2019-2020 Minnesota Real Estate Contract Changes [Editor’s Note: The views expressed here are solely those of Ross Kaplan, and do not represent Edina Realty, Berkshire Hathaway, or any other entity referenced. If you need legal advice, please consult an attorney.] Every August 1 (today!), the annual changes to Minnesota’s standard real estate forms go into...Read More
The Case of the Mysteriously Missing Inspection Clause “Seller Shall/Shall not have the right to continue to offer the Property for sale until this Inspection Contingency is removed.” –old Minnesota Residential Purchase Agreement, lines 192. – 193. [Editor’s Note: The views expressed here are solely those of Ross Kaplan, and do not represent Edina Realty, Berkshire...Read More
Just a Little Fine-Tuning This Year [Editor’s Note: The views expressed here are solely those of Ross Kaplan, and do not represent Edina Realty, Berkshire Hathaway, or any other entity referenced. If you need legal advice, please consult an attorney.] Unlike a year ago, when the standard Minnesota Purchase Agreement was totally revamped, there are...Read More
“Anti-Home Hacking Clause” Added to Minnesota Purchase Agreement Scarcely a month ago, I wrote about the case of a disgruntled Minnesota home Seller who exacted their revenge on their Buyer, post-closing, by remotely hacking into the home’s Nest thermostat (the story is that they waited for the new owner to go on vacation last winter, then...Read More
Minnesota Seller Disclosure Confusion The heart of the Minnesota Seller Disclosure is an alphabetical table listing the home’s various features, followed by a “Yes” or “No” after each item to indicate whether they’re in working order. Since time immemorial, at least a few Sellers have misunderstood the “No” to mean, “No, I don’t have that item”...Read More
Trading Half a Loaf For a Full One (or Possibly None) Starting this January 1, something happened to the Minnesota Seller’s Disclosure that I’d never seen before: it got shorter*. Lopped off the end of the document: the section requiring Sellers to sign (again) as of the date of the Purchase Agreement (“PA”), representing either...Read More
