No matter the length of the term, a lease does not need to be recorded in the registry of deeds to be enforceable against the landlord and tenant. The tricky part comes when other parties have claims against the same real estate. For example, if a 10-year lease is executed on March 1 and never recorded, and a mortgage is recorded two weeks later … [Read more...]
Real Property Law: Private Roads Are Getting Public Attention
Originally published in New Hampshire Bar Association News – May 17, 2017 By: Paul Alfano Along with state highways, town-maintained public roads, and non-town-maintained public roads, New Hampshire has something else: private roads. While an important and desirable part of the rural landscape, private roads can lead to certain … [Read more...]
Easements: Let’s Be Reasonable
The New Hampshire Supreme Court weighed in recently on two important areas concerning easements. First, it clarified that use of an access easements may be extended to benefit an adjoining, after-acquired parcel. Second, it addressed the thorny question of whether parties benefiting from an access easement may be obligated to contribute … [Read more...]
Real Property Law: Easements: Let’s Be Reasonable
Originally published in New Hampshire Bar Association News – May 20, 2015 By: Paul Alfano Practice Pointers Drawn from Recent NH Supreme Court Decisions The New Hampshire Supreme Court weighed in recently on two important areas concerning easements. First, it clarified that use of an access easements may be extended to benefit an adjoining, … [Read more...]
Appeal to BTLA or Superior Court? That is the Question.
By: Paul Alfano Published on the New Hampshire Bar Association web site on June 21, 2013. There are still a couple of months left for taxpayers to decide where to appeal unfavorable decisions of 2012 tax abatement requests. Taxpayers have until Sept. 1 to appeal to the New Hampshire Board of Tax and Land Appeals (BTLA) or the superior court, … [Read more...]
Municipal & Governmental Law: Appeal to BTLA or Superior Court? That is the Question
Originally published in New Hampshire Bar Association News - June 21, 2013 By: Paul Alfano There are still a couple of months left for taxpayers to decide where to appeal unfavorable decisions of 2012 tax abatement requests. Taxpayers have until Sept. 1 to appeal to the New Hampshire Board of Tax and Land Appeals (BTLA) or the superior court, … [Read more...]
Property Tax Round-Up – 2011
Published on the New Hampshire Bar Association web site on February 17, 2012. Both the General Court and Supreme Court were active in 2011. Here is a summary of key developments. Court Decisions In Appeal of City of Lebanon, 161 N.H. 463 (2011), the Supreme Court addressed who qualifies as an "aggrieved party" where real estate is subject to a … [Read more...]
State Registration of Condominiums
Residential Condominiums All residential condominiums containing more than ten units must be registered with the Consumer Protection Bureau of the New Hampshire Department of Justice, otherwise known as the Attorney General. No declarant (the person or entity creating the condominium) may offer or dispose of a unit until the phase in which the … [Read more...]
Alfano Law Office Database of Municipal Road Records
In 2005, we sent letters to dozens of New Hampshire municipalities asking where they kept their road records. Over seventy-five municipalities responded, and their information is listed here. Please note this information may be dated, but it least gives you a place to start your research. TOWN OF ACWORTH: Years 1858-1972: Board of Selectmen's … [Read more...]
Legislative Alerts
Impact On Your Real Estate Business Each year over a thousand new bills are introduced in the New Hampshire legislature, and hundreds of them could impact your real estate business in either a negative or positive way. Bills affecting property taxes, business taxes, tenants' rights, hazardous waste, shoreline protection, planning board procedures, … [Read more...]
Lot Consolidation – The New Battleground
When it comes to real estate, most of us feel the rub between personal freedom and the need to govern ourselves. While we resent noisy neighbors and appreciate laws giving us the power to respond (through proper channels, of course), we may think our loud friends are hilarious (and everyone else should, too!). Land use controls, such as zoning … [Read more...]
Real Property Law: Lot Consolidation – the New Battleground
Originally published in New Hampshire Bar Association News – May 13, 2011 By: Paul Alfano The regulation of real estate offers a great example of the rub between personal freedom and providing for the good of the whole, and few better flash points exist than ordinances mandating the merger of contiguous, nonconforming lots. A person may think he … [Read more...]
So Where is All the Land-Locked Land?
There is a conspiracy of carelessness in New Hampshire, and it is costing people money. Property owners throw around the term “land-locked” thinking their land has no access. What most of them do not realize is that while their land may have no written access, either by deed, easement or court decree, it probably has actual access. In fact, land … [Read more...]
Road Acceptance – A Proposal
Road "acceptance" is a common enough term, but what exactly does it mean? Does it mean a municipality has the obligation to maintain the road in question, or does it simply mean the public has the right to use the road? And what is required for an acceptance to occur? This distinction can be confusing. Fortunately, the Supreme Court tackled … [Read more...]