For nearly two decades, Henrietta Feldman has been practicing real estate law. Originally from Massachusetts, Henrietta Feldman now leads her own law practice in Palm Beach, Florida, and handles all aspects of residential and commercial real estate transactions. One issue facing owners of both residential and commercial properties is an easement. Easements affect property owners’ rights by allowing someone to go onto another person’s land without having an interest in owning said property. In Florida, two types of easements exist: easement in gross and appurtenant easements.Appurtenant easements are tied to a particular property instead of being tied to a party or person. This means the easement continues benefiting the parcel of land regardless of who owns it. The land benefiting from the easement is called the dominant estate, while the land that is affected by the easement is known as the servient estate.Normally, this type of easement lasts forever unless the owners of both involved properties agree to cancel the easement. This agreement must be made in writing. Easements in gross are granted to individuals and business entities. Since these easements are not tied to specific parcels of land, the easement does not transfer to new owners when a property is sold. Further, the easement cannot be inherited, nor can it be sold to another individual.
Attorney Henrietta Feldman has been practicing real estate law for nearly 20 years. Originally licensed in Massachusetts, she has maintained her own law office in Florida since 2015. Henrietta Feldman’s responsibilities include negotiating sale agreements and loan agreements, and handling other real estate issues.One of the issues that some tenants may face is harassment from a landlord. When a person rents property, they have a right to peaceful enjoyment of their rental unit. When landlords disrupt this enjoyment and attempt to intimidate or pressure a tenant into leaving their rental unit, they are committing harassment. Landlords may do this to force a rent-controlled tenant to move or respond to tenant complaints, or because they don’t agree with the tenant belonging to a particular gender, religion, or other group of people. Regardless of the reason, harassment from a landlord is illegal.A variety of behaviors constitute landlord harassment. These include entering a unit without giving the tenant proper notice or refusing to perform maintenance on the unit. Utilities may also be shut off to the tenant’s unit, or tenants may suddenly be cut off from certain amenities. More extreme examples of harassment include removing a tenant’s possessions, changing the locks on common area doors or unit doors, and raising rent without notice.Even if a tenant encounters a behavior that is an example of landlord harassment, it is not considered harassment unless the behavior continues. Isolate incidents do not constitute landlord harassment.
