Top Legal and Financial Services in Rockwall, TX
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Rockwall Ford
By Joseph Baker March 08, 2018
Great staff and our salesman was helpful. ...read more
Rockwall Ford
By John Hughes March 08, 2018
Everyone was very helpful. Michael followed up regularly. Nick made sure everything flowed smoothly. Joe made the contract experience as simple as possible. ...read more
Rockwall Ford
By Edwin Echols March 07, 2018
The scheduled service was completed well ahead of expectations. ...read more
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NEW LEGISLATION LIMITS LIABILITY FOR EMPLOYERS
A new revision to the Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code provides protection to employers who hire employees with a criminal record. The new legislation protects an employer from liability where the sole basis for the suit is a claim that the employer was negligent in hiring or failing to supervise an employee because the employee has a criminal record. The legislation defines employer to include contractors and subcontractors. Under the statute, employers can still be liable if they knew or should have known the employee had been convicted of a violent offense, a sexual offense or an offense performed while performing similar duties to those for which the employee is being hired to perform. Furthermore, the statute does not protect the employer for liability for a breach of fiduciary duty by the employee if the employee had a previous conviction of a crime involving fraud or dishonesty. The limitations and exceptions under the new statute make sense, but the statute still affords valuable protection for an employer while encouraging the employment of individuals deserving of a second chance. ...read more
By Kerry Lee Prisock, Attorney October 02, 2013
TX Supreme Court Affirms Groundwater Rights
In February the Texas Supreme Court issued an opinion in the case ofEdwards Aquifer Authority and the State of Texas v. Burrell Day and Joel McDaniel. This case addresses the question of whether you as a property owner have the right to use underground water located on your property. Edwards Aquifer Authority utilized a "use it or lose it" approach to a landowner's ownership rights to groundwater. The effect was to deprive a landowner rights to the groundwater located below their property simply because they had not used it. The Supreme Court of Texas affirmed the landowner's right to the groundwater stating, "A landowner cannot be deprived of all beneficial use of the groundwater below his property merely because he did not use it during an historical period". When we see our lakes and streams drying up in yet another Texas drought, it is reassuring to note our private interests in the water located on our property have been recognized by the Texas Supreme Court. As water becomes an increasingly precious commodity, we may see leases related to water rights which are similar to the more familiar oil and gas lease. This decision clarifies groundwater ownership rights, a decision that may prove lucrative for many property owners in the future. ...read more
By Kerry Lee Prisock, Attorney August 30, 2013
Electronic Documents, Coming to a Closing Near You!
Notaries may soon see a rise in paperless mortgages, driven by changing industry standards and new regulations, according to a recent article by John Adams in theAmerican Banker. Among other things, the article cited a 2012 industry survey by Xerox that found that 43 percent of lenders expect more than half of all mortgages will be closed electronically by 2016. That’s a 54-percent increase from 2011. The survey found that as mortgage laws, regulations and standards evolve towards tighter controls, more detailed disclosures and standardized forms, mortgage industry professionals see the ability to create an audit trail as one of the most important benefits of paperless mortgages. This audit trail will help lenders comply with new government regulations and industry initiatives. "We’ve been waiting for lenders, closing agents and county recorders to go paperless for some time," said William A. Anderson, the National Notary Association’s Vice President of Best Practices. Electronic mortgages will still require borrowers to have their signatures notarized on the deed of trust or any other loan documents requiring notarization. E-mortgage transactions should help signing agents do their jobs more quickly and efficiently, and at a lower cost too, since there will be no loan documents to print for the signing. The use of this technology will require cooperation among lenders, borrowers, closing agents and servicers who must all work together to process an electronic loan document. ...read more
By Kerry Lee Prisock, Attorney April 22, 2013