Travels through Property Law by Tom Brodersen, Esq.
Real estate transactions tend to be document intensive. They involve long, highly detailed sales contracts & leases, deeds and many other legal instruments where the details are absolutely critical. When I advise my clients as to their rights in a real estate deal, I always ask them to bring ALL the documents involved with them. Experience shows that people often misunderstand their situations in fundamental ways, but the documents are the path to seeing it all clearly.
Problems arise when the documents are not as clear or accurate as they should be (and that happens more often than you may think). It’s usually a function of haste in the drafting process. To their credit, most real estate agents work very hard to write clear, accurate contracts, on forms, which are nearly universally regarded as reliable and fair, i.e., the FAR/BAR contract forms (a subject for another column). Sometimes, however, I meet clients whose lives are topsy-turvy because of transactions, which have gone off the rails, and the paperwork isn’t what it should be. Sometimes it’s self-help by clients who read a lot on the web, and think that they can save money on a lawyer. I’m here to tell you that there’s something to three years of law school, months of studying for the Bar exam, and a lifetime’s continuing legal education and experience.
When things do go wrong (as they do a certain percentage of the time), I (and other attorneys) do our level best to negotiate our way through it, but sometimes you get down to the fact that the final remedy can only be had in court. That’s what I call “Once Upon a Time” time. I have to be ready to stand up in front of a judge and say, in effect, “Your honor, Once Upon a Time there was this guy (my client), who had a house he wanted to sell…” While you hear a variety of definitions of contracts in real estate school and books, in the final analysis a contract is a series of behaviors, documents, and communications, which, when taken together (and in great detail), a judge will feel that he or she has enough information to put it all together into an enforceable contract and make a final legal ruling.
The side that knows the facts in the greatest detail (and with the greatest accuracy), will oftentimes win. That only happens if, as you go through the process, you hold onto every piece of paper, keep notes on every meeting, phone call and event, and keep yourself extremely well organized. And if you can do that, your contracts, e-mails and other documentation will also be much more clear and enforceable as a result.
ANDERSON & BRODERSEN, P.A.
350 Corey Avenue, St. Pete Beach, FL 33706
727-363-6100 www.PropertyLawGroup.com