Legal Representation in Transactions Involving Brokers.

If you've arrived at this page, you're probably considering a legal transaction involving a great deal of money, perhaps hundreds of thousands of dollars. Your transaction will involve signing countless legal documents containing important terms and obligations that you most likely do not understand. If you are a buyer, you're probably entering into a long term financial relationship with a lender that will also involve many complex legal documents and commitments. You're working with a real estate agent whose educational background (other than holding a license to sell property) you most likely know nothing about. This agent is prohibited by law from giving you legal advice and has a personal financial interest in your transaction. Yet, you may still be thinking of relying on this individual as your sole source for guidance, protection, and professional advice in what may be the largest and most important financial transaction of your life.

So you need to ask yourself: Would you ever consider entering into any other type of legal transaction involving such a large sum of money and with so very much at stake, without having an attorney involved to make sure your interests are adequately protected? If not, then why should a real estate transaction be any different?

An experienced real estate attorney can guide you through the transaction by representing your interests only and providing a level of services that a real estate agent is unable to offer. An attorney's job is to anticipate, prevent, or resolve any problems in the transaction, insure that your legal rights are being protected, and get the transaction completed in as simple and painless a way for you as possible. Having a dedicated legal professional in your corner allows you to put your legal concerns aside and focus on other important issues at this busy time in your life.

A more detailed explanation as to why it is in your best interest to engage the services of an experienced real estate attorney in Kenosha, Wisconsin, and Guttormsen Law Office, LLC in particular, can be found in the following Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs). If you'd like more details on just how Guttormsen Law Office, LLC can be of assistance to you in a Broker-Involved Transaction, please see the Description of Services below the FAQs.

Broker-Involved Transaction FAQs

Why Do I Need a Lawyer?
Can't I just do this myself by purchasing or downloading some forms?
Won't the broker, title company or lender protect my interests?
Can't any type of attorney represent me? Why Guttormsen Law Office?
When Should I Get My Lawyer Involved?
What Kind of Problems Can Arise in a Real Estate Transaction?
Aren't Lawyers Expensive? What Are Your Fees?
What is Title Insurance, and why do I need it?

What services do you provide in a Broker-Involved Transaction?

1. Why Do I Need a Lawyer?

Everyone has their own area of expertise. Most people who lack the necessary skill or training don't attempt their own plumbing, computer repair, or medical diagnosis. So why would you trust your legal matters (which a real estate transaction most certainly is) to anyone other than an experienced attorney? Trying to "do it yourself" or relying on non-legal professionals and using hope as your only strategy is a risky course of action.

While it is true that many transactions are successfully completed without legal representation, it is often the case that major pitfalls are narrowly avoided by luck alone without the parties even realizing how close they came to disaster. In many other instances, the parties are not so lucky and something goes horribly wrong, causing the transaction to blow up or fall through. The safest course of action is to hire an experienced real estate attorney to safeguard your interests. As a skilled real estate lawyer in Kenosha, Wisconsin, Attorney Gregg Guttormsen can help you avoid the dangers that frequently arise in real estate transactions, and at a cost considerably less than that which would be required to hire us after the problem has arisen.
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2. Can't I just do this myself by purchasing or downloading some forms?

Sure, if you want to place the entire transaction at risk! But if drafting enforceable legal contracts and successfully closing a transaction was as simple as filling in blanks on a form, there would be no need for legal education or law licenses. Unfortunately, it's not as simple as the form-sellers would like you to believe. The contracts we draft at Guttormsen Law Office are specific to Wisconsin law. Each term and condition has a particular legal meaning and effect, and has been tested and evaluated in the Wisconsin courts. Our contracts are recognized and accepted by the banks and mortgage companies. Most of the generic forms purchased online or at office supply stores contain only a few of the many terms that need to be addressed in a Wisconsin transaction, and many are unenforceable on their face. Without having the necessary background and knowledge to understand the legal effect of the language of the contract, filling in a blank incorrectly can have an unwanted, or even fatal, impact on your transaction. The proper preparation of a legal document requires a thorough understanding of the legal principles upon which it is based. You don't get that from buying a fill-in-the-blank form.
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3. Won't the broker, title company or lender protect my interests?

The short answer is "No". The real estate agent's job is to pair a buyer with a seller's property and negotiate an agreement between them. As mentioned above, a real estate agent is not an attorney and cannot give legal advice. While many Kenosha area real estate agents like to stay involved in a transaction through closing (unlike in most other states where the agents step aside once the contract has been signed and their contractual duties to the parties are technically completed), they do not have the authority or expertise to represent or advise a party when it comes to the multiple legal issues involved in the transaction. Their permissible scope of services is therefore quite limited and should not be relied upon as an alternative to a lawyer.

The title insurance company and its closing agent do not represent you either. They are hired to provide the title insurance and represent the lender in the closing of the transaction, and while they may offer a generic explanation of the closing and loan documents, they cannot provide legal advice or act as your advocate. You will even be required to sign a form at closing acknowledging this fact. As for the lender, their business is to make loans and collect mortgage payments, not act as your attorney. So the question remains: Who is looking out for YOU?
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4. Can't any type of attorney represent me? Why Guttormsen Law Office?

Many lawyers who concentrate their practice in other areas may dabble in real estate. But dabbling is dangerous for both the attorney and the client. As in any other area of practice, there is a certain level of competence that can only be gained from doing the same thing on a regular basis. A client should expect to be represented by an attorney who handles real estate matters on a daily basis and has dealt with virtually every type of situation that might arise. Attorney Guttormsen has been handling real estate transactions as a primary focus of his practice for over 28 years, has taught the real estate licensing course, holds a title insurance license, and can provide a level of experience that other attorneys in the Kenosha, Wisconsin area, particularly those focusing in other practice areas, cannot match. You can be assured that with Guttormsen Law Office, LLC, your interests, and your investment, will be properly safeguarded.
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5. When Should I Get My Lawyer Involved?

As early as possible! At Guttormsen Law Office, LLC, hardly a week goes by that we don't receive a least one phone call which begins, "I know I should have called you before I got involved in this deal, but..." As with every other legal matter, the time to think about hiring a lawyer is before something bad happens. It is always much simpler to get things done right the first time rather than trying to undo or fix something that has already gone wrong. Often times a client will call and say, "I'm buying/selling a piece of property and I'd like you to review my contract". And many times after reviewing the contract, we must tell the client, "This is very poorly drafted and puts you at serious risk. It's a shame you already signed it!" So now what? A review serves no purpose if the client is simply being notified of the bad deal that he or she has already legally committed to. Your lawyer should get involved before you sign anything so that a thorough legal analysis can be conducted and the contract can be prepared properly and with your best interests in mind. The closing of the transaction is not the time or place to discover or attempt to resolve problems.
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6. What Kind of Problems Can Arise in a Real Estate Transaction?

Many problems in real estate transactions are the result of poorly drafted purchase contracts. An improperly drafted contract can be vague or ambiguous, resulting in the parties having a totally different understanding of its terms and thus creating legal conflicts. Other problems result from the parties missing or misunderstanding critical dates within the contract, or not realizing how various events must be coordinated with each other. Defects in the condition of title often appear, such as unsatisfied liens and judgments or incorrect names on title. Encroachments and boundary line issues may be revealed by a survey, and property condition defects discovered through inspections. The property may not appraise for the purchase price, or other problems with financing may arise. And often, a buyer or seller will simply change his or her mind and decide not to perform, leaving the other party scrambling for a solution. Guttormsen Law Office, LLC has handled these and countless other problems over the years and is prepared to prevent them from happening or quickly resolve them if they do.
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7. Aren't Lawyers Expensive? What Are Your Fees?

For some reason, many people don't think twice about paying many thousands of dollars in a real estate commission, yet they balk at paying a mere fraction of that amount for the protections an experienced real estate lawyer affords them. The money paid to an attorney in a real estate transaction is minor in relation to the huge benefit conferred upon the client for such representation, and pales in comparison to the cost of hiring the same lawyer after something in the transaction has gone wrong. When hiring a lawyer, you are buying the peace of mind of knowing that you have someone in your corner who will make sure that your interests are protected and the other party is held to the contract. What is that worth to you?

Our fees vary depending on the nature and complexity of the transaction. We will discuss your matter with you to assess the scope of work anticipated, and will offer a flat fee for standard transactions whenever possible. There are times, however, where the scope of work is uncertain and open-ended, in which case billing must be based on an hourly basis for time actually spent on the matter. With either method, we strive to keep our fees reasonable and keep accurate and detailed time and billing records so the client can know at all times where he or she stands.
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8. What is Title Insurance, and why do I need it?

When a person purchases real estate, they receive a piece of paper (deed), a set of keys (if improved property) and a congratulatory handshake in exchange for the large sum of money they pay to the seller. But how can they be certain they are now the legal owner? What happens if the seller had a mortgage that didn't get paid off, or if a judgment was entered against the seller and remains a lien against the property even after it's sold? Or what if a person sells the property while claiming to be the sole owner, when in fact he or she owns the property with another person who didn't sign the deed?

That's where title insurance comes into play. It's an insurance policy that guarantees that the buyer is getting clear title to the property without any defects. The title insurance company, after researching the title history of the property, assumes the risk of any defects in the buyer's ownership discovered after closing. If the buyer subsequently discovers a condition adversely affecting his or her clear ownership of the property, a claim can be filed against the title insurance company in much the same manner as one would file a claim against an auto or homeowner's insurance policy. It is now up to the title insurance company to resolve the claim and restore clear title in the name of the buyer.

In Wisconsin, the title insurance policy protecting the buyer is the responsibility of the seller to provide. However, a lender will also require a policy of title insurance guaranteeing its mortgage as being a valid, first lien against the property, and this is the buyer's responsibility to provide.
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Description of Services in Broker-Involved Transactions

The services we provide in regard to transactions in which one or more real estate agent is involved are generally the same as the services provided in FSBO transactions, except that some services, particularly the initial contract preparation, may have already been undertaken by the agents by the time we become involved. If there are certain pre-closing services that the realtors may also be performing as a matter of their standard office procedure, we will keep a watchful eye on every document, development and deadline to make sure that the transaction stays on track, and will coordinate all activities associated with preparing for closing. In short, we will shepherd you through the transaction from start to finish, working with the realtors to the extent necessary, and making sure things are being done properly and with your interests in mind.
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