Mr. Roberts asks you to sit in on his meeting with a client to take notes. The client is Max Stevens and he is expanding his business ventures to include real estate development. Mr. Stevens wants Mr. Roberts to help him purchase a piece of property that he believes will be perfect for a hotel resort and golf course he wants to build. He thinks the price is right and he wants to move quickly. He intended to just drop off the seller’s information and legal description of the property so Mr. Roberts could put together the offer. However, Mr. Roberts convinced Mr. Stevens to stay and answer some additional questions about the purchase. He wants Mr. Stevens to understand that although the price seems right, there may be many additional issues and costs that he has not considered. As you jot down the different types of issues raised by Mr. Roberts, you try to understand why they are critical to the proposed purchase.

For each issue raised by Mr. Roberts and noted below, discuss the possible implications for Mr. Stevens’ plans:

Primary Task Response: write 600 words that respond to the following questions with your thoughts, ideas, and comments. This will be the foundation for future discussions by your classmates. Be substantive and clear, and use examples to reinforce your ideas:

Why is this issue important?

What questions relating to this issue need to be answered in order for Mr. Stevens to make a well-informed purchase?

As you discuss these with your classmates, try to identify as many reasons and questions for each as you can.Try to come up with some that your classmates have not identified.

o Title examination

o Survey of the property

o Current and past property usage

o Access to water, sewage, and other utilities?

o Soil testing?Tests for hazardous waste?

o Zoning

o Accessibility of property

Buyer = Stevens?His company?Or shall we form a new company?

Task 1: Lease

A new client named Joe Burton has come to ask Mr. Roberts for advice about renting the apartment over his garage. It’s a very nice apartment that was originally constructed for his mother-in-law who has now passed. He knows that such agreements should be in writing and he put together the following agreement to be signed by him and the tenant. His wife thinks it should have more to it and she wants them to avoid problems in the future. Mr. Roberts has shared it with you:

I, Joe Burton, agree to rent an apartment on my property atXXXXX to Jr. McLain for the next year at the rate of $800 per month. He promises to give me $400 as a security deposit.

______________ ____________________________________

Date Joe Burton

______________ ____________________________________

Date Jr. McLain

Mr. Roberts wants you to make a list of additional information that should be addressed in the lease so that he can get the necessary additional information from Mr. Burton. Please note any items that should be clarified as well as any additional items you think should be included in the lease. Be as thorough as possible.

Task 2: Eviction

Sean Peters has asked for Mr. Roberts’s assistance. Mr. Peters bought two rental properties and he is having a problem with one of the tenants he inherited when he took over the property. She has not paid the rent for almost two months and the neighbors complain that her apartment smells of garbage and cats. He wants to get rid of her so he can clean up the apartment and rent it to someone else. He can turn off the water in the apartment from the basement and he wants to know if there is any problem with that. If there’s no water maybe she will finally get out of the building.

Mr. Roberts wants you to do some research and report your findings to him in a short interoffice memo. He believes that there is a statute that addresses a tenant’s utilities. Find that statute in the Georgia code and report what it says. Also, find the statutes that address what a landlord needs to do to dispossess a tenant. Mr. Roberts is certain that there are certain procedures that must be followed. Provide a short summary of those procedures so he can share them with Mr. Peters. Be sure to include citations for all of the statutes you find. Your interoffice memo need not be long but it must accurately summarize the required procedure found in these code sections.

Task 3: Zoning Issue

Mr. Roberts met today with Jake and Sally Harper. They own a farm in Marietta, Georgia, and have decided to buy two horses so their grandchildren can start to learn to ride when they come to visit. A neighbor told them that they may have a zoning issue since they are technically in Marietta. They own approximately 6 acres of land. They plan to keep the horses in an old barn on the property that is currently used for storage. It is over 100 years old and well built and still has the stables used for horses in the past. See the drawing of the property provided by the Harpers. Mr. Roberts wants you to complete the following tasks for the Harpers.

Find the Marietta zoning ordinances. A good place to start is http://www.municode.com/ where you can access local ordinances nationwide. Once you have found the Marietta Code of Ordinances, do a search for the term “livestock” to see what the code provides regarding horse ownership.

What are the requirements for keeping horses in Marietta? Include ordinance citations.

Do the Harpers meet those criteria?

If not, what is the procedure under the Marietta Code for requesting a variance from a zoning law?

o Include ordinance citations.

Under what circumstances will the Board of Zoning Appeals grant a variance?

If the Harpers must request a variance, what argument might they make to support their request?