Jameson Stone, legal counsel for the Greater Harrisburg Association of REALTORS®, provides a legal column to our membership.
Contingencies in real estate transactions seem to be some of the most misunderstood and mishandled clause within the Pennsylvania Association of REALTORS® (PAR) standard form for the Agreement of Sale of Real Estate (ASR). Two of the most important contingencies for agents and their clients to properly understand are the Mortgage contingency and the various Inspection contingencies. …
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Starting June 5, 2025, Pennsylvania began enforcing a new law aimed at curbing distracted driving, known as Paul Miller’s Law. This legislation, also known as the state’s hands-free driving law, prohibits the use of handheld devices while operating a motor vehicle. As professionals who spend a lot of time behind the wheel—traveling between showings…
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How to List the Buyer/Seller on an Agreement of Sale and How They Should Sign Today, it seems that more and more often our clients in a real estate transaction are not simply individuals. Rather, we see clients as (1) business entities, (2) estates, or (3) Agents under a Power of Attorney…
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On January 24, 2025, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) postponed the effective date of the One-to-One Consent Rule. The Rule was set to take effect on January 27, 2025. However, the Rule was being challenged in Insurance Marketing Coalition Ltd v. FCC, currently on appeal before the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals. The FCC decided to postpone the effective date of the Rule pending judicial review and will publish a new effective date in the Federal Register after the legal challenges have concluded…
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Pennsylvania’s new law introduces sweeping changes to real estate wholesaling. In 2024, Pennsylvania enacted Act 52 which requires wholesalers to register with the state, obtain licensing, and follow disclosure policies. This new law will take effect January 9, 2025. The law is aimed at increasing transparency and regulation in the wholesaling market. Real estate wholesaling, a practice where individuals or companies secure a contract on a property and sell that contract to an investor without ever owning the property…
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Two new laws have recently been enacted that may affect businesses in Pennsylvania, including limited liability companies and real estate holding companies. The laws are directed at compelling disclosure of the current ownership interests in a business. More importantly, both carry significant penalties for non-compliance. Report to FinCEN: In 2021, Congress passed the Corporate Transparency Act (CTA)…
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In a previous article, I discussed much of the inspection process including timeliness, renegotiating the agreement as a result of inspection findings, who should repair and use of the Reply to Inspections/Reports or Written Corrective Proposal. This article picks up with a discussion of advanced and/or interesting issues that pertain to inspections. Can you prevent a buyer from using any particular inspector(s)? …
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Here are two situations for your consideration. The first involves a home inspection that was compromised because the natural gas service to the property was off. The heating system, hot water heater, range and anything reliant on gas could not be properly inspected. The buyer agent notified the listing agent of the problem, and since there were few days left in the inspection period…
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Every now and again I like to see who’s reading these missives. Answer this quiz and if you are correct it is because: a) you read the article where I addressed this…what I’m hoping for, b) you’re smart…also good, or c) you looked on the paper of the quiz-taker beside you. No, this is not the quiz…
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This is not my first article on the subject. Many calls later, including a recent one, suggests the need for a revisit. The recent caller is a seller’s agent whose client, a flipper, had listed a handful of properties with her. Shortly after settlement on one of these properties she got a call from a ‘fired-up’ buyer agent…
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