Landowners who clear brush may be permanently ineligible for some government programs that are administered through the USDA. Before removing anything from their land, landowners should contact their local Farm Service Agency to be certain that the property being cleared isn’t a wetland. Federal law says that any conversion of wetlands to cropland could make the converting party ineligible for participation in all USDA programs.
Category Archives: Real Estate Law
Legal-Ease: Buying and selling houses
If you’ve bought or sold a home, you know that there’s a giant amount of paperwork involved in the transaction. In the years before the 2008-2010 mortgage crisis, many lenders were duped with fake identifies of buyers or fabricated financial statements. As a result, the amount of paperwork involved with buying and selling a home skyrocketed after the mortgage crisis.
Since the mortgage crisis, most home loan closings involve several identity checks, multiple confirmations of financial status and many other checks and balances to ensure that the deal is legitimate.
Legal-Ease: Capital gains tax and trading properties
Often when people make a purchase, over time it appreciates in value. When that item is sold, the government taxes on the increase in the value of the property. The tax that is assessed is called capital gains tax. Sometimes capital gains taxes discourage people from selling property as they don’t want to pay the capital gains tax. As a result of this, the government has a process that will sometimes allow for for capital gains taxes to be delayed.
Legal-Ease: What am I in for when I cosign a loan?
When Lee’s grandmother recently passed away, one of the greatest gifts she gave her family (in Lee’s mind) were the loan documents from when his grandparents married and bought their farm. On these documents, the cosigner of the loan was Lee’s great grandmother; it’s common for parents to cosign their children’s loans, especially student loans. Borrowers, cosigners and guarantors are all equally responsible for the debt of the loan.
Legal-Ease: Real estate taxes and breaks
Whether or not you use or make money on real estate, you pay taxes on that real estate every year. Ohio has been taxing real estate based upon the value of the real estate since the year 1825. Government entities, churches and charities often do not have to pay real estate taxes. There are four main ways that businesses and people can get a bit of relief from real estate taxes.
Legal-Ease: Is a document recorded in the proper chain of title?
Just getting a document to the courthouse with the appropriate fee to file doesn’t ensure that the document affects the property it’s supposed to affect. Every inch of land in Ohio has a unique historical record of ownership. Identifying that history of ownership is done by professional title examiners, who are attorneys like Lee. That history of the property is referred to as the property’s “chain of title.”
Legal-Ease: What is title work?
When you’re in the process of purchasing a home, it’s likely that the lender will “order the title work” before the sale is final. “Title work” refers to the process of reviewing and analyzing public records and other documents to confirm ownership as well as uncover liens and mortgages. There is no required licensing for someone to be able to find and compile all documents recorded that relate to a property. However, only a licensed attorney can give an “opinion” on title.
Legal-Ease: Three tips for underground utility agreements
If you own land, it’s likely that at some point you will be approached by either a utility company or an entity related to the government asking to install a buried water, sewer, gas or other line, tile or pipe. Usually the government or utility company requests for the permanent right to use a geographic area under the ground.
Legal-Ease: Shared ownership handy now, expensive later
Co-owning land or other property can be a good idea in the short run, but may present significant difficulties down the road. If one of the co-owners dies, new owners’ wishes can be completely different than what was originally intended.
Legal-Ease: do I need a survey?
Transferring ownership of land can be time consuming, costly and complicated. While surveying in the early days of our country was done with less precision than today, the various uses of a piece of property might still necessitate that a new survey be conducted.