Real Estate & Property Law

The Men Who Stare At Judges: 9th Circuit To Provide "Remote Viewing" Of En Banc Oral Arguments

Posted on June 15, 2010
According to this news release, the Ninth Circuit will offer remote viewing of the upcoming oral arguments in three en banc cases, including the rent control takings case, Guggenheim v. City of Goleta (which we're following here). "Remote viewing" does...

Impact Fee Not Reasonably Related To Burden Created By Development

Posted on June 14, 2010
Most of the time when we think of impact fees and other development exactions, Nollan and Dolan spring immediately to mind. In those two cases, the Court established the requirement that exactions have a reasonable relationship ("nexus") to some ill....

Cal. Ct. Appeal: Nominal Compensation In Takings Of Railroad Property

Posted on June 12, 2010
In City of Oakland v. Schenck, 197 Cal. 456 (1925), the California Supreme Court held that when a railroad's property is being taken, nominal compensation and not fair market value may be the appropriate measure of "just compensation." Schenck held...

Video Of Columbia Blight Case Oral Arguments (NY Court Of Appeals)

Posted on June 10, 2010
Launch in external player Missed our live blog of the the New York Court of appeals oral arguments in Kaur v. New York State Urban Development Corp. the case in which the Appellate Division struck down an attempt to take...

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New Opinions: Inverse Condemnation Statute Of Limitations, Impact Fee Nexus

Posted on June 10, 2010
Here are two opinions just received that look awfully interesting, but that we haven't had a chance to read in detail: Homebuilders Ass'n Tulare/Kings Counties, Inc. v. City of Lemoore, No. F057671 (Cal. Ct. App. June 9, 2010) - invalidating...

HAWSCT Denies Cert In Beach Accretion Case

Posted on June 10, 2010
Today, by a 3-2 vote, the Hawaii Supreme Court declined to review the decision of the Intermediate Court of Appeals in Maunalua Bay Beach Ohana 28 v. State of Hawaii, 122 Haw. 34, 222 P.3d 441 (Haw. Ct. App. 2009),...

Amicus Brief In Hawaii Land Title And Public Trust Appeal

Posted on June 09, 2010
Yesterday, we filed an amicus brief in an appeal we wrote about earlier, In re Trustees Under the Will of the Estate of James Campbell, No. 30006. The appeal involves the nature of "Torrens" title and, in a broader sense,...

You Take It, You Bought It

Posted on June 07, 2010
Comes news that the State Land Use Commission has reclassified a large portion of state-owned land in east Oahu from "urban" to "conservation." See Ka Iwi shoreline area reclassified as conservation land (via Hawaii News Now) and Ka Iwi coast...

BIO And Reply In SCOTUS Eminent Domain Case: Is Wisconsin's Application Of The Undivided Fee Rule Unconstitutional?

Posted on June 04, 2010
Here are the final briefs in City of Milwaukee Post No. 2874 Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States v. Redevelopment Agency of the City of Milwaukee, No. 09-1204 (cert. petition filed Apr. 2, 2010). That's the case in...

Columbia Oral Argument Recap - Blight, Civic Purpose, And Bad Faith

Posted on June 03, 2010
We've been busy filing an appellate brief and drafting another, so until now, haven't had the chance to post up links about Tuesday's New York Court of Appeals oral argument in Kaur v. New York State Urban Development Corp. We...

2pm ET Today: Live Blog Of Columbia Eminent Domain Arguments (NY Court Of Appeals)

Posted on June 01, 2010
Today, starting at 2:00 p.m. ET, the New York Court of Appeals will hear oral arguments in Kaur v. New York State Urban Development Corp. In that case, the New York Supreme Court, Appellate Division (First Department) struck down the...

Hawaii's "Resign To Run" Law - When Must A Candidate Resign?

Posted on May 30, 2010
We mostly cover property and land related issues on this blog. But since our interest (and practice) includes election, voting, and campaign finance law, we occasionally touch upon those subjects as well. For example, we've posted on residency requirements for...

Reminder: June 1 NY Court Of Appeals Oral Agument In Columbia "Blight" Case

Posted on May 28, 2010
A reminder: on Tuesday, June 1, 2010 at 2:00 p.m. ET, we will be live blogging the oral arguments in Kaur v. New York State Urban Development Corp. In that case, the New York Supreme Court, Appellate Division (First Department)...

Arkansas Supreme Court: Pipeline Taking Not A Private Use

Posted on May 28, 2010
In Smith v. Ark. Midstream Gas Servs, No 09-1186 (May 27, 2010), the Arkansas Supreme Court concluded that a taking for a natural gas pipeline by a private, for-profit utility company was not a violation of the state constitution's public...

How Remedying Blight "Pays For Itself"

Posted on May 26, 2010
Here's a case, issued yesterday by a California Court of Appeal, that is not directly about the use of eminent domain for redevelopment purposes to remedy "blight," but is nonetheless worth reviewing since it shows how redevelopment supposedly "pays for...

Another Brief Seeking Reconsideration Of HAWSCT's Kuilima/Turtle Bay Supplemental EIS Opinion

Posted on May 22, 2010
Here's the latest development in the reconsideration process in the Turtle Bay/Kuilima EIS case, Unite Here! Local 5 v. City and County of Honolulu, No. 28602 (Apr. 8, 2010). As we noted earlier, Kuilima Resort Company filed a motion asking...

We're "Activists!" Who Knew?

Posted on May 20, 2010
According to the Daily Reporter (Wisconsin), that is. If it's on the internet, it must be true, right? Activists want U.S. Supreme Court to rule on eminent domain case summarizes the background in City of Milwaukee Post No. 2874 Veterans...

Final (Final) Briefs In Hawaii Beach Taking Case: Is "Future" Accretion A Present Property Interest?

Posted on May 19, 2010
A couple of days ago, we posted "Final Briefs In Hawaii Beach Takings Case: Is 'Future' Accretion A Present Property Interest?" with what we thought was a complete set of the merits and amicus briefs filed in Maunalua Bay Beach...

"Unpublished" Opinion Round-Up

Posted on May 19, 2010
Appellate courts issue opinions and orders to decide cases. The opinions and orders in many cases get "published," meaning that they end up in the bound reporters (the U.S., Federal, Federal Supplement, the official state reports, and in West's Regional...

Georgia SCT: Lack Of Prosecution Time Limit Applies To Condemnees

Posted on May 18, 2010
The first line of this opinion issued today by the Georgia Supreme Court got us all excited: The trial court dismissed this condemnation case for lack of prosecution pursuant to OCGA § 9-2-60 (b). Windsor f/k/a Bank v. City of...

Briefs And Live Blog Of June 1 New York Court Of Appeals Oral Argument In Kaur v. NY State Urban Dev Corp. (Columbia "Blight" Case)

Posted on May 17, 2010
On June 1, 2010, starting at 2:00 p.m. ET, the New York Court of Appeals will hear oral arguments in Kaur v. New York State Urban Development Corp. In that case, the New York Supreme Court, Appellate Division (First Department)...

Missouri Court Of Appeals: Good Faith Negotiation Statute Requires Appraisal Using "Generally Accepted Appraisal Practices"

Posted on May 17, 2010
After Kelo v. City of New London, 545 U.S. 469 (2005), many state and local governments adopted measures designed to limit exercises of the power of eminent domain. Some jurisdictions went for substantive limits. For example, Nebraska adopted a statute...

Final Briefs In In Hawaii Beach Taking Case: Is "Future" Accretion A Present Property Interest?

Posted on May 17, 2010
Here are the latest filings in Maunalua Bay Beach Ohana 28 v. State of Hawaii, No. 28175 (cert. application filed Apr. 22, 2010). In that case, the property owners are asking the Hawaii Supreme Court to review the decision of...

New Ninth Circuit Ripeness And Res Judicata Regulatory Takings Case

Posted on May 14, 2010
This just in: the Ninth Circuit has issued an opinion in Adam Bros. Farming, Inc. v. County of Santa Barbara, No. 09-55315 (May 14, 2010). Adam Bros. Farming, Inc. and Iceberg Holdings, L.L.C. (collectively "Adam Bros.") appeal from the district...

Florida Court Of Appeal: State Must Pay When It Destroys Healthy Orange Trees

Posted on May 13, 2010
When the state purposely destroys healthy citrus trees as part of a program to address citrus canker, it must pay the owners of the trees just compensation. In Dep't of Agriculture & Consumer Services v. Borgoff, No. 4D08-4474 (May 12,...

Petition To Watch: Is A Littoral Owner Trespassing When The Shoreline Erodes?

Posted on May 13, 2010
SCOTUSblog has listed Sharp v. United States, No. 09-820 as a "petition to watch" for the Court's conference today. In that case, the property owners are asking the U.S. Supreme Court to review the Ninth Circuit's decision in United States...

Ely On "Stevens, Kagan and Property Rights"

Posted on May 12, 2010
Vanderbilt lawprof James Ely (if you haven't read his book The Guardian of Every Other Right: A Constitutional History of Property Rights (1998), you really should) writes on the topic du jour, the nomination of SG Elena Kagan to the...

Yale Law Journal: Eminent Domain Due Process

Posted on May 12, 2010
A new article worth reading: Eminent Domain Due Process, 119 Yale L. J. 1280 (2010) by D. Zachary Hudson. Here's the abstract: This Note analyzes the apparent disconnect between eminent domain doctrine and due process doctrine. Following Kelo, numerous states...

Cal Ct App: You Knew The Property Was Damaged When You Bought It

Posted on May 11, 2010
In a partially-published* opinion in Ridgewater Associates, LLC v. Dublin San Ramon Services District, No. A124661 (Apr. 11, 2010), the California Court of Appeals (First District) held that a property owner did not muster sufficient proof to support its claim...

New York Appellate Division: Condemnation Must Proceed Under Eminent Domain Statutes, Not Highway Law

Posted on May 10, 2010
In County of Cortland v. Miller, No 507725 (Mar. 24, 2010), the New York Appellate Division (Third Department) held that when the county legislature authorized the condemnation of property for a road culvert pursuant to New York's Eminent Domain Procedure...

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