Can a Bank Refuse to Lend Money if the Home Has Radon?

 

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Can a bank refuse to lend money if the home has radon?  The answer to the question is yes.  What they will usually do anytime there is a problem with the property itself; they will require the problem to be fixed, such as, if there is a roof that does not have a useful life.  In order for them to give a loan, they may require that the roof be replaced in order to give the loan.  That would be the same case as far as radon, in that they do not want to lend money if their collateral, which would be the home, would be impaired by any sort of defect, whether it be radon, whether it be a sinkhole, structural problems or not complying with the building code.

 

So the banks would not lend money because a house with radon is certainly not worth as much as one without radon and so it impacts the value of the home.  I might add that in the Pasco County, New Port Richey area of Florida, I have not encountered any properties with radon.  So we do have a radon disclosure, however I haven’t encountered that.  So I can only speak in generalized terms as far as what lenders would do but I can’t imagine a bank lending money if they are aware that there is radon on the property.

 

This is Roland Waller. Give me a call at 727-847-2288 if you have any other questions about buying or selling real estate.

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Is a Revocable Trust Preferable to a Will?

 

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Is a revocable trust, also known as a living trust, preferable to a will?  Well we need to look at why you’re setting up a trust.  Most people who are setting up trusts are setting up for the purpose of avoiding probate.  So in order to answer the question, first we need to see how your assets are titled.  If you have a husband and wife with a longstanding marriage and you own all your assets in your joint names, as husband and wife, well you do not need a trust and do not suggest you spend the money for it and a Will will do just fine because the assets will pass to the surviving spouse and therefore avoid probate which is the purpose of setting up the trust.  I then suggest you also have a will to cover any assets that might not be titled in the joint names.

 

Now, if you are a single person, we then look at the purpose of setting up the trust and if it’s to avoid probate, probate can be avoided by re-titling your assets such as if you have two children and you have a bank account and you wish the children receive the bank account, you have the account set up in your name payable on death, or called a POD account, to your two children so that when you pass away, the account will go automatically to your two children and avoid probate.  You also can even take care of your real estate such as your home by signing a life estate deed which allows you to retain control of your home and live there during your lifetime but provides that upon your death that it automatically vest in your two children.

 

Now, if you have a particular problem with one of your children, if you do not want them to receive your assets outright such as one that has say a drug addiction or if you have one that has financial problems or federal tax liens or any other basis that they cannot handle money and you want them to receive it over a period of time, then we may want to set up a trust to accomplish that.  Same thing if you have minor children.  If you say, “Well, I don’t want them to receive these assets because they’re under age,” or “I don’t want them to receive it at age 18,” those are all good reasons to set up a trust.  And if you are husband and wife, we can put in your will as a safeguard, a testamentary trust that says if your spouse predeceases you and you don’t get around to addressing it after your spouse dies, then you can set up a trust.

 

So that’s the long answer.  The short answer to this is, why are you setting up a trust?  And so once you define that question, well then we could answer that as to whether or not it’s preferable to a will or not and trusts are more complicated and cost more to prepare.  And most of the time we can re-title your assets to avoid probate and don’t suggest that you set up a revocable trust, a joint trust in any event.  So hopefully that gives you a lawyer answer to whether or not a trust is preferable to a will.  If you have some questions about it, give me a call at 727-847-2288.

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If I Go Through Bankruptcy, Can I Keep My Homestead Property?

 

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If I go through bankruptcy, can I keep my homestead property?  The answer is yes, you can.  When you file for bankruptcy, you cannot include your home in the bankruptcy action and if it is a Chapter 7 bankruptcy, you have to then of course keep paying your mortgage payments, the taxes, insurance and your other expenses related to your home.  But yes, you can exclude your homestead property from bankruptcy.

 

Now there are some limitations on exempting your homestead on how long you have lived there as so many days whenever you file bankruptcy.  So you cannot move into the state of Florida one day and then the next month file bankruptcy and protect your homestead property if it has a lot of equity in it.  So hopefully that answers your questions.  I don’t do bankruptcy so if you call me I’ll be glad to refer you to someone who will be able to help you with a bankruptcy if you would like to file a bankruptcy action and save your homestead or keep your homestead from being sold.

 

Give me at call at 727-847-2288.

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Can a Seller Avoid Paying Closing Costs by Having the Buyer Pay Them Cash on the Side?

 

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Can a seller avoid paying closing costs by having the buyer pay them cash on the side outside of closing?  It’s sort of like avoiding paying – evading taxes by not reporting income to the Internal Revenue Service and that could be considered a crime to do that.  Likewise, you are defrauding the Department of Revenue in that you are obligated to pay the documentary stamps on the sales price.  And you are not to avoid those, because you are really evading those if you have a transaction on the side wherein the buyer pays the sellers the cash and is not reporting with the closing agent.

 

There’s also any number of other problems with that, such as the currency transaction if you are actually dealing in cash, and that anything $10,000.00 or more you have to fill out various currency forms with the bank if it has to be deposited.

 

So the answer to your question is you are committing a crime or a fraud against the state of Florida by doing that, and you need not contact my office to handle such a transaction because I am not going to be part and parcel of it.  I would also caution you to do that because if there is ever a problem later on about the transaction, trying to show that cash or the actual sales price, you are not going to be very successful whenever you have been involved in this transaction, particularly whenever the buyer then turns around, and he sells it and wants to take credit for the cash that he paid.  Do you really think that he’s going to be looking out for the seller?  So it’s just a very bad idea, and I can’t say enough bad things about it and would encourage you don’t engage in that activity.

 

So if you would like to close a transaction and pay documentary stamps on the full purchase price, give me a call at 727-847-2288, and I’ll be pleased to handle it for you.

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Can I Buy a Home if I Have Bad Credit?

 

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Can I buy a home if I have bad credit?  The answer to that question is of course you can.  However, you are going to be somewhat limited in that you are going to have to have a cash down payment and find a seller who is willing to finance the property if you don’t have sufficient monies to pay cash for the property.  The time that the credit’s going to hurt you is, if you have to go to an institutional lender, and they look at credit scores in order to determine whether or not you qualify for their loans.  It’s getting more and more difficult to qualify for an institutional loan or going through a bank.  So you are probably limited to talking to sellers who are willing to finance the property.

 

Another way that you can go about this is to enter into a lease with an option to purchase, wherein you give the seller a small down payment.  And then they can apply a portion of each monthly payment to your purchase price and then hopefully hold owner financing, but build your credit back up so that you can refinance the property and pay the seller in cash after a certain period of time under a lease with an option to purchase.

 

So, yes, you can buy property.  However, your options are limited to sellers who are willing to enter into owner financing or leases with options to purchase.  If you would like to discuss this further, well, give me a call at 727-847-2288.  Thank you.

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