Blog
Michigan has a long history of family farms and closely held agricultural businesses. However, depending on where that farm is located, Michigan’s Right to Farm Act may or may not protect you from local ordinances limiting how you do business. Here’s what you should know about the limits on agricultural uses of urban and suburban land.
Quiet Title Actions Problems with real estate transfers can hold up the probating of a loved one’s estate. Beneficiaries who are depending on their inheritances can find access to those assets blocked by clouds the titles of real property within the estate. When that happens, your estate may need a quiet title action to set the record straight and allow your personal representative or trustee to transfer the property properly.
Michigan has thousands of miles of shoreline, on the Great Lakes and over 10,000 inland lakes, rivers, and other bodies of water. However, limits on Great Lakes riparian rights can affect the way you use and develop your property, and which government you must approach before building a dock, wharf, or privacy fence on your property.
Michigan Marketable Record Title Act Author: Michael King Interests held in real property are often extremely valuable to the interest holders, and can affect the character and uses of the land in which they are held. The validity and enforceability of such property interests in Michigan are governed by the Marketable Record Title Act. On December 29, 2020, Michigan effectively amended the Marketable Record Title Act, and in so doing provided property interest holders in this state additional time … Read more
Variance Requests: Navigating Zoning Regulations and the Zoning Board of Appeals Author: Jake Vande Zande Almost any time you want to do something with your property, zoning is going to play a role in that project. Whether you want to build a new house, add an addition, build a deck or split your lot, you are going to have to navigate your city’s zoning ordinance and possibly your city or township’s Zoning Board of Appeals (“ZBA”). One of the most … Read more
Michigan Adopts Remote Witnessing and Notarization Legislation Author: Jake Vande Zande Governor Whitmore signed several new bills into law related to remote witnessing and notarization due to the hardships created by the COVID-19 pandemic, which will be advantageous for people and businesses that frequently work with notarized or recorded documents. The new legislation that allows electronic signatures, remote witnessing and notarization will replace Governor Whitmore’s prior executive orders that were struck down. The new legislation concerns documents that have been … Read more
Author: Jake Vande Zande January 13, 2021 Michigan Zoning Board Appeals (ZBA) & How to Appeal Unfavorable Decisions As discussed in “Variance Requests: Navigating Zoning Regulations and the Zoning Board of Appeals,” almost any time you want to do something with your property, zoning is going to play a role. This often includes a decision made by your city or township’s Zoning Board of Appeals (“ZBA”). Besides being difficult, expensive, and time consuming, zoning requests and their subsequent decisions can … Read more
Introduction Owners who lost property in a tax foreclosure may be entitled to compensation if the county auctioned the property for more than the tax owed. The Michigan Supreme Court’s recent ruling in Rafaeli, LLC v Oakland County, No. 156849, WL 4037642 (Mich. July 17, 2020), made an important pronouncement about the rights of former property owners to the surplus proceeds from property tax foreclosure sales by holding that the practice of counties keeping surplus proceeds from tax foreclosure sales is unconstitutional. In short, the Michigan Supreme Court held that if a county retains “surplus … Read more
Introduction If there is something wrong with or complicated about the title to your real estate or the real estate you’re about to purchase, then a quiet title action may be necessary. As explained below, a quiet title action is a lawsuit that literally “quiets” disputes, claims, or challenges to the title of real property. For most people, real estate is the most valuable asset they own. Without proper title, it can be almost impossible to sell or get a mortgage on property. For this reason, it is important … Read more
Introduction Buying and selling a house can be one of the most important events of your life and for many people will be the largest financial transactions they ever participate in . Buyers and sellers should have a basic understanding of the law related to transferring residential property and most importantly Michigan Seller’s Disclosure Act (SDA), which imposes legal requirements on sellers to disclose specific information that they know about a home. This article will provide an outline of the … Read more
Grand Rapids, MI Office
Waters Center
161 Ottawa Ave. NW, Ste. 111
Grand Rapids, MI 49503
616.274.3002