The California Court of Appeals has recently held that, as a general rule, the Documentary Transfer Tax applies whenever there is a "change in ownership" of real property.

In his weekly Realty Law Digest column (subscription required), Scott Mollen analyzes two notable cases.

In TIAA Global Investments LLC, et al. v. One Astoria Square, LLC, et al., Index No. 652907/2012, an owner and purchaser of a large multi-unit building complex sued the seller for alleged fraud and intentional misrepresentation.

The California Documentary Transfer Tax Act requires the amount of documentary transfer tax due to be shown on the face of the document.

A landowner sought a Certificate of Compliance from the City of Oakland, asserting that a pre-1972 deed referencing three lots (Lot 18, Lot 17, and a portion of Lot 16) created three separate legal parcels.

Ten years ago, in 2003, the Seventh Circuit issued its Qualitech decision, which sought to reconcile a perceived conflict between section 365(h) and section 363(f).

Seller financing offers an alternative path to homeownership for buyers who struggle to meet conventional lending requirements, providing flexibility for both parties while potentially avoiding broker fees. However, these transactions require careful legal documentation including loan agreements, promissory notes, and deeds of trust to prevent adverse consequences. A real estate attorney can guide buyers and sellers through the complexities of seller-financed deals, from drafting paperwork to addressing tit

Wisconsin recently enacted legislation banning local governments, including cities, villages, counties and towns, from imposing time of sale ("TOS") requirements on the sale of real property.

A well drafted "as‑is" clause can prevent a buyer from claiming any damages against the seller for issues that arise with regard to the condition of the property.

Under California Assembly Bill 1103, owners and operators of nonresidential buildings must disclose certain building energy performance data.

Effective January 1, 2015, California law requires real estate brokers and agents to provide their clients and prospective clients with specific new disclosures.

You have multiple properties that you want to sell and to perform a like-kind exchange. Do you want to treat these sales as a single exchange or multiple exchanges?

On September 18, 2014 Congress amended the Interstate Land Sales Full Disclosure Act to exempt condominiums from the filing and registration requirements.

In previous blogs, we've touched on the concept of due diligence during a real estate transaction.

A Commonwealth Court ruling earlier this month, in City of Philadelphia v. Manu, 2013 Pa. Commw. LEXIS 363, may have a significant effect on the City’s procedures in tax sales, and the success of owners and lienholders in setting aside or staying such sales if statutory requirements are not followed.

After looking at numerous investment opportunities, you bite the bullet, assemble a syndicate of lenders and close on a leveraged buyout transaction resulting in control of the operating company target through the use of a holding company.

In 2008, Mark III executes a mortgage granting a bank a security interest in property described in an attached exhibit which included certain oil and gas leases.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit has held that unperformed obligations to more particularly describe easements in property conveyed by the debtor prepetition did not constitute "duties" remaining to be performed under a contract.

The pace of sale/leaseback transactions has accelerated in 2014, as both publicly traded and privately held companies analyze the benefits and drawbacks to a sale/leaseback transaction.

Conveying oil and gas interests in Pennsylvania raises the question as to whether the document conveying the interest is subject to realty transfer tax.