Real Estate Law, Development & Land Use - CARNEY PATTERSON MEADE PLC

Complete Real Estate Law Services

Real estate transactions, management, development, and financing of real estate assets all involve a mixture of statutory, regulatory and contractual issues. CPM’s real estate attorneys will help you complete your transaction or operations in accordance with federal, state, and local laws.

If you are buying a commercial real property, leasing out office spaces, developing property, managing real property (whether for yourself or for others), operating a community association, property owners association or homeowners association, or working with real estate in any other way, CPM can help you meet your goals and accomplish your tasks. CPM has a lengthy history of real estate legal experience, that combines with comprehensive legal knowledge, and we use both to allow us to provide document drafting and analysis, negotiations for such deals or transactions, general advising and guidance for you, and overall skilled representation to our clients.

Commercial Real Estate

Commercial real estate transactions rely on a foundation of negotiations and contractual agreements, and have less governmental regulation than those involving residential properties, and this difference simultaneously creates more risk, and more freedom for the parties to structure deals. This means have a skilled and experienced legal advisor can have an even greater impact in such transactions and can be crucial to protecting your rights and your assets in such commercial real estate transactions.

Our real estate attorneys can assist with:

Acquisition and disposition of property
Office buildings
Commercial financing (securing, understanding terms, and closing financial packages)
Apartments
Condominium, homeowners, property owners, and community associations
Condominiums
Commercial leasing issues (landlord, tenant, or lender)
Town homes
Ground Leases
Restaurants
Sale-leaseback transactions
Mobile home parks
Property management issues
Retail centers and shopping complexes
Zoning, Land use and development
Medical office buildings
Subdivisions and boundary line adjustments
Storage facilities
Public & Private Partnerships
Industrial properties
Compliance with zoning, subdivision and other regulatory frameworks
Warehouses
Chesapeake Bay Preservation Act impacts
Agricultural land
Wetlands permitting, compliance, and impacts
Entity formations and structuring
Subordination agreements, and estoppel certificates
Survey reviews
Agricultural and hunting leases
Title reviews
Environmental and hazardous waste complexities
Easements
Insurance and title matters
Condominiums
Mixed-use developments
Association documents (declarations and restrictions, architectural review boards, etc.)
Residential subdivisions
Covenants, conditions and restrictions

Our attorneys will help you avoid legal obstacles with the government, a landlord or tenant, adjacent owners, former sellers or buyers, or some other entity. We can help you resolve issues with federal, state, and local regulations, and to return to a status where your property is in compliance and out of a conflict, whether actual or threatened.

Financing

There are many forms of financing available for real estate assets, whether you are buying a residential home, developing a subdivision, industrial property, or shopping center, constructing improvements on a plot of land, or financing a large project.

Financing and assistance may be available for:

Funding acquisition of property
Land development and subdivision
Construction
Refinancing
Funding projects
Funding buyouts
Acquiring assets or equipment
Funding new investments
Asset-based lending
Letters of credit
Security and bonding requirements
Guaranty issues
Loan workouts, forbearances and receiverships
Mixed Use projects and new urbanism projects
Banks and financial institutions in real estate lending transactions
Special purpose taxing districts
Opinion letters

Often, real estate you own or that you are acquiring can be the collateral for financing needed for a real estate related projects, and less commonly for projects unrelated to the real estate but that may be used to secure the financing. There are many types of lenders too, such as institutional lenders, like traditional banks, credit unions, securitized lenders, investment funds, insurance companies, retirement funds, private investors, and private lenders. CPM’s real estate attorneys can assist you in evaluating the pros and cons of each type of lender and related financial terms.

Construction

Preparation and negotiation of terms of commercial building contracts for office, restaurant, retail and mixed-use projects.
Preparation and negotiation of terms of residential building construction contracts for both custom and residential tract builders.
Preparation and negotiation of traditional design build contracts.
Management of construction loan disbursements for purposes of title, including obtaining mechanics lien waivers and making disbursements.
Preparation, filing, enforcement or defense of mechanics liens

Workouts, Foreclosures, & Enforcement Actions

Negotiation and preparation of workout and forbearance agreements on behalf of both debtors and creditors in commercial transactions.
Representation of debtors and creditors in foreclosure of real property related to deeds of trust, enforcement of judgments, and mechanics liens.
Representation of lien holders in various enforcement actions, including judicial and non-judicial foreclosures, mechanics lien foreclosures, and creditor proceedings

Title Matters

Examination and chain of title review of title commitments and policies
Preparation and review of closing documents and conduction of closings of real estate transactions
Title examination of issued title commitments in connection with representation of banks in lending transactions or foreclosure procedures
Negotiation, review, analysis of issues, and (if required) litigation related to clearing real estate title, including purchase and sale, contracts, inheritance matters, estate and trusts transfers, easements, encroachment, and other title-related disputes.

Zoning Laws

Zoning and land use laws control the allowed uses for a particular real estate parcel within a certain jurisdiction. Zoning laws are handled by the city or county, and so requires working with local governments to ensure compliance. In addition, some projects or property may involve federal government regulations, such as the Endangered Species Act or the Chesapeake Bay Preservation Act.

Evaluating a need, applying for and ultimately obtaining the various permits and entitlements required to develop or re-develop land is where we can help you identify and use the proper governmental agencies and departments, and the correct procedures. Each real property lot, parcel, plot and project is unique, and often governmental jurisdictions have very different procedures and expectations, so experienced legal services are a must. CPM provides such legal services to real property developers and land owners throughout the Virginia Peninsula and we have worked in dozens of jurisdictions throughout the Commonwealth of Virginia.

Furthermore, disputes often arise with neighboring landowners or special interest groups within a project’s area or community; CPM’s real estate attorneys provide the dispute resolution services and guidance you need to finish your project.

Litigation and Dispute Resolution

Real estate is often the basis of legal disputes. Arising from a mistake within or interpretation of an agreement, a zoning law conflict, or a conflict with surrounding real estate property owners, an experienced real estate attorney can help resolve the dispute. In addition to traditional settlement negotiations, our CPM attorneys have a record of success in resolving disputes outside of court through alternative dispute resolution procedures. Our attorneys can assist you with:

Arbitration
Nuisance
Mediation
Covenant violations
Litigation
Eminent domain and valuation
Fraud and misrepresentation
Commercial lease disputes (rent, premises violation, maintenance disputes)
Construction and property defect cases
Brokerage commission disputes
Boundary disputes
Environmental contamination
Adverse possession and prescriptive easements
Zoning and subdivision disputes
Title defects

You may need litigation attorneys who can protect your assets and see you successfully through a conflict. Our attorneys will provide the experience and skill needed to represent your best interests and help evaluate your various options.

Residential Real Estate

Buying or selling a home is an involved process, and there is a high degree of governmental regulatory oversight and requirements. For buyers and sellers alike, having access to an attorney with a thorough understanding of the applicable laws and contractual ramifications involved in purchasing or selling a home. Whether you are buying or selling a home, CPM can assist you by examining documents, deeds, instruments, and agreements; handle negotiations or simply advise and inform you for your own negotiations, explain terminology, procedures, and financing issues, and also help resolve disputes if needed.

Solar Photovoltaic Power Generation Sites (often called “Solar Farms”)

CPM offers an ability to operate as a part of your team, or to take control of your consultants and lead the effort required, and we enjoy working in either role. We enjoy the economic development aspects of solar energy work, particularly when combined with the technologies involved and the opportunity to participate in environmental stewardship that benefits the Virginia community.