The Massachusetts Real Estate Law Blog On ActiveRain

This week, a very interesting decision involving the negotiation of a residential purchase and sale agreement came down from the Massachusetts Appeals Court in Coviello v. Richardson. Click here to view the decision. The case highlights the need for realtors and real estate attorneys to be proac...

The recent flooding here in Massachusetts got me thinking about the importance of good insurance coverage. So I asked my friend Nadine Heaps, the owner of Purple Ink Insurance Agency, Inc. in Ashland, MA to give an outline of condominium unit insurance policies, the requirements of which have ch...

Some of my fellow real estate attorney friends here in Massachusetts are complaining about being "squeezed out" by certain lenders who are insisting that borrowers must use their hand picked closing attorney.  (We are on most lender's lists so we aren't running into this issue). But I'm curious h...

A lot more than you might think. Many buyers and sellers often wonder what a real estate closing attorney does other than conduct the closing. The closing attorney acts as the “quarterback” of the closing process, performing many time consuming tasks preparing a transaction from intake to closing...

Yesterday the Boston Globe reported on a controversial lawsuit by a Alyssa Burrage, a condominium buyer, against a realtor over the disclosure of second hand smoke emitting from downstairs neighbors. Click for the story: Suit Over Second Hand Smoke Targets Real Estate Broker. As the hundreds of ...

(As a lender/buyer closing attorney--file this under "Don't Shoot The Messenger! And Blame HUD, Not Me!") The Los Angeles Times and other media outlets are claiming that lenders' use of loan cost worksheets and estimates are a "sidestep" of the new RESPA mandated Good Faith Estimate which went in...

by Richard D. Vetstein, Esq. on January 3, 2010 On January 1, 2010, the new Real Estate Settlement Practices Act (RESPA) rules went into effect. The new RESPA rules significantly change the way lenders must disclose settlement services, in particular closing attorneys’ fees, and title insurance....

In the spirit of the New Year, let’s look back at the top legal issues of the past year and peer into the crystal ball for a glimpse at 2010. Top 5 Posts For 2009 #1.  The Catch-22 Impact of New Fannie Mae Condominium Regulations. In January, Fannie Mae was the first government agency to drop a b...

I’m getting pretty tired of all the condominium developers and realtors out there claiming that the new FHA condominium guidelines which went into effect this week are the next coming of the Apocalypse. The fact remains that the new guidelines will ensure that condominiums are financially sound a...

While America was fretting and tweeting about Tiger Woods’ (and his wife’s) driving skills, the Obama administration on Monday set long-awaited guidance on a plan for mortgage companies to speed up short sales of homes and other loan modification alternatives to stem the rising tide of foreclosu...