Highlights of the 23rd Annual Advanced Real Estate Seminar 2019 (USB Seminar)

Inquiry notice is a key ingredient of due diligence for persons who purchase real property and who make loans secured by real property. Purchasers who become subject to a duty to inquire are charged with whatever information a diligent investigation would reveal. Physical possession of the property by persons inconsistent with recorded instruments usually triggers a duty to inquire about the possessors’ rights. In addition, the duty to inquire is often triggered by language in recorded instruments that triggers a duty to discover more about the state of title.

In this breakout session, the panelists will identify and discuss practice tips, legal issues, and negotiation strategies for commercial loan documents, with mock negotiations. One panelist will assume the role and perspective of lender counsel and the other will assume the role and perspective of borrower counsel. The session will address (i) key negotiating points; (ii) issues that are best addressed at the term sheet stage; (iii) the lawyer's role in the process; and (iv) common pitfalls.

The session will discuss the propriety of using condominiums or owners associations to develop complex and mixed-use projects. The presenter will also answer how condominium division of land relates to subdivision and local approvals.

This session will focus on how to mitigate risk from both a risk management and an insurance perspective. From the state of current claims to trends in insurance generally, this session will give every real estate lawyer the tools they need to prepare for risk across the board in 2019.

From the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation to California’s new data privacy regulations, the concept of “privacy” is on the rise. Data privacy and cybersecurity intersect, but are not the same. This session will focus on how a lawyer’s ethical duties of confidentiality overlap with data privacy. Every real estate lawyer handles personal identifying information that is covered by privacy regulations—do you know what you need to know?

After the dramatic 2016 legislation affecting residential rezonings, applicants and governing bodies encountered issues where litigation concerns stymied debate about mitigating effects. Litigation arose nonetheless. Capital facilities typically provided in the conditional rezoning process evaporated, frustrating governing bodies in new ways. Will the 2019 General Assembly produce a better way forward?

For waterfront property, the “riparian nature of property is often … the greatest element of its value” (Lynnhaven Dunes Condominium Association v. City of Virginia Beach, 284 Va. 661, 673 (2012)). This presentation will explain the nature of riparian property rights in Virginia, how to protect this valuable bundle of rights, tips for practice before the Virginia Marine Resources Commission (VMRC), and will illustrate the topic with examples involving construction of piers and examples involving oyster growing equipment (aquaculture) in Virginia waters.