Recent Blog Posts
Practical Concerns Count More Than Charisma for Staying in Business
If you are good looking and possess above average rhetorical skills, you can have a career as a pharmaceutical representative, but if you lack the patience for corporate life, you can sell fantasies of entrepreneurship to yourself or others. A few years ago, multilevel marketing companies that sold entrepreneurship training courses seemed to be… Read More »
Maryland’s New Rules About the Visibility of Eviction-Related Documents
Dating apps have never made anyone feel less lonely or more self-confident. An algorithm chooses someone that its robotic level of interpersonal intelligence thinks would be a good match for you. Both partners get their hopes up over the course of a text message, but when they meet in person, the only vibe that… Read More »
Tenant Screening Dos and Don’ts for Landlords
Housing discrimination is illegal, and landlords can protect themselves from liability simply by informing themselves about current legal protections for prospective tenants. For example, as of 2024, it is no longer legal for landlords to find out whether a prospective tenant has ever been party to eviction proceedings unless the proceedings resulted in an… Read More »
What the Foster House Settlement Means for D.C. Landlords
Comfortable, affordable housing is hard to find in almost all urban areas in the United States, but Washington, D.C. is one of the country’s most notoriously expensive housing markets, both for buyers and for tenants. Most of the rental units in the District are neither comfortable nor affordable. The desirable units are out of… Read More »
The Solitary Personal Representative’s Probate Dilemma
If your main motivation for getting started on your estate plan is to reduce stress on your family members, then you feel a great sense of relief once you write your will, print it on paper, and sign it in the presence of two witnesses. By designating someone as personal representative of your estate,… Read More »
Asset Protection and Your Retirement Account
Asset protection is a factor in most people’s estate planning strategy. Some people establish trusts and transfer assets to their heirs while they are still alive in order to protect their heirs’ inheritance from being vulnerable to creditor claims during probate. A simpler asset protection tool is probably already doing its job silently in… Read More »
The Changing Face of Platonic Co-Ownership of Real Estate
Anyone with a successful marriage will tell you that one of the key ingredients is to treat each other as business partners with regard to financial matters, even if you agree that each spouse also has a separate bank account for fun splurges or for financially supporting his or her own blood relatives and… Read More »
B Corporations and Maryland Law
Some people, especially when they are in Internet troll mode, seem to think that businesses are the only way to accomplish anything, while others seem to take the attitude that businesses are the root of all evil. When you ask enough thoughtful questions to members of the latter group, though, they are usually willing… Read More »
Are Revocable Trusts Overrated?
Financial planners advertise revocable trusts as though they are an aspirational product, and they are beneficial to people who establish them for the right reasons. If you are setting up a revocable trust because someone told you that all the financially savvy people are doing it, or because a financial planner offered it to… Read More »
Auto Repair Shop Sues Insurance Companies for Scaring Away Customers
The purpose of carrying insurance is to avoid financial catastrophe in the event of an unforeseen hardship, but insurance companies manage to make their claimants go through plenty of hassles before they get any financial relief. Consider that “don’t get sick” is the best financial advice both for people with health insurance and for… Read More »
