Common Real Estate Practices and their Pitfalls
A legal education seminar examining common practices of agents, brokers, attorneys and investors unthinkingly do as a matter of course and the associated pitfalls of such practices.
Common Real Estate Practices and their Pitfalls
San Francisco Bar Association, May 18, 2016
A legal education seminar examining common practices of agents, brokers, attorneys and investors unthinkingly do as a matter of course and the associated pitfalls of such practices.
Deconstructing Commercial Leases
Presenter, San Diego County Bar Association (September 28, 2015)
A legal education seminar analyzing commercial leasing issues from the start of a transaction through the completion of the transaction and beyond into litigation.
An Offering Memorandum Triggers Duty of Inquiry and Statute of Limitations in Investments Gone Bad
In the matter of WA Southwest 2, LLC v. First American Title Ins. Co. (2015) 240 Cal.App.4th 148, investors in a real estate deal alleged that their broker had made material misrepresentations and committed fraud. Specifically, the investors alleged that their broker had represented that the property had been subjected to a thorough due diligence review and that the sales load would be less than 10%. According to the investors, however, this was not true. Rather, the actual sales load was purportedly in excess of 20%.
Putting aside the alleged oral representations, the court noted that a written Offering Memorandum provided to the investors had indicated that the sales load exceeded 10%. Thus, the court held that the inconsistency between the Offering Memorandum and the alleged oral representations of the broker put the investors on notice of a falsity and that the investors had a duty to inquiry thereafter. The investors failure to inquire was not only in breach of their obligations, but also started the running of the statute of
limitations on any claims by the investors. As the investors failed to timely bring suit against their broker based on the time of the receipt of the Offering Memorandum, the court concluded that their claims were barred by the statute of limitations and the case was dismissed.
Having Real Estate Contracts Interpreted in Your Client’s Favor: Critical Rules of Construction Every Real Estate Transactional and Litigation Attorney Should Know
Presenter, San Francisco Bar Association, Sep 16, 2015
Presenter, a legal education seminar covering key rules of construction of real estate and legal documents, including lease agreements, grant deeds, agreements with public entities, deeds of trust, and other real estate contracts.
The Ponist Law Group Obtains a Favorable Judgment After Trial for Special Needs School
The Ponist Law Group represented a school serving special needs students against lessor attempting to terminate school’s lease. After a bench trial, the judge rejected lessor’s efforts to terminate the lease early and, instead, awarded the school an extension of its lease.
The Ponist Law Group Obtains Favorable Judgment After Trial for Client Special Needs School
A judge has ruled an Allied Gardens school, which caters to special needs students, will be able to stay at its location until 2021, despite objections from the San Diego Unified School District.
In May, Excelsior Academy filed a lawsuit against the SDUSD, claiming the district violated the terms of the school’s lease when it told administrators to vacate their location by March 2018.
The SDUSD sold the property to the Islamic School of San Diego for $2,775,000 in February.
“The reason the school district did not want Excelsior to stay in the property longer, as far as we understand it, is that they received a notice from the Islamic School of San Diego requesting that we be thrown out, or Excelsior be thrown out,” said Sean Ponist, the attorney for Excelsior.
Going to the Source: Minimize your liability by providing attributions
Commercial Investment Real Estate Magazine (May/June, 2015)
Sep 16, 2015, San Francisco Bar Association
A presentation addressing legal issues that arise when real estate agents “go rogue” and engage in conduct which may or may not be within the “scope of their employment.”
Commercial Real Estate Brokerage Standard of Care
Presenter, San Diego and San Francisco, County Bar Associations (May 28, 2014 and September 16, 2014)
A legal education seminar which looked at the duties and obligations of commercial real estate agents and brokers who, unlike their residential counterparts, are not presently bound by strict statutory requirements.
Private Investigation and the Legal Community
Moderator, San Francisco Bar Association (July 19, 2013)
A legal education seminar covering private investigator techniques to assist lawyers in the prosecution and defense of their actions as well as the identification of critical persons and assets in litigation.