Lisa McClain: "Understanding China's Influence: No Independent Companies"

https://youtube.com/shorts/Tln6PwosR0w?si=_ZpiPGe2IfFzqOwU

~A.

A home buyer's guide to easements and property rights | Trulia

https://www.trulia.com/guides/easements-property-rights/

Easements: know your property rights

Found out the home you're planning to buy has an easement on the property? That could be a good thing, a bad thing, or an entirely neutral thing. Here's what easements are, and how they affect your property rights.

What are property easements?

An easement gives a person or organization a legal right to use someone else's land—but only for a needed purpose. A utility company may have an easement on your property to access an electrical pole. Or if your driveway overlaps your property line, you might rely on an easement on your neighbor's property to get to your garage.

1. 1. Does this property have easements?

   Legally, sellers must disclose easements on their property during the sale, so you should know if an easement exists by the time you have a purchase agreement, if not sooner. But if you're buying a bank-owned home being sold as-is, you should do some extra research yourself. Your real estate agent can help you decide if there's reason to suspect a property might have an easement on it, but contact the city to find out for sure. Find out exactly where and what type of easements they are. Some easements, for example, remain after you buy the house, but others don't.

2. 2. What types of easements are there?

   The property rights an easement allows depends on the rules of your specific easement. There are many types, but these are some of the features that help define them:

   • Appurtenant versus gross easements: An appurtenant easement allows a property owner access to land that's only accessible through a neighbor's land. These technically benefit a property. An easement in gross benefits an individual or entity, whether that's a neighbor, a utility company, or other organization.
   • Public versus private: Both appurtenant and gross easements can grant access to public or private entities or properties. A private easement might allow a neighbor to access your property, and a public one might allow any member of the public to walk through your yard.
   • Affirmative versus negative: Most easements allow something to happen, which are affirmative. But they can prevent actions, too, like blocking someone's solar panels with a line of trees, which would be a negative easement. (That's right: easements can cover rights to air space, area underground, and the surface of land.)

   Prescriptive easement: Prescriptive describes the way in which an easement comes into being. This is when someone is using a property owner's land regularly for a certain period of time (set by state law) without being restricted by the owner. This is commonly known as "squatter's rights."

3. 3. What are your property rights and easement rights?

   If you buy a house with an easement, odds are, you'll need to abide by the rules of the easement—because they're not often put in place lightly. Let's say you bought beachfront property, and the only way the neighbors can access the public beach is through a path in your yard. You'd legally need to let them use it, because they have a right to access the public beach. Similarly, if a utility company has an easement to access a pipe under your yard, there's not much you can do to change that.

   Otherwise, you have the right to use your property in any way you'd like — so long as that doesn't include anything that prevents the easement from being accessed in its intended way.

4. 4. What if you're buying a property that relies on an easement on someone else's property?

   If you fall in love with a home that's perfect and in the right neighborhood, but it has an extremely narrow driveway, you might be pleased to find out that you have an easement that allows you use a few feet of your neighbor's property to get in and out of your car. Just make sure the terms of the easement guarantee it will stay with the property after you buy it, and be open and friendly with your neighbor about the rules of the easement. They have to let you use it, but if they'd prefer you to treat their property in a certain way, respecting their wishes will help keep things neighborly.

5. 5. How can easements affect my renovations or additions?

   If you plan to build a new construction home or an addition, it's especially important to know whether there are any easements on a property before you buy. You can find out by looking over your paperwork. You'll find easements on deeds, plats, and other homeowner documents. If your neighbor received an easement to ensure a view of a lake, for example, you couldn't renovate, expand, or even plant a tree that would block your neighbor's view.

6. 6. Can easements be challenged?

   They can. But you would need to go to court to challenge an easement, so it's not easy to do in the middle of home buying. If the easement holder agrees to terminate, it could be a smoother process. And in some cases, easements have an expiration date (this would be stated in your deed), so that could be good news.

   Other cases are challengeable, but harder. For instance, if there's a prescriptive easement that's not in continuous use (like a shed was built over your property line, but it's no longer used), you could challenge it. However, there's no guarantee you would win.

Easements aren't the only legal constraints that could be on a potential property. Next, learn about how homeowner's association rules might affect the home you want to buy.

~A.

Property Easement Agreement - Template - Word & PDF

https://www.wonder.legal/us/modele/property-easement-agreement?msclkid=58142fefcea1180ee8cd496956bf5b83

Property Easement Agreement

A Property Easement Agreement is a document used by the owner of a property, known as a grantor, to give permission for another person, known as the grantee, to use that property, often for a limited or specific purpose. This document is an easy way to grant temporary or long-term access to land without transferring ownership entirely. For example, if neighbors share a driveway but access to the main road is only possible through a portion of the driveway owned by one of the neighbors, they could create an easement to give their neighbor limited permission to use their portion of the driveway to access the road.

This document can create two different types of easements, depending on the circumstances:

• If the grantee has a property that shares a boundary with the grantor's property where the easement is being granted, this document will create an easement appurtenant. An easement appurtenant is an easement that is not limited to a specific owner but is instead tied to the property itself. This is often referred to as "running with the land," since it remains in place even when the owners change. An example of an easement appurtenant is a property that offers the only access to a private beach shared by two neighbors. If an easement is created, when the home is sold, the new owners must allow their neighbors access to the beach via their property because the easement stays with the home. An easement appurtnant may be terminated by the parties, but if it is not terminated, it passes automatically to each successive owner of the property.
• The other type of easement is known as an easement in gross. An easement in gross is tied to a specific person or entity, not the property itself, and benefits the person who holds the easement. An easement in gross might be someone allowing their friend permission to use their property for hunting or giving a neighbor access to use their pond for fishing. Since this easement is tied only to the original grantee and grantors who make the agreement, it will not pass automatically to another party if the property is sold and its ownership changes.

A Property Easement Agreement creates clear and precise boundaries and specifies the purpose for the easement and any limitations to how it can be used. This is crucial to avoid any future miscommunication or dispute, especially since easements are often put in place for a long time and can last long enough that the parties no longer remember the original terms of their agreement. This document works for all types of properties, whether they are rural or urban, commercial or residential, as long as the person granting the easement is the owner of the property.

How to use this document

This document includes all of the information necessary to create a thorough and comprehensive Property Easement Agreement. This Agreement can be created by either the grantor or the grantee but its terms must be agreed to and signed by both parties. The document includes various options to tailor the Agreement to meet the parties' needs. The Agreement allows the Parties to specify the following important details that will guide their grantor/grantee relationship:

• Name and contact information for both Parties
• Legal description of the property where the easement is being created and a specific description of the easement itself
• Length of the agreement and how long the grantee will have access
• Whether the grantee will pay any money to the grantor in exchange for access to the easement and how that money will be paid
• Specifying the purpose for the easement and whether there are any limitations to when and how the grantee may use it
• Whether the grantee will have exclusive access to the easement or the grantor is free to grant others the same access

After inputting the required information, the Agreement is printed out and signed by both Parties, and then kept on file by both Parties for the duration of the Agreement as well as for a reasonable period of time thereafter. The completed agreement should be filed according to local rules which are different from county to county. For example, in Philadelphia, an easement should be filed with the city clerk of courts in the recorder of deeds department. Contact the local county Register of Deeds to get information about which government agency should be given the easement to file and record before being returned to the parties.

Applicable law

Easement Agreements are governed by state law. Different states have different requirements for whether and how the easement should be filed.

How to modify the template

You fill out a form. The document is created before your eyes as you respond to the questions.

At the end, you receive it in Word and PDF formats. You can modify it and reuse it.

~A.

Civil Cases | United States Courts

https://www.uscourts.gov/about-federal-courts/types-cases/civil-cases

Civil Cases

The Process

To begin a civil lawsuit in federal court, the plaintiff files a complaint with the court and "serves" a copy of the complaint on the defendant. The complaint describes the plaintiff's damages or injury, explains how the defendant caused the harm, shows that the court has jurisdiction, and asks the court to order relief. A plaintiff may seek money to compensate for the damages, or may ask the court to order the defendant to stop the conduct that is causing the harm. The court may also order other types of relief, such as a declaration of the legal rights of the plaintiff in a particular situation.

Case Preparation

There may be "discovery," where the litigants must provide information to each other about the case, such as the identity of witnesses and copies of any documents related to the case. The purpose of discovery is to prepare for trial by requiring the litigants to assemble their evidence and prepare to call witnesses. Each side also may file requests, or "motions," with the court seeking rulings on the discovery of evidence, or on the procedures to be followed at trial.

Discovery may include a deposition, requiring a witness to answer questions about the case before the trial. The witness answers questions from the lawyer under oath, in the presence of a court reporter, who produces a word-for-word account called a transcript.           

Settling Differences

To avoid the expense and delay of having a trial, judges encourage the litigants to try to reach an agreement resolving their dispute. The courts encourage the use of mediation, arbitration, and other forms of alternative dispute resolution, designed to produce a resolution of a dispute without the need for trial or other court proceedings. As a result, litigants often agree to a "settlement." Absent a settlement,  the court will schedule a trial. In a wide variety of civil cases, either side is entitled under the Constitution to request a jury trial. If the parties waive their right to a jury, then a judge without a jury will hear the case.

Trial Process

By applying rules of evidence, the judge determines which information may be presented in the courtroom. So that witnesses speak from their own knowledge and do not change their story based on what they hear another witness say, they are kept out of the courtroom until they testify. A court reporter keeps a record of the trial proceedings, and a deputy clerk of court keeps a record of each person who testifies and any documents, photographs, or other items introduced into evidence.

The opposing attorney may object if a question it invites the witness to say something that is not based on the witness's personal knowledge, is unfairly prejudicial, or is irrelevant to the case. Generally, the judge either overrules or sustains – allows – the objection. If the objection is sustained, the witness does not answer the question, and the attorney must move on to his next question. The court reporter records the objections so that a court of appeals can review the arguments later if necessary.

Closing

After evidence is heard, each side gives a closing argument. In a jury trial, the judge will explain the law that is relevant to the case and the decisions the jury needs to make. The jury generally is asked to determine whether the defendant is responsible for harming the plaintiff in some way, and then to determine the amount of damages that the defendant will be required to pay. If the case is tried before a judge without a jury, known as a "bench" trial, the judge will decide these issues or order some kind of relief to the prevailing party. In a civil case, the plaintiff must convince the jury by a "preponderance of the evidence" (i.e., that it is more likely than not) that the defendant is responsible for the harm the plaintiff has suffered.

~A.

they killed it, DOA

https://issuu.com/mysticseaport/docs/wells_boat_hall_brochure_single_page_for_issuu