Philadelphia Weekly

Share this Story:

One method costlier than the other

Ilyce Glink
Inman News

Q: This is a comment. In a recent column you discussed the questionable legality and impracticality of using a lottery to sell a property. You suggested that the property be donated to a charity and a tax deduction taken.

This method will require an expensive appraisal and, most probably, only a portion of the value can be deducted in the year of donation. I was nonplussed that you didn't mention the easiest, quickest method to sell the property at market value: auction.

A: You're right (as are dozens of other readers who wrote in to share their stories about auctioning property). I should have mentioned that auctioning off a property through a well-known real estate auction company or online with a company like eBay can be a valuable strategy in a tough market.

While auctioning your property may help you unload it, it can be costly. In a future column, I'll tackle the subject of auctions, how they work, the costs involved, and why you might choose this route. In the meantime, if you have a real estate auction property story to share, e-mail me here.

Q: My daughter is a single mom with five kids. She has been desperately looking for a house to rent because she has to be out of her current house by the first of the month.

She checked around but was able to find only one house -- a 3-bedroom, 2-bath -- which she didn't really like because both of the bathrooms were in the master bedroom. Also, the rooms have no closets.

Even so, she gave the owner a money order for $600 to hold it for a few days. Later that night, the owner of a house she was interested in before she saw this one called her. Previously this owner told her he wasn't renting, but now he tells her he will rent to her. It's a 4-bedroom, 2-bath, which is what she needs for her children.

The first owner will not give her the money back. There were no legal papers signed. Is it legal for him to do this?

A: Desperate or not, your daughter was foolish to hand over money without signing anything. A court could determine that the $600 was simply a fee to "hold" the property for her so he wouldn't rent it to anyone else. Or, it could be her security deposit toward the rental for her new place.

She will need to either go to a real estate attorney who can write a letter to attempt to collect, or let the landlord know that she will sue him in small claims court for the money plus fees if he doesn't give it back. He may agree to return all of it (if he's a gem of a guy who feels bad for your daughter), some portion of it, or none of it.

I don't know where you live, but there may be other landlord/tenant rules with built-in protections for your daughter in your area. She should check with the local municipality and figure out her rights and the prospective landlord's responsibilities. If your local municipality does have some rules, those rules might require the landlord to return the money to her.

Q: My neighbor burned down his condo. Luckily, a firewall stopped the fire from spreading to my condo, which is adjacent. When my neighbor rebuilt his condo, he tore down a concrete foundation wall (cracking my ceilings in the process) that I have been told was meant to prevent the building from collapsing. He replaced the concrete wall with a wooden wall that is only 5 feet from my front door.

The original firewall had a 30-inch concrete parapet that divided the two roofs. My neighbor built a wooden deck attached to the firewall. The city says all he has to do to provide me with the same fireproof protection is to spray a fire retardant onto the wood deck.

When he rebuilt his condo he built a roof line higher than the original building, with different gutters and windows. The building is no longer uniform.

I sent numerous e-mails, photographs and called the city of Atlanta during both the construction and inspection process. The city responded saying that the construction met international code.

Is this legal?

A: I spoke to a real estate attorney who suggested that you check whether your neighbor's reconstruction complies with the terms and conditions of any documents that affect your home and your neighbor's home. If you live in a condominium development, you should have the condominium documents that would spell out what each owner's obligations are with respect to their units.

Most condominium associations require a homeowner to obtain the consent of the association to any changes to the aesthetics of a building when they reconstruct the home. Your documentation may have this kind of restriction.

This attorney also indicated that in many condominium developments, the association would be responsible for the reconstruction of common elements. In many condominium developments, the structural frame of a condominium is considered a structural element for which the association carries insurance.

It may be that you live in a homeowner's association in which each owner is responsible for his or her own home. Even in a loosely formed homeowner's association, there is documentation relating to the basic ownership rights between the homeowners. One of these basic rights would relate to the sharing of structural walls and structural support, and in some cases the review of any aesthetic changes to structures.

The attorney suggested you check to see if your neighbor complied with the terms of the association's declaration and other documents pertinent to the condominium association. If your neighbor followed the terms of the association's documentation, you may be out of luck.

You may have one possible claim against the neighbor. The real estate attorney mentioned that in many states, you, as a homeowner, have the right not to have neighbors make use of their land that could affect your property. In some states, neighbors are required to provide support to foundations and structures prior to constructing their homes. In other states, they must notify the owner that may be affected by the construction to afford that owner the right to support his own structure. If the damage to your home is significant due to the neighbor's construction, you may have a claim against the neighbor for that damage.

While the owner may have complied with the building codes, you need to dig a little deeper to make sure that the neighbor complied with the requirements of any documents that affect your property and his property. At that point, you may want to talk to an attorney to determine if your neighbor failed to comply with any other laws in the state in which you live and any other ordinances that relate to his rebuilding of the home.

For a legal opinion of the situation, you should contact a real estate construction attorney or litigation attorney with expertise in local building codes to review your documents and the situation to determine if you have any legal options at this point.

***

What's your opinion? Leave your comments below or send a letter to the editor. To contact the writer, click the byline at the top of the story.