Darren Munt is an unsophisticated man who has spent most of his adult life working as a

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Darren Munt is an unsophisticated man who has spent most of his adult life working as a custodian in an elementary school. Recently, he decided to use the money that he had inherited from his father to create a company that would sell books and DVDs over the Internet. Because he had no experience in that field, he visited Jenny Schmidt, the lawyer who had handled his father's estate. Jenny agreed to help Darren in exchange for a hefty fee. Several weeks later, she informed him that she had found a property with a building that would be suitable for a warehouse. They briefly toured the premises together. Darren was excited about the prospect but expressed concern "about all the little details." Jenny assured him that she had extensive experience in real estate matters and promised that, for a price, she would "do all the legwork." 

Jenny contacted the owner of the property. Two months later, the deal closed, and Darren acquired the fee simple to the premises. Shortly after he took possession, however, he became aware of a number of problems.

(i) His neighbour complained that the warehouse, which had been built only three years earlier, was located partially on their land. (ii) As a result of discussions with other people in the business, Darren realized that he had grossly overpaid for the property. (iii) He discovered that the building's foundations were cracked and that its roof was in serious danger of collapse. (iv) He was notified by government officials that a large pool of blood was buried only several metres underground on a part of the property that was adjacent to a river. The government explained that the land had previously been used as a slaughterhouse. Fearing that the water supply might become contaminated, the government has demanded a cleanup. (v) Several ex-employees of the slaughterhouse informed Darren that they had been injured on the job as a result of the previous owner's carelessness. They also informed him that they had successfully sued the former owner, and that they had filed writs of execution against the property two days before Darren's sale had closed. (vi) And finally, Darren soon became aware that while he might be able to store merchandise in the warehouse, he could not process Internet orders from the same premises. Although he had not noticed them when he briefly visited the property with Jenny, and although they had not been registered against title, power lines had been installed directly overhead by a utility company. Those lines cause electrical interference with computer equipment. 

Discuss Darren's situation from a risk management perspective. Is there any obvious solution to his various problems? Explain your answer.

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Related Book For  answer-question

Managing the Law The Legal Aspects of Doing Business

ISBN: 978-0133847154

5th edition

Authors: Mitchell McInnes, Ian R. Kerr, J. Anthony VanDuzer

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