In what might appear as a strange pairing, the city of Missoula, Montana and Apple Valley, California are collaborating on how to take back their local water systems. As reported by the Missoulian, the water systems for both...more
On March 7th, a U.S. District Court sided with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) on whether the Uniform Relocation Act (URA) provides private property owners with a private right of action: it does not. The Pacific...more
On Wednesday, a Nebraska District Court dealt the Keystone XL pipeline project a heavy blow. The court invalidated a law that allowed the state's governor to approve the pipeline's passage through Nebraska. The court ruled...more
The City of Sacramento took another step forward on the plan for a new multi-million dollar arena for the Sacramento Kings. Last Tuesday, in a 7-2 vote, the city council passed a resolution of necessity approving the use of...more
Last week, the Agoura Hills City Council approved acquiring 14 properties through eminent domain for its Augora Road Widening and Canwood Street Improvement Project, as reported by The Acorn. The purpose of the project is to...more
On September 12, the City of Richmond caught a small reprieve with respect to its plan to condemn underwater mortgages. As reported by Reuters, the federal district court ruled that the lawsuit filed by lenders Wells Fargo,...more
Despite three major banks filing federal lawsuits against the City of Richmond last month related to its plan to condemn underwater mortgages, the City continues to press on. On Tuesday, the City voted 4-3 to continue its...more
In July, the City of Hayward passed several resolutions of necessity to acquire property for its Interstate 880 / State Route 92 Reliever Route Project. The Project will extend Whitesell Street to provide access to State...more
We all knew this was coming (see my post from July 23). If you poke a sleeping giant, it's going to file a lawsuit against you in federal court. Yesterday, in response to the City of Richmond's preliminary actions to...more
It's been a while since we focused on the whole condemnation of underwater mortgages scheme but that doesn't mean the idea has died off. To the contrary, apparently at least four California cities have now signed advisory...more
After two years of negotiating with residential property owners, the Stanislaus County Board of Supervisors approved acquisition of the property by eminent domain. The Modesto Bee reports that the board approved the...more
Given the maze of procedural and substantive hurdles involved, property owners rarely succeed with regulatory takings claims. Even when owners do win, it is yet more uncommon for courts to award damages, instead allowing the...more
The City of Imperial has taken the first step in pursuing an eminent domain proceeding by adopting a resolution of necessity to acquire a vacant property for its Transit Center Project. As reported by the Imperial Valley...more
In order to construct the Silva Valley Interchange on Highway 50, the El Dorado County Board of Supervisors passed a Resolution on January 4, 2013 to acquire approximately 12 acres by eminent domain. As reported by In El...more
Originally Published in Daily Journal, January 4, 2013
It has been quite a busy year for takings cases, and the state Court of Appeal provided one last published eminent domain opinion just before 2012 came to a close....more
It has been quite a busy year for takings cases. While our readers can soon expect our annual "Year in Review E-Alert," the California Court of Appeal decided to grace us with one more published eminent domain opinion just...more
The Court has once again reminded us that it takes its role as gate keeper seriously. This week, in an unpublished case, the Court of Appeal issued a decision that serves as a not-so-gentle reminder that business owners are...more
A couple of weeks ago, the California Court of Appeal issued a decision that discussed an attorney malpractice lawsuit known as a “settle and sue” case, where the client settles whatever litigation in which they are...more