Lost money on your real estate deal?

As we've seen real estate markets plummet across the country, many real estate investment projects have failed, or will fail if they haven't already? If you invested money in real estate, you may be able to get your money back. The law treats any sort of investment as the sale of a security, which imposes many legal obligations and responsibilities on the seller.

If you were the buyer, the seller likely didn't properly notify the state in which you live that he or she sold a "security". The seller might not have properly disclosed all the risks of the investments. Corporations code section 25504 also imposes "joint and several" liability on all those involved -- meaning, if the person with whom you dealt is no longer around, his or her partners must pay for his code violations. Also, accounting or legal professionals involved in the offering may have liability, and may have insurance that covers the liability.

Lesson: If you've lost money in a real estate investment, like many have, don't give up your fight to get your money back!