Real Property eNews

The Court of Appeal affirmed in part, and reversed in part, the trial court's order denying a homeowner's writ petition seeking to overturn respondent's cease and desist order requiring the removal of a seawall built in violation of a Coastal Development Permit, and granting the petition to reverse a $1 million administrative penalty imposed for the violation. Read more

Covid-19 Rights Informational Notices for AB3088 enacted August 31, 2020 Read more

Last fall’s AB3088 gave us many new rules and forms to serve concerning how much residential rent a tenant must pay, what a landlord can charge, and when evictions can occur. While AB3088 is set to change on February 1, 2021, pending are AB 15 extending AB3088 to December 31, 2021 and Senate bill 3 extending AB3088 through March 31, 2021 which will mostly extend the current rules. Commercial eviction rules are not impacted by AB3088. The below interactive guide with downloadable forms will give you an idea of what you need to keep in mind, which forms to use to terminate a tenancy and links to the new judicial council unlawful detainer forms. Read more

The formula stated in the November 2020 e-News for parent-child or grandparent-grandchild transfers for a property whose new assessed value is more than $1,000,000 over the parents/grandparents taxable value was misstated. Read more

Most importantly, why is this even a question when nearly all deeds of trust in California contain a power of sale clause that allow lenders to foreclose on the deed of trust without having to file a lawsuit? First and foremost, a lawsuit against the borrower may be necessary if the lender wants to seek a deficiency judgment (which cannot be sought after nonjudicial foreclosures). Also, a foreclosing lender may need to file an action against holders of inferior liens to extinguish them such as in the recent case of Robin v. Crowell (2020) 55 Cal.App.5th 727. Read more

As the old saying goes, “you can’t pick your neighbors.” In Southern California where property is a valuable commodity, it is common for adjoining properties to be close in proximity. One issue that is relatively common due to the lack of significant distance between neighbors is the responsibilities of property owners when a tree is located on or near the boundary that separates the properties. Read more

Sierra Club v. County of Fresno (2020) _ Cal.App.5th _ , 2020 WL 6883165: The Court of Appeal affirmed the trial court's order, in a California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) case, that granted a writ of mandate following the decision of the Court of Appeal in Sierra Club v. County of Fresno (2014) 226 Cal.App.4th 704 that was affirmed in part and reversed in part by the California Supreme Court in Sierra Club v. County of Fresno (2018) 6 Cal.5th 502 (Sierra Club). Read more

You just became a member of the CLA Real Estate Executive Committee, please tell me first about the process of deciding to and actually joining the committee. Read more

So I went in for my annual checkup with the doctor. I am now at the age where my doctor is a little younger than I am. I figure that is a good investment because I will be able to retain him for longer as I get older. We share some of the same enthusiasm for exercise and fitness. He is more of a runner. I enjoy jump rope and boxing for cardio stuff. Read more

So you were recently appointed to the Executive Committee of the Real Property Law Section of the California Lawyers Association. What are you looking forward to the most in this role? Read more