Real Property eNews

The purpose of this blog post is to discuss who must be named in a partition lawsuit. It is important to name all the necessary parties so that the Court can properly issue a judgment at the conclusion of the partition action. As partition lawsuits involve rights to property, it is pretty obvious that the owners of the property and the mortgage broker should be joined. But the question becomes more difficult as the interests become less connected, like easement holders or other persons who have liens against the individual owners. As such, this article aims to provide clarity on the process.  Read more

Make UC a Good Neighbor v. The Regents of the University of Cal. (2024) _ Cal.5th _ , 2024 WL 2855736: The California Supreme Court reversed the Court of Appeal’s decision that had concluded that defendant’s approval of an environmental impact report (EIR) for a proposed housing project to be built on a site called People’s Park near the UC Berkeley campus, violated the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) because the EIR failed to consider the environmental impacts caused by “student-generated noise” such as “vocal noise from house parties and from late-night pedestrians,” and the EIR failed to adequately consider alternatives to the People’s Park location. After the Court of Appeal decision, the Legislature passed Assembly Bill No. 1307 (2023–2024 Reg. Sess.) (Assembly Bill 1307) as urgency legislation, effective immediately, which added sections 21085 and 21085.2 to the Public Resources Code. The new law provides that: (1) the effects of noise generated by project occupants and their guests on human beings is not a significant effect on the environment for residential projects for purposes of CEQA; and (2) institutions of public higher education, in an EIR for a residential or mixed-use housing project, are not required to consider alternatives to the location of the proposed project if certain requirements are met. Based upon this new law, the California Supreme Court concluded that none of plaintiff’s claims had merit and it reversed the Court of Appeal’s judgment. The new law applied to both the People’s Park housing project and the development plan, and the EIR was not inadequate for having failed to study the potential noisiness of future UC Berkeley students in connection with the project. (June 6, 2024.) Read more

The purpose of this article is to discuss the commonly-discussed, but poorly understood, concepts of a “cloud on title.” A “Cloud on title” is an adverse claim, which may look good on its face, but is actually invalid or barred in some way.  Read more

Unique one-paragraph summaries, organized by legal practice, of every new published civil case each month, every quarter, and in early January each year an annual issue is released. These case summaries, offered throughout the year, give subscribers a competitive advantage to win more cases. Read more

Successful persuasive writing involves consideration of both the substance of your legal argument and of sentence-level writing techniques. There are several methods available to focus your reader’s attention so they accept your argument. These tips range from focusing or limiting the amount of information in a sentence, to overarching tonal shifts.   Read more

When it comes to real estate transactions, ensuring a clean and clear title is essential. However, what happens if a property is sold without a perfect title, only for the seller to acquire the missing rights or interests later? This scenario is where the After Acquired Title Doctrine comes into play. In this blog, we’ll discuss what this doctrine entails, its implications for buyers and sellers, and how it impacts real estate transactions. Read more

In every lawsuit, one of the biggest considerations is the cost. Frequently, clients are very eager to understand the amount that they will be required to pay to have their case resolved. After all, most people do not have a pot of money set aside for lawsuits, and are forced to eat into their savings to pay for an attorney to help with their legal problems. Even when attorneys’ fees are available for reimbursement, as they are in a partition action, the question of costs is always a significant question.  Read more

Lew-Williams v. Petrosian (2024) _ Cal.App.5th _ , 2024 WL 1404151: The Court of Appeal reversed the trial court’s order dismissing plaintiffs’ action, without prejudice, for failure to prosecute the case in arbitration after the trial court had granted a motion to compel arbitration. In April of 2020 plaintiffs filed their complaint alleging numerous causes of action, including conspiracy to convert and embezzle funds, financial elder abuse, and declaratory relief, breach of contract, negligence, bad faith, and unfair business practices. In July 2021, the trial court granted Read more

All legal writing is persuasive writing. Whether drafting a lawsuit, communicating with opposing counsel, or discussing strategies with a client, a lawyer’s writing must convince someone of something. A lawyer’s tools are the words, phrases, and sentence structure used to persuade a reader to reach the desired conclusion.   Read more

California Assembly Bill 2097 (AB 2097), signed by Governor Gavin Newsom on September 22, 2022, is a California state law that prohibits a public agency from imposing or enforcing any minimum automobile parking requirement on a residential, commercial or other development project located within one-half mile of a major transit stop. Read more