California Coastal Act Blocks Housing Project in Venice Despite Earlier Approvals -
Judge James C. Chalfant of the California Court of Appeal on Sept. 29, 2016, affirmed a lower court ruling denying a developer’s petition...more
10/10/2016
/ Affordable Housing ,
Apartments ,
Appeals ,
City of Los Angeles ,
Construction Industry ,
Construction Project ,
Earthquakes ,
Foreclosure ,
Governor Brown ,
Housing Developers ,
Housing Market ,
Local Ordinance ,
Low-Income Issues ,
Mortgages ,
New Legislation ,
Popular ,
Property Ownership ,
Real Estate Development ,
Real Estate Market ,
Seismic Retrofitting ,
Single Family Housing ,
Spouses ,
Surviving Spouse ,
Variances
LACMTA Approves Tax Ballot Measure to Fund $120 Billion Transit Plan -
The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (LACTMA) on June 24, 2016, approved a sales tax ballot measure to help fund $120 billion...more
6/29/2016
/ Ballot Measures ,
CEQA ,
City of Los Angeles ,
EU ,
Mortgage REITS ,
Public Transit ,
Real Estate Investments ,
Real Estate Market ,
Referendums ,
Renewable Energy ,
Retail Market ,
Sales Tax ,
Solar Energy ,
Transit Authority ,
Transportation Industry ,
UK ,
UK Brexit
California Governor Proposes "Build By Right" Approval Process for Affordable Housing -
Recognizing the extreme need throughout California for construction of new affordable housing units, on May 13, 2016, Gov. Jerry...more
6/14/2016
/ Affordable Housing ,
Ballot Measures ,
CA Supreme Court ,
CEQA ,
Community Development ,
Construction Industry ,
Customer Due Diligence (CDD) ,
Financial Crimes ,
FinCEN ,
Housing Developers ,
Money Laundering ,
Proposed Legislation ,
Real Estate Development ,
Real Estate Market
California Adopts ADA Relief for Small Businesses -
Gov. Jerry Brown signed California Senate Bill 269 into law on May 10, 2016, providing some limited relief to small businesses that are sued for violations of the...more
5/19/2016
/ Accessibility Rules ,
Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Commercial Leases ,
Disability Access Claims ,
Disability Discrimination ,
Light Rail ,
Mortgage REITS ,
Public Transportation ,
Real Estate Market ,
Retail Market ,
Retailers ,
Shopping Centers ,
Small Business ,
Trains
San Francisco Requires Solar Panel Installation on New Buildings -
Last month, the City of San Francisco passed an ordinance requiring all new buildings to include solar energy systems. California law currently requires...more
5/11/2016
/ Affordable Housing ,
Building Permits ,
City of Los Angeles ,
Community Revitalization and Investment Authorities (CRIAs) ,
Construction Industry ,
Energy Sector ,
Local Ordinance ,
Neighborhood Revitalization ,
Real Estate Development ,
Real Estate Market ,
Redevelopment ,
Renewable Energy ,
San Francisco ,
Solar Energy ,
Successor Agencies
IRS Reevaluates "Bad Boy" Carve-Outs -
Before providing a non-recourse loan to a Limited Liability Company (LLC) – i.e., one for which the LLC members do not bear the risk of economic loss – a lender often will require...more
5/4/2016
/ Bad Boy Liability ,
Beachfront Properties ,
Carve Out Provisions ,
City of Los Angeles ,
General Plan ,
Internal Revenue Code (IRC) ,
IRS ,
Limited Liability Company (LLC) ,
Navigable Waters ,
Non-Recourse Loans ,
Private Property ,
Public Access Laws ,
Real Estate Market ,
Right of Access ,
Urban Planning & Development
Residential Communities: Calderon Process for HOAs Likely to Be Extended Again -
The California Assembly Committee on Judiciary in early April unanimously passed Assembly Bill (AB) 1963 to extend the pre-litigation...more
4/13/2016
/ California Building Industry Association (CBIA) ,
Commercial Real Estate Market ,
Construction Defects ,
Construction Industry ,
Consumer Bankruptcy ,
Homeowners Association (HOA) ,
Lease Termination ,
Pre-Litigation Inspection and Repair Procedures ,
Residential Real Estate Market ,
Retailers ,
Sustainability
California's High-Speed Rail May Not Be Financially Feasible -
The California Legislature's analyst released a report stating that the high-speed rail system planned for California is not economically feasible. Several...more
FDIC Clarifies "Abandoned Foreclosures" Guidelines -
The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) clarified on March 2, 2016, its existing guidelines with respect to the decision by any FDIC-supervised institution to...more
Supreme Court of California Makes Mortgage Due Diligence More Difficult -
The Supreme Court of California ruled that borrowers have standing to challenge a foreclosure on the grounds that an assignment of the mortgage...more
ASTM Updates Property Condition Assessments Standard -
The American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) published at the end of 2015 the latest version of the Standard Guide for Property Condition Assessments:...more
Los Angeles Ballot Proposal To Halt Developer's Zoning Changes -
A group called "Coalition to Preserve L.A." is proposing a ballot measure that would impose a two-year moratorium on all projects in the city of Los...more
New Legislation Limits Tax Sharing Agreements -
California Senate Bill (SB) 533, which was signed into law in October 2015, went into effect on Jan. 1, 2016, and limits local government from executing tax-sharing...more
Residential Communities: Proposed Amendment to Allow Owners' Attorneys at Association Board Meetings -
In an attempt to further broaden when a member of a common interest development association can bring his or her...more
Reporting Leases on the Balance Sheet -
The International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) announced on Jan. 13, 2016, a new – and materially different – manner of accounting for leases. The new standard, IFRS 16...more
California Senate Proposes $2 Billion on Housing for Homeless -
California state senators put forth a proposal on Jan. 4, 2016, to spend $2 billion to build or rehabilitate permanent housing for homeless people,...more
Hit Pause on Energy Use Disclosure -
Pursuant to California Assembly Bill (AB) 1103, the Nonresidential Building Energy Use Disclosure Program required an owner (or an agent authorized to act on behalf of an owner) of...more
As of January 1, 2014, commercial common interest developments (CIDs) in California are governed by the new Commercial and Industrial Common Interest Development Act.
The New Act establishes provisions specific to...more