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by Karen Bjorkman
Effective November 1, 2006, the United States Environmental Control Agency ("EPA") instituted new environmental due diligence rules and guidelines applicable to all commercial real estate transactions. The new rules establish the "All Appropriate Inquiry" standard for landowners and lenders looking for a safe harbor defense under the federal Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act ("CERCLA").
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by Andy Jacobson
Minnesota has historically followed the legal doctrine of caveat emptor (i.e., let the buyer beware) in connection with the real estate transactions. About 20 years ago, however, the Minnesota legislature began to pass legislation that has eroded the caveat emptor doctrine, particularly in the context of residential real estate. The most significant erosion occurred in 2002, with the legislature's enactment of a general residential seller disclosure requirement. More recently, this pattern of increased disclosure requirements has continued, with the addition of methamphetamine related disclosures in 2005 and the airport zone related disclosure requirements in 2006. This multi-decade shift from caveat emptor in residential real estate has resulted in an array of seller disclosure requirements, that are now scattered throughout the Minnesota statutes. Below is a list of the current statutory seller disclosure requirements that apply to residential property.
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by Andy Jacobson
The Minnesota Supreme Court recently decided In re Collier, a controversial Torrens property case covered in a previous edition of this newsletter. In Collier, Collier purchased a Torrens registered property from its owner, at a fraction of the property's value, following a foreclosure by M&I Bank on a mortgage on the property. Collier was aware of M&I's mortgage and foreclosure, and had previously approached M&I about buying the property following the foreclosure. In performing some title research, Collier discovered that M&I had never properly registered its mortgage on the property with the Registrar of Titles, as required for Torrens registered properties. M&I's mortgage was inadvertently recorded in the abstract property records, rather than registered in the Torrens records.
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