Certain housing for older persons is exempt from the familial status protection under the Fair Housing Act.  Requirements for a community with the status of “housing for older persons” are as follows: The housing must be designed and operated to assist elderly persons and is intended for, and solely occupied by, persons 62 years of [...]

Polybutylene (PB) is a plastic resin that was used for water supply pipes for about 20 years, starting in 1978.   It was cheap, easy to install, and substituted for copper pipe in nearly 25 percent of all homes built during that period.   Due to the low cost and ease of installation, polybutylene piping systems were [...]

Many times you may hear that a homeowner is “under water“?      If the current market value of your house is less than the amount you still owe on the mortgage, then you are “under water”.   For example if the current market value of your house is $150,000 and you owe $250,000 on [...]

No.  The Seller’s Property Disclosure form is not a legal requirement.   However, it is strongly recommended that Florida Real Estate Agents have their Sellers use the form.   Sellers have a duty to disclosure any property defects they know about that would materially affect the property’s value to the buyer and that aren’t readily [...]

A trade fixture is an item of personal property attached to real property that is owned by a tenant and is used in a business.   It is legally removable by the tenant.

Erosion is the gradual loss of land due to natural forces .   It is the process of eroding or being eroded by wind, water, or other natural agents.

The measure of the effectiveness of insulation is its resistance to heat flow, or R-value.  The higher the R-value, the better the energy efficiency.  The Department of Energy has established minimum R-values based on zip codes.  R-values are additive.  As an example, if a home has an R-19 insulation in the ceiling and the owner [...]

There are two parties to a mortgage: (1) the mortgagor, or borrower (debtor), and (2) the mortgagee, or lender (creditor).   The mortgagor owns the property and the mortgagee owns the mortgage.

A Lis Pendens means “a suit pending”.   When litigation is initiated involving a specific parcel of real property, a lis pendens usually is filed with the clerk of county in which the property is located.