Commercial Real Estate Law in Maine

In Windham, Maine, commercial real estate is any type of real property (land or permanent structures) being used for business purposes.

Commercial real estate in Windham, Maine is regulated by laws which differ significantly from state and local laws that apply to residential real estate.

People who buy and rent residential unites have a larger deal of legal protections not available to buyers of commercial property.

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

Common Commercial Real Estate Law Issues in Windham, Maine

Financing: Some small businesses in Windham, Maine find it necessary, at some point, to purchase a piece of real estate, for various reasons. However, most owners of small to medium-sized businesses can't afford to make a real estate purchase up front, with the cash they have on hand. Simply put, very few people have hundreds of thousands of dollars just sitting in the bank. One solution to this is a mortgage, which is similar to most other types of secured loans: a bank lends you money, and you put up some piece of property as collateral, so the bank has some security in the event of default. With a mortgage, however, the property being purchased with the loan also secures the loan, permitting the bank to foreclose on it in case the buyer defaults.

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: Lest you believe that the duty to disclose defects relieves any duty of diligence on the part of the buyer, the law will not reward such lapses with a major cause of action. Buyers have a duty to conduct a reasonable inspection of the property before they buy it, normallyy with a licensed building inspector. If the buyer fails to do this, they won't be able to recover any damages for defects which they could have discovered through a reasonable inspection.

Encumbrances: Encumbrances are defects of a different type: rather than physical defects, they are defects of title. In Windham, Maine, an encumbrance is an interest in a piece of real estate held by a third party, such as covenants or easements. An easement is a right held by someone to use the property of someone else for a particular purpose. For example, a person might have an easement on the land of another person, allowing them to cross the land to access a public road.

Can a Windham, Maine Attorney Help?

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