Thursday, July 28, 2011

Joint and Several Liability and How It Relates to Real Estate

By Adam Ciboch


"Joint and several liability" is related to the law, like many terms you encounter in the field of real estate. Despite the illusion of being self-explanation, it's not quite as intuitive with how it relates to real estate and affects you as a home owner.

An obligation entered into by at least two people, making both liable severally and all liable jointly, is how it's usually described in law dictionaries. The meaning is a lot simpler than that definition makes it sound. A creditor can choose to sue anyone who enters into a contract with one or more other people is what it means in non-legalese. This means that the creditor has the choice to sue just one person of the group or the group as a whole for the full amount. In order to be applicable, this must be stated in the contract's terms.

A course in Tort Law is how most law students learn about joint and several liability. How it relates to the property they own is how most homeowners will understand it themselves. When a guest is injured on their property and subsequently sues for damages, homeowners can be held jointly and severally liable. Other times, the other homeowner can hold the first homeowner jointly and severally liable for property damage committed against property that both homeowners own.

To think of it in a different light, people can jointly apply for a credit card. If one person fails to pay the bill, the credit card company can attempt to obtain money from both card holders or, more likely, the one person who has the financial means to pay the bill. The same is often true for property owned jointly. This most commonly comes into play in the situation described above. Just like a credit card, too, if property is owned jointly and one owner fails to pay the mortgage, the lender can sue that owner, the owner who isn't in default, or both jointly.

Liability for a civil wrongdoing is not where this legal concept ends, although joint and several liability may sound as though it's entirely unrelated to property. To ensure that their property is safe for guests and others who might find themselves making use of it, homeowners who co-own property need to take care. You should also consider ensuring anyone with whom you'd like to co-own is financially stable so the mortgage continues getting paid.




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