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By: Lauren Podgorski

Arizona passed Senate Bill 1030, which authorizes Arizona notaries to perform remote online notarizations, known as “RON.” RON becomes effective as of June 30, 2020.

 What is Remote Online Notarization (RON)?

Currently, a person must “personally appear before or be in the presence of” a notary public in order to have her signature or document notarized. RON provides that an Arizona notary public who is physically located in Arizona may notarize remotely, using communication technology for individuals located anywhere in the United States, and even outside of the United States subject to certain additional requirements. Now, with RON, communication technology satisfies the requirement to “personally appear before or be in the presence of” a notary public.… Read More »

In Arizona, a party successfully quieting title to property may recover its attorneys’ fees if it satisfies three requirements: (1) the party requests a quitclaim deed from the party adversely claiming title twenty days before bringing the quiet-title action; (2) the party tenders five dollars for the execution and delivery of the deed; and (3) the adverse party fails to comply. Ariz. Rev. Stat. § 12-1103(B). Recently, in McCleary v. Tripodi, No. 2 CA-CV 2016-0145, 2017 WL 3723472 (Ariz. Ct. App. Aug. 29, 2017), the Arizona Court of Appeals awarded attorneys’ fees to the prevailing party under this statute.

In McCleary v.… Read More »

On a high level, construction delay litigation involves sorting out the impacts to the critical project path and determining which party is responsible for those impacts. One of the more difficult elements of this process is determining whether a delay would have occurred regardless of one party’s critical path impact due to a separate, independent impact to the critical path by the other party.  For example, a contractor cannot collect delay damages for delays caused by the owner if the contractor itself was causing independent impacts that would have pushed off the completion date anyway.

However, the concept of “pacing” provides a potential defense for a party who is not on pace with the as-planned schedule for noncritical activities, even where those activities are still ongoing after the planned completion date.… Read More »

By:  David Leta

On March 25, Utah became the first state to enact the Uniform Commercial Real Estate Receivership Act (“UCRERA”) which was drafted by the National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws (the “Conference”) and adopted by the Conference at its annual meeting in July 2015. The Utah Uniform Commercial Real Estate Receivership Act, (the “Utah Act”) mirrors UCRERA and applies to all commercial real property receiverships that are filed in the Utah District Courts on and after May 9, 2017.

The Utah Act provides both substantive and procedural guidance in an area of law that historically has been marked by inconsistency and uncertainty.… Read More »

By Patrick J. Paul

On July 21, 2016, the California Supreme Court in Property Reserve v. Superior Court upheld the state’s precondemnation entry and testing statutes provided they were reformed to allow impacted property owners the ability to have a jury trial to determine damages associated with such entry and testing.

The California Department of Water Resources (DWR) sought to construct water conveyance facilities that would require significant property condemnation. As part of this process, DWR further sought to investigate the environmental and geological suitability of more than 150 private properties considered for the conveyance route.

DWR proposed two sets of precondemnation diligence – – environmental and geological activities.… Read More »

By: Nathan Kanute

For several years, Nevada Courts have considered a myriad of issues related to how Nevada law applies to loans made by banks that are later take over by the FDIC. In the past eight months, the Nevada Supreme Court has addressed two of those issues. See Munoz v. Branch Banking and Trust Company, Inc., 131 Nev., Adv. Op. 23 (Apr. 30, 2015) and Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. v. Rhodes, 130 Nev., Adv. Op. 88 (Oct. 30, 2014). In both cases, the Court held that the Supremacy Clause of the United States Constitution precluded application of the applicable Nevada statutes.… Read More »

By: Neal McConomy

On August 14, 2014, the Tenth Circuit vacated and remanded the lower court’s decision regarding a dispute between a surface owner’s and a subsurface owner’s respective rights to access and enjoy land and property rights.  Entek GRB, LLC v. Stull Ranches, LLC, 763 F.3d 1252 (10th Cir. 2014).  The decision reached in Entek GRB, LLC v. Stull Ranches, LLC addresses a debate occurring throughout Colorado and the United States: what controls do surface owners have regarding subsurface owners’ claims for access to and occupation of surface areas in their pursuit to exercise their rights to the oil, gas, and other minerals beneath the surface owner’s land. … Read More »

By:  Jefferson R. Hayden  http://www.swlaw.com/attorneys/jefferson_hayden

A growing number of governmental authorities are cracking down on the use of social media with regard to commercial transactions.  In Arizona, for example, legislation was proposed restricting an employer’s right to access social media account information of its employees.  Though SB 1411 was not passed in 2013, the Arizona real estate industry should pay close attention to its own social media practices since it is covered by the Fair Housing Act.  If the legislative progression of other states is any indicator, the Arizona real estate industry may also encounter future issues in both the landlord/tenant and lending realms.… Read More »

By:  Julie Maurer

Owners and developers of multifamily housing beware—you may be held responsible for your architect’s oversight. A growing number of state and federal courts are in universal agreement that owners and developers cannot sue their architects for designs that fail to meet accessibility requirements of the Fair Housing Act (FHA) and Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). While Arizona has yet to address this issue, recent decisions illustrate the importance for owners to proactively engage architects and consultants regarding accessibility issues.

In a recent decision, Miami Valley Fair Hous. Ctr., Inc. v. Campus Vill. Wright State, LLC, 2012 WL 4473236 (S.D.… Read More »