Real Estate and the Law

Real estate law is promulgated to ensure that buyers and sellers of real estate properties are fully protected from fraud and other violation from external factors.

For real estate buyers, the real estate law will ensure that should they find faults from the contract they signed with the buyer, they can bring their case in court to make sure the seller will follow what the contracted states.

For real estate sellers, the real estate law will ensure that should the buyer remiss on their payments, or obligations mentioned in the contract, the seller can prosecute to enforce the signed contract.

Various other restrictions in the use of real estate properties are also mentioned in the real estate law.

There may be myriad of restrictions being enforced by the federal bureau, the state government, country government or local government, however, basic restrictions with respect to real estate property use are:

• Zoning
• Environmental hazards
• Public easement and right of way

Zoning entails restriction on the use of the property.  If it is contracted as for residential use, the real estate law will ensure that the property will be used as residential real estate property.

If the contact mentions that the property will be used for industrial, agricultural or commercial use, the real estate law will enforce what the use of the property is mentioned in the contract.

Zoning includes restrictions on size and height of improvements as well; following these restrictions will avoid prosecution or worse, bring down your house to the height and size necessary.

Environmental hazards.  The real estate law will ensure that no properties will keep within its walls environmentally hazardous materials.  These restrictions include asbestos, lead pain, petrochemicals, radon, and toxic wastes.

The real estate law will give the government the right to remove these hazardous materials should it be proven that these materials are being kept within the property.

Public easement and right of way.  The real estate law mandates that a portion of the real estate property should be open for others to use.  Easements and rights of way are used to allow access to other properties, this includes roads and sidewalks.  This easement is necessary to enable installation of electric, gas and telephone lines to be installed to other properties or even to your own property.

Violation of real estate laws especially those mentioned in this article may subject violators to fines, penalties, injunctions, and even criminal prosecution.

Thus, to avoid this you may need to ensure that you read the real estate law and follow the recommendations therein.