Douglas M. Mercurio's Answers

MA life estate attorney, life estate ownership of real estate, life estate and remainder interest

While I would not typically comment to say that I agree what another attorney has said, in this case you were given two conflicting opinions. I agree with Attorney Hammil's response as it summarizes the current state of the law. A life estate is an asset, countable and/or subject to lien by Medicade. There are ways to accomplish the same result, but in that her Medicade application is imminent it would not be of much use, unless your grandfather was still alive. Your best bet would be to...

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I am in the U.S. on a student visa, can my parents buy real property under my name, what happens when my visa expires

You or your parents would be able to purchase property here. You do not need to have a visa to buy, own or sell real estate, though the comments above relative to FIRPTA are accurate. Typically, when a foreign national sells a piece of real estate they are subject to a 10% withholding. This withholding would be applied toward any capital gains tax which you may owe, with the remainder being refunded. You could also purchase the property through a domestic entity, which is an effective 'work...

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Separation/Divorce & Real Estate

The answer to your question is primarily governed by Domestic Relations law. While the issue of joint ownership and who paid what could be handled in a different venue, seeing as you are married I would think that the Probate Court would be the appropriate place to deal with the issues that you are facing. Depending on the length of your marriage (and for the sake of argument I will assume a long term marriage) judges in MA tend to follow different guidelines about property distribution....

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How much notice is a tenant required to provide the landlord for vacating rental under MA laws

Your lease, when read in conjunction with the Massachusetts General Laws, governs the relationship between you and your landlord. In your question you state that you have a lease through August 2009, what you don't say is whether your lease contains an option to renew. In the event that there is an option to renew, be sure to meet the notification deadlines contained in your current lease or you may lose rights that you do have. In the event that it does not, you must realize that your...

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MA commerical foreclosure laws, can a guarantor be held personally liable

In short, yes. The purpose of the guarantor is for the bank to have a second person/entity to pursue in the event that the first obligor did not fulfill their obligations under the note. While the bank would certainly need to pursue a cause of action against the guarantor in order to enforce their rights against them, ultimately, the guarantor will be responsible for the deficiency (amount of the loan plus any of their foreclosure expenses minus the proceeds of the auction) and the guarantors...

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Mortgage insurance

I differ from the other two attorneys who have commented in that I don't believe that you gave enough information to come to the conclusion that they put forth. Mortgage Insurance, or PMI (assumes it is not a government loan) is required on most loans where the loan amount exceeds 80% of the lesser or the purchase price (on a new purchase) or the appraised value. There are a few different types of PMI, some are lender paid, in which the lender pays the monthly premium but it is factored into...

Real estate

If the property is held jointly, either with a spouse or other person, with survivorship rights, it would pass to the survivors. If the property is held individually, or as tenants in common (which does not have survivorship rights) the property, or their share of the property, will pass to the decedent's estate, to be distributed in accordance with the will, if any, or with the laws of intestacy. In either of these cases, it the distribution of the property will be handled during the probate...

Question regarding whether one roomate under Tenants in Common can prevent a dog from being allowed in a house.

In the event that the dog leads to a significant breakdown in the relationships in the house your roommate could choose to institute a petition to partition the property. While it sounds like the Brady Bunch Episode where they put a masking tape line to divide the room, what it ultimately leads to is the forced sale of the property. As part of the partition process there is an accounting, which would be where you could resolve the issue of one roommate not contributing to the expenses to keep...

What is the process in MA state for getting a lien taken off our property

You can not unilaterally remove a mortgage lien from your property. That being said, if you were to attempt to sell the property at a short sale, it would be the obligation of the 'short sale negotiator' to work with both your first and second mortgage holder in an attempt to get their agreement to the terms of the deal that we would present to them. I have participated in dozens of short sales where the first mortgage will get the lions share of the proceeds with between $1,000 and $5,000...

What happens to Mom's/Exwife's credit in foreclosure since they are in on the mortgages?

I agree that Bankruptcy is likely not an answer to the problem that you are experiencing. The lender has the legal right to 'go after' any of the people who signed the promissory note(s) and you are all liable under the note. In the event that the lender does foreclose, they may or may not choose to pursue the deficiency, which is the amount owed plus expenses less the proceeds of the sale. In their evaluation of whether they will in fact pursue the deficiency they almost certainly...