Everyone has been impacted by COVID-19, and renters and landlords are feeling especially vulnerable. Various state and federal safety nets have been created to help tenants remain in their rental homes or apartments if they’re having problems coming up with…
Sellers of commercial-use real property should always consider doing an Internal Revenue Code section 1031 tax-deferred exchange in connection with the sale of their property (unless the seller is “cashing out”). In a 1031 exchange, certain protocols are utilized to…
Since the real estate market crash in late 2008, many people have become landlords who would have otherwise not done so. Beside the normal and expected tasks (collecting rents, doing maintenance, responding to “emergency” complaints, etc.), one of the most…
As the nation responds to the Coronavirus outbreak, we are all hopeful for the best outcome. During these trying times, however, consider the following: Communicate: In times of trouble, one of the most important factors is a constant and open…
A commercial lease represents a significant commitment for your business. Commercial leases often are not subject to the same consumer protection laws as residential ones, so it is important to understand exactly what you are committing to and to negotiate…
Recently, ABC Action News (WFTS Tampa Bay) reported a story about what can happen when a tenant dies during a residential lease. A Vietnam veteran who had rented a Tampa apartment while receiving treatment at a VA Hospital, died suddenly…
Kicking strangers out of your home may be harder than you think. Just ask the Army Soldier whose Pasco County, Florida home was invaded by a couple of squatters while he was away serving his country. Two complete strangers moved into the Soldier’s home, changed the locks and refused to leave. If that wasn’t distressing enough, the Pasco County sheriff’s office told the Soldier that police could not do anything to remove the squatters.
Before his deployment to Afghanistan two years ago, the Soldier asked a friend to keep an eye on his home. The friend enlisted the help of one of the squatters to renovate the home while the Soldier was gone. Two months after the work was completed, the friend discovered the squatters living in the home, much to her surprise.
The squatters claimed that the Soldier’s friend agreed to allow them to live in the home rent-free in exchange for performing the renovation. Although the friend denied that such an agreement existed, the squatters’ claim was enough to place the matter outside of police intervention. In other words, the case was now a civil matter.
A quiet title action is a lawsuit in which the plaintiff asks the court to declare that the plaintiff has sole legal title to a piece of property. In the lawsuit, the plaintiff should name any person or entity that might possibly have an ownership claim to the property as a defendant. Here are some common reasons for bringing a quiet title action:
Florida title insurance companies will not insure title to land that a buyer purchased in a tax sale until the deed to the land has been on record for least four years. To shorten this time frame, however, the buyer can bring a quiet title action to settle all potential claims of ownership to the property. If the defendants are all previous title owners of record and all previous mortgagees of the property, the buyer can purchase title insurance and have marketable title as soon as the court awards judgment in favor of the buyer in the quiet title action.
