Blog
Environmental Site Assessments
Key Point. Under Federal law, owners of commercial real estate are liable for hazardous materials cleanup costs even if they did not contribute to the contamination release. Owner Liability For Cleanup The Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act[1], better known as CERCLA, passed by Congress in 1980, is aimed at cleaning up sites contaminated …
Read More 
Title Insurance – A Buyers Guide
By George Bobo Key Point. If you deal with transfer of real estate titles, you are going to buy a lot of title insurance but you’ll likely not know much about it. The American Land Title Association The origin of title insurance can be traced to an 1868 decision by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court which refused …
Read More 
Why Do I Need A Borrower Counsel Opinion
By George Bobo Key Point: It has become standard practice for a lender, as part of its due diligence, to require the borrower to provide an opinion from borrower’s counsel that the loan documents are enforceable as part of closing loans over a certain amount. Current Lender Practice It has become standard practice among lenders …
Read More 
Georgia Intangibles Tax
By George Bobo Key Point. The penalty for non-payment of Georgia intangibles recording tax bars the lender from collection of its loan. What Is Georgia Intangibles Tax? It is a tax on long-term notes secured real estate. The tax rate is $1.50 for each $500.00 or fraction thereof of the face amount of the note …
Read More 
Loan Guaranties and Deficiency Judgments
By George Bobo Key Point. A loan guarantor may waive a deficiency action under Georgia law in which case the lender may sue the guarantor without confirming the foreclosure and years after the foreclosure takes place. When a lender receives proceeds of from a foreclosure sale less than the indebtedness owed it is said to …
Read More 
Property Surveys
Key Point. Lenders require property surveys on almost all commercial loans, and the ALTA/NSPS Land Title Survey is the standard in the industry. Order the survey early. One item high on both purchaser and lender due diligence lists of things to examine is a property survey (for this discussion referred to simply as a “survey”). …
Read More