It’s happened again, another wealthy celebrity passed away and did not have a will nor did she have a trust set up. Aretha Franklin will be joining the dozens of other celebrities who also died without leaving a will. Big names such as Prince, Jimi Hendrix, Pablo Picasso, Kurt Cobain, Howard Hughes, Michael Jackson, Sonny Bono and even Martin Luther King, Jr. all passed away without having a will. Prince died in April 2016. His estate is still tied up in the courts. Not a si

Congratulations to Gantenbein Law Firm Denver, Colorado attorney Keith Gantenbein Jr. who was again, recognized as Super Lawyers, Rising Stars for 2018. For Keith, this is his fourth consecutive year as a Super Lawyer, Rising Star. Mr. Gantenbein is nationally recognized for his work in Real Estate Law, which also includes Foreclosures Defense and HOA Law. Mr. Gantenbein worked extensively last few years with the Colorado Supreme Court to pass updated Rules of Civil Procedure

Your Estate Plan may consist of a Last Will and Testament, Trust, Power of Attorney and other important documents that need a tune-up from time to time. Not just because your life may have changed, but outside events can affect what’s in your estate plan as well. One recent outside event is the new tax reform that Congress passed at the end of December. Did the tax reform, or new estate tax limits affect or alter your estate plan? It’s the beginning of the year and time to th

Overall, in this new year, it is predicted the housing market will continue to bounce back as it has been for the past year. In November 2017, existing home sales escalated to a rate that hasn’t been seen in the past 10 years and reaching an 11-year high. The existing home sales totaled 5.81 million that amounted to an increase of 5.6% from the month before. The inventory of homes decreased 7.2% to 1.67 million that is 9.7% lower than it was in November 2016. It’s also predic

Many properties in Colorado are used as a second home or a vacation home. These owners often rent these properties for part or all of each year to help cover expenses and provide additional income. When owners or investors buy a property that is under the jurisdiction of a Homeowner’s Association (HOA), they were given a set of Covenants, Conditions & Restrictions (CC&Rs) that outline all the rules and ‘laws’ of the community. The buyers agreed to follow the rules and restric

On December 8, 2017, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) made changes to its authentication system. This is the system that verifies tax returns that mortgage applicants provide. The system is known as the Income Verification Express System (IVES) and is in place to make sure tax returns aren’t fraudulent. Within five days of the changes, on December 13, mortgage groups were finding problems with the new system. Other groups said problems with the changes began almost immediat

When you own a small business and are thinking of selling a portion of your business to investors, you’ll want to know everything there is before making any kind of a commitment. Established companies and almost all start-up companies think about raising business capital at some time and will turn to the possibility of taking on investors. There are many reasons to sell a percentage of your business, but generally, businesses sell in order to raise capital to help bridge the

The decisions regarding end-of-life arrangements can be difficult to deal with. Whatever assets you have, an experienced and qualified estate planning attorney can evaluate your financial situation and create a plan that is custom-fitted to your needs. There are many aspects to consider besides the financial assets such as; taxes, medical issues, business succession, heirs, directives, Power of Attorney, living wills, guardianship designation, burial instructions and trusts.

When you buy a home in a covenanted community, you will receive a copy of the Covenants, Conditions and Restrictions (CC&Rs) along with your closing documents. The CC&Rs will spell out all the regulations (rules/conditions) and the amount of Homeowner’s Association (HOA) fees, which are typically paid monthly. Each year the HOA’s Board of Directors meet to discuss and set the budget that will include how much every household (property or unit) will be charged for their monthl

Gantenbein Law Firm, Denver, Colorado is proud to announce its attorney, Keith Gantenbein, was named to 2017 Colorado Super Lawyers, Rising Stars list. Congratulations to owner and managing attorney Keith A. Gantenbein Jr, who was selected, named and included on the “2017 Colorado Super Lawyers Rising Stars” list. Super Lawyers is the Thomson Reuters lawyer rating service. To be selected as a Super Lawyer, attorneys are nominated by their peers and evaluated on 12 indicators

If you’re thinking of buying a home you’ve probably noticed the inventory of available houses for sale has been declining and mortgage rates and housing prices are on the rise. After years of having a huge inventory of houses to choose from, thousands of foreclosures and very low mortgage rates, the market is heading the other way. Denver is number three regionally for having the fastest time to sell a house. The average amount of days in Denver to sell a home is now 18 days,

Nationwide, home foreclosures have dropped to their lowest level since November 2005. During April 2017, there were 77,049 filings reported in the U.S. This number includes default notices, scheduled auctions and bank repossessions. The figures reflect the lowest number of foreclosures since the housing crisis began. While the drop is significant, at the same time there was a rise in repeat foreclosures. A repeat foreclosure is noted as any property address with the same owne

The Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation, known as Freddie Mac, announced last week that it’s selling off non-performing loans to private investors. Freddie Mac is a public government-sponsored enterprise (GSE) headquartered in Virginia. Freddie Mac was created in 1970 to help expand the mortgage market alongside the Federal National Mortgage Association (Fannie Mae). Previously, from 1938 to 1968 Fannie Mae was the only institution that bought mortgages leading to and enco

By now, most of us have heard something about Brexit (British Exit). In a sentence, Britain voted to leave the European Union (EU) in a historic referendum June 23. The effects of Brexit are being heard around the world. Britain has the world’s fifth-largest economy and is one of the United State’s biggest trading partners. After the vote, Britain’s pound dropped to a 30-year low prompting Americans to change vacation plans to visit Britain and take advantage of the low price

Our own IRS isn’t the only entity to fear when it comes to taxes. Europe has their eye on international businesses as well as wanting their ‘fare share’ of the profits. The French have widened their investigations and are cracking down on these international businesses concluding a nearly 3-year investigation and auditing of Priceline’s Booking.com The French tax authorities operate in a big way - with exactly $397.37 million in unpaid taxes slapped against Booking.com. The m

Are the Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP) and Home Affordable Refinance Program (HARP) really be ending at the end of this year? The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) Director Mel Watt gave a speech last year on both HAMP and HARP programs. He revealed that HAMP would be finished at the end of 2016. Concerning HARP, Watt said ‘we anticipate that this will also be the final extension for HARP.” Originally set to expire at the end of December 2013, the programs w

The past seven years have been horrendous for millions of homeowners who lost their homes. Somewhere between 7 and 8 million homes were lost. The majority of homes lost to foreclosure were around 6 million. These were mostly due from distressed homeowners who suffered hardships ranging from losing their jobs to serious health issues. Around 2 million homes were sold as a short-sale (sold for less than what was owed) and given back to the lender by a deed-in-lieu (DIL) that a

​Back in the day - when the predatory mortgage loans were being tossed out like candy, so were the student loans. It was easy to get a student loan and only took a few minutes. School employees quickly entered information into a computer, twirled the computer around and said ‘here-press enter’. Just like that you had a loan, there was no need to even sign anything. Problem was, nothing was explained and you had no idea about interest, rates or the pitfalls. The school said th