for a dismissal later. The trade is often worth making, but what a dismissal leaves behind is the part defendants learn about too late.
6 min readExplainer
