Real Estate

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By Glen C. Hansen

In Scher v. Burke (2015) 240 Cal.App.4th 381, the Court of Appeal for the Second Appellate District held, in the published portion of the decision: (1) that Civil Code section 1009 bars all use of non-coastal private real property, not simply recreational use of such property, from ever ripening into an implied dedication to the public after the March 4, 1972 effective date of that statute; and (2) that evidence about the use of a road on private property after that date cannot support a finding that the road was impliedly dedicated to public use prior to that date. (In the unpublished portion of the decision, the Court of Appeal examined extensive historical evidence and affirmed the trial court’s judgment that Plaintiffs had not established their right to an express, prescriptive, or equitable easement for access across Defendants’ properties. A copy of the entire Court of Appeal decision can be found here.)

Continue Reading Court of Appeal Disagrees With Other Courts And Holds That California Civil Code Section 1009 Bars All Use Of Private Real Property From Developing Into An Implied Public Dedication, Not Just Recreational Use.

By Brian Russell

Walnut Acres Neighborhood Assn. v. City of Los Angeles (2015) 235 Cal.App.4th 1303

The owners of the property and the developer Community MultiHousing, Inc. sought a permit under Los Angeles City code section 14.3.1 to build an eldercare facility at 6221 North Fallbrook Avenue in Woodland Hills. Section 14.3.1’s purpose is to “provide development standards for Alzheimer’s/Dementia Care Housing, Assisted Living Care Housing, Senior Independent Housing and Skilled Nursing Care Housing, create a single process for approvals and facilitate the processing of application of Eldercare Facilities. These facilities provide much needed services and housing for the growing senior population of the City of Los Angeles.” (§ 14.3.1, subd. A.) The proposed eldercare facility exceeded the maximum allowable density and floor area of the residential zone. Zoning regulations limited a structure to 12,600 square feet, and the proposed facility would contain 50,289 square feet, including over 20,000 square feet devoted to common areas. The proposed facility would have 60 guest rooms and 76 guest beds. Application of the zoning regulations would have limited the site to 16 guest rooms. Pursuant to section 14.3.1, subdivision E, to approve an eldercare facility, the zoning administrator is required to make several findings. “The Zoning Administrator shall not grant the approval unless he or she finds that the strict application of the land use regulations on the subject property would result in practical difficulties or unnecessary hardships inconsistent with the general purpose and intent of the zoning regulations.”Continue Reading Local Zoning Laws Prevent an Eldercare Facility from Proceeding with Plans for Development

By Brian Russell

Nick v. Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control (2014) 233 Cal.App.4th 194.

This is a case of one convenience store owner attempting to prevent another convenience store, 7-Eleven, from selling beer and wine by using the powers of the Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC). The petitioners, Adam and Sherry Nick (Nick) claimed in its complaint that under the Alcoholic Beverage Control Act (Bus. and Prof Code, Section 23000 et seq. or the “Act”) it prohibits the ABC from issuing a license that would result in or add to an undue concentration of licenses unless the local governing body of the area where the applicant’s premises is located determines that issuing the license would serve a “public convenience or necessity.”Continue Reading Did the California Alcoholic Beverage Control Cede its Authority?

By Glen Hansen

Ram v. OneWest Bank, FSB (2015) 234 Cal.App.4th 1.

In Ram v. OneWest Bank, FSB (2015) 234 Cal.App.4th 1, the Court of Appeal for the First Appellate District held that a nonjudicial sale of a residence was not void due to irregularities in the foreclosure proceedings, where the party executing and recording the notice of default as the “trustee” had not yet been substituted as the trustee by the lender’s assignee.Continue Reading Nonjudicial Sale Is Not Void Merely Because The Trustee Had Not Yet Been Substituted As The Trustee At The Time It Recorded The Notice Of Default

By Glen C. Hansen

Richardson v. Franc (January 27, 2015, A137815) ___ Cal.App.4th ___.

In Richardson v. Franc, the Court of Appeal for the First Appellate District affirmed a trial court’s granting of an irrevocable license in perpetuity to maintain and improve landscaping, irrigation, and lighting within the area of an express easement for…

By Glen C. Hansen

In Donahue Schriber Realty Group, Inc. v. Nu Creation Outreach (2014) 232 Cal.App.4th 1171, the Court of Appeal for the Fifth Appellate District affirmed a trial court’s order granting a preliminary injunction that enjoined defendants from soliciting charitable donations or engaging in other expressive activities on sidewalks adjacent to store…

By Glen C. Hansen

A trio of cases were reported by the California Court of Appeal in the first half of 2014 that clarified the disclosure and fiduciary duties of real estate brokers and their agents.Continue Reading California Courts of Appeal Issue Several Decisions Clarifying Disclosure Duties Of Real Estate Sellers And Their Brokers/Agents

By Glen Hansen

Your neighbor builds (or wants to build) an ornate wall between your two properties. Then your neighbor emails to you the invoice, and asks you to contribute one-half the cost of the edifice. Do you have to pay if the cost of the wall is excessive in your opinion? What if you can barely afford half the cost of a chain link fence, let alone THAT wall? Prior to January 1, 2014, the law was not too helpful in answering those questions.Continue Reading So Your Neighbor Wants To Build An Ornate Wall Between Your Adjoining Properties – In The Absence Of An Agreement, Who Pays?

By Glen C. Hansen

In Windsor Pacific LLC v. Samwood Co. (January 30,2013, B233514) ___ Cal.App.4th ____, the Court of Appeal for the Second Appellate District held (1) that a prescriptive easement could not be established over two roads, where the facts in the case demonstrate that the party alleging the prescriptive use was equitably estopped from denying that its use of the roads was by permission; and (2) that a proceeding to interpret a written easement agreement in order to determine whether a party to the agreement is equitably estopped from claiming that its use of the subject property was permissive is an action to ‘enforce or interpret’ the agreement, for which an attorneys’ fees provision in the agreement applies, regardless of whether that interpretation was sought by the allegations of the complaint or by affirmative defenses in the answer.Continue Reading Court Strongly Reaffirms That No Prescriptive Easement Exists Where The Facts Demonstrate That The Use Of The Property Was By Permission

By Glen Hansen

In Martin v. Van Bergen (September 6, 2012, B232570) ___ Cal.App.4th ___, the Court of Appeal for the Second Appellate District held that a property owner who unknowingly had raised almond trees up to a common fence located on a neighboring parcel could not raise the doctrine of boundary by agreement as a defense to the neighbor’s quiet title action, because there was no evidence of an actual agreement to locate the fence as the boundary between the parcels.Continue Reading When Neighbors Fight Over Whether A Fence Is On The Property Line, The Doctrine Of Boundary By Agreement Requires … An Actual Agreement.