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.
