Hot Topics of Real Property (2021 Real Property Winter Program)

8:55 Welcome and Introductions

9:00 Payoffs and Pitfalls

Michelle M. Walker, Investors Title Insurance Company, Chapel Hill

Distributing proceeds is one of the most consequential steps in a real estate transaction. Discuss the legal requirements for mortgage loan transfers, common traps for the unwary and steps for confirming payoffs are sent to the right recipient.

10:00 Break

10:10 Real Property Legislative Update

David P. Ferrell, Nexsen Pruet LLC, Raleigh

Dive into the Real Property Section legislative initiatives and other real property legislative issues that impact practitioners. Review the 2020 elections and what the elections mean for the state going forward, and also looking ahead to the 2021 General Assembly.

11:10 Break

11:20 North Carolina Lien Law

R. Lee Robertson Jr., Robertson & Associates PA, Charlotte

Review North Carolina lien law and explore how liens affect titles to property.

12:20 Lunch Break

12:50 If You Cut the Pie, You Don't Get to Pick the First Slice

Tikkun A. S. Gottschalk, Deutsch & Gottschalk PA, Asheville

Walk through the partition of real property. Learn about contested versus uncontested cases and actual division versus sale. Examine the substantial injury test, post-division procedures, amendments to N.C.G.S. § 46A and appeals.

1:50 Break

2:00 Zoning and Land Use for the Real Property Practitioner

Randy H. Herman, BA Folk PLLC, Raleigh

Gain insight into zoning and land use laws every real property practitioner should know.

3:00 Break

3:10 Developments in the Law of Community Associations and Restrictive Covenants

Hope D. Carmichael, Jordan Price Wall Gray Jones & Carlton PLLC, Raleigh

Analyze the recent statute changes, including changes to the Condominium Act and fees to certify and produce statements of unpaid assessments. Review and discuss recent appellate cases, including three pending appeals dealing with exception to the Marketable Title Act for covenants adopted pursuant to a common scheme and plan of development.

4:10 Adjourn

Thank you

Thank you for joining us for the Hot Topics of Real Property CLE.

Contributors

James L. "Jimmy" Bryan Jr.

James L. "Jimmy" Bryan Jr. provides underwriting support to approved attorneys and the Investors Title branch and agency offices in North Carolina. Mr. Bryan was admitted to the North Carolina State Bar in 2012. Prior to joining Investors Title in 2013, he was a contract attorney in Raleigh, North Carolina, where he practiced residential real estate law. Mr. Bryan holds a bachelor’s degree from Appalachian State University and a Juris Doctor from Thomas M. Cooley Law School. Mr. Bryan is a member of the Wake County Bar Association and Delta Theta Phi Legal Fraternity.

Click here for more information about Mr. Bryan.
Hope D. Carmichael

Hope D. Carmichael is shareholder and principal with the Raleigh firm of Jordan Price Wall Gray Jones & Carlton, PLLC. She has focused her practice exclusively on matters affecting the interpretation of restrictive covenants, condominium and planned community associations for thirty years, and she was inducted as a fellow in the national College of Community Association Lawyers in 2016. She received her JD in 1991 from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and a BA from Salem College in 1988. Mrs. Carmichael is a former member of the NCBA Real Property Section Council and chair of the Community Associations Subcommittee, and she currently serves as a board member and immediate past-president of the North Carolina Chapter of the Community Associations Institute.

Click here for more information about Mrs. Carmichael.
David P. Ferrell

David P. Ferrell concentrates his law practice in civil matters, including civil litigation, professional liability defense, energy and public utilities, legislative representation and lobbying, eminent domain and real estate litigation, administrative and regulatory matters, government contracts, and construction litigation.

David represents architects, engineers, project owners, contractors, and liability carriers in a variety of construction, professional liability, insurance coverage, employment and contract disputes, as well as in other matters. David represents clients in financial services, title insurance and securities litigation. His practice is broad in scope and includes mediation, arbitration and litigation in state and federal courts.

David is a North Carolina registered lobbyist and has experience in state, local and executive branch lobbying, grass roots campaigns, and regulatory compliance. His government relations experience includes a diverse group of clients and a wide range of issues, which has allowed him to appear in and monitor legislation in most of the standing legislative committees and interim study committees.

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Tikkun A. S. Gottschalk

Tikkun A. S. Gottschalk moved to Asheville in 1993 from North Florida to attend Warren Wilson College. At Warren Wilson, he obtained a degree in Literature, and worked on the college farm, among other jobs at the College. After graduating in 1997, he worked in Asheville in a number of diverse jobs, mostly in construction. (There were not many job openings for "farm hand" at the time.) He even had a short stint as a swing and salsa dance instructor.

Tikkun met Bob Deutsch in 2005 through mutual friends and their Warren Wilson connections; Bob was serving on the Warren Wilson Board of Trustees. Bob's former law partner had just retired, and Tikkun had recently graduated from the College of Law at Florida State University and been admitted to practice law in NC. Bob brought him into the firm as an associate, and they have been working together ever since.

Tikkun handles a variety of cases for the firm. Most of his work has been in business and real estate transactions, real estate litigation, and estate administration. He also handles debt collection for debtors and creditors, construction litigation, creditors' rights in bankruptcy, landlord and tenant matters, and business succession and estate planning. He usually has at least one active pro bono case related to real estate or housing. The pro bono cases are referred to the firm through the Mountain Area Volunteer Lawyers (MAVL) group, which all the lawyers in the firm participate in. Tikkun is a former chair of the 28th Judicial District Bar's Pro Bono Committee, which, among other activities, assists in administering MAVL. He has been a member of the Bar's Executive Committee, a member and officer of the Board of Trustees of Beth HaTephila Congregation, and is involved in other organizations in the Asheville area.

Click here for more information about Tikkun.
Randy H. Herman

Randy H. Herman practices in the areas of land use and commercial real estate transactions at the law firm of Bratcher Adams Folk, PLLC. His goal is to guide clients through the entire real estate acquisition and development process, including contract drafting, title review, zoning/permitting, lender negotiation and closing. He regularly represents developers and property owners throughout the state in rezoning matters, variances, and appeals of zoning violations.

Randy is active in advocating for the interests of property owners as a member of the Board of Directors of the Triangle Community Coalition and a member of the Raleigh-Durham Chapter of NAIOP, where he sits on the Governmental Affairs Committee. He is also a member of the North Carolina Bar Association's Real Property Section and Land Use Section and a member of the Board of Directors of the Real Estate Lawyers Association of North Carolina (RELANC). He is the only practicing attorney sitting on the North Carolina Land Records Advisory Board. He also served the public as a former member of the Hillsborough and Orange County Boards of Adjustment.

Click here for more information about Randy.
Benjamin V. "Ben" Ipock

Benjamin V. "Ben" Ipock is Title Counsel with Attorneys Title in the Triangle office. Prior to joining Attorneys Title Ben practiced in the areas of real estate, estate administration and estate planning in Gastonia, NC. He earned a Bachelor of Science from North Carolina State University in 2007 and his Juris Doctorate from the Charlotte School of Law in 2011. He was admitted to practice law in the State of North Carolina in August 2011. Ben is a member of the North Carolina Bar Association, Wake County Real Property Lawyers Association, Real Estate Lawyers of North Carolina and Wake County Bar Association. He also was elected to serve as Secretary of the North Carolina Land Title Association.

Click here for more information about Ben.
R. Lee Robertson Jr.

R. Lee Robertson Jr. leads the Construction Group at Robertson & Associates, a commercial litigation, commercial real estate and construction law firm in Charlotte. Throughout his career, Lee has filed and enforced more than 1,000 liens on real property and liens on funds, recovering more than $15,000,000 for contractors, subcontractors, and materials suppliers. Most of Lee's practice is focused on subcontractor and supplier representation, as well as general commercial litigation.

Lee is engaged with the North Carolina Bar Association, where he has served as a member of the Construction Council for the past two years. Lee also serves on the Board of Directors of the Mecklenburg County Bar and is the Vice-Chair (and a 2016 Graduate) of the Mecklenburg County Bar Leadership Institute.

Lee also serves on the Board of Managers for the Keith Family YMCA and, for the past five years, chaired the Annual Campaign Committee, raising more than $500,000 to support the mission of the YMCA. In his free time, Lee hangs out with his dogs, Baxter Pancakes and Boone French Toast.

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Michelle M. Walker

Michelle M. Walker serves as claims counsel for Investors Title in Chapel Hill. She identifies and resolves major claims for the company. Prior to joining Investors Title, Ms. Walker worked as a bankruptcy and litigation attorney at Parry Tyndall White in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Ms. Walker was selected as a Rising Star by North Carolina Lawyers Weekly in 2019 and has previously been recognized as a Rising Star by North Carolina Super Lawyers in 2014 and 2016-2018 and as a Young Gun by Business North Carolina Legal Elite in 2017. Ms. Walker earned Bachelor of Arts degrees in political science and Spanish, summa cum laude, from the University of Georgia, and a Juris Doctor degree with honors from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She has frequently served as a speaker on real property and bankruptcy topics for legal practitioners and law students in continuing education and classroom settings.

Click here for more information about Ms. Walker.