"Owning land is a expensive illusion." An old saying that means you can't take it with you. But while you are here and wish to pass it on to others, the owning of land can have its rewards.

Hardy Law Group attorneys have offered advice and planning in real estate matters for over two decades. We will help you decide if you even need an attorney. Many simple tasks involving the transfer of property may be done by simply filling out a form. For example, if you are quit claiming your property to your trust, it is a one page form that is simple to fill out with a property discription attached, know as the "meets and bounds." The language that says "the SW corner of lot 37 or the ..." those are the meets and bounds (the property desciption). You also need to have the APN (assessors parcel number) that can be obtained from the Washoe County Assessor's Office here in Reno by providing them with the address of the property. This "fill in the blank" form is not something you need an attorney for if you are competant in filling out such forms. That being said, if you need help, we are happy to assist you.

Hardy Law Group handles real estate matters from the very simple to the convoluted and complex matters including but not limited to: Condemnation and Eminent Domain (the government taking of property) all the way through Homeowners Association matters. We have and do represent HOA's, homeowners, renters, business owners and many other people and organizations. We regularly create land developement agreements, assist in the parceling of land, create and extinguish easements and provide advice on all of these and many other types of real estate matters.

Landlord/ tenant matters and buy/ sell agreements are always the most common areas of advise that come up involving real estate law. A good lease is like a good will, it continues to give and give. We see more litigation over bad leases in court than any other type of case (although unfair realtors is a close second). A landlord gets 3 or 4 leases and picks what he or she thinks is the best of all, sometimes missing important clauses or adding a little to much protection for him or herself. For example write "Landlord is entitled to all attorney fees and costs in case of breach of this lease" and the landlord has just knocked himself out of getting any attorney fees. Why?  Because that phrase is one sided and a judge can not award any fees. Due to this pitfall, you should always and at the very least, have your lease reviewed by someone that knows what to look for. Commericial and residential leases are not expensive to have reviewed and/or drafted in todays computer age and a properly drafted agreement can protect the landlord. That said, we have represented a commercial tenant in the past and obtained $580,000 in damages that arose from the breach of a lease at issue in that case.

Real estate buy/sell agreements have many clauses ---who pays for what? What is fair? We have and do advise on these matters. We are not there to throw a wrench in the deal, but to provide advice regarding the standard in the community. WIth the changing economy this seems to change regularly from month to month. Much can be disclosed by either side in the way a demand is made and the timing of it.

What duties does a seller have to disclose a defect that has been repaired or does he have to if not asked and what is to be disclosed if asked? What duties does a realtor have when dealing with a client? A lot of recent litigation has arisen regarding realtors. Did they properly investigate and/or disclose information to the parties? Read the boiler plate language of your realtor's contract. Are you really bound by those limitations of liability? In fact how many people acrually read the documents that involve likely one of the most expensive purchase they make? Very few. Does that mean if you say "I did not read it" you are not bound by it? Most courts say you are bound by what you signed, even if you did not read it, unless there are some exceptional circumstances.

Need some help in these areas? Give us a call today!