Recent News

People often do business through corporate entities such as corporations, LLCs, and limited partnerships in part in order to limit risk of personal liability.  Generally speaking, corporate shareholders, members of LLCs, and limited partners have no liability for the entity’s debts.  The entity acts as a kind of “shield” or “veil,” protecting the investors behind… Read More

An easement is a right to use land that belongs to someone else.  Most of the time, it will “run with the land,” meaning that it will continue on even if ownership of the burdened property changes hands.  Frequently, easement language does not on its own settle questions of interpretation, and the document may be… Read More

A “lien” is typically defined as a right to enforce a charge upon property of another for payment or satisfaction of a debt or claim.  Stated another way, in the real estate context, it is a claim of a security interest in someone’s property to secure the payment of a debt.  Liens can either be… Read More

Most of the time, an owner of real estate can sell it to whomever they wish, under the terms which they and their chosen buyer mutually deem acceptable.  However, in some cases, that right to sell is restricted.  A “right of first refusal” (“ROFR”) is the right of a third party to purchase property from… Read More

Subdivision of property in Washington State is, generally speaking, highly regulated, and has been for many decades.  For Many owners of potentially subdividable land find themselves deterred from going through the process because of how onerous it is.  Subdivision can cost a lot and take a while.  Both state and local governments want to protect… Read More

Property owners sometimes assume they can do (or should be able to do) whatever they want with their land.  Of course, the world is not that simple; living in a civilized society involves an interconnectedness which necessarily means that some land uses are bound to affect those around us.  Stemming from that recognition are a… Read More

Washington State’s Unfair Business Practices Act, commonly referred to as the Consumer Protection Act, or “CPA”, provides powerful protections and remedies for consumers who have been harmed by a business’s deceptive acts or practices.  You can read more about the CPA here and here to gain a better general understanding. But what about price gouging? … Read More

It is a common misconception, particularly among non-lawyers, that contracts must be in writing to be enforceable.  That is true some of the time, but the general rule is that oral agreements are enforceable, so long as the requirements for a contract are met.  A contract is a legally enforceable promise or set of promises. … Read More

Developing land is often complicated.  The would-be developer must take into account a host of considerations, not the least of which are: (a) property acquisition; (b) financing; (c) zoning; (d) presence of environmentally critical areas; (d) local development codes; (e) subdividability; (f) bureaucracy and politics of local jurisdictions; (g) market forces; (h) title issues; (i)… Read More