Curriculum

Finance of Real and Personal Property considers the basic elements and concepts of modern real estate and asset financing, with an emphasis on income-producing property. The course covers different types of financing structures, the lender-borrower relationship, the role of the capital markets in real estate financing, and the resolution of troubled loans. Attention is given to mortgages and other security devices, financing techniques, alternatives to conventional mortgages, creditors’ rights and environmental laws that affect real estate financing.

Two seminars, Drafting and Negotiating Commercial Transactional Documents and Drafting and Negotiating Commercial Real Estate Documents: Real Estate Contracts, Loan Documents and Leases Seminar dissect the major commercial real estate documents by focusing on the drafting and the negotiating of each. Both seminars pay considerable attention is devoted to the role of negotiations in the process of determining the terms of such documents, and students participate in simulated negotiations and role playing.

Advanced students may wish to include the graduate course Tax Planning for Real Estate Transactions, in their academic programs.

Land Use Law examines the various ways in which the legal system seeks to reconcile and accommodate uses of land to promote both individual and social welfare. The course covers topics such as private covenants and restrictions; subdivision controls; exactions and impact fees; growth management and control strategies; the zoning system; historical preservation and aesthetic regulation; environmental controls; and an examination of Takings doctrine that is more intensive than in the typical first-year Property course. The Constitutional Property Law: Takings Seminar examines takings issues in depth.

The Historic Preservation Seminar examines the preservation of historic buildings, communities, and landscapes, which in recent years has become a significant basis for regulation of private property, as well as an important motive for public and charitable ownership. The seminar examines the theory and practice of historic preservation and provides the opportunity for students to see disputed sites, hear from experts and examine issues of local and national significance.

The Housing Today: Lawyering Affordable Housing Seminar taught by Adjunct Professor Charles Edson examines tenant’s rights in-depth as well as the corporate, tax and securities law issues relating to the development of low income housing projects.

Full-time Faculty:
J. Peter Byrne