Commercial Real Estate Law in Illinois

In Kewanee, Illinois, "commercial real estate" is any form of land or building which is utilized for a business, as opposed to residential, purpose.

The Kewanee, Illinois laws regulating commercial real estate differ significantly from the laws that cover residential and other types of real estate.

When renting or buying residential real estate, renters and buyers have considerable legal protections which often don't apply to commercial real estate.

These absent protections include rent control, and warranties of habitability, among others. The most general protections, such as prohibiting sellers of real estate from lying regarding the property to the buyer, apply in any context, however.

Common Commercial Real Estate Law Issues in Kewanee, Illinois

Financing: Most small business owners in Kewanee, Illinois don't have the money to buy real estate with the cash on hand. Nonetheless, there is a solution to this problem, permitting people without massive sums of money (but with a steady income) to buy real estate: the mortgage. A mortgage is a loan used to buy real estate, and the real estate being bought is used as collateral for the loan.

Concealment of Defects: if the seller or lessor of commercial real estate actively conceals a material defect in the real estate, they can be accountable to the buyer or renter for any damages caused by this concealment.

Duty to Inspect: This is a companion to the duty to disclose defects. Typically, buyers of real estate are expected to inspect the property. If they fail to conduct a good inspection, they might not be able to recover damages if they are harmed by any defects which an inspection would have revealed.

Encumbrances: An encumbrance is any interest held in a piece of property by a party other than the seller and the buyer. These property interests might make it very hard for the buyer to use the land as they intended when they bought it. A frequent type of encumbrance in Kewanee, Illinois is the easement. An easement is some right that a third party has in a piece of property. For example, suppose that, many years ago, a neighbor adjacent to the land you want to buy, paid a previous owner for the right to cross his land to reach a public road. Unless the agreement states otherwise, this right will usually apply to subsequent owners, and has to be honored. Therefore, it might interfere with the intended use of the new owner.

Can a Kewanee, Illinois Attorney Help?

These issues can be very complicated, and most people consider such financially-weighty decisions to be very crucial. If you are one of those people, it's a smart move to contact a Kewanee, Illinois real estate attorney if you are facing any of the issues discussed above.