John Petrony

In the fairly recent past, the Mahoning County Auditor’s office has imposed additional requirements upon Mahoning County real estate transfers involving LLCs seeking a conveyance fee exemption. In addition to completing the standard exemption form, which was always required, the parties have to submit the following for review by the Auditor’s office: Based upon the…

Under the controversial FTC rule seeking to banish most noncompete agreements effective as of September 4th of this year (the “Effective Date”), there is a limited exception which permits the enforcement of pre-existing noncompetes against “senior executives”. After the Effective Date, employers will be prohibited from entering into new noncompetes with almost all workers, including…

AMENDMENTS TO CONDOMINIUM DOCUMENTS As with most things condominium, amending a condominium declaration can be somewhat complicated. Generally, all amendments must be approved by the affirmative vote of owners exercising not less than 75% of the voting power of the association. Since the statute uses the word “approved”, there is technically no requirement that this…

As you may know, there are a variety of judicial challenges to the CTA pending. Perhaps, most importantly, on March 1st, a Federal District Court in Alabama found the law to be unconstitutional. This decision has been appealed to the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals and is scheduled for oral argument on September 16th. Perhaps…

The author is currently in the process of handling two matters which each involve a “party wall”. This is unusual in that it is not a circumstance encountered that often. A “party wall” is generally defined as a wall between two connected and mutually supporting buildings of different owners. Usually (although not always) half of…

There are two types of penalties (civil and criminal) for each violation of the CTA. Any “person” (e.g., an individual or other entity) who willfully fails to file complete and accurate reports, or fails to provide updated reports, will face penalties of up to $10,000 (accruing at $500 per day that the violation is continuing)…

THE IMPORTANCE OF IDENTIFYING THE PREMISES One of the most basic, yet very impactful, provisions of a commercial lease is what exactly constitutes the “premises”. Generally, a lease is required to identify the premises with enough detail that a court can enforce the overall lease. The description of the premises often affects a variety of…

The Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”), as it had signaled, recently banned noncompete agreements for most U.S. workers, which will affect an estimated thirty million employees. The new rule of the FTC prohibits employers from including noncompetes in employment contracts and requires those with active agreements to inform workers that they are void. It also attempts…

In the past, there was a real concern about potentially losing one’s title insurance coverage when transferring a property from an individual to an LLC or other entity owned by that person. Thankfully, beginning in 2006, ALTA title insurance policies cover an LLC to which an individual deeds their property for estate planning, financial reorganization…

As you may have heard, on March 1st, in the case of National Small Business Association vs. Yellen, a federal district court in the Northern District of Alabama found the CTA to be unconstitutional. The plaintiffs in the case, the National Small Business Association (“NSBA”) and one of its members, filed a lawsuit in November…

SPOTLIGHT:  COMMERCIAL SALES PROPERTY SURVEYS:BACKGROUND In real estate transactions typically involving either the acquisition of, or lending against, a piece of property, questions often arise as to whether to perform a survey of the property and, if so, what type. Generally, a survey is a map of given property containing certain information about it. It’s…

The most important question under the new CTA is when businesses must file their initial beneficial ownership information (“BOI”) reports. That filing deadline depends on when the entity was formed. Entities created or registered on or after January 1, 2024 and before January 1, 2025 have ninety calendar days from notice of their creation or…