National Fine Print Repository to be a CliffsNotes for contracts - latimes.com
Think of the National Fine Print Repository as a sort of CliffsNotes for contracts. Users will run a search for whatever company they're doing business with. If the contract is in the database, an easy-to-understand summary of key provisions will pop up.
Hirsch said about 20 people are reading and summarizing contracts for the database — a job that must be among the most thankless in the tech world. Their explanations will be written so they can be understood by anyone with a ninth-grade reading level.
The database already contains about 2,000 contracts for banks, credit card issuers, cellphone companies and retirement accounts, Hirsch said. In the future, the scope of industries will include mortgage lenders, insurance providers, travel companies and software makers.
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What a great idea. We have become a fine print society. As Tom Waits says (at about 5:06 in this video) in his song "Step Right Up,"..."The large print giveth, and the small print taketh away."
Thanks to Fred Pilot for the link.
Wonder if CID CC&Rs will be included? Probably not a very good idea, however. I believe everyone -- even the legally savvy experienced purchaser -- should have real property transactions reviewed by a qualified attorney with no emotional stake in the deal.
ReplyDeleteH.O.A. so-called-contracts have lots of fine print.
ReplyDelete"We can fine you for this, we can fine you for that..."
"I believe everyone -- even the legally savvy experienced purchaser -- should have real property transactions reviewed by a qualified attorney with no emotional stake in the deal."
ReplyDeleteYou've obviously never been a consumer of legal services.
What motive does any attorney -- even one you are paying thousands of dollars to protect your interests -- have to protect your interests?
...and the opportunity to review such materials should be FREE.
ReplyDeleteThe HOA industry has constantly proclaimed "you knew it when you bought there" and yet frequently opposes any disclosure lest the HOA management companies get a fee. If these places are "investments" as proclaimed by the industry, then the CCRs and all the other related documents (bylaws, rules, policies, guidelines, CCRs, resolutions, amended CCRs, supplemental CCRs) should be made available for FREE as would a prospectus for any other corporation.
Instead of bilking prospective purchasers or homeowners anxious to escape the clutches of the HOA burdening their property, the management companies should be forced to look only to the HOA for compensation. Of course the HOA boards are unlikely to pay much if anything for information that should be made freely available- which means this source of bogus revenue will disappear for management companies that have an arm's length relationship with the HOA board or its controlling interest.
In addition to those materials, the prospective purchaser should be provided with a list of all the lawsuits that the HOA corporation has been involved with in the last 10 years (similar to what real companies have to provide in their prospectus). Warnings in bold print notifying prospective purchasers that they might not be able to sell what they are purchasing because the restrictive covenants, rules, guidelines, bylaws, etc. can change without their consent. There should also be a statement from the Surgeon General warning prospective purchasers about the health hazards of being part of an involuntary membership corporation.
Anonymous said...
ReplyDeleteYou've obviously never been a consumer of legal services."
I have indeed. Legal counsel in my last home purchase raised red flags that could have caused big problems had the deal gone through without scrutiny.
Fred is right. Here in Illinois there is nearly always a lawyer on each side of a home sale. They find potential problems with the documents, negotiate issues over the home's condition and terms of the sale, and make sure the title company doesn't screw up the closing. For $400 (which is what most of them charge to handle a real estate sale) it is bargain.
ReplyDelete