Owner beware; lender liability and CERCLA

Article Abstract:

Both lenders and fiduciaries need to be concerned with environmental lender liability under CERCLA in their real estate transactions. They can avoid this liability by conducting environmental audits of property under consideration. Risk guidelines to be reviewed before assuming title to a property may help, as may clauses in loan or fiduciary agreements requiring such things as notification of a lender as soon as a property is contaminated. If litigation ensues, liability will turn on whether the lender had control akin to a manager's over the borrower's enterprise.

Environmental aspects, Fiduciary duties, Lender liability

---

Cleaning house; environmental hazards can undermine a property's use and value

Article Abstract:

Buyers in real estate transactions bear the burden of raising environmental hazard concerns, and hazardous waste, radon and materials such as asbestos used in construction are the most common. Once such hazards are pinpointed, the buyer can get contractual protections, persuade the seller to lower the price or set up an escrow account to fund remediation, or back out of the transaction. Under both CERCLA and some state laws, civil liability for environmental dangers is strict, joint and several.

Contracts, Liability for environmental damages, House buying, Home buying

---

Regulation X; rule puts teeth into RESPA prohibitions against settlement process abuses

Article Abstract:

Regulation X, 24 CFR 3500, the final Department of Housing and Urban Development regulation implementing the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act of 1974 (RESPA), puts into place criminal sanctions for violations of the act. RESPA seeks to cut down on abuses in the real estate settlement area by defining proper settlement services. Criminal sanctions now include fines of up to $10,000 or up to a year in prison.

Closing costs

Similar abstracts:

• Abstracts: Liability for faulty earnings projections and optimistic statements. The selection of institutional investors as lead plaintiffs under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act
• Abstracts: Carryover basis: planning and drafting issues. Avoiding the attribution rules in redemptions by estates and trusts
• Abstracts: Products liability law - freedom of speech - Ninth Circuit holds that California's products liability law does not cover false statements in a book
• Abstracts: Violent gang behavior is no civil liberty. The exclusionary rule was appropriately used. 'Jheri Kurls' trademark of uptown gang
• Abstracts: As Superfund narrows, plaintiffs should pursue other legal remedies; the judicial limits on CERCLA's reach signals that owners should supplement cleanup claims

This website is not affiliated with document authors or copyright owners. This page is provided for informational purposes only. Unintentional errors are possible.