Legal Quick Tips!

Do you need to form a corporation, limited liability company or other business entity as a vehicle for your small business?  If so, which entity should you choose?  When should you form the entity?  How should you manage and administer the entity?

Among other advantages, a business entity can help insure that potentially adverse consequences of disagreements, accidents and disputes involving the business fall not on the individual business owner and her personal assets, but on the business and its assets.  However, failure to choose the appropriate business form – or failure to properly manage and administer it – can have negative consequences for the individual owner.

For answers to these questions and other assistance in forming a small business entity, please visit our office or call for an appointment today.

Recently, in response to a notorious Boulder County Court battle between two neighbors, the Colorado Legislature enacted statutory changes to the Common Law rules of Adverse Possession. In essence, the legislature enacted provisions making it more difficult for anyone to acquire title to the real estate of another person through adverse possession.   However, contrary to rumor and conventional wisdom, the doctrine of adverse possession remains a very important part of Colorado Real Estate Law.  It remains important for Colorado real property owners to act diligently and within legal boundaries if they believe some third party is now (or has in the past) occupied or trespassed upon their real estate for any substantial period of time without the owners’ permission.  Despite recent legislative changes, failure to act diligently in such situations could ultimately result in loss of real property rights.

Weaver & Fitzhugh, PC prosecutes and defends adverse possession cases throughout the Seventh Judicial District, including Montrose, Delta, Ouray and San Miguel (Telluride/Norwood) Counties.  For more information about adverse possession and other real property issues, please call or visit our offices today.

If you have done work or supplied materials contributing to any improvement to real property within the State of Colorado – with or without a contract – and have not received payment, you may have the right to collect for your materials or work by recording and foreclosing a mechanic’s lien.  Perfection and enforcement of a Mechanic’s Lien requires diligent and precise action by the claimant to ensure that he conforms with the requirements of Colorado’s Mechanic’s Lien Statute.  Failure to meet deadlines and adhere to technical legal requirements can  invalidate a mechanic’s lien.

Homeowners who have paid the full contract price for construction of their home may in some circumstances defeat a mechanic’s lien and, sometimes, recover attorney fees for the costs of defending against a mechanic’s lien foreclosure.

For more information about creation, perfection and enforcement of Mechanic’s Liens, please call or visit us today.

People arrested in Colorado for Driving Under the Influence (DUI) or Driving While Ability Impaired (DWAI) often fail to realize that they may have to deal with two entirely separate legal proceedings: one through the court system and one through the Department of Revenue, Division of Motor Vehicles.  Because the DMV proceeding often requires the driver to take the initiative within seven days of arrest, many drivers wind up losing their driver’s licenses to the DMV long before they ever get to the Court House.  To find out whether you may have a right to a temporary driver’s license and an administrative hearing through the DMV, and for other advise relating to DUI, DWAI and similar legal matters, please call or visit our offices today.

Colorado Law recognizes and treats Common Law Marriage precisely as it does licensed, ceremonial marriages.   However, most people have very little understanding about what creates a Common Law Marriage.  For example, many people ask us ‘”but don’t I have to live with my ’significant other’ for at least seven years before we can have a common law marriage?”  The answer is simply “NO!”  Colorado Law requires no minimum period of cohabitation for creation of a Common Law Marriage.  The requirement for such a marriage really comes down to the intent of the parties and whether they have lived together in the State of Colorado with the necessary intent.  Common Law marriage may affect the rights of “unmarried” couples in many situations, including: dissolution of marriage, parenting rights, child support, alimony or maintenance, estate planning, and distribution of property under a will or similar situation following death.   For more information about how  Common Law Marriage may affect the legal rights and duties of “unmarried” couples in Colorado, call or visit our offices today.

The Colorado Legislature has again updated the Colorado Common Interest Ownership Act by imposing new requirements for “good governance” policies.  In addition to changes made in recent years, HOA’s must now include with their “good governance” policies specific provisions concerning creation and administration  of reserve funds.  Failure to comply with CCIOA’s “good governance” policy requirements may adversely impact the HOA’s ability to enforce covenants against non-complying home owners.  For more detailed information about this new requirement and other legal issues affecting creation and management of HOA’s, call or visit our offices today.

With a deed in lieu of foreclosure, the property owner gives the property back to the lender (the “deed”) in exchange for the lender canceling the loan. The lender typically promises not to initiate foreclosure proceedings, to terminate any existing foreclosure proceedings and to forgive any deficiency (the amount of the loan that isn’t covered by the sale proceeds) that remains after the property is sold.  In today’s real estate market, many seller-carry lenders find  the buyer/borrower asking them to take the property back by means of a deed in lieu of foreclosure.  Whether doing so makes sense for the lender depends on many factors, including: value of the property, buyer/borrower’s over-all financial situation, amount remaining on the mortgage/trust deed, and whether the buyer/borrower has further encumbered the property since purchasing from the seller/lender.  If the property has no other encumbrances and substantial market value in excess of the amount outstanding on the note carried by the seller, a deed in lieu may be a good way for a lender to resolve the situation and avoid the cost of a foreclosure.  On the other hand, if the value is questionable, or if the buyer has created junior encumbrances, a deed in lieu may be a mistake for the lender. For more detailed information about deeds in lieu of foreclosure and other real estate law issues, call or visit our office today.