Q: Do I need an attorney to represent me on a land use entitlement application?

A: Attorneys play an integral role in the land use process. For many years, engineers and architects represented applicants before governmental commissions, departments and agencies in an effort to seek approval and/or passage of their land use entitlement applications. However, land use matters have become more and more complicated as state, federal and local governments place more restrictions on development through zoning ordinances, general plans, specific plans and state law statutes.

An attorney can properly advocate a land use entitlement application before governmental agencies and ensure that the matter is protected for potential review by a court of law if necessary

Q: When do I know that I need an attorney on my side in a real estate transaction?

A: A real estate transaction can be the largest investment in your investment portfolio; indeed, it can be the largest financial transaction in a persons life. It may be important to have an attorney work with your real estate agent to investigate title imperfections, construction issues, zoning issues and warranty issues. All of these matters can cause you to lose on your investment if not reviewed properly.

An attorney may also be able to help by supplying you and your agent with sufficient information on the property to better negotiate a price on the property.

Also, an attorney may be able to help you decide whether a land use entitlement process will be necessary depending on how you wish to use the property and whether you will most likely be successful obtaining such an entitlement.

Q: What do I need to do to ensure that I am purchasing a dwelling without construction defects?

A: You need to work with your agent to ensure that the seller discloses all that he or she knows that will materially affect the value of your home and your interest in the home. California requires that a seller provide the buyer with a Real Estate Transfer Disclosure Statement wherein the seller should disclose various problems known about the home. However, the Real Estate Transfer Disclosure Statement is limited to the seller's awareness.You may need an attorney to work with your agent to review the history of the property and perform an investigation into any available information that may be material to you.

Q: Do I need to have an attorney review my commercial lease?

A: Commercial leases vary from simple one page forms to complex documents, often totaling in excess of fifty pages. While a sophisticated commercial tenant may feel comfortable reviewing such a document, many business owners do not have the time or requisite knowledge necessary to evaluate a commercial lease on their own. For instance, many tenants fail to appreciate the importance of assignment and subletting provisions and compliance with law provisions until they are faced with an expensive problem caused by their failure to comprehend the provisions.Therefore, while not required, attorneys often play a vital role in the lease review process by assisting commercial tenants with commercial lease evaluations that highlight potential legal problems.

Q: My neighbor is having a fence built across my property line. Do I need to do anything to protect my rights?

A: Yes. By allowing another to construct an improvement on your property, you run the risk that a court will find that you are "estopped" from arguing that the improvement should be removed. The court may point out that if you had prevented the improver from continuing with the construction, there would have been minimal damage as opposed to the substantial damage that will occur from having to remove an entire fence. Furthermore, with the passage of time, you run the risk that the improver will gain prescriptive rights in your property for failing to defend those rights.An attorney can help you evaluate your rights and liabilities in such situations.

Q: I recently agreed to sell my property with escrow to close within 30 days. Escrow has not closed so am I free to sell my property to someone else?

A: It depends on the terms and conditions of the contract. The standard purchase and sale agreement form, published by the California Association of Realtors, does not allow a party to automatically terminate or cancel an agreement if escrow has not closed within a specified period. California courts tend to look at all the circumstances to see whether a party can properly terminate a contract if escrow has not closed. Nevertheless, if escrow has not closed on a timely basis, then the parties should attempt to negotiate a modification to the contract in order to address this issue if and when it arises.

If one party wishes to avoid the contract, then he or she should seek the advice of an attorney to properly review the benefits and risks of attempting a termination or cancellation.