(To Report Cash Transactions) I once facilitated a closing in which my clients sold a very modest home to a young couple for $10,000. What made this transaction interesting was that the couple paid for the house with cash, all in small bills. I still…
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While a great deal of Michigan has long since been divided and subdivided into “platted” lands for homesites and commercial development, most of the state continues to be made up of land that has never been platted. The Michigan Land Division Act…
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Michigan law generally defines your principal residence as the one place you own to which, whenever you leave, you intend to return. As such, your principal residence will be deemed exempt from certain school taxes upon the filing of the requisite Pr…
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Judging from our workload, real estate sales are very hot at the moment. If you are in the middle of a real estate transaction or a real estate transaction is in your future, here are a few things to keep in mind. We are hearing a lot about the scarc…
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Home buyers don’t like when they discover problems with the home they bought, and who can blame them? But, not every problem is the responsibility of the seller. I’ve had two clients recently contacted by buyers looking for money based on alleged…
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My husband, Tim, and I regularly head up north to visit my family. We usually bivouac at one of my brother’s homes, but that’s not possible when the whole clan is in town. On those grand occasions, several of us will rent a house together, which…
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Michigan’s lame duck legislature passed another notable statute that attempts to abolish dower in our state. “Dower” is about as obscure as it sounds, and it has little relevance in today’s society. It’s a legal concept borrowed from Britis…
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Pursuant to Article 7 of the Michigan Constitution, each of Michigan’s 83 counties is required to have a register of deeds. With offices located in each county seat, the register of deeds is responsible for recording “instruments” (documents) i…
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Regular readers of these postings may remember a piece written by my colleague, Julie Cotant, on December 22, 2015, titled Scams Are Always in Season. In that piece, Julie talked about a “Recorded Deed Notice” that had been received by a client,…
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A client recently completed her estate plan with our office; in conjunction with that estate plan, a new deed was recorded for her property. After the deed was recorded with the Oakland County Register of Deeds, she received a “Recorded Deed Notice…
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