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The Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act

In the year 1980, the United States Congress passed the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA). CERCLA is a remedial statute designed to protect and preserve public health and the environment. Courts have construed it broadly in order to effectuate its purpose.

Causing Damage to a Neighbor's Property

Generally speaking, if a property owner undertakes an action that results in damage to the property that is owned by his or her neighbor, the offending property owner may be liable.

Land Trusts

A land trust is a device by which land is conveyed to a trustee for the benefit of another. A settlor is the owner of the property that is placed into the trust. A land trust is created when settlor expresses his or her intent to create a trust through a written instrument. The instrument must name the trustee and identify the trustee's powers, the beneficiaries, and any remaindermen. The settlor may be the trustee and, in most cases, the beneficiary of the land trust.

Radon Gas Tests

The existence of radon gas in a home is a health hazard. In residential real estate transactions, it is not uncommon for standard real estate contracts to contain a clause that makes the buyer's consummation of the transaction contingent upon the home passing a radon gas test.

Lis Pendens

Emile and Ericka found their dream house. In examining the title to the property, the title company indicated that it found a "Notice of Lis Pendens." The notice indicated that a bank, the mortgage holder on the property, had initiated foreclosure proceedings.