Commercial Real Estate Law in New Mexico

Commercial Real Estate Law in Las Vegas, New Mexico is any form of land or permanent structure which isn't utilized for residential or industrial purposes, and is instead used for a business involving the buying and selling of goods or services.

Commercial real estate in Las Vegas, New Mexico is handled by laws which differ significantly from state and local laws that apply to residential real estate.

Most of the protections that buyers and renters of residential real estate enjoy rarely apply to renters of 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 Las Vegas, New Mexico

Financing: Some small businesses in Las Vegas, New Mexico find it necessary, at some point, to purchase a piece of real estate, for various reasons. Nonetheless, 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 individuals have hundreds of thousands of dollars just sitting in the bank. One solution to this is a mortgage, which is similar to most other forms 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, allowing the bank to foreclose on it in case the buyer defaults.

Disclosure of Defects: Sellers of real estate have an requirement to inform prospective buyers of any defects present in the property, such as water damage and other structural problems. Essentially, if the defect is significant enough that it might affect a reasonable buyer's decision on whether or not to purchase the property, and the seller knows about it, it must be disclosed. Failure to disclose such defects would give a buyer the right to sue the seller, and recover significant damages, including the cost of repairing the defect, compensation for any injuries or illness caused by it, and the reduction in the property's value caused by the defect.

Buyer's Duty to Inspect: generally, buyers of commercial real estate are expected to inspect the property before buying it. A failure to do so might prevent the buyer from prevailing in a lawsuit if he is harmed by physical defects that an inspection would have revealed, and that the seller didn't know about.

Encumbrances: Encumbrances are defects of a different type: rather than physical defects, they are defects of title. In Las Vegas, New Mexico, 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 certain purpose. For instance, 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 Las Vegas, New Mexico Attorney Help?

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