No right to breach your District of Columbia contracts.

On February 12, 2015, the District of Columbia Court of Appeals confirmed that your contract does not have an implied "right to breach."

In Sundberg v. TTR Realty, a home buyer claimed that the seller and the real estate agent failed to share information about a neighboring construction project. Had they known about the project, right across the street, they would have broken their agreement and been subject to claims for damages by the seller.

The failure to share information came AFTER the contract of sale was signed by the buyer.  They thus could not argue that a misrepresentation had been made to induce making the contract.  And that was their downfall in this case.

Precisely because the contract had already been signed, the home buyers could not claim to have relied to their detriment on the absence of this information.

And more importantly, in a District of Columbia transaction, there is no "right to breach" your contract.  You either perform, or you don't. And if you fail to perform, you remain subject to whatever legal remedies are available to the other side.

Our court breathes life into Maryland tax liens.

On February 3, 2015, the Maryland Court of Special Appeals confirmed that tax liens do not die after 12 years.  You might die, but the tax lien on your land will survive you.

In State of Maryland  v. Shipe, a citizen argued that tax liens are good only for twelve years, and must be renewed like any other judgment lien if they are to extend beyond twelve years. The Comptroller argued that liens held by the State of Maryland might be enforced like ordinary judgment liens, but they are exempted from the renewal requirement. The court summarized its decision this way:

The State maintains that a recorded tax lien has the full force and effect of a judgment lien, and therefore, like other judgments held in favor of the State, it does not expire. Appellee disagrees, stating that a tax lien is not perpetual and that the General Assembly’s clear intent was to impose a temporal duration of no more than twelve years for a tax lien judgment subject to renewal. We agree with the State. 

So, there you have it-- a tax lien does not die.It will remain as an encumbrance on your land for longer than twelve years. The State of Maryland need not renew the lien like an ordinary judgment creditor.

There remain other means to attack a tax lien, but the appellate court has now eliminated the easiest.

Easments created by record plat.

Messy and poorly documented land transactions will land you in court. In the February 2, 2015 Peters v. Emerald Hills case, the Maryland Court of Special Appeals prefaced its analysis by observing '[w]e are not holding up what occurred in this case as a model for real estate conveyancing."

Music to a real estate litigation attorney's ears!

In this case, the homeowner's association sought to prevent access by a homeowner over a triangular lot owned by the association. The lot owners argued that their rights to get in and out of their lot came from an easement created in a plat created by the developer.

A plat is not a deed.  It is a drawing filed with the County, and it shows how a development will be laid out. The drawing can show roads, set-backs, wells, woods, driveways, sidewalks and roadways. But a drawing of a driveway does not mean there is a right to maintain that driveway unless there exists an easement.

In this case, the appellate court confirmed that an express access easement can be created on a plat so that it will bind all future owners of the land over which the easement is created.  And in this case, that included the land owned by the homeowner's association. The homeowner's association was thus not permitted to bar the lot owner's access over homeowner association's land.

The basic analysis is simple-- the creation of the easement on the plat must satisfy the Maryland Statute of Frauds, and it must satisfy certain technical requirements of Maryland's recording statutes.  If the plat meets these various criteria, it does not matter that that the easement is not recorded in the land records.

Yay?

What a mess, indeed.  Easements are created normally through express statements in deeds, and in recorded documents with the word "easement" in the title. You and your transaction attorney must now carefully study the record plats to discern what may, or may not, constitute additional easements that will bind you or your neighbors.  Figure this out before paying good money for land and getting a future lawsuit as a bonus prize!