Residential Real Estate › Administrative Law › Constitutional Law

California County Drops Consideration Of Eminent Domain Proposal

On January 24, a Joint Powers Authority established by San Bernardino County decided not to pursue a proposal under which the County would use eminent domain power to seize underwater mortgages from private trusts and provide...more

More Reports on San Bernardino's Decision to Abandon Underwater Mortgage Eminent Domain Plan

Given how much publicity the proposal to condemn underwater mortgages received when it first appeared last summer, I suppose it's not surprising that San Bernardino's decision last week not to move forward has also garnered a...more

Hoku Lele, LLC v. City and County of Honolulu

Opinion of the Hawaii Intermediate Court of Appeals

The Hawaii Intermediate Court of Appeals, in a unanimous panel opinion authored by Judge Foley, held that a "zoning verification" by the Director of the City and County's Department of Planning and Permitting is not a "action...more

San Bernardino Not Moving Forward with Proposed Plan to Condemn Underwater Mortgages

For the better part of a year, we've been writing about the controversial proposal to use the power of eminent domain to condemn underwater mortgages, allowing homeowners to have a new loan that better reflects the underlying...more

Illinois Supreme Court to Issue Final Four Civil Opinions on Friday Morning

This morning, the Illinois Supreme Court announced that it will issue four more civil opinions on Friday morning to close out 2012. The upcoming decisions deal with issues as diverse as res judicata and absolute immunity,...more

U.S. Supreme Court Oral Arguments Set In Koontz v St John's River Water Management District for January 15, 2013

One month from now, the United States Supreme Court will hear oral argument in Case No. 11-1447, styled Coy A. Koontz, Jr., Petitioner v. St. Johns River Water Management District, Respondent (read the docket here). We've...more

When is a Resolution of Necessity Tainted By Prior Agency Obligations?

One of the prerequisites to instituting an eminent domain action is the governing agency's adoption of a resolution of necessity to acquire the necessary property. At the time of adopting the resolution, the agency cannot be...more

Section 8 Housing: Safety Net or Tangled Web? An Overview of Section 8 Tenancy Termination and Related Due Process Issues

There is no question that the federal government’s Section 8 housing assistance rent subsidy provides an invaluable safety net to impoverished, elderly, and disabled members of our community. The Department of Housing and...more

The Fight Over the Use of Eminent Domain to Seize Underwater Mortgages: Recent Updates

The latest developments in the fight over the use of eminent domain to seize underwater mortgages in California and elsewhere have important implications for lenders nationwide. The debate over the use of eminent domain...more

UPDATE: Sifting Through the Ashes: The Demise of Redevelopment Agencies and the Scramble to Figure Out the Next Step By Brian D....

INTRODUCTION - Faced with a multi-billion dollar budget deficit, Governor Jerry Brown targeted the dissolution of redevelopment agencies (“RDAs”) as a means to lower the deficit and redirect RDA assets to other areas of state...more

Lessons from a Long, Long Eminent Domain Battle

A few weeks ago, the California Court of Appeal issued an interesting unpublished decision detailing a long, drawn-out eminent domain battle in Riverside County. I haven't blogged about it yet because, well to be honest, it...more

FHFA Seeks Comment on Potential Response to Use of Eminent Domain to Restructure Loans

On August 8, the FHFA released a notice commenting on the potential use of eminent domain by localities to restructure mortgages for borrowers who are current but “underwater.” Several localities have stated publicly that...more

City Did Not Violate Equal Protection Clause By Canceling Future Payments Of Lot Owners Who Owed Assessments While Refusing...

The United States Supreme Court held that a city did not violate the Equal Protection Clause when it forgave future payments of lot owners for sewer-related assessments but refused to provide refunds to lot owners who had...more

Annual City Apartment Inspections And Inspection Fees Are Upheld

Residential landlords can be required to submit their rental properties for annual city inspections, and can be required to pay a city inspection fee, under a recent court of appeal ruling. (Griffith v. City of Santa Cruz...more

California Authorities Consider Seizing Mortgages Secured by Residential Properties

It’s no secret that California has been hit harder than most states by the housing crisis. Just east of Los Angeles, the county of San Bernardino has cities with some of the highest foreclosure rates in the U.S. On July...more

California County Considers Using Eminent Domain to Seize Underwater Mortgages

Local authorities from San Bernardino County in California and two of its cities have recently joined together to create a Joint Powers Authority (JPA) with the purpose of seizing and restructuring certain mortgages to help...more

Will Proposed Amendment 4 to the Florida Constitution (On the November 2012 Ballot) Boost Florida's Economy? Independent Analysis...

In November 2012, Florida will decide whether or not to amend the state constitution with proposed Amendment 4. As for what that might mean to individual Floridians as well as Florida business interests and those developing...more

Supreme Court Asked to Hear New Case Involving Disparate Impact Claims Under the Fair Housing Act

On June 11, the New Jersey Township of Mount Holly petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court to hear a case involving the use of disparate impact claims under the Fair Housing Act. Specifically, Mount Holly asks the Court to...more

Tenants Win in Supreme Court Ruling on Rent Control

In a victory for tenants, the U.S. Supreme Court has let New York City’s hallowed rent stabilization law stand, refusing to hear an appeal by the landlords of two townhouses on West 76th St. who challenged the...more

Will Demoting the DFI, DOC and DRE Matter?

The Governor’s Reorganization Plan would demote the Department of Corporations and the Department of Financial Institutions to the status of divisions within the new Department of Business Oversight. The new DBO would report...more

Arkansas Game & Fish Commission v. United States of America

Amicus Curiae Brief of Pacific Legal Foundation and CATO Institute In Support of Petitioner

The Arkansas Game & Fish Commission owns and operates 23,000 acres of land as a wildlife refuge and recreational preserve; the preserve's trees are essential to its use for these purposes. Clearwater Dam, a federal flood...more

InfoBytes Special Alert: Supreme Court Grants Petition for Writ of Certiorari in Disparate Impact Case

On November 7, 2011, the Supreme Court granted a petition for a writ of certiorari in the case of Magner v. Gallagher, 10-1032, which poses the question of whether disparate impact claims are cognizable under the Fair Housing...more

Marzulla Law Legal Report - October 2011

In This Issue: - Ninth Circuit Affirms Validity of Fifth Amendment Claim In Guam - Takings Case Until 2002, Jan's Helicopters operated a helicopter transport business out of the island of Guam, a territory of the...more

Can the Government Condition Development on Cash Payments?

On October 26, 2011, Mark Murakami presented a lecture to Hawaii landowners, land lawyers, and government officials about an important case currently being considered for review by the U.S. Supreme Court about the...more

Six Years of Separation: Life After Kelo

It has been just over six years since the United States Supreme Court issued its landmark takings ruling in Kelo v. City of New London. The court's widely publicized and mostly criticized ruling found that the City of New...more