LL 641.01 Real Estate Finance (Fall 2007-2008: 3)
Prerequisite:
None
Corequisite:
None
Property: Land Law and Environmental Law
This is a three-credit course which will meet twice weekly. The grade is
based on an examination; class attendance, participation in class discussions
and performance in problem solving and negotiation exercises will also be
evaluated as factors in determining the final grade. The instructor practices
in the real estate, land use planning and zoning and municipal (local government)
law areas. This course will explore the role of a lawyer and the myriad
of transactional documents and agreements in residential and commercial
real estate transactions. The course will examine and dissect the representation
of buyers, sellers, and lenders. Case studies will be reviewed to give
students a feel for the layer's role in structuring and adding value to
real estate deals as well as for the "process" or cycle of these transactions.
Students will appreciate the real-world feel of the studies and will get
a better sense of the legal and financial issues that confront residential
and commercial real estate developers, buyers, sellers and lenders. This
course will also emphasize the acquisition of practical lawyering skills
such as drafting and problem-solving abilities. Problems will be presented
requiring students to review and apply real estate documents or specific
provisions, logic, practical skills and negotiating skills. Consistent
with an emphasis on lawyering skills, a variety of ethical issues and dilemmas
relevant to modern real estate practice will be reviewed. The course will
emphasize commercial transactions and the increasing roles available to
lawyers in structuring and advising on those transactions. Commercial leasing
transactions will be discussed as well as choice of ownership entities,
zoning, environmental and due authorization opinion letters, and environmental
and zoning considerations in sale, lease, and finance transactions. In
a commercial transaction the role of the lawyer has evolved so that the
lawyer often now is a central figure in assembling the development team,
the lending institutions, and coordinating the work of other professionals.
The process tends to funnel the lawyer to act as the principal aid and
business advisor, as well as the legal advisor to the developer, buyer,
seller, borrower, or lender. This is an area in which lawyers are finding
an increasing amount of complex and exacting practice, and encountering
delicate ethical issues. The course is designed to introduce students to
the basic mechanics, issues, complications and due diligence requirements
of residential and commercial real estate transactions. Significant attention
and time will be devoted to due diligence and the importance of the thoroughness
of that process and its results, skillful negotiation of documents for transactions
involving mortgage and security agreements, documents for construction loans,
permanent finance loans, and zoning and environmental opinions. The course
will not present absolutes, but rather it will expose students to the understanding
that even though there are standard form documents, agreements and practices,
none of the rules apply when the contract can expressly provide otherwise
after negotiation. The course will emphasize that the negotiating lawyer
is called upon to think, to justify the clauses drafted and to demonstrate
that they are reasonable, fair, and just. Actual documents, case studies
and the cases cited in the Syllabus, instead of a traditional text, are
the course's primary source materials. All materials, except the cases,
are available through the BC Website (also available on CD), Library Reserve,
PDF's, and Supplemental handouts in class.
Howard A. Levine
Last Updated: 26-MAR-07