Posts tagged real estate
Smart Use of Smart Tech in Commercial Real Estate: Wiretapping Laws

“Smart” technologies are being implemented into real estate operations. Cameras which previously were monitored by closed circuit TV now may be streamed into web storage. These cameras can recognize faces and may unlock doors for known individuals. But some cameras also place property owners at risk of wiretapping violations.

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An A Isn't the Same for Everyone — Why Regulation A+ Might be a B or C for Real Estate Funds

In 2015, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) adopted what has become known as Regulation A+. Like transposing instruments, Regulation A+ was designed to make it easier for small businesses to raise new capital. Yet, just as an A played on alto clarinet sounds like a G, Regulation A+ doesn’t provide an A+ solution for all businesses or issuers.

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Be Aware of Legal Issues When You “Drone” On Someone Else’s Property

Drone is a musical term which refers to a single note (or notes) which is played continuously throughout a piece of music. A drone note also can be used as a music education tool to help with intonation. Another type of drone, which does not involve music, has also been in the news. From package delivery, to search and rescue operations , to real estate inspections , unmanned aerial vehicles or UAVs, also called drones, have become mainstream.

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Philadelphia’s Musical Fund Hall – Case Study for a Real Estate Development Project

In the mid-twentieth century, some of the nation’s concert halls experienced financial challenges and fell into disrepair as the orchestras they incubated moved on to other performing locations.Although Philadelphia's Musical Fund Hall was not demolished, it no longer hosts concerts. Rather, in 1981, a developer purchased Musical Fund Hall and redeveloped it as condominiums.

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The Merger Doctrine and Surviving the Closing

Sight-reading is a crucial skill for a professional musician. Many auditions include a sight-reading “test,” to see whether the musician can perform at a high level with little rehearsal time. When reviewing real estate contracts, many people act like an inexperienced musician sight-reading music.

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Choice-of-laws Clauses

Once a music classmate asked me for help on his music theory homework. Immediately, I saw his challenge. My classmate he had glossed over the clef signs, thinking they were “boilerplate.” When reviewing real estate contracts, many people gloss over miscellaneous “boilerplate” sections. "Boilerplate” sections are important, and contracting party can get burned by not carefully reviewing and negotiating them.

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A Stolen Strad and Squatter’s Rights

The relationship between a violin and the violinist who plays it[1] is a close one. Such likely was the case with violinist Roman Totenberg with his close companion, the Ames Stradivarius when, in 1980, the violin was stolen from Totenberg’s office in Cambridge, Massachusetts. A violin thief does not gain title merely because he has possessed the violin for a period of time. With real estate, however, there is the possibility of someone who unlawfully uses someone else’s property gaining title through “adverse possession.”

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How Artists’ Moral Rights May Affect Your Real Estate

Performers spend much time and effort planning out exactly how they will perform a work with the performer’s unique interpretation and rendition of a musical composition. Yet, a performer usually cannot be guaranteed control over what happens with that performance or that he/she will be compensated when it is reused. Composers, record companies, and visual artists fare better under the law. They all have clear protection under copyright law, and visual artists far even better; they have a special law, called the Visual Artists Rights Act. 

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Making “Best Efforts” to Play in Tune or to Comply with Real Estate Contracts

It is difficult to play a violin in tune.  For one thing, unlike with a guitar, there are no frets or markings on a violin fingerboard to tell the violinist where to put his/her fingers. Even a millimeter difference in finger placement can be the difference between an in-tune and out-of-tune note.

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Fraud and Forgery: From Vintage Violins to Today’s Real Estate Transaction

A few weeks ago, out of the blue, I received an e-mail purporting to be from a real estate paralegal at a law firm with which I had been working on a real estate transaction several months before. The e-mail included a link, which appeared to be a legitimate link from a well-known electronic signature processor, asking me to securely download a document for electronic signature. This particular e-mail made me suspicious because I had no open real estate transactions with the law firm that sent me the link. 

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