Real Estate Legal Questions

Maryland Legal Answers provided by GCAAR 

The answers provided here are the opinions of the authors, are for informational purposes. No purpose of providing a legal advice, but rather providing a general statement of law. No lawyer/client relationship is - or will be - established as a result of the material which follows.Readers are encouraged to retain their own counsel for their specific questions. Answers may have been edited for formatting purposes.

Question: Is the Montgomery County REA disclosure addendum
required in an estate sale situation where the seller is an heir of the
estate?

Answer: Yes. Although an estate seller is exempt by statute from
providing a Maryland Residential Property Disclosure and Disclaimer
Statement (GCAAR Form 912) under Section10-702 of the Real
Property Article of the Annotated Code of Maryland (transfer by
a fiduciary in the course of administration of a decedent's estate),
the disclosures and representations contained in the Government
Regulations, Easements and Assessments Disclosure and Addendum
(GCAAR FORM 900) apply to all sellers and thus are required in
Montgomery County sales.

Question: In the Home Inspection Contingency, if a Buyer requests
a closing cost credit in lieu of repair, can the Seller under Paragraph
2.A.c. cancel the contract on the 3rd day following the delivery of
the request for the closing cost credit unless the Buyer withdraws
the closing cost request?

Answer: No, If the parties have agreed to the terms of Paragraph 2 ("Home inspection contingency") of the Addendum of Clauses (GCAAR Form 1332) and Buyer has provided a copy of the report and Home Inspection Notice (GCAAR Form 1344) to Seller requesting a credit pursuant to subparagraph A, Seller may only either accept the offer contained in that Notice or make another offer. If Seller makes another offer and Buyer accepts it, the parties are bound. If Buyer counters Seller's offer, Seller may then at that time deliver notice that the contract will become void at 9 p.m. on the 3rd day following Delivery, unless the Buyer delivers to the Seller notice of acceptance of the last delivered offer. If Buyer does not accept Seller's prior offer within that time, the contract is then void.

Question: Is "hard money" financing considered cash or
conventional? Does an offer that is "not contingent on financing"
imply that the buyer will purchase the property even if the "hard
money" financing is not available?

Answer: Hard money financing is neither a conventional loan nor
cash. A "hard money" loan is typically issued by a private investor or company. Interest rates are typically higher than conventional loans because of the higher risk taken by the lender. Typically borrowers
use hard money loans when they would/could not qualify for a conventional loan. If there is no financing contingency, the buyer must purchase the property whether or not they qualify for a loan, hard
money or otherwise. I If they were unable to secure a loan, they would need to purchase the property with cash.