Maryland, Foreclosure, Financial Litigation, Title
Bizhan Beiramee
Md. App.: No statute of limitations for ...

Maryland intermediate appellate court reaffirms that there is no statute of limitations applicable to the foreclosures of mortgages. 2014 Amendments to statute of limitations confirmed that foreclosure proceedings were not subject to the 12-year limitations period, and was part of a statutory scheme to reduce the limitations period for post-foreclosure deficiency proceedings to three years.

Md. App.: No statute of limitations for foreclosure.
Title, Financial Litigation, Real Estate
Bizhan Beiramee
E.D. Pa.: Recipient bank of fraudulent wire ...

Buyer in a real estate transaction who is duped by fraudulent wiring instructions is not owed a duty by the transferee/recipient bank of the wire transfer: No duty to the sender/buyer to properly verify the identity of the person who opened the recipient bank account, nor a duty to take “preventable steps” before permitting the withdrawal of a large amount of funds from the newly opened bank account.

E.D. Pa.: Recipient bank of fraudulent wire transfer owes no tort duty to sender to validate account
U.S. Supreme Court, Debt Collection
Bizhan Beiramee
U.S. Supreme Ct. limits FDCPA applicability in ...

The U.S. Supreme Court held that “those who engage in only nonjudicial foreclosure proceedings are not debt collectors within the meaning of the [FDCPA],” save for § 1692f(6), which prohibits certain conduct in “effect[ing] dispossession or disablement of property.”  On the other hand, the bulk of the FDPCA’s prohibitions, including § 1692g(b)’s verification requirement, did not apply to such foreclosure firm.

U.S. Supreme Ct. limits FDCPA applicability in nonjudicial foreclosures
Maryland, Real Estate
Bizhan Beiramee
Md. Holds Covenant to Pay Lease Commissions ...

The Court of Appeals of Maryland determined that, after a foreclosure sale, commercial real estate brokers could not enforce a covenant to pay renewal leasing commissions against the new owner, because the right to renewal commissions were personal obligations of the Original Owner/Landlord, which did not run with the land.

Md. Holds Covenant to Pay Lease Commissions Extinguished By Foreclosure
Virginia, Title, Real Estate
Bizhan Beiramee
Va. holds deed's description of property based ...

The Supreme Court of Virginia held that a deed’s legal description referring to a boundary road, includes title to the center line of the road, unless a contrary intent is shown. A description of the square footage of the property that excluded the area of the road did not show a contrary intent, because square footage is the least certain mode of describing land, which must yield to a description by boundaries and distances.

Va. holds deed's description of property based upon boundary road includes title to the center line.
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Md. App. holds failure to disclose “Potential Water-Well Contamination” a violation of Real Estate Broker’s Act

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Md. App. holds failure to disclose “Potential Water-Well Contamination” a violation of Real Estate Broker’s Act

Real Estate Broker subject to discipline for failing to disclose to a Buyer potential well-water contamination in the neighborhood due to a well-known gas leak, and that the Property was subject to periodic well-testing for possible contamination. 

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Va. Holds Easement by Necessity May be Modified as Reasonably Necessary to Widen Access Road to Allow Tractor Trailers

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Va. Holds Easement by Necessity May be Modified as Reasonably Necessary to Widen Access Road to Allow Tractor Trailers

The Supreme Court of Virginia determined that an easement by necessity could be modified as “reasonably necessary” to benefit a landlocked parcel, so long as it did not unreasonably burden the underlying property, i.e., the servient estate.  The Court held that as a matter of law, the trial court had the authority to grant the owner of the landlocked parcel the right to widen the established easement without the servient owner's consent.