Just_FYI
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Re:"MD Judge Orders Investor to Pay $510,968..." - 2006/12/14 15:11
My two cents for Bobby....
1. You can never spend too much on education. I once sat in a court room and watched an investor explain to the judge that he did not know that he did anything wrong and that he was sorry but should not be punished because of his honestly not knowing. The judge told him that because he was not employed anywhere and that he invested in real estate full time that "It was his job to know". Bottom line, This was not a Maryland law case, but the overall message was clear....just be careful and do not think you can escape alot of trouble by not knowing. Your Job is to Know!!!
2. Alot and I do mean Alot of attorney's and title companies still do not have a full understanding of the Maryland law. Six months after the law was passed, I took the time to call a large number of attorney's and title companies and found that the vast majority of them had no clue.
3. Although, the educators at Real Investors are not attorneys, you need someone to teach you the practical application of the law and then it is up to you to seek legal counsel to review what you have learned and the documentation that you were given. This has proven to be the best approach for me as there are two sides of the law...The law as it is written and the law as it is interpreted in court.
Another example, was a case I saw where unlike the case this forum is referencing and the idea of fraud was brought up...This investor bought a house from someone in preforeclosure, the investor made sure to move the family, he put $50K in renovations into the property and the minute the investor tried to sell it, the seller found out what the investor was selling it for and saw an opportunity to get some $$$, he filed suit claiming that he was overwhelmed and pressured into the sale of his home and that he was not in a emotionally sound state to know what he was doing. Again, this was not a Maryland law case, but the investor lost and the judge believed that the seller was "overwhelmed" despite the fact that the investor had all the proper documentation (contracts, deeds)and had done things exactly how we are taught at the REIA's. Now had this been a Maryland Law case there is no way the seller would have won with all the documentation making sure that they fully understand.
You need to be fully educated and know what you are doing when dealing with anyone in preforeclosure. They are desperate people and will fight for their homes at all cost.....even if that means lying. They also can get free legal aid or attorney's to work for free in order to go after the deep pockets, as stated earlier.
The point is that the Maryland law is not all that easy to interpret and apply from a practical standpoint, on your own...even if you are intelligent. And being able to show a judge that you had education and get legal advice actually looks really good in court. Since there is no college that awards us a degree for real estate investing, any course looks good on paper.
Unless you have the time to weed through and find the attorney's who know what's going on, or take the time and try and draft your own contracts, or take the time to sit through real estate hearings. Real Investors is as good a place as any to get started as I imagine they already have attorney's to refer you to and have already had their legal advisors draft documentation for doing your deals, and I am sure that they will be on hand to help with any questions one would encounter while doing a transaction.
I just believe we need education from all different mediums....I personally attend many classes, buy books, seek professionals: attorney's, etc, and take the time to go and sit and listen to court hearings in my spare time, which I recommend that anyone in our line of work do at least once.
My comments are not to scare or insult anyone. I just thought you should know...
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