A county was entitled to a preliminary injunction against a church operating a school without a required conditional user permit.
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Got Ink?
Tattoos: First amendment protected speech. A city ordinance effectively banning tattoo parlors oversteps constitutional limits protecting freedom of expression.
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A Lenders’ Loan Approval Is Not An Implied Promise That The Borrower Can Afford The Loan
California Court of Appeal for the First Appellate District held that home loan borrowers could not state a cause of action for fraudulent misrepresentation or concealment against a lender, because a borrower is not entitled to rely upon a lender’s knowingly false determination that the borrower is qualified for a loan in order to decide if the borrower could afford the loan.
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Court Upholds Agency’s Reasonable Assumptions in its Urban Water Management Plan
In preparing an urban water management plan, the agency may rely upon reasonable assumptions, supported by substantial evidence. A reviewing court should apply deference to the agency’s decision.
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Commercial Logging on Forest Lands Upheld by Ninth Circuit
In League of Wilderness Defenders-Blue Mountains Biodiversity Project v. Allen, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals focused on two well-known principles of environmental review: 1) cumulative impacts may be evaluated using an aggregate effects approach; and 2) an agency is only required to adequately acknowledge and respond to comments raised by opposing parties, including opposing expert analysis.
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Seller’s Broker Has Duty to Inform Buyer That Property is so Over-Encumbered That Escrow Will Likely Not Close
By Glen C. Hansen
In Holmes v. Summer (2010) 188 Cal.App.4th 1510, the Court of Appeal for the Fourth Appellate District held that when a real estate agent or broker for a seller is aware that the amount of existing monetary liens and encumbrances exceeds the sales price of a residential property, so as to require either the cooperation of the lender in a short sale or the ability of the seller to put a substantial amount of cash into the escrow in order to obtain the release of the monetary liens and encumbrances affecting title, the agent or broker has a duty to disclose this state of affairs to the buyer, so that the buyer can inquire further and evaluate whether to risk entering into a transaction with a substantial risk of failure.
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Grazing Cattle and the BLM’s Violation of NEPA and ESA
By Emilio Camacho and Cori Badgley
The Ninth Circuit concludes that major agencies violate NEPA and ESA when they fail to consider and adequately respond to relevant expert analysis.
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Exclusive Prescriptive Easements “No”; Equitable Easements: “Maybe”
By Glen C. Hansen
Civil litigation involving boundary disputes often includes legal questions about whether one neighbor has the right to use the property of another neighbor for driveway, parking, landscaping or other purposes. While California courts may grant a prescriptive easement to a neighbor to use his or her neighbor’s property for a limited use, a prescriptive easement will not be granted for “exclusive” use of neighboring property. This article outlines the factors that courts consider when determining whether an intended use of neighboring property is “exclusive,” and therefore prohibited as a prescriptive easement.
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Governor Schwarzenegger Signs Bill to Relieve POTWs of Some MMPs
By Katherine J. Hart
On September 30, 2010, the Governor signed Senate Bill 1284 (Ducheny) into law (Chapter 645). Ever since their adoption, Mandatory Minimum Penalties or MMPs have created serious economic hardship for local wastewater agencies. While concerns remain about MMPs, the California Legislature and Governor granted some much needed relief to these local agencies.
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Are 1021.5 Attorneys Fees All or Nothing?
Attorneys’ fees under the private attorney general doctrine codified in Code of Civil Procedure section 1021.5 have become almost a “given” when a petitioner wins a CEQA suit. Two decisions that came down in 2010 explore the limits of attorneys’ fees in CEQA cases, and the rulings illustrate both what it means to be a successful party for purposes of Section 1021.5 and the vast discretion given to the trial court in determining the amount awarded.
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