Publications for Real Estate Litigation

On November 6, 2018, Michigan became the tenth state to legalize cannabis for recreational use, known as Proposal 1 (“Prop 1”). Prop 1 legalized, among other things, the consumption of cannabis for individuals 21 years or older, allows individuals to grow up to 12 cannabis plants, and permits an individual to possess up to 2.5 ounces of consumable cannabis on their person with up to 10 ounces stored at a person’s residence subject to certain storage requirements.

Given these often conflicting interests, landlords must strategically plan and carefully negotiate lease terms that will allow them to mortgage leased property. This means taking the steps necessary to make a transaction appealing to a lender while reducing the risk that a tenant could hold a financing deal hostage.

Most commercial leases, like other business contracts, are filled with provisions (often called “boilerplate”) the parties to the contract pay little attention to; that is, until a dispute arises. At that point, these provisions become critical to the outcome.

Over the course of the coming months, we will be publishing a series of articles that discuss some of the common real estate, finance, and corporate issues that our clients face on a day-to-day basis.

Most municipalities own at least some real property and often such property is underutilized. An effective way for a municipality to monetize that asset, and raise extra revenue, is to lease the property to a tenant.

Michigan has the second longest coastline in the United States trailing only the state of Alaska. With the hot summer months quickly approaching, Michigan’s expansive coastline (including inland shorelines) will be taken over by beachgoers.

At some point, a municipality and its leaders likely will be forced to grapple with the following question: Does a landowner have any rights if the landowner builds a home or other obstruction in a road right of way or other property dedicated to the public?