At long last, there's an easy way for anyone who has a legal issue concerning real estate to find an attorney who specializes in the field.

Until now, home owners, would-be owners, mom-and-pop landlords, and renters were all but forced to let their fingers do the walking when they were searching for legal representation or simply seeking someone who knows the law to answer their questions.

It was either consult the yellow pages, ask the local bar association for a list of choices, or make a call to a lawyer who, if you were lucky, has a specialty in real estate law. Usually though, they wound up with someone who had a rudimentary knowledge of the topic at best.

But late last month, FindLaw.com, perhaps the nation's leading provider of legal information for the legal community, added a real estate section that permits visitors to enter their zip codes, which will then return a list of legal real estate beagles in their vicinities.

Besides finding an attorney, FindLaw's new "Real Estate Center" allows users to find such key information as explanations of their legal rights, as well as links to applicable state laws, government agencies, and other resources.

When the focus shifts from your house to the courthouse, FindLaw points out, "knowing your legal rights, can help prevent or resolve problems such as contract violations, zoning issues, contractor disputes, evictions, and health and safety issues."

The site is a veritable one-stop shopping center for owners, renters, and small-time landlords who need legal advice.

It explains the legal essentials involved in owning, or renting real estate through comprehensive, yet easy-to-understand articles and frequently asked questions. They also cover information pertaining to mortgages, working with real estate agents, new home closing, as well as a checklist for renters to use before signing a lease.

The topics covered include buying and selling, neighbors and house boundaries, land use, zoning, lease agreements, fair housing requirements, rent and security deposits, repairs and maintenance, privacy, terminating leases, and evictions.

Since having legal counsel can be helpful in real estate matters, especially when it comes to drawing up or reviewing contracts, or settling disputes, the FindLaw Real Estate Center also provides helpful tips for working with an attorney and easy access to West Legal Directory, the Internet's largest directory of lawyers and law firms.

West Legal Directory contains more than one million lawyers and legal professionals, and is searchable by attorney or law firm name, practice specialty and location. It also features profiles of lawyers and law firms that contain details of their legal experience and expertise.

Based in Eagan, Minn., FindLaw claims to be the leading provider of online legal information and solutions for the legal community, businesses and individuals. According to comScore Media Metrix, a web-usage reporting service, the FindLaw.com Internet portal is the country's highest-trafficked legal web site with 3.7 million unique monthly users.

The site provides comprehensive, plain-English legal information to businesses and individuals. FindLaw, a division of the Thomson Corp., also offers up free case law, breaking legal news, and a legal search tool.

Published: March 16, 2005

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When Lew Sichelman first started writing about housing in 1969, he was the youngest real estate writer in the country. Now, 37 years later, he's one of the oldest -- and most decorated. He has been rated the top housing columnist in the country by the National Association of Realtors as well as by his peers in the National Association of Real Estate Editors. Indeed, NAREE has recognized his work on numerous occasions. One year - due to his advancing age, he can't recall which one - he earned top honors in the annual NAREE Journalism Contest in three out of the four major writing categories. It was the first time one writer has won so many NAREE awards in a single year. Known for his ability to make even the most difficult topics understandable, Sichelman also has been honored by the National Association of Home Builders and the Mortgage Bankers Association. He began providing in-depth coverage of and consumer-oriented information about housing and housing finance at the Washington Daily News, where he was real estate editor. He held that same position for nine more years at the Washington Star, which purchased the News in 1972. The Star, a so-called "writer's newspaper" which also had the misfortune of being an evening paper, was put out of its misery in 1981, and Sichelman, who had begun self-syndicating his column in 1978, decided to become a full-time columnist. Today, his column, "The Housing Scene," is distributed by United Media to newspapers throughout the country. He also is on the staff of National Mortgage News, an independent newspaper which is considered the bible of the mortgage business. And he writes for numerous other publications, including MarketWatch.com, where he answers readers questions once a week, Sports Illustrated (don't ask), RealtyTimes.com, BigBuilder and others. Sichelman is married, the father of five and grandfather of eleven.