http://www.robertjross.com Practicing in Estate Planning, Estate Administration, Business & Commercial Law since 1986. Tue, 02 Mar 2010 16:15:50 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en About a year after a married couple sold their home, the buyers sued them for fraudulent misrepresentation The buyers contended that the sellers had falsely represented that the home had no moisture or water problems, no damage due to Hooding, and no problems with its foundation The sellers, in turn, ... http://www.robertjross.com/2010/01/29/misrepresentation-about-water-damage-is-not-property-damage/ Hurricane Katrina destroyed Merlin's house in August of 2005 About two weeks before Katrina hit he had missed a deadline to pay a premium to keep his flood insurance policy in effect for 2005 to 2006. After Katrina, the Federal Emergency Management Agency extended a grace period of 90 days ... http://www.robertjross.com/2010/01/29/lapsed-flood-insurance/ In 2005, a married couple signed a contract with a builder to purchase a unit in a condominium building that was being developed in a luxury resort community. The contract specified that the condominium would be built within two years, although the contract included a "force majeure" provision that allowed ... http://www.robertjross.com/2010/01/29/real-estate-roundup/ A section of the federal Internal Revenue Code authorizes estate tax deductions for qualifying interests in family-owned businesses. For the deduction to apply, the value of the interest in the business held by a person at the time of his or her death must exceed 50% of the total value ... http://www.robertjross.com/2010/01/29/business-loans-cannot-reduce-estate-taxes/ Shortly before he left the employment of a residential treatment center for addicted persons, an employee e-mailed some of his employer's documents to his and his wife's personal e-mail accounts. The employee operated two consulting businesses of his own concerning addiction rehabilitation services. The employer's documents, including its financial statement ... http://www.robertjross.com/2010/01/29/e-mailed-documents-allowed/ Recently, the Credit Card Accountability, Responsibility, and Disclosure Act of 2009 (the Credit CARD Act) went into effect. Congress saw a pressing need to protect consumers from abusive fees, penalties, interest rate increases, and other unjustified changes in the terms of credit card accounts. A new hike in the penalties ... http://www.robertjross.com/2010/01/29/credit-card-act/ In a variation on a familiar phrase, a federal trial court effectively has ruled that, in the context of a website posting customers' reviews of their retail buying experiences, "you can't blame the message board." In the case before the court, the defendant was an online consumer affairs company that ... http://www.robertjross.com/2010/01/29/car-dealers-clash-with-website/ Azad and Anoop were friends and frequent golf partners. The friendship was no doubt strained when they became adversaries in litigation arising from an injury to Azad during a golf outing. A shot struck by Anoop hit Azad in the eye, causing a serious injury. There was a factual dispute ... http://www.robertjross.com/2009/11/12/errant_shot/ A permanently disabled Medicaid recipient residing in a nursing home challenged an informal rule issued by the federal Department of Health and Human Services which requires that, for purposes of determining the benefits due to a Medicaid-eligible individual, states must consider income placed in a Special Needs Trust for that ... http://www.robertjross.com/2009/11/12/medicaid-benefits-and-special-needs-trusts/ Theodore entered into an installment contract with a corporate creditor for the purchase of a new automobile. A few years later, he defaulted on his installment payments, and the creditor repossessed the vehicle. Not long after that, Theodore filed for bankruptcy in federal bankruptcy court. Needing his car to commute to ... http://www.robertjross.com/2009/11/12/lender-must-return-debtor%e2%80%99s-vehicle/