Real estate law has undergone more changes than just about any other area of legal practice since the recession hit five years ago, requiring lawyers in this field to adapt quickly to new regulations and ways of doing business. Charlotte lawyer Kenneth R. Benton of Baucom, Claytor, Benton, Morgan & Wood has been in the real estate game for nearly four decades, but said the last few years have brought a slew of significant changes.

Tagged with: real estate

CHARLOTTE — Everybody who’s anybody in the Charlotte real estate industry knows — or at least knows of — Ralph McMillan. With a career that dates to 1977, McMillan is considered by many to be the go-to real estate lawyer in town, especially if it’s a complicated closing.

Tagged with: closings real estate Real Property

Klingstubbins Southeast, Inc. v. 301 Hillsborough Street Partners, LLC Where our Court of Appeals held, Letters from an LLC member to its creditor promised to pay the LLC’s debt. Combined with the creditor’s forbearance to sue, the letters allow the creditor’s claim of a guaranty to survive the LLC member’s motion to dismiss, we affirm and remand for additional proceedings.

Tagged with: real estate

Email is essential to the modern real estate agent. But technology is still no substitute for an old-fashioned paper contract, the N.C. Court of Appeals has ruled. The court found Aug. 21 in Manecke v. Kurtz that an email from a buyers’ agent did not bind his clients to a contract to buy a house. The email at the heart of the case told the seller’s agent that the buyers had accepted an $845,000 counteroffer and were “really excited about their new home.” Apparently, their excitement was short-lived.

Tagged with: Contract real estate Technology

The down economy has sparked a number of new investment opportunities, particularly for individuals with the good fortune of being flush with cash and having the ability to get creative without having to convince a lender that a deal is viable.

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The N.C. House Select Committee on Homeowners’ Associations is considering new legislation that would require HOA managers to be licensed as real estate agents, a move that some industry insiders oppose.

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Outsourcing is nothing new, and businesses have been outsourcing certain operations to India for years. But property and property law in North Carolina, for the most part, is local - at least for now. Still the push is on from industry and, arguably, the federal government to nationalize the attorney-controlled real estate system in the state. A company based in Bangalore, India, has been offering its title abstracting services in North Carolina for at three years, according to its managing partner, M.S. Shridhar.

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By WILLIAM W. TOOLE and EMILY S. SHERLOCK, Special to Lawyers Weekly [email protected] and [email protected]   North Carolina’s dramatic population growth in the past 30 years – driven by people attracted to the state’s mild climate, strong economy and natural beauty ...

Tagged with: Easements real estate Real Property

By PAUL THARP, Staff Writer [email protected] The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development has awarded contracts to North Carolina counsel to represent it in sales of its residential property inventory in the state. In HUD’s east region, Charlotte attorney ...

Tagged with: HUD real estate

Raleigh resident Michael Pennington is mad at Trust Title. The real estate broker's client was under contract with the Department of Housing and Urban Development to purchase a property in Durham. The contract was signed in August, and the closing was to occur no later than Nov. 10. Pennington's client remitted an earnest-money deposit of $1,000 to HUD's contractor, Reston, Va.-based Trust Title - but the deal never closed.

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