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The Paley Rothman Blog

Paley Rothman shares this library of resources with clients and friends of the firm to help them stay ahead of legal and business developments and trends. Here, you will find helpful tips and tools written by our attorneys. The information in the blogs and articles is not a substitute for legal advice and should not be relied on as such. Should you have any questions or want legal advice, please contact the attorney who wrote the blog or article.

Financial Services

Title Insurance in Maryland, D.C. or Virginia

The bottom line on title insurance is: “Get it or else.” Whether you are buying a house or commercial property in Maryland, the District of Columbia or Virginia, you will be asked to buy title insurance. If you are taking a loan to buy the property, the lender will require that you purchase title insurance, not to protect you, but to protect the lender. For an additional premium, you can also get your own policy from the same title insurer. If you currently own your own house or commercial property, you most likely already have title insurance, but will need to renew it if and when you refinance the property.

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Financial Services

Confession of Judgment Key Loan Provision

Every commercial loan made by a bank or other financial institution includes a promissory note which is the borrower’s “promise” to pay back the loan. The note contains all of the important terms of the transaction, including the interest rate, the amount of the monthly payment and the date the loan matures. If the borrower makes all of his payments on time and pays off the note at the maturity date, all is well. What happens when the borrower falls behind and cannot make the required payments?

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Financial Services

Lender Beware Upstream vs. Downstream Guarantees

In the world of commercial finance, many loans are secured by real estate; the borrower gives the lender a lien on the borrower’s real estate to secure payment of the loan. In Maryland, the downside to granting this type of lien is the large amount of taxes collected by the clerk of court when the lien is recorded. On a loan of $1 million, for example, the taxes collected could easily exceed $10,000. Loans running in the many millions of dollars are not uncommon and they can cost the borrower hundreds of thousands of dollars in taxes collected when the lien is recorded.

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Financial Services, Real Estate

Buying Residence With Partner A Complex Matter

You and your significant other - boyfriend or girlfriend, perhaps your fiancée - decide to buy a house or condominium together. You figure it’s better to own than to rent and since the monthly mortgage payments will roughly equal the monthly rental payments, it seems like a good idea. Yet whether you know it or not, the two of you are about to enter into a very complex business arrangement and you had better plan and be prepared for the “what ifs” down the road.

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