Practice Areas and Legal Definitions

New Jersey Real Estate Negotiations:
In major financial transactions, especially those involving real estate properties, it’s important to have a knowledgeable negotiator working for you, one who knows the law and whose loyalty to you is undivided.  Real estate brokers and agents depend on sales commissions for their livelihood.  If the sale does not occur they receive nothing for their time and energy, and this can create a conflict of interest.  You need someone representing you who is less concerned about a particular sale going through than with making certain your legal rights are protected.

New Jersey Title Clearance Issues:
In large urban centers title insurance has reduced the need for in-depth title searches by real estate lawyers, but this is not necessarily the case in rural areas of the state.  As with any other insurance policy, title insurance documents are usually packed with disclaimers of one kind or another, all in highly technical real estate jargon and legalese, and all set forth in the tiniest of fine print.  Failure to fully understand the import of a particular clause or disclaimer in the policy can result in financial consequences at some later date, when it may be too late to do anything about it.  If you find things in the title policy you don’t understand, your real estate attorney can explain them to you and can also point to you any items that need to be challenged and resolved.  Given the amount of money involved in modern real estate transactions, it is critical to make certain that title problems are not going to make the deal a disaster.

New Jersey Quiet Title Matters:
Sometimes a particular piece of real property has title defects of such significance that no sale or other transfer of ownership can occur until they are resolved.  The usual method of clearing title defects is a lawsuit called a “Quiet Title” action.  In the Quiet Title action, the Court would receive and consider evidence on the issue, and if satisfied that the judgment had been discharged, would issue an order dissolving (removing) the judgment lien.

New Jersey Mechanic’s Liens:
When doing building construction or repairs, building contractors often utilize a legal device called a “mechanics lien” as a means of making certain they will be paid for their labor and materials.  The creation of a mechanic’s lien involves written notice to the owner of the property and other formal requirements, and its enforcement is subject to strict procedural rules. Once a valid mechanic’s lien attaches to the property, however, it operates as a claim against the property which, if it remains unpaid, can ultimately result in foreclosure proceedings.

New Jersey Real Estate Document Preparation:
Whatever may be said during real estate negotiations, whatever promises may have been made, it is the final written documents that will control what happens.  Many of the closing documents involve the completion of pre-printed forms, but sometimes the details of a particular transaction require modification of a form to provide adequate protection.  Your real estate attorney can either prepare all of the documents, or can review the documents that have been prepared, explaining them to you and suggesting changes, as needed, for your benefit.

New Jersey Closing Attorney Representation:
The majority of transactions are concluded routinely, with no unanticipated problems and as it may well appear after the fact, no need for legal representation during the closing.  There is no legal requirement for representation by counsel at the closing, but most lenders and prudent investors will do so.  It is at closing that critical disputes often arise concerning the language in a particular clause or some other technical aspect of the transaction.

New Jersey Sales Breach Issues:
Once a written agreement has been executed by both parties to a real estate transaction its provisions are legally binding.  Which judicial remedies, if any, may be available for the breach of the agreement depends on a variety of factors.  There may, for example, be remedies available to the Buyer if the Seller breaches that are not available to the Seller, if the Buyer is the breaching party.

New Jersey Land Development Issues:
Land development projects grow more difficult and complex with each passing year.  Your real estate lawyer can guide you through the labyrinth of zoning regulations, environmental agency requirements, building, fire and safety codes and the various other requirements for doing business in this complicated field of real estate.

New Jersey Foreclosure Issues:
When mortgage payments fall behind, the lender may ultimately take steps to foreclose.  Sometimes the best course is to seek temporary relief in the United States Bankruptcy Court.  Since the mortgage is a “secured” debt, it cannot be discharged in bankruptcy.  The filing of a bankruptcy petition triggers an automatic federal court order temporarily staying (suspending) any pending foreclosure sale.  With the additional time provided by the stay, the defaulting borrower can often make arragenments to sell the real property for a much higher price than would be obtained in a foreclosure sale.

Essentially, a foreclosure sale involves sale of the real estate at public auction.  The proceeds of the sale are then applied against the debt owed on the mortgage.  Any funds remaining after the mortgage (and the foreclosure costs) are paid will be transferred to the defaulting borrower.  What happens when the proceeds of the auction sale are insufficient to pay off the mortgage and/or the foreclosure costs depends on the law where the property is located.

As skilled New Jersey Real Estate Lawyers, we provide effective foreclosure assistance and foreclosure relief. When necessary, we have the ability to negotiate short sales or arrangements to bring a house out of foreclosure. We are adept at handling bank workouts, refinancing, mortgage modifications and restructuring.

New Jersey Eminent Domain Proceedings:
Eminent Domain proceedings are used by governmental agencies to acquire real estate (even when the owner doesn’t want to sell it) for use in a project of some kind for the general public benefit.  A recent decision by the United States Supreme Court has greatly expanded the discretion of state and local governments to seize property, even when they do so for the benefit of a private company, if they feel the project contemplated by the private company will benefit the public.  In mounting a defense to an eminent domain action, the landowner can resist the seizure itself, and can also challenge the dollar amount the agency is willing to pay for the land.  The landowner in an eminent domain proceeding is entitled to the fair market value of the land.

New Jersey 1031 Exchanges:
Internal Revenue Service Code §1031 provides a means for deferring the capital gains tax consequences of a real estate transaction when the proceeds of sale from one transaction are to be promptly reinvested in another similar type property.  The key word here is “deferral".  What happens is that the tax basis of the old property is transferred to the new, so that when the new property is ultimately sold, the tax will be due.  Of course, if the second property is also sold under a 1031 exchange, the tax will be deferred yet again.

New Jersey Zoning & Land Use Issues:
Zoning and land use laws come into play in every real estate development, whether large or small.  Before buying real estate property or making major improvements to property you currently own, it is absolutely essential that you know about and understand the existing zoning and land use restrictions.

As a general rule, specified land uses are compatible.  You cannot, for example, put in a dairy herd, a shopping mall or an office building on land zoned for residential use.  It is sometimes possible to persuade local authorities to change the zoning for a particular area, but it can be very difficult, very expensive and it can take a long time.  In some cases it is possible to secure a zoning variance.  A variance is in the nature of an “exemption” for the particular parcel of real estate, from a particular zoning requirement.  Zoning changes and variances both involve extremely complex and difficult legal and political skills and often require public hearings before governmental agencies.

New Jersey Condominium Conversions:
The upsurge in land values in recent years has contributed to the growing popularity of condominium living.  More and more people, especially first time home buyers, are turning to condominiums for their first real estate investment.  As the cost of building materials and construction labor has increased, so has the interest in the conversion of mobile home parks and apartment buildings into condominiums or cooperative corporations.  Condominium conversions can be extremely profitable, but they are long-term projects, sharply regulated by state and local legislation.

New Jersey Condominium Association Matters Including Common Area Fee Recovery:
While Condominium Associations are autonomous, they must comply with state and federal law and with the provisions of their own bylaws.  A qualified real estate lawyer can provide timely and useful advice to Condominium Associations so that they may accomplish this purpose.  Association officers can be held individually responsible if the Association fails to comply with the law.

If you or someone you know needs the assistance of an experienced New Jersey Real Estate Lawyer, call Keith, Winters & Wenning, LLC today at 866-384-1126, or complete the contact form provided on this site to schedule your free consultation.

• Suffolk University Law School, Boston, Massachusetts, 1969
  • J.D.
• Monmouth College, West Long Branch, New Jersey, 1966
  • B.S.

• New York, 1981
• New Jersey, 1969
• U.S. Supreme Court, 1978
• U.S. Tax Court, 1979

• American Bar Association
• New Jersey Bar Association
• Advisory Director, Central Jersey Bank

• Duke University School of Law, Durham, North Carolina, 1993
  • L.L.M.
  • Major: International and Comparative Law
• Duke University School of Law, Durham, North Carolina, 1993
  • J.D.
• Tufts University, 1990
  • B.S.

• New Jersey, 1993
• New York, 1993
• District of Columbia, 1993

• Monmouth County Bar Association
• New Jersey State Bar Association
• Jersey Shore Collaborative Law Group

• Hon. James Harvey, J.S.C., Appellate Division, Clerkship, 1993 - 1994