Category: Real Property Law

Cooper River Plaza East, LLC v. The Briad Group

DEEDS; RESTRICTIONS—A deed restriction prohibiting construction “forward of the present building line” may be too vague to enforce when it isn’t clear just which building line is being referenced.

• Opinion Date: April 30, 2003

Island Venture Associates v. New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection

DEEDS; RECORDATION; RESTRICTIONS—A state agency that requires a deed to contain a restrictive covenant as a condition for a property’s development has the responsibility to see that the deed contains the restriction; otherwise a buyer without knowledge of the restriction is entitled to rely on the record.

• Opinion Date: April 11, 2003

Wright v. Sunwoo

CONTRACTS; TIME OF THE ESSENCE—Failure of a party to a sales contract to promptly respond to inquiries about the status of a title defect constitutes acting unreasonably, and the unresponsive party will not be excused from appearing at an otherwise properly made time of the essence closing.

• Opinion Date: September 26, 2003

Lobiondo v. O’Callaghan

CONTRACTS; STATUTE OF FRAUDS; AGENCY—One must prove that a party agreed to the terms of a contract through the apparent authority of an agent through clear and convincing evidence, not by a preponderance of the evidence.

• Opinion Date: February 19, 2003

Adams v. Barrera

CONTRACTS; REMEDIES; SPECIFIC PERFORMANCE—A buyer may be denied the remedy of specific performance on equitable grounds if the seller reasonably believed that he or she was represented by the seller’s attorney as well, but if specific performance is granted, the associated monetary damages should not include expenses that the buyer would have incurred anyway.

• Opinion Date: December 1, 2003

Accredited Laboratories, Inc. v. Amax Cooper, Inc.

CONTRACTS; REASONABLE EFFORTS—Engaging experienced and competent counsel and expending time and money in an attempt to satisfy a contractual obligation satisfies a requirement that a seller use reasonable efforts to obtain subdivision approval.

• Opinion Date: January 16, 2003

South Shore Housing Associates v. Amboy National Bank

CONTRACTS; MORTGAGEES—A seller’s mortgagee does not have a duty to a contract-buyer to preserve the property being sold or its value.

• Opinion Date: April 14, 2003

Kargol v. Somlenyak

CONTRACTS; FRAUD—Just because a buyer makes its own property inspection doesn’t mean that its seller hasn’t acted fraudulently when it knew of a defect neither discovered by the buyer’s inspector nor readily visible to that inspector and failed to disclose the defect.

• Opinion Date: September 12, 2003

Mase Land Co., L.L.C. v. Mesalic

CONTRACTS; FARMLAND ASSESSMENT; ROLLBACK TAXES—Where a contract is clear, unambiguous, and sensible regarding how the burden of paying rollback taxes is to be allocated, it will be enforced even if one of the parties believed that the agreement provided otherwise.

• Opinion Date: September 26, 2003

Sunshine v. Del Sole

CONTRACTS; EQUITABLE CONVERSION; SPOUSAL RIGHTS—Once a single person signs a contract to sell a home, some one who marries that person before closing does not become entitled to the benefit of the marital possession statute.

• Opinion Date: May 30, 2003