Bruce Martin Broyles

Admitted to practice in 1989; Staff attorney for 11th District Court of Appeals, Associate Attorney for three litigation firms from 1992 - 2004, opened my own practice in 2004. Handle a variety of issues in Appellate practice, civil litigation, business disputes, real estate, and actively involved in foreclosure defenses.

• Free Consultation

Ohio

Since 1989

6th Circuit

Since 1996

Ohio State University - Columbus

J.D.

1986 - 1989

Ohio State Bar  # 0042562

Member

Current

Q. Home purchase in Ohio with undisclosed issues to code compliance.

February 27, 2025

A: The seller is only required to disclose items that the seller is aware of. The seller may not have known about the code violations. You should read the contract for the home inspection. There are most likely limitations on the extent of the inspection. The contract for the home inspection will probably have limitations as to liability, but you were most likely given the limitations of liability at the time the inspection report was provided to you. The limitations of liability may not be enforceable if given to you after the inspection.

Depending on the scope of the inspection, the home inspector may be liable. If the homeowner was aware of the code violations, then the homeowner could be liable. However, the purchase contract may have an inspection contingency. This would require you to request modifications to the contract or repairs to be made within a certain time after the inspection.

Your purchase agreement and the inspection contract and report would need to be reviewed to set forth a course of action. ... Read More

Q. How to address harassment from a condo-neighbor with odors and noise?

February 27, 2025

A: To make certain that the Board does not get involved you should review the Condominium Owners Associations bylaws, rules and regulations, and the Declarations for the Planned united Development that established the condominium development. Once you have assured yourself that those do not apply you can file a private nuisance action. However, filing such an action would be almost impossible to prove. You would have to gather evidence of these incidents, which I believe would require much more than simply making a handwritten notation of the events. You would have to have credible unrelated third persons document these incidents and the frequency of such events. The problem would be that a credible unrelated third person may not be possible or practical to find. Maybe there would be a home monitoring company that might be able to document the incidents. ... Read More

Q. Can I claim equity in a house bought with my husband's military death benefit?

February 25, 2025

A: In Ohio, the important issue of separate property vs. marital property is the ability to trace the source of the funds. How real property is titled is not determinative of how the property is titled. Even though the funds went to your husband and then were deposited into a joint checking account, your husband will most likely be able to trace some if not all of the death benefits.

While the house may be considered his separate property, the appreciation of separate property due to the efforts of one or both of the spouses during the marriage is considered marital property. In addition, if you can trace your separate funds to the renovations, then those funds may be characterized as your separate property.

Death benefit of $100,000 purchases house, your personal funds of $20,000 used to make renovations, and the house is now valued at $250,000. Your husband receives $100,000, you receive $20,000 and the remaining $130,000 in appreciation is marital property to be divided. ... Read More