Real Estate & Property Law

Watch: Lawprof David Callies On His New Book, "Regulatory Takings After Knick"

Posted on November 05, 2020
To get your copy of the book, go here.

Virginia Supreme Court Oral Arguments In Takings, Property, And Public Trust Case

Posted on November 04, 2020
Here's the latest in a case we've been following even before it's inception (last semester, our William and Mary class visited the site and witnessed the oyster operation affected - see video above), Johnson v. City of Suffolk. This morning, the Virginia Supreme Court heard oral arguments in the case,...

Your Land Use/Takings Exam Hypo: Tex App Considers Nonconforming Uses, Vested Rights, Zoning, Admin Appeals, And Takings

Posted on November 02, 2020
This semester, we're teaching two courses at the William and Mary Law School: the usual Eminent Domain & Property Rights (our regularly-scheduled fall semester course), and Land Use. If we were to try and create a hypothetical for the final exam in either class, we couldn't do better than the...

Brigham-Kanner Property Rights Conference Videos Now Available

Posted on October 29, 2020
In case you missed any part of it: the recordings of the recent 2020 Brigham-Kanner Property Rights Conference are now available. Go here for the descriptions of the panels, speakers, and links to the recorded sessions. This year?s conference, held on October 1-2, opened with the Brigham-Kanner Property Rights Prize...

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Abstention, Pullman And Otherwise: The New Williamson County

Posted on October 23, 2020
After Knick knocked out the "state procedures" requirement of the Williamson County ripeness doctrine, we predicted that owners' lawyers better dust off their Federal Courts treatises that have been sitting on our bookshelves for the last three decades...

Takings And Property Rights Mavens: Here's Your Dream Job

Posted on October 22, 2020
Admire the enviable record of success of Pacific Legal Foundation (you know, the folks who brought us Nollan, Palazzolo, Sackett, Knick, and a bunch of other great cases)? Always dreamed about joining them? Well, here's your chance, experienced property rights lawyers: PLF is looking for a "swashbuckler" (their word, not...

You're Invited: Book Launch For "Regulatory Takings After Knick" (David Callies), Oct. 29, 2020

Posted on October 20, 2020
Come join us for the book party for Professor David Callies' recently published (by the ABA State and Local Government Law Section) book, "Regulatory Takings After Knick." We're online (of course), so you don't have to come to Honolulu - we're on Zoom: Date: Thursday, October 29, 2020 Time: 4-5pm...

Utah App: "All bets are off for any actions other than exactness." Close Enough Isn't Good Enough In Condemnation - When The Statute Requires Notice To Property Owners Within 10 Days, It Means 10 Days

Posted on October 20, 2020
When an opinion starts off with "[t]his case offers a feast of legal issues - ranging from procedural to constitutional - but its main course is a cautionary tale to government entities: they must follow the exact statutory requirements for bringing a condemnation action[,]" you just know that you have...

Federal Court: If It's True That Seattle Provided Material Support To CHOP/CHAZ, That Could Be A Taking

Posted on October 19, 2020
We all know that despite the heightened Twombly/Iqbal federal pleadings standard, that it doesn't mean a whole lot if a complaint survives a 12(b)(6) motion to dismiss. All this means that the court thinks it is plausible that the complaint states a claim...

Ohio: Uniform Relocation Act Doesn't Require Fee-Shifting For Inverse Cases (Lower Court Split Alert?)

Posted on October 19, 2020
Check this out, a recent case on the Uniform Relocation Act from the Ohio Supreme Court. Does it conflict with a decision that goes the other way from the West Virginia Supreme Court, or is it consistent with a South Dakota decision (cert. denied in that one, by the way)?...

Certworthiness Alert: 2-1 CA9 En Banc Denial (And 9 Judge Dissental) - Is A Takings Claim Forever Unripe Because The Owner In The Past Didn't Jump Through All Administrative Hoops?

Posted on October 14, 2020
Here's the latest in a case we've been following. In this Order, the Ninth Circuit denied rehearing and rehearing en banc of the 2-1 panel decision in Pakdel v. City & County of San Francisco, No. 17-17504 (9th Cir. Mar. 17, 2020). Earlier, the panel concluded that a regulatory takings...

Randy Smith: "Nailing Down Knick and Governmental Takings in Louisiana"

Posted on October 14, 2020
Check this out, a quick read from our New Orleans colleague Randy Smith, his article from the current edition of the Louisiana Bar Journal, "Nailing Down Knick and Governmental Takings in Louisiana." Therein, he tells the story (inter alia) of Violet Dock Port (see here and here for two of...

"Fidelity to the law means going where it leads, and sometimes it leads to the conclusion that a law is unconstitutional." What Might A "Justice Barrett" Portend For Property Cases?

Posted on October 13, 2020
We have looked through the entire judicial and scholarly oeuvre of SCOTUS nominee Judge Amy Barrett, who today is continuing to run the gauntlet of the Senate Judiciary Committee. Naturally, our scanners were searching for any of her decisions or writings that might give us some clue how a "Justice...

In Which We Return To The Pendulum Land Podcast To Talk "Snakes on a Plane," Eminent Domain Songs, And What Might Be Virginia's First True Regulatory Takings Case

Posted on October 07, 2020
In between talking about eminent domain-y songs, the goofy cult film "Snakes on a Plane" (yes, we really do have a cast-signed poster of that film in our office), and other fun stuff, we returned to the Pendulum Land Podcast for part II of our guest spot, where we also...

NM App: No Property In Impact Fee Gift Card

Posted on October 06, 2020
You know those times you go to the store and try to get a refund on something you've purchased, and instead of cash back, you get a gift card, only useable at the same store? Or when, instead of refunding your plane ticket, the airline gives you some limited-time credit...

Wisconsin Supreme Court Oral Argument: Can Condemnor Omit Severance From The "Full Narrative Appraisal" Required For The Jurisdictional Offer?

Posted on October 05, 2020
Here's the recording of this morning's oral arguments in an important eminent domain case being considered by the Wisconsin Supreme Court. (We had some trouble with the stream, so if the above video doesn't work, try this link instead.) This is a case we've been following (court of appeals' opinion...

Michigan SCT: Without Legislature's Assent, Governor's Emergency Powers Terminate At 28 Days

Posted on October 02, 2020
This just in in a case we've been following. In In re Certified Questions, No. 161492 (Oct. 2, 2020), the Michigan Supreme Court responded to the federal court's certified question about whether, under Michigan's statutes, the governor has the authority to effectively extend a declared state of emergency by terminating...

Your 2020 Brigham-Kanner Property Rights Conference Bingo Card

Posted on October 02, 2020

Minn: Construction-Related Interference Is Admissible Even If After The Date Of Taking

Posted on October 02, 2020
Could we get much more accurate and succinct in summarizing the Minnesota Supreme Court's opinion in County of Hennepin v. Laechelt, No. A190473 (Sep. 30, 2020) than the opinion's own syllabus? In partial taking cases, evidence of construction-related interference that occurs after the date of taking is admissible to determine...

Ninth Circuit, Over Dissent, Denies Injunction For Church COVID Restrictions

Posted on October 01, 2020
This one doesn't involve a takings claim, but since we're tracking the cases involving coronavirus-related shut down orders and restrictions, we thought we would post this here too. In Harvest Rock Church, Inc. v. Newsom, No. 20-55907 (Oct. 1, 2020), a panel of the Ninth Circuit rejected a church's request...

Burying The Lead: No Taking When City's Water Pipe Replacement Program Alleged To Result In More Danger To Owners' Properties

Posted on October 01, 2020
Here's the latest in a case we've been following. In Berry v. City of Chicago, No. 124999 (Sep. 24, 2020), the Illinois Supreme Court avoided the analysis that split the court of appeals, and upheld the dismissal of a very "torty" inverse condemnation claim...

In Which We Go Over To The Dark Side: Our Guest Appearance On The Pendulum Land Podcast (SPAM, Takings, Star Trek/Wars, and More!)

Posted on September 30, 2020
We were honored to be a guest on an episode of the Pendulum Land Podcast. Here's the description from the show notes: Hawaii inverse condemnation lawyer and William and Mary Law School adjunct professor Rob Thomas joins your hosts to discuss recording his classic single "Smooth" with Carlos Santana, whether...

Cert Petition: Can A State Agency Decide Whether There's Been A Taking?

Posted on September 30, 2020
Here's the latest development in a case out of Maryland that we've been following for a while. This is the one where Maryland Reclamation Association bought land back in 1990 to operate a rubble landfill. But after the purchase, the County changed its regs to prohibit (guess what) ...

There's Still Room: Join Us For The 17th Annual Brigham-Kanner Property Rights Conference (Online, Free!)

Posted on September 29, 2020
Although it is set to launch this Friday, October 2, 2020, there's still more than enough time to register (and room at the inn) for you to join us for the 17th Annual Brigham-Kanner Property Rights Conference at the William and Mary Law School. Like everything else this season, the...

Considered In Today's SCOTUS Conference: What Triggers The Takings Statute Of Limitations?

Posted on September 29, 2020
Today, the U.S. Supreme Court is considering our cert petition during the Court's "long conference." This is the case focusing on the interplay between Williamson County's "final decision" ripeness rule and the "case and controversy" injury-in-fact standing requirement, and asks: if the government makes its final decision, but the plaintiff...

Miss App: Takings Statute Of Limitations Didn't Expire Because There Was No Taking (And Even If There Was One, The Claim Is Too Late)

Posted on September 25, 2020
The plaintiff owned property down in the land of the Delta Blues. The intersection of Highways 61 and 361 in Coahoma County, Mississippi. That's a pic of the courthouse, taken a few years ago, by the way (yeah, we went there). The owner tried several businesses there, first a blues...

Earthquake In Ohio: The Jury Should Decide Lucas And Penn Central Takings After State Shut Down Injection Wells For Causing Earthquakes

Posted on September 24, 2020
What place do you think of when you hear the word "earthquake? Most likely California, we're betting. And it's also very likely that you didn't think "Ohio." Well, that's probably what everyone involved in the Ohio Supreme Court case State ex rel. AWMS Water Solutions, LLC v...

Complaint (N.D. Ga.): CDC Eviction Moratorium Is Unconstitutional (No Takings Claim, However)

Posted on September 23, 2020
Well, that didn't take long: as we surmised back when the CDC first issued its order halting residential evictions until the end of the year due to COVID (see "How Can? U.S. DHS: National Eviction Moratorium (Roscoe Filburn Could Not Be Reached For Comment)," the order has resulted in a...

No Injunction To Halt Precondemnation Entry, Since Owner Can Sue Later For Inverse

Posted on September 21, 2020
A very quick one today from the North Dakota Supreme Court. In Cass County Joint Water Resource District v. Aaland, No. 20200272 (Sep. 15, 2020), the court rejected a property owner's request for a stay pending appeal of a trial court's order allowing the district to enter the owner's property...

Takings Places (Preview)

Posted on September 18, 2020
Recently, we visited the site of a very well-known (and now very relevant) U.S. Supreme Court case. Why? Because we do things like that. See here, here, here, here, here, and here for some of our prior pilgrimages. We'll have more on the visit later. but we thought we would...

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