Revised 8/2023

LGL 115 - Real Estate Law (3 CR.)

Course Description

Studies law of real property and gives in-depth survey of the more common types of real estate transactions and conveyances such as deeds, contracts, leases, and deeds of trust. Focuses on drafting these various instruments and studies the system of recording of and search for public documents. Lecture 3 hours per week.

General Course Purpose

This course is designed to familiarize the student with the terms, procedures, principles of substantive real estate law, and with the forms and standard documents used in residential real estate transactions.

Course Prerequisites/Corequisites

Proficiency (at the high school level) in spoken and written English is recommended for successful completion of this course. LGL 110 is a corequisite for students in the paralegal studies program.

Course Objectives

Upon completion of this course, the students will be able to:

  • describe the basic principles of substantive real estate law.
  • recognize, define and correctly use basic real estate terms.
  • draft the basic instruments used in common residential real estate transactions.
  • summarize the legal effects of the provisions contained in the instruments described in 3, above.
  • conduct limited title examinations.
  • identify and correctly resolve ethical issues posed in the context of hypothetical problems akin to those faced by professionals working in the area of real estate law.
  • differentiate between the roles of attorneys and paralegals in real estate transactions, and will identify activities that, when performed by a paralegal, constitute unauthorized practice of law.
  • integrate and to apply the knowledge gained in the course to solve hypothetical real estate related problems that might be faced by a client
  • assist an attorney in each phased of a residential real estate closing.

Major Topics to Be Included

  • types of property
  • estates and interests in real property
  • encumbrances, easements and licenses
  • forms of ownership
  • real estate sales contracts and deeds
  • legal aspects of real estate financing
  • mortgages and deeds of trust
  • title searches and title insurance
  • closing documents and HUD-1 statements
  • ethical issues and government regulation in real estate law

Optional Topics

  • overview of landlord - tenant law
  • coops, condos and planned unit developments
  • principles of commercial real estate