The standards of any professional practice are constantly evolving.

Once a new practice technique or device is accepted and adopted, its effectiveness dictates whether it will fall into the “want to have” or the “must have” category. Currently, there is an emerging technology that falls squarely into the “must have” category. Professionals now have the ability to quickly and inexpensively analyze a property for threats from governmental and other public improvements.

Real estate professionals, including attorneys who have a transactional practice, have a fiduciary duty to protect their clients’ interests. This analysis affords the client a clearer picture of a property’s value, future develop-ability and highest and best use.

Currently, the standard of due care includes items such as a title search, current survey, the offer of title insurance, physical inspection of property for encroachments and misrepresentations, and determination that any improvements were properly permitted.

An emerging standard of care is the determination of whether there are potential government actions which might materially affect the value of the property. Without a large staff and a massive, updated data base, it would not be cost effective to analyze whether a property may be subject to intrusive government public improvements.

However, public improvement projects can often have a huge impact on a private property’s value and use. Such improvements include roadway widening, installation of drainage structures, utility relocation, roadway redesign affecting access, etc. Public projects for nearby sewage and water treatment facilities, natural gas pipelines, high-voltage electric transmission lines, airport runway extensions, landfills, and other such uses can have a significant negative impact on market value as well.

In the past, it was not financially feasible to undertake a comprehensive search for planned public projects which could materially affect a property’s value.

Currently, however, there is a company using a comprehensive and constantly updated data base for use as a tool in real estate transactions. It is not expensive. The turn around time is very fast. And it is an effective tool for use in discharging a professional’s fiduciary duty to its clients. This database service is exclusively provided by Impact Check, which is in the process of expanding nationwide. Such an analysis could protect clients from significant losses should there be a planned project which would decrease the market value, or frustrate the client’s plans for the real estate.

It seems apparent that such analyses will, very soon, become a routine part of the real estate purchase or development process.

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