Articles

‘Green leases’ are raising legal issues

More and more commercial buildings are being designed to meet environmentally friendly, or “green,” standards. In addition, a growing number of communities around the country are adopting “green ordinances” that mandate certain environmental standards for large commercial buildings or developments. As a result, commercial leases in these buildings need to take green issues into account. And since this is a new area, how these issues should be handled isn’t always clear, and can lead to considerable

Real Estate downturn creates an estate planning opportunity

Real estate prices have been falling all over the country. While no one likes to think that their home is worth less than it used to be, the downturn has created an opportunity to give your home to your eventual heirs while saving a large amount of estate and gift taxes. This can be done with a “Qualified Personal Residence Trust”, or QPRT. The idea is that you put your home into a trust for a

Fannie Mae makes it harder to get a condo mortgage

New rules from Fannie Mae are making it harder to get a mortgage for a condominium unit. Effective this past March 1, the mortgage giant will no longer purchase mortgages for condo units in new buildings unless at least 70% of the units are sold or under contract. Previously, Fannie would purchase mortgages as long as at least 51% of the units had been sold. As a result of the change, a number of people who

Vacation homes, investment properties may be cheap

While the average price of a primary residence declined last year, the average price of vacation homes and investment properties declined even further, suggesting that many of these properties might now be available at an attractive cost. The median sales price of a vacation home was $150,000 last year, down from $195,000 in 2007, according to the National Association of Realtors. That’s a 23% drop in one year. A typical investment property cost $108,000 last year,

Chicago ‘historic area’ zoning case being watched across the country

Can a city block property owners from making improvements to a building or a neighborhood on the grounds that doing so would destroy its value as a historic landmark? A closely watched case in Chicago could answer that question. Although the case is specific to Chicago, cities and property owners across the country are paying attention to it because the same issues could be brought up in many other places.

Most landlords make mistakes on their income tax, U.S. says

A majority – some 53% – of individual landlords in the U.S. make mistakes on their income tax when it comes to reporting rental income and expenses, according to a study by the U.S. Government Accountability Office. That means that out of about 8.9 million individual landlords in the country, nearly 5 million aren’t paying the correct tax. And of those 5 million, fully a quarter paid too much tax and should have had a lower

Accused employee can’t sue his accuser

A manager at the Cambridge Marriott hotel who was fired after he was accused of sexually harassing a bartender can’t sue the bartender, according to the state Appeals Court. The manager sued the bartender for defamation, claiming she slandered him to the hotel and wrongly caused him to lose his job. But the court said that a person can’t be sued for defamation for statements made in relation to a court case. In this situation, the

Getting divorced? Be careful with tax returns

If you’re in the middle of a divorce and your spouse is preparing a joint income tax return, remember that even though you’re splitting up, you’re still jointly responsible if you sign the return and your spouse has done something wrong. In a recent case, a couple was still married but living separately with separate checking accounts and credit cards. The husband prepared the couple’s joint tax return and gave it to the wife to sign.

Woman can’t be turned down for job because she has children

A company can be sued if it didn’t promote a woman because it was afraid she would have trouble balancing her job and raising four children. That’s the result of a ruling from the federal appeals court in Boston. The woman, who worked for an insurance company, was one of two finalists for a management job. She had an 11-year-old son and six-year-old triplets, and was taking one course a semester at a local college. She

Watch out for ‘business compliance’ scams

A number of Massachusetts companies have been receiving official-looking letters recently offering to file corporate minutes with the government for a fee. These appear to be scams designed to trick business owners, according to the Secretary of State’s office. Many businesses have received letters from something called “Compliance Services” offering to file corporate minutes statements with the state and asking for payment of a $125 “annual fee.” The trick? There is no requirement to file corporate

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