By Glen Hansen

In Nielsen v. Gibson (October 13, 2009) 178 Cal.App.4th 318, the Court of Appeal for the Third Appellate District held that a couple who bought property from the record owner’s parents while the owner was permanently out of the country was entitled to a judgment for quiet title because the couple improved, maintained, fenced and irrigated the property, and paid the property taxes for almost 10 years.Continue Reading Leaving the Country? You’re Still on Notice of the Adverse Possessors on Your Property

By Glen Hansen

The ongoing mortgage crisis in California’s residential real estate market reinforces the current importance of California’s Home Equity Sales Contract Act law (“HESCA”), which is codified in Civil Code section 1695 et seq. Several cases in 2009 applying HESCA demonstrate how courts will enforce the strict requirements of that statute.
Continue Reading Case Law in 2009 Underscores the Strict Requirements of California’s Home Equity Sales Contract Act

By Glen C. Hansen

Civil Code section 895 et seq. (i.e., the “Fix-it Law”) establishes procedures and requirements with respect to construction defect cases involving homes and homeowners. Section 910 sets out “prelitigation procedures” to be followed by plaintiffs before a suit can be filed, procedures that can be summarized as “notice and opportunity to repair.” Section 912 in turn sets out certain requirements for builders with respect to documentation and information to be provided to homeowners.
Continue Reading Homeowners have the Burden of Proving Builder Failed to Comply with “Fix-it Law” Before Filing Construction Defects Action

By Katherine J. Hart

The City of Los Angeles (“City”) adopted a Specific Plan containing a provision which imposes affordable housing requirements on residential and mixed use projects of more than 10 dwelling units (“DUs”) per lot. At issue in this case was whether the Costa-Hawkins Act preempts the City’s affordable housing requirements. The superior court held that the Costa-Hawkins Act does preempt the affordable housing requirements in the City’s Plan.
Continue Reading Another Developer Win on Affordable Housing Regs: A Local Agency can be Preempted from Implementing Affordable Housing Requirements as a Condition of a Project Approval

By Katherine Hart

In the recent case of City of Irvine v. Southern California Association of Governments, the City of Irvine (“City”) sued the Southern California Association of Governments (“SCAG”) for allocating almost 43 percent of Orange County’s regional housing needs to the City. SCAG is charged with developing a regional housing need assessment (“RHNA”) for cities within its jurisdiction. SCAG delegated to the Orange County Council of Governments the responsibility for providing the data to be used by SCAG in applying the methodology used to determine the allocation of housing units to jurisdictions within Orange County.
Continue Reading California Appeals Court Says No Judicial Review of COG RHNA Allocations

By Glen Hansen

In Venturi & Company LLC v. Pacific Malibu Development Corporation (April 10, 2009) 172 Cal.App.4th 1417, the California Court of Appeal for the Second Appellate District held that a trial court erred in granting summary judgment and entirely dismissing a plaintiff’s claim for payment for services rendered to a development company because the plaintiff was not licensed as a real estate broker. Plaintiff may be able to recover some payment since a portion of the services provided by plaintiff were not exclusively those of a real estate broker. But the dispute could have been avoided if plaintiff had properly been licensed as a real estate broker.
Continue Reading If You Want to Act Like a Real Estate Broker, and Want to be Paid Like One, Then You Better be One