Architect: Pierce, Norris, Pace & Associates. Year Built: 1964. The Culberson County Courthouse is located in the West Texas town of Van Horn. The county was created in 1911 and Van Horn was selected as the county seat. The first courthouse was the Clark Hotel on Broadway from 1911 to 1912 which is still standing….
Architect: Sanguinet and Staats. Year Built: 1916. The Dawson County Courthouse is locater in Lamesa, Texas. The county was created in 1876 and attached to Howard County for judicial purposes. Lamesa was selected as the county seat in 1905 when the county was organized. The first courthouse was a two story frame structure built by F…
Architect: Anton F. Korn. Year Built: 1928. The Tom Green County Courthouse is located in San Angelo, Texas.The courthouse plans originated with W.W. Larmour (of San Antonio) but were used without permission by the contractor J. H. Walker for the Tom Green County Courthouse. The supervising architect for the Tom Green County Courthouse was Oscar…
Year Built: 1939. Architect: Edward Stein. The Gillespie County Courthouse is located in Fredericksburg, Texas, about 65 miles northwest of San Antonio. I have handled numerous cases in Gillespie County, and currently have an active docket there. I am also regular counsel for landowners and businesses in Gillespie County. Built in the Moderne style, the…
Architect: Peters and Haynes. Year Built: 1925. The Terry County Courthouse is located in Brownfield, Texas.
Architect: Wyatt C. Hedrick and Harry Weaver. Year Built: 1956. The Coke County Courthouse is located in Robert Lee, Texas. The county was created in 1889 and Hayrick was selected as the county seat. The first courthouse was a two story log structure built in Hayrick in 1889. The courthouse was destroyed by fire in…
On March 25, 2020, the Bexar County Civil District Courts issued the COVID-19 Court Operations Plan. The Plan is effective April 6, 2020 and requires that ALL hearings be conducted remotely. I made this video to provide information on the plan, and my initial “take” on its implications upon those who conduct business with the…
From Texas Realtors: The COVID-19 pandemic is causing unprecedented impact and uncertainty for Texas real estate transactions. Voluntary and mandatory quarantines and the closure of government and private offices may impede the ability of parties to successfully fund and close transactions. To address these uncertainties, Texas REALTORS® has created the COVID-19 Addendum (TXR-2520). The COVID-19 Addendum provides for…
“The right of individuals to use their own property as they wish remains one of the most fundamental rights that individual property owners possess.”[1] Texas’ population explosion and climate change[2] have intensified the need for conservation of increasingly-scarce natural resources.[3] Water and power are among the chief needs of any populace, and affordable and reliable supplies…
TEXAS COURT DEFINITION OF “OPTION TO PURCHASE” Under Texas court decisions, an option to purchase is a land contract by which the owner gives another the right to buy property at a fixed price within a certain time. Bryant v. Cady, 445 S.W.3d 815, 819 (Tex. App.-Texarkana 2014, no pet.); Jarvis v. Peltier, 400 S.W.3d…
In December 2016 we filed suit on behalf of Laredo landowners whose access to their subdivision was being denied by a neighboring property owner. The neighbor claimed that he owned the roadway leading to the subdivision as his private property. To bolster his claim, the neighbor began barricading the roadway. Our clients learned that the…
WHAT IS LIS PENDENS? “Lis pendens provides a mechanism for putting the public on notice of certain categories of litigation involving real property.” Prappas v. Meyerland Cmty. Improvement Ass’n, 795 S.W.2d 794, 795 (Tex. App.-Houston [14th Dist.] 1990, writ denied). “A lis pendens is a notice of litigation, placed in the real property records, asserting…
GENERAL REQUIREMENT FOR WRITTEN NOTICE OF PROPERTY CONDITION Section 5.008(a) of the Texas Property Code provides A seller of residential real property comprising not more than one dwelling unit in this state shall give to the purchaser of the property a written notice as prescribed by this section or a written notice substantially similar to…
Not all failures of a Seller to disclose property conditions constitute actionable fraud. In fact, sometimes Sellers have no duty to disclose at all. Sellers can be excused from a disclosure obligation where the Buyer/Purchaser had an equal opportunity to discover the condition through exercise of ordinary care, reasonable diligence, or a reasonable investigation. TEXAS LAW RECOGNIZES…
Given the rapid expansion of Texas cities and changing nature of many subdivisions, deed restrictions sometimes seem antiquated. This is especially true where once residential streets are now busy thoroughfares more appropriate for commercial use. Landowners restricted in the use of their property often look to neighboring uses. When those uses are inconsistent with existing…
WHAT IS A CONTRACT FOR DEED? A contract for deed is a form of real property conveyance in which the purchaser obtains an immediate right to possession but the seller retains legal title and has no obligation to transfer it unless and until the purchaser finishes paying the full purchase price (and, often, interest, fees,…
Beauty, like supreme dominion Is but supported by opinion –Benjamin Franklin, Poor Richard’s Almanack, 1741 [T]he law will not declare a thing a nuisance because it is unpleasant to the eye. —Schamburger v. Scheurrer, 198 S.W. 1069 (Tex.Civ.App.–Fort Worth 1917, no writ). It has been said that “Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.”…
The Texas Historical Commission‘s Texas Historic Courthouse Preservation Program is a worthwhile cause for all who recognize the beauty, historic and cultural significant of courthouses. I have a personal affinity for old buildings, and courthouses in particular. They have a unique feel that is part beautify, part history, and part significance born of events and…
I frequently refer to deeds obtained through deception or deceit as “dirty.” This nomenclature started off as a backhanded reference to AC/DC’s 1970’s rock n roll anthem “Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap.” However, within my office the notion of a “dirty” deed has evolved to represent the significant distinction between conveyance instruments procured through fraud…
On November 7, 2019, the Austin-based Third Court of Appeals ruled that the City of Austin‘s ordinance provision banning non-homestead short-term rentals is void. In reaching this holding, the Court found that the ordinance “significantly affects property owners’ substantial interests in well-recognized property rights.” The appeals Court also found that a provision of the ordinance…
Did you know that not all “agreements,” even if detailed, rise to the level of a legally enforceable contract? Contracts Must Specify All Material Terms In order to be enforceable, an agreement must be supported by a “meeting of the minds” on all material terms. Where key terms are not specified, Courts typically refuse to…
An unfortunate reality of real estate brokerage is that some sellers and landlords loathe paying commissions. Sometimes this aversion arises from the belief that a broker (and, by extension, her agents) earns huge commissions for very little work. Other times, the reluctance results from simple finance — a seller or landlord can’t make the deal…
NUISANCE AS A TYPE OF LEGAL INJURY Under Texas law, the term“nuisance” refers not to a defendant’s conduct or to a legal claim or cause of action but to a type of legal injury involving interference with the use and enjoyment of real property. Though once recognized as an independent cause of action, nuisance is…
WHAT IS A NUISANCE? “A ‘nuisance’ is a condition that substantially interferes with the use and enjoyment of land by causing unreasonable discomfort or annoyance to persons of ordinary sensibilities.” Schneider Nat’l Carriers, Inc. v. Bates, 147 S.W.3d 264, 269 (Tex. 2004) (quoting Holubec v. Brandenberger, 111 S.W.3d 32, 37 (Tex. 2003)), holding modified by…
WHAT ARE STIGMA DAMAGES? Sometimes a property’s history or other outside influence creates an adverse public perception. This negative impact translates to diminished value or marketability based upon perceived risk or other emotion. Classic examples are homes where grisly murder has occurred, commercial warehouses where hazardous chemicals were once stored, or residences with prior foundation…
Somebody sent this to me, and I wanted to pass it along. I’m not sure of the origins of this prayer (or if St. Thomas More had anything to do with it) but I sure do like it! Here’s another version: Pray that, for the glory of God and in the pursuit of His justice,…
File this under curious and confusing. On May 2, 2018, the Fifth Court of Appeals (Dallas) issued an opinion that has left real estate professionals scratching their heads. The Dispute In the case, Shepard vs. MQ Prosper Retail, LLC, et al., the Court was tasked with determining whether payment of $380,000.00 in fees from the purchase…
THE JUDGE By Trey Wilson -I- From his elevated position, the Judge glowers down at the courtroom, bespectacled and with furrowed brow surrounded by tufts of stringy grey. Wrinkles line his face like rutted wagon trails, revealing a ruggedness that sharply contrasts the countless sedentary decades spent in this courtroom. Prominent as they are, the…
When a Buyer of real estate breaches a purchase and sale agreement (a Contract), the Seller frequently suffers damages. Often, those Seller damages may be compensated by the earnest money, or are simply not cost-effective to pursue. In other cases, the damages can be significant. Accordingly, the non-breaching Seller is wise to consider the types…
The FBI reports that illegal property flipping schemes involving straw buyers are rampant. The scheme involves a fraudulent “investor,” a straw buyer, a compromised appraiser, and an unsuspecting lender. In very broad terms, the scheme works like this: An “investor” identifies and purchases a distressed property for a low price; The “investor” makes very minimal…
Benjamin Franklin famously wrote that “time is money.” While generally true, this statement has some significant exceptions, including time expended by parties involved in lawsuits. An absolute truth about lawsuits – whether they relate to real estate or any subject — is that they are time suckers. Litigation naturally consumes countless hours for Attorneys working…
The purchaser of residential property sold to satisfy a homeowners association (“HOA”) lien recently learned an expensive lesson about inflating redemption costs. On November 29, 2017, San Antonio’s Fourth Court of Appeals ruled in favor of a homeowner who was previously awarded statutory and punitive damages by a Bexar County jury. The jury verdict resulted…
In many cases involving real estate, the value of real property (whether a home, unimproved property or acreage) is of critical importance for proving loss, damages or another ultimate issue in the suit. Most times, real estate valuation testimony is solicited through expert testimony offered by a licensed real estate appraiser or a real estate…
Many times restrictive covenants (deed restrictions), easement rights and other rights or burdens on real property are said to “run with the land,” or are otherwise characterized as “running with the land.” But, what does this phrase mean? SIMPLE DEFINITION Put simply, covenants, burdens and rights “run with the land,” when: they are tied to…
It’s no secret that real estate fraud is rampant in Texas. Today’s hot real estate markets, combined with the vast number of people moving to Texas from other places, provide fertile opportunity for scammers to capitalize on the universal dream of home ownership. However, real estate fraud is not a new phenomenon in the Lone Star…
Earnest money disputes arise when both the buyer and seller of real estate believe that the actions (or inaction) of the other caused a Contracted-for sale to fall through. The emotional turmoil of a failed purchase and sale is usually accompanied by a determination to “cut the losses” by recovering the earnest money. Anytime a contract for the…
The Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act (the “DTPA”) is a powerful statute that provides consumers of goods or services with relief for certain acts by the Sellers of such goods. Its express purpose is “protecting “consumers against false, misleading, and deceptive business practices, unconscionable actions, and breaches of warranty,” and providing “efficient and economical procedures to…
The types of cases we handle in our San Antonio real estate law practice frequently come in batches or waves. Other than the usual basket of fence line and boundary disputes, title disputes, evictions and HOA disputes that we handle every month, more specialized engagements seem to coincidentally come in groups of 3 or 4 at a time….
The Fourth Court of Appeals in San Antonio has upheld a Bexar County trial court’s determination that restrictive covenants / deed restrictions limiting use of property “solely for residential purposes” prohibits use of a home as a short term rental (“STR”). The Opinion released on 11/16/16 was a victory for the Timberwood Park Owners Association, Inc. who…
Typically, parties enter contracts for the purchase and sale of real estate with some degree of enthusiasm, and intentions to consummate the transaction under the terms agreed-upon. However, circumstances (and minds) change. Sometimes, these change results in a buyer or seller failing or refusing to close on a purchase/sale transaction, thereby leaving the other party…
