Legal Insights & Related Topics
KEY ISSUES FOR COMMERCIAL REAL ESTATE FINANCING
Attorneys are often engaged to advise a party to a commercial real estate loan on certain key issues that are neither purely business issues nor purely legal issues. The following is a summary of some of those key issues. Borrowing Entity. Most borrowers hold title to property in an entity formed specifically for that purpose, […]
ENFORCING UNEXECUTED AGREEMENTS
A contract involves an offer by one party and an acceptance of that offer by another party, and most commercial contracts involve multiple offers and acceptances. Another contract element requires the parties to agree to the terms and conditions of the offers and acceptances, typically by a written agreement signed by both parties. However […]
RESPONSIBILITY FOR DAMAGE OR INJURY IN COMMERCIAL LEASES AND THE ROLE OF INSURANCE
One of the more controversial and confusing elements of a commercial lease negotiation involves the allocation of responsibility for negligence of landlord and tenant. Frequently, after careful allocation of responsibility to insure the property, the parties either inadvertently undermine that allocation by their treatment of responsibility to indemnify or at least waste time (and attorneys’ […]
HOW TO SELL A 100% INTEREST IN A PROPERTY IN CALIFORNIA WITHOUT TRIGGERING REASSESSMENT UNDER PROPOSITION 13
On June 6, 1978 voters in California approved an amendment to the State Constitution to limit reassessments of property for property tax purposes to situations involving a change of ownership. California Revenue & Taxation Code §60 defines a change of ownership as “a transfer of a present interest in real property, including the beneficial use […]
POTENTIAL PROPERTY TAX SURPRISES IN CALIFORNIA
Celebrated nationwide as a taxpayer revolution when adopted, California’s Proposition 13 changed the nature of the state’s revenues and resulted in lower property taxes for properties held long-term. The initial idea was to protect taxpayers against artificially inflated assessments and even, in some cases, to protect against assessment at the true value. Many voters sympathized […]
COMMERCIAL LEASES AND CONDITION OF THE PREMISES
The standard American Industrial Real Estate Association multi-tenant commercial lease form, at Paragraph 2, contains certain express representations by the lessor regarding the condition of the Leased Premises. Included are the representation that the operating systems will be in “good operating condition” on the commencement of the Lease. Additionally, the lessor represents that structural elements […]