SideBar Newsletter from Shumaker Williams, P.C.

By Rachel M. Wolf

Many mortgage lenders and brokers and other businesses are engaging in, or are considering engaging in, various activities aimed at assisting homeowners facing foreclosure or struggling to meet their mortgage loan obligations. Such activities may include negotiating with a consumer's current lender to achieve loan workouts, short sales, short refinances and loan modifications. Individuals and businesses involved in providing these services to consumers should be aware that many state regulatory agencies, including the Maryland Division of Financial Regulation and the Maryland Attorney General's Office, are carefully scrutinizing individuals and businesses providing these types of services and are enacting new laws and/or vigorously enforcing existing laws that impose licensing requirements and other requirements and restrictions with respect to these activities.

Maryland, among other states, has recently enacted foreclosure consulting statutes and other similar statutes. The Maryland Protection of Homeowners in Foreclosure Act ("PHIFA"), enacted in 2005 specifically to protect homeowners facing foreclosure and amended in 2008, applies to "foreclosure consultants," encompassing business that provide virtually every activity aimed at assisting a homeowner who is in or potentially facing foreclosure and/or who is 60 days or more in default on their mortgage loan. A foreclosure consultant is also defined as a person who "systematically contacts owners of residences [60 days or more] in default to offer foreclosure consulting services."

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Real Estate Purchase Agreements:
Ten Pages of Legal Mumbo-Jumbo? (Not Exactly)

By Evan C. Pappas

In considering a purchase or sale of real estate, whether represented by a real estate professional or braving the process on your own, one of the most important first steps in the process is drafting and signing the Agreement of Sale. The Agreement of Sale is the seller's promise to sell and the buyer's promise to buy the subject property. This document is often encountered as a standard "form" agreement with a white top sheet and carbon sheets (pink and yellow) underneath; however, it can appear in any number of forms, some drafted by attorneys and some drafted by a non-attorney seller. When evaluating the Agreement of Sale, it is important to know that although it appears to be a complete form, with little room for amendments, you have the right to make changes to this important document governing the transaction.

Sellers and purchasers will often defer to the expertise of their real estate professional and have him/her fill in all of the required spaces without having read or understood the document. Relying on a trusted real estate professional may be acceptable, but one must realize that the Agreement is a contract and that your signature will be firmly affixed to the last page of the document binding you to all of the terms contained therein - even if you did not read them! In some circumstances, the contract will leave you responsible for a liability you did not intend, or worse, purchasing a property you do not want to buy.

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Labor and Employment Law: An Overview of "Interesting Times"

By Marc G. Tarlow

The articles written over the past five years regarding employment law have tended to review distinct developments in the law, these are very "interesting times" and merit a moment to reflect how the legal and political events of the last six months augur a new period in management/employee relations. When developments and trends in labor and employment law over the last six months are considered, it is quite possible that we are witnessing a change of direction that ought to be reviewed by employers. These changes will require significant review of existing policies, and, most importantly, usher in a period in which employers of all sizes may be well advised to exercise greater caution than in years past.

Looking broadly at the field, one can point to the great depression as a watershed. It was then that the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) was created giving the union movement explicit legal protections at a federal level, followed by the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) providing minimum wage protection. Another era began in 1964 with the passage of anti-discrimination in employment legislation (Title VII), followed shortly by protections against age discrimination in 1967. This era was followed by a contraction of the union movement after the termination of over 11,000 air traffic controllers in 1981. Although laws such as the Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) were passed after 1981, the pendulum began to swing in favor of management after President Reagan's break of the air traffic controllers' strike. In the following decade, taking this cue, many private sector strikes were met with equally staunch opposition causing the union movement shrink.

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Do you have a Pet Policy?
Rules for Inviting Pets into Your Hotel to Avoid Litigation

By: Anthony J. Foschi

This past summer, my family traveled out of town. Stupid me, I forgot to make a reservation at the kennel for our four legged family member. So I went onto the web and visited some web sites to see if I could find a local hotel with a published pet policy. Being in the industry for 14 years, I have heard all the pros and cons for allowing guests to bring pets into your hotel since it is a win-win: your guests are happy, they tend to stay longer at your property and, as a result, your revenues increase. Increasing revenues is important; however, you must first evaluate the risks and ultimate cost of having pets in your hotel verses the additional revenue.

Guests are bringing their entire families when they travel: cats, dogs, birds, fish, pigs and even snakes. According to the American Automobile Association, 62% of all U.S. households own at least one pet. Of those who travel with pets, 14% travel with cats, and 78% travel with dogs. Guests' traveling with pets is a trend that a responsible hotel operator certainly cannot ignore. Because of this trend, an operator needs to carefully consider how best to protect employees, guests and their property.

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