This article covers several important tips for real estate agents and brokers who wish to develop a successful FARMing campaign.

This article discusses the documentation necessary for a syndicator to publicly solicit multiple investors to make or purchase a trust deed loan. Referenced first tuesday forms can be downloaded by clicking on the blue links. Fractionalizing a trust deed A loan broker is retained by a borrower to solicit and arrange a large loan to [...]

Look for the full digest of the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008 (HR 3221) in the October issue of the first tuesday Journal Online. First-time homebuyer tax credit For first-time homebuyers who closed escrow on or after April 9, 2008 and before July 1, 2009, a tax-credit loan limited in amount to the [...]

This monthly update presents real estate related issues pending before the United States and California Supreme Courts. Cases are listed by subject matter. Cases with opinions issued by a lower court and accepted by the United States or California Supreme Court are located in the “Recent Case Decisions.” Cases currently under review and pending before [...]

This article digests the treatment of interest income on §1031 monies held by a facilitator in a deferred §1031 transaction. Beginning October 8, 2008, the seller who is not to be paid a rate of interest on his §1031 monies will report and be taxed as receiving interest at a minimum imputed rate of interest [...]

This article reports changes to depreciation schedules for §1031 replacement properties. The cost basis for a replacement property acquired in a §1031 transaction is depreciated, in part, based on the depreciation schedules used for the property sold. Initially, the annual amount of the depreciation deduction taken on the property sold and the years remaining on [...]

Reported by Giang Hoang-Burdette: SLAPP bars tenant’s claims against landlord in unlawful detainer The tenant of a rent-controlled apartment entered into a sublease with a subtenant. The subtenant was told by the landlord’s agent that landlord approval of his sublease was contingent upon the subtenant signing an addendum to the tenant’s lease and returning the [...]

This article examines the use and effectiveness of mediation as an alternative to litigation or arbitration. The essence of mediation is familiar to real estate brokers. In negotiating contracts between buyers and sellers, the broker is constantly using the skills of a mediator to arrange offers and counteroffers, oral and written, between his client and [...]