Homeowner’s Legal Guide
By Cynthia L. Cooper
Consumer Reports Books, 333 pages, $22.95
Attorney Cynthia L. Cooper had a formidable task when she decided to write a book explaining the legal aspects of home ownership. Writing such a book obviously is not easy because the laws of the 50 states are not always the same. So the author was forced to use generalities, rather than specifics, when outlining the hundreds of legal topics discussed in her new book.
Because only general explanations that are useful nationwide were used, the book suffers by being bland and non-detailed. Also, Cooper’s real estate practical experience seems rather limited, so she neglects to explain alternatives.
For example, when explaining homeowner documents she says, “The buyer is expected to pay the cost of taxes and homeowner’s insurance into an escrow account. Escrow payments are collected with the monthly mortgage payment.”
But she neglects to tell readers that such escrows are not always required, except for FHA, VA and PMI home loans, and that home buyers usually are better off without such escrow accounts because lenders often overcollect payments for them.
Cooper’s new book is very complete, since it covers virtually every legal topic of interest to homeowners. But it lacks depth of coverage, often explaining just the bare essentials of a subject. Case examples of court decisions would have added interest to the explanations.
However, Cooper often gives sources of additional information, such as addresses and phones of government agencies and trade associations, to assist readers.
Chapter titles include: Documents Related to the Home; Defects Discovered After Purchase; Property Boundaries, Easements and Encroachments; Zoning, Repairs, Additions and Construction; Hiring a Contractor; Injuries to Third Persons on the Property; Trespassers, Unwanted Visitors, Intruders and Security; Private and Public Nuisance; Taxes and Abatements; Financial Difficulties and the Home; Refinancing; Home Equity Loans; Prepayment and Reversible Mortgage; Co-ownership; Environmental Contaminants; Takings of Private Property for Public Use; Homeowner Associations; Leasing a Portion of a Home and Selling the Home.
The book offers good coverage of legal topics affecting homeowners. But its lack of depth creates superficial explanations which aren’t very useful because of inadequate details. On my scale of one to 10, this book rates a seven.
