Event Coverage

Marc Weissman at SAMCAR’s Combined Tour Meeting

A frequent speaker at tour meetings, Marc Weissman is known among SAMCAR members for his candor and honesty. He tells it like it is. At Tuesday’s Combined Tour Meeting, Weissman told SAMCAR members, “Lawyers make money; regular people don’t.”

He noted, even if you take a case to the Court of Appeal or all the way to the Supreme Court and win, it will still cost you thousands of dollars in attorney fees. He summed up the reality: “If you’re in trial court, you’re losing money. If you’re in the Court of Appeal, you’re losing money again. Only the lawyers are making big money.”

So it’s best to know the law and weigh the financial liability, should you decide to go to court.

An attorney at law and certified specialist in estate planning, trust and probate law, real estate transactional work and tax aspects of real estate, Weissman updated Realtors on recent cases dealing with issues such as misrepresentation, landlord liability, licensing and property tax exclusions.

Here are some lessons learned from some of the cases:
• Exculpatory language does not help the broker in cases of misrepresentation.
• Any sale is invalid if the broker does not have a real estate broker license. Always check the status of people you are dealing with – brokers, contractors, etc.
• With regard to landlord liability, the Supreme Court recently ruled the landlord does not have a duty to keep out or evict a tenant unless there is a high foreseeability of criminal acts based on prior similar acts.
• Day care income may not be disregarded by the lender in evaluation for a loan.
• If you would like to lend a relative money, i.e. daughter, son, etc., even if you don’t expect to be paid back, always put it in writing, especially when it involves family.
• Property taxes can remain low as long as the property stays in the family, i.e. transferred from parent to child to child. There are advantages to leaving property in an estate/trust.
• If parents are helping their child with the financing of the child’s home, the parents’ names should not be entered in the deed; they should remain as just the “lenders” and keep the house in the child’s name. Only under certain circumstances is it advantageous to have the title in the parents’ names.

Weissman is with the firm Weiss & Weissman, Inc. of San Francisco and Foster City. For more information on these and other topics, he invites SAMCAR members to e-mail him at marcw@wwlaw.com and check out his Web site at www.wwlaw.com . The Web site contains a wealth of information regarding estate planning, trust and probate law, real estate transactional work and tax aspects of real estate.

The San Mateo County Association of REALTORS® (SAMCAR) is a professional trade organization representing over 3,800 REALTORS® and Affiliate members engaged in the real estate business on the Peninsula. SAMCAR promotes the highest ethical standards of real estate practice, serves as an advocate for homeownership and homeowners, and represents the interests of property owners in San Mateo County.

The term "REALTOR®" is a registered collective membership mark which identifies a real estate professional who is a member of the National Association of REALTORS® and who subscribes to its strict Code of Ethics.

For further information, please contact Julie Ziemelis, Director of Public Affairs, e-mail , or phone (650) 696-8214.

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