It has long been the rule in California, stated in Civil Code §1953, that a residential landlord cannot require a tenant to waive their right to have the landlord take care to prevent personal injury. A recent decision addressed whether this rule against waiver applies to health club or exercise…
A California court recently ruled that a Developer of a condominium project, who was sued for construction defects by the homeowner’s association, could not force the association into arbitration. Promenade at Playa Vista Homeowners Association v. Western Pacific Housing, Inc. Cal . Court of Appeal, Second District, No. B225086. This…
I noted in a prior real estate law blog what the steps the government must go through to take property through an eminent domain proceeding. A recent court decision reported by Rick Daysog in Sacramento County requiring the city of Rancho Cordova to pay the Lily Co. $7.9 million for…
One aspect of California commercial property evictions you seldom see is the unlawful detainer judgment being overturned on appeal. It can happen. While it is established that the lessor is not liable for forcible entry and detainer or wrongful eviction in such a case, a court recently ruled on a…
Eminent Domain is the legal process in which the government takes property without the owner’s consent, but with payment of compensation. It is a common practice in California, as seen in Sacramento in both the Hazel Avenue improvement project and Madison Avenue improvement project. Projects like these include “right of…
A recent decision out of Santa Clara County found that some investors in hard money loans were not holders in due course, and had to pay back all their interest, all because the broker was mistaken as to whether his corporation was licensed. Experienced California real estate lawyers always check…
Often in California real estate nonjudicial foreclosures (trustee sales), it is not the first lender that is foreclosing, but the second deed of trust. Concerning priorities: the “first” is the first deed of trust to be recorded, and is usually the purchase money loan, or a refinance. The first is…
Reported in the Sacramento Bee by Nathaniel Miller is the issuance of criminal complaints against five people related to Diversified Management Consultants, Inc. for running a Ponzi scheme (Ponzi is capitalized because it is named after the first such schemer). This author, as I am sure other regional attorneys and…
I had noted in a previous post that between late 2009 and 2013, more than $2 trillion in commercial mortgages, which typically have a five- to 10-year term, will need to be refinanced. Many California commercial mortgage loans have gone into default and the properties are being run by court…
In California, the rules regarding adverse possession and prescriptive easement are well established. A recent decision regarding commercial property in Irvine addressed the one rare situation in which payment of taxes IS required to establish a prescriptive easement; in this case however, payment of taxes was not needed to establish…