Business Law & Commercial Litigation
By the Business Attorneys at Garg & Associates, PC, serving The Woodlands, Spring, Houston, Conroe, Humble, Kingwood, Tomball, Cypress, Huntsville, Westchase, Southwest, Sugar Land, West Oaks, Alief, Memorial, River Oaks, Stafford, Katy, and Missouri City.

Property and Title Disputes

Purchasing a commercial property can be exciting and rewarding, but can be one of the most frustrating time when title becomes an issue, such as disputes on boundaries with neighboring properties, with local municipalities, or with other commercial/business entities.  Disputes may also arise with respect to title if there is a gap in the chain of title of the property.  Additionally, disputes may also arise when a party continuously posses your property over an extended amount of time in an openly manner, use such property in a way that it was intend; and either you or the previous owner failed to evict such person from your property.  That person, depending on the facts, may have some limited title to your property as an adverse possessor.  To prevent such dispute, there are several things that you can do before and after you purchase your property. The Woodlands business and real estate attorneys will be able to help you review your chain of titles and surveys to determine your boundaries, easements, encroachments, and adverse possession, if any.

Property and title disputes in commercial properties are very common in cases that are dealing with encroachments and adverse possession.  The Houston business and real estate transaction attorneys will be able to assist you to take necessary actions prior to purchasing a real property, such as:

• Review the chain of title of the property
• Order and review a survey on the property
• Assist you in obtaining a fair market value of the property.
• Assist you in negotiating with the seller or buyer
• Drafting or reviewing the purchase agreements (purchase sales contract), which includes reviewing and identifying positive and adverse factors within said contract
• Reviewing tax implications and liabilities if for the seller and buyer
• Identify ways to avoid or minimize capital gains on the sale of a real property (i.e. either preparing the sale as an IRC Section 1031 Property Exchange, a delayed exchange (also known as a Starker Tax Deferred Exchange), ora structured loan as a seller financing transaction
• Identify potential adverse possessors
• Negotiate the terms and special provisions of the contract
• Draft promissory notes, deed of trust, and financing addendum to the contract
• Working with seller’s or buyer’s attorneys, as well as title companies, in the sale and purchase of a commercial property
• Help facilitate the sale of the property from negotiation, drafting offers and contracts, and closing of the property

Once the property has been purchased, the Houston and the Woodlands business & real estate attorneys can also assist you to take necessary actions to prevent or comply with easements, covenants, and avoid trespassers and adverse possessor.  You should put up markers where your boundary lies, keep an updated survey of your property at all times, as well as a copy of your warranty deed.  If you do not have anyone of these documents, the Garg & Associates business and real estate attorneys may assist you in obtain a copy.  In addition, you should also walk your property on a regular basis to determine if there is any trespassers or adverse possessor, including neighboring property owners’ encroachment.  Finally, the Garg & Associates Houston business and real estate lawyers can assist you to:

• Files necessary documents with the county for recordation and put a lien on the property
• Enforce your promissory notes of the buyer is in default; and if necessary
• Assist in judicially and nonjudicially foreclose on defaulted properties
• Enforce against encroachments and violations of easements and covenants
• File forcible entry and detainer actions against defaulting tenants, trespassers, or adverse possessors.
• Obtain copies of your deed of trust, warranty deed, or surveys for record keeping

Remember, when purchasing or selling a real property, it is necessary that both sellers and buyers hire competent business attorneys and real estate attorneys, such as the Garg & Associates’s business lawyers to negotiate, draft and review the contract, as well as the warranty deed, deed of trust, and promissory notes, reviewing surveys and obtaining fair market value of the properties. Only through these vigilant actions would all aprties avoid unnecessary litigations to resilve their disputes, which could be expensive, time consuming, and emotional drainage.  Please contact the Woodlands business and the Houston real estate attorneys at Garg & Associates at 281-475-4640 for more information and to schedule an initial consultation.