RESPA: Both Feet in the Tar Baby.

HUD has just issued another interpretive ruling on RESPA kickback rules. A real estate agent cannot accept compensation for “marketing” home warranties, but she can be paid for real services, like performing preliminary inspections.

Report from the Line: Recording a Deed in 2010.

No. 461 Who was it who said, “the faster I go the behinder I get?” Whoever it was could have found inspiration in the Department of Real Estate (pronounced Recorder of Deeds in 66 Counties). So here I am arriving at the DRE, running a bit late, but — mirabile dictu — there is no one […]

Cost Cutting and Legal Fees

Andrew Carnegie, the unofficial patron saint of Pittsburgh, was a great practitioner of the art and science of cost cutting, which in turn enabled price cutting. We tend to forget (or never knew) that the great industrialists of the Guilded Age achieved their dominance during the “Long Depression” which began in 1873 and after two decades marked by partial recoveries, plunged again in 1893.

Landlord and Tenant: The Secret Lease Addendum

I just received an email from a man who signed a lease and later learned that there was an addendum he hadn’t seen requiring him to subscribe to a cable package that includes features he didn’t want. Since he hasn’t moved in, the question is whether he is obligated by the addendum and whether he can terminate the lease.

Protecting Tenants at Foreclosure Act.

Judging from the number of questions by tenants on the AVVO Question Board, there are a great number of tenants being displaced by mortgage foreclosures on the residential properties they rent. Moreover, the attorneys who are answering the questions seem to be unaware of the “Protecting Tenants at Foreclosure Act.” This statute, effective last Spring, permits most residential tenants of foreclosed properties to stay for at least 90 days and perhaps until the end of the lease term.

Plain Language Consumer Contract Act: An Idea Whose Time Hasn’t Come Yet.

A tenant posting a question on the AVVO website wanted to know if a lease was unenforceable if the print was below a specified font size. We’ve all seen the “fine print.” It is usually not only very small, but quite lengthy and filled with difficult terms. The Landlord and Tenant Act doesn’t say anything […]

Fourth Amendment and DUI: Blood Tests at the Hospital.

On May 24, 2010 the Superior Court of Pennsylvania, sitting en banc, held that the trial court had erred in suppressing blood test results taken by hospital staff because in the absence of specific indications to the contrary, it is presumed that the blood was drawn for independent medical purposes, not for the purpose of convicting defendant and could, by statute, be obtained by police with a search warrant. Commonwealth v. Keith A. Miller, No. 884 MDA 2008.

500, 501, 502

Overnight PittsburghLegal achieved its 500th, 501st and 502d followers on Twitter.

499 Followers and Waiting.

No. 454 PittsburghLegal has 499 followers on Twitter at this writing. Too tired to wait up for 500. I suppose we’ll have to wait until morning. CLT

Bad Vibes.

The first lawyer to answer the question, from Georgia, got it completely wrong. She said “yes.” In Pennsylvania, with a few exceptions, there is no wage garnishment for civil judgments.

keep looking »

Welcome

CLIFF TUTTLE has been a Pennsylvania lawyer for over 45 years and (inter alia) is a real estate litigator and legal writer. The posts in this blog are intended to provide general information about legal topics of interest to lawyers and consumers with a Pittsburgh and Western Pennsylvania focus. However, this information does not constitute legal advice and there is no lawyer-client relationship created when you read this blog. You are encouraged to leave comments but be aware that posted comments can be read by others. If you wish to contact me in privacy, please use the Contact Form located immediately below this message. I will reply promptly and in strict confidence.

Pittsburgh Legal Back Talk

Legal topics of interest to lawyers and consumers with a Pittsburgh and Western Pennsylvania focus.

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