Contract Drafting

     Good contract drafting avoids the courthouse and avoids the disputes.  One of the most common problems I see is when business people try to go at it on their own, whether it’s a release agreement, sale of business or even real estate transactions.  Most fascinating is when real estate agents or parties try to play lawyer.  Oy.  Please do not do that.

     Trying to save money by doing them yourself is a recipe for disaster.  My renowned contracts professor Jon Sylvester used to say, parties are generally excited to get into a deal to be a success.   But most people do not think about the off chance of a dispute, changed circumstances or how to deal with disagreements.  Good contract drafting foresees things the parties my not contemplate.

     One of the great elements of contracts and real estate is how much flexibility you have.  Options to purchase or installment agreements or seller carryback loans are just a few ways to get what you want out of a transaction.  If you are using conventional financing, the system is pretty rigid because of State, Federal and Corporate underwriting.  Once you get outside of that realm, the world can be your oyster.

      Here are some of the contracts we can draft for you:

Options to purchase

You pay consideration to purchase certain real property at a later time upon notice.

ROFR

Right of first refusal.  If the seller wants to sell, you get first crack depending on certain contingencies.

Easements

The right to use someone else’s land for a specific purpose.  These are not usually exclusive.

Deeds

Grant deed, quitclaim deed, correction deed, interspousal deed.  You name it, we can do it.

Encroachment agreements

These are a good way to resolved encroachment disputes.

License

A diet easement.  A license is generally personal and does not run with the land (successor buyers).  It’s a lot like a seat at a baseball game.  It’s yours, but just for the game.

Permission

If you let someone use your property without permission and in an open and notorious manner, that use may ripen into a prescriptive easement.  A prescriptive easement is the right to use someone else’s property simply because you have been using it in the past.

Somewhat counter-intuitively, you can avoid an easement by prescription by giving the other person permission.

You do this by posting a sign saying, “Right to pass by permission, and subject to control, of owner: Section 1008 of the California Civil Code.”

Feel free to inquire further about adverse possession and/or prescriptive easements.

Loan drafting

We can draft your loan documents to memorialize an arm’s length transaction.

It is always an option to secure it by a recorded deed of trust.

LLC, partnership, corporate formation

Business sale agreements

If you are selling your business, we can draft the sale documents whether or not you chose to use a business escrow.