Beware the Law When Purchasing Real Estate - By: Paul Wise

It isn't necessary to be an industry veteran like Isaac Toussie to know that different states of the United States will frequently view real estate matters markedly differently. This is part of what makes real estate law so very interesting, after all - as well as quite a challenge to stay on top of! Take Alabama for an example. There, "buyer beware" is held in a very, very high regard by the courts, such that even in cases of outright fraud buyers may have no legal recourse anyway - when that property has been bought on a strictly "as-is" basis. Yes, it's true: Alabama case law believes in the ancient law of caveat emptor even more than any other on the books!!

The Yellowhammer State takes the notion of "as-is" so literally that unless somehow superseded, the terms means exactly just that, even if the seller described the property with lies. That's right, it's really been upheld that misrepresentations are entirely legal under that basis.. Normally, this would constitute fraud, but an Alabama court has ruled that as the as-is clause in the sales contract was not superseded by any other provision signed onto by both parties, the as-is clause will be interpreted literally!

This was a rather clear-cut situation as far as that particular court saw it, but it should be noted that not everything is always as draconian as that. Such strict interpretations of an as-is clause only apply to used property in the state, and not to new developments. Such as-is clauses are also superseded in cases where the misrepresentation is not obvious and potentially harmful to health and safety.

In this case, Teer v. Johnston, however, while the misrepresentation of flooding is indeed not something immediately obvious, it was not considered harmful to health and safety, making nothing more than an inconvenience or nuisance at most. What the complainant needed to have done was to provide either in the sales contract or the deed that pre-sale disclosures should survive the execution of the deed!

About the Author

Paul Wise enjoys visiting websites where professional such as Isaac Toussie discuss industry trends.

Article Directory Source: http://www.articlerich.com/profile/Paul-Wise/44507

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