Articles

Keep Those Crummey Notices Coming

There’s a neat trick to turn an otherwise ineligible gift into one that is eligible for the annual gift tax exclusions. It’s called a “Crummey Power,” but failing to follow through with the administrative details can be an expensive mistake. Here are a few pointers about the technique and some rules for staying out of trouble.

• Published: June 15, 1998
• By Bardin Levavy
• Estate Planning

Added Flexibility For Like-Kind Exchanges

Here’s a way that an individual or partnership owning a piece of property can do a like-kind (tax deferred) exchange and own the replacement property in a way that reduces its risk of personal liability as owner of the new property. Section 1031 of the Internal Revenue Code does not permit a change in the identity of an “exchanging” taxpayer, but here is a way that may get you around that limitation.

• Published: June 15, 1998
• By Ira Meislik
• Real Property Law

Not All Retail Leases Are Alike: Pay Attention to the Project!

Choosing a lease form is serious business—one form does not fit all projects. There are structural business differences from project type to project type. Here are some thoughts on the similarities and the differnces and why you should care.

• Published: May 15, 1998
• By Ira Meislik
• Real Property Law

Security Deposit Concerns for the Thoughtful Tenant

Here’s a practical exposition on the why’s and wherefore’s of negotiating leasehold security deposits in commercial leases. It looks at cash deposits as well as alternatives such as letters of credit. It discusses the question of interest, issues of “what does the deposit secure,” and many other intriguing questions.

• Published: December 15, 1997
• By Ira Meislik
• Real Property Law

Community Associations: An Overview

A primer on Community Association law. Intended for the general practitioner, this piece covers the basics of condominium, cooperative, and planned unit development living and law. As an overview, it introduces some basic definitions and highlights issues of community living that should assist attorneys in counseling clients already living in common interest developments or contemplating purchase of homes in such projects.

• Published: December 15, 1997
• By Ira Meislik
• Real Property Law

You Don’t Have to Use the Postal Service to Send Mail to the IRS - But Watch Out!

No longer is use of the postal service required to assure that you are entitled to treat the day of mailing as the day of filing. The IRS has approved certain courier services in a way that deposit of a filing with those carriers may constitute “filing.” Certain cautions, however, still remain.

• Published: November 15, 1997
• By Bardin Levavy
• Business Law, General Interest

What Is this Thing Called Quiet Enjoyment? (In the Context of Commercial Leases)

If it doesn’t amount to eviction or constructive eviction, but its more than a trifling nuisance, what have you got? Explore the boundaries of the covenant of quiet enjoyment as it now stands in the U.S. so that you can help landlords and tenants protect the benefit of their lease bargain.

• Published: August 5, 1997
• By Ira Meislik
• Real Property Law

“Non-Binding” Letters of Intent for Leases May Hide Traps

Here’s some cautionary advice about the trap of thinking that just because a letter of intent says that it is not-binding doesn’t mean that its so.

• Published: May 15, 1997
• By Bardin Levavy
• Real Property Law