In a recent opinion, the Michigan Supreme Court clarified some instances where the death of a joint tenant, or the creation or termination of a joint tenancy may lead to an uncapping of the property’s taxable value. In Michigan, a property’s tax bill is calculated by multiplying the applicable millage rate by the property’s taxable [...]
The time has once again arrived to focus on cost reductions achievable by appealing your property taxes. You have recently received your 2011 Notice of Assessment. As discussed below, there is a very limited window of opportunity to protest your property tax assessment. To understand the importance of that Notice of Assessment, a bit of [...]
In 1031 Lapeer L.L.C. v. Rice, the defendant sought to lease a gas station to the plaintiff for a period of ten years. The defendant knew that the property was contaminated, but failed to inform the plaintiff of that fact. After the parties entered into the lease agreement, the plaintiff sought to avoid the agreement, [...]
Property owners are often asked to grant utility easements to utility companies for the construction and maintenance of overhead electric, telephone and cable television lines and underground electric, water, and sewer, telephone, and cable television lines. However, unbeknownst to many property owners, the terms of their easement agreement may allow for the easement to be [...]
A tenant of real estate often wants the right to purchase the property if the landlord decides to sell. One common technique is to have the landlord grant the tenant a “right of first refusal.” The tenant is granted the first right to purchase the property on the same terms offered by a bona fide [...]
A mortgage has priority over other liens on the property from the date it is recorded with the Register of Deeds. The mortgage can also have priority for amounts advanced by the lender after the date of recording if the mortgage contains certain specific language making it a “future advance mortgage”. In Citizens State Bank [...]
Under Michigan law, a property’s taxable value is capped and may not increase by more than the rate of inflation until ownership of the property is transferred. However, there are certain types of transfers of ownership that are exempt from this rule and will not cause an uncapping of the taxable value. These no-transfer-of-ownership exemptions [...]
If you’re looking to buy a business, there is a lot to know before you actually make an offer. This is especially true if you’re looking to buy a business that owns a liquor license, such as a bar or restaurant. Once you’ve found the bar that you want to buy, the first step is [...]
When purchasing or selling real property in Michigan, parties often rely on their real estate agent to guide them through the process with their best interests in mind. However, this is only true of the buyer only agent or seller only agent. A dual agent, who represents both the buyer and seller in a transaction, [...]
When real property is transferred in the state of Michigan, both state and county transfer taxes are assessed based on the purchase price of the property. Transfer taxes are imposed when a deed transferred the ownership of land from one entity to another. However, until recently, the transfer tax did not apply if the buyer [...]
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