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Old 10-21-2015, 08:10 PM
 
9,865 posts, read 14,045,912 times
Reputation: 21689

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Quote:
Originally Posted by spidey621 View Post
I'm not sure what you mean by real attorney. This is a local attorney who lives ~20 minutes from that development. It is not free. It's free for me, but my employer is paying for this via the Hyatt program.
We had a real estate issue that required advice by an attorney. My husband, an attorney, said he didn't have the expertise and solicited names of others for us to call.

I, realizing we also have this group legal plan through my work, offered to enlist their services.

He immediately said that they would not be able to help. Essentially, they are generalists with very little actual knowledge or expertise with complicated issues. They are good for simple wills and contracts.

Let's look at it this way. If you had the flu or an eye infection; feel free to head on into the Minute Clinic at a CVS. But would you go there if you had cancer? Same thing.
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Old 10-21-2015, 08:22 PM
 
39 posts, read 81,668 times
Reputation: 22
Quote:
Originally Posted by spencgr View Post
We had a real estate issue that required advice by an attorney. My husband, an attorney, said he didn't have the expertise and solicited names of others for us to call.

I, realizing we also have this group legal plan through my work, offered to enlist their services.

He immediately said that they would not be able to help. Essentially, they are generalists with very little actual knowledge or expertise with complicated issues. They are good for simple wills and contracts.

Let's look at it this way. If you had the flu or an eye infection; feel free to head on into the Minute Clinic at a CVS. But would you go there if you had cancer? Same thing.
Thanks! How does one go about finding a 'good' lawyer?
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Old 10-21-2015, 08:23 PM
 
39 posts, read 81,668 times
Reputation: 22
Thank you all again very much for chiming in your perspectives! Hmmm detrimental reliance....what is that all about? My lawyer asked me to pull up all e-mail conversations I've had with the builders realtor and verify that there was no communications about any notices regarding delays.
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Old 10-21-2015, 10:21 PM
 
9,891 posts, read 11,713,661 times
Reputation: 22086
To find the right lawyer, call the local or state legal society or what ever name it goes under there, and they will give you a list of attorneys that specialize in real estate law.

Let me give you an example why. Years ago, I had sold a mobile home park behind a nice restaurant that was vacant. My client bought it complete when I pointed out that the income from the Mobile Home park which was full and had a huge list of renters that would take a spot if one came available. A tourist area with a huge housing shortage. It was across the state from where my home and office were located.

The sellers Realtor, had an attorney draw the paperwork. They sent it to me for my approval. I never saw such a messed up and impossible set of closing papers in my life. I told them no go, and have the attorney call me. I found he was a divorce attorney and knew nothing about real estate. I told him how to do the proper paperwork for closing. At closing I showed up with my buyer. I asked for our copies of the closing papers to see. I had to set them up in a completely different order before signing started. In a complicated closing such as this one, with 5 previous owners that were going to provide private seller financing, it was complicated. The day before closing, I had to take them to 2 of the sellers to sign, as these two would not even go into the same room as the others they were so estranged. The day of the closing I had given them to the attorney. When we finally sat down at the closing table, the buyer asked the attorney a question, and he sat there looking like a deer in the headlights looking at a speeding car.

I asked if I could answer that question, and when I did the attorney said that was exactly right and what he was going to say. After the 4th question he quit answering questions, and after I was asked the question and answered it, he always aid I was right and that was what he was going to say. It took over an hour to get all the signatures, etc. By the time we finished closing everyone was happy. The papers were filed, and the title insurance company who filed the papers checked them and were very happy with them. That attorney never did know what was going on, and just approved every thing I said. I had taken closing and real estate contract classes at a large university, and my wife was not only my partner and co-broker but a real estate law university trained paralegal. My wife was the head instructor for the county wide real estate closers association, which had members working in law offices, title and escrow companies, and real estate offices preparing closings. In our state most closings were conducted by real estate brokers. We felt we had to know what was going on to protect our clients from attorneys that did not know what they were doing in real estate.

I am giving you this true story, to let you know how important it is you get an attorney that specializes in real estate problems, and not a criminal lawyer, a divorce lawyer, or some paper pushing lawyer. You need someone that specializes in Real estate law. They are the ones that know the law on real estate contracts and closings, and specialize in it. They are also the ones that get the attention of the builders attorney, who knows he/she cannot sway your attorney when they get that letter.
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Old 10-22-2015, 05:12 AM
 
Location: Morrisville, NC
9,134 posts, read 14,707,757 times
Reputation: 9042
Quote:
Originally Posted by spidey621 View Post
Thanks! How does one go about finding a 'good' lawyer?
I would hope that the guy you are talking to would be able to refer you to a real estate attorney in your area through their service.
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Old 10-22-2015, 05:21 AM
 
Location: Alaska
227 posts, read 257,010 times
Reputation: 613
Detrimental reliance is when you are told your home will be ready at xx time. You sell your home and pay for movers relying upon the information to be trustworthy and true -- then when it is not you have to find a place to live because suddenly there is no home to move into and now you are incurring an extra move, paying costs that you did not plan for, this is naturally detrimental to you, hence they refer to this as detrimental reliance.

Here is just one definition found on a google search: Part of any plaintiff's case will be the issue of "detrimental reliance". In other words, the plaintiff in order to be successful in a tort claim for a false representation will need to prove that they were actually influenced by the statement, that they really relied upon the statement, had no reason to doubt it, and acted reasonably accepting it as the truth.

I'm in business law this semester and we've covered contracts pretty extensively. If the language in your contract was clear about the finish date, then you have a case. It should be enough to just stand up to this builder because no one wants to take it to the next step with legal fees when all you are demanding is to be released from your contract and get your refund. And that is another thing. Technically the builder is in material breach of your contract, not you, so if you can I would definitely get a real estate lawyer if your current lawyer is not up to speed on the ins and outs of real estate.
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Old 10-22-2015, 05:27 AM
 
Location: Lakewood Ranch, FL
5,663 posts, read 10,702,562 times
Reputation: 6945
You should be able to google "Real estate attorney [zipcode]" to find a specialist but your agent (or broker) probably has at least one that they know well.
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Old 10-22-2015, 05:59 AM
 
Location: Brentwood, Tennessee
49,932 posts, read 59,725,995 times
Reputation: 98359
Quote:
Originally Posted by fishbrains View Post
They are flat out lying to you. I suspect that they are working some sort of financing issues out using your money.
Yep, it sounds textbook.

If they aren't cranking out homes, they're having money problems.
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Old 10-22-2015, 06:50 AM
 
Location: Flahrida
6,308 posts, read 4,824,295 times
Reputation: 7434
The house I believe is in Snellville, GA and I am sure there are many lawyers in Atlanta that can handle this since its only 20 miles away. How do you find a good lawyer? Try posting in the Atlanta forums.
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Old 10-22-2015, 07:13 AM
 
Location: Georgia
4,578 posts, read 5,639,602 times
Reputation: 15968
Quote:
Originally Posted by Sherifftruman View Post
I would hope that the guy you are talking to would be able to refer you to a real estate attorney in your area through their service.
I've PM'd you some suggestions
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