How To Be A Project Advocate By Diffusing Adjacent Neighbor Tensions
“Three hours of sleep again last night. Three hours of sleep because of that dog!” The foible of being an attorney is not being able to enjoy television without noticing every liability, crime, and actionable conduct of...more
Fletcher v. Merritt resulted in several rulings on the proof required to prevail in a property dispute. Merritt filed a trespass to try title suit (actually a quiet title, which the court construed as TTT) against Fletcher...more
A resolution has finally been reached in the long running dispute between the Tate Modern Gallery and its neighbours, the owners of residential flats in Neo Bankside, with the parties agreeing a very neighbourly compromise....more
Introduction - Two neighbouring iconic developments in central London have come under much scrutiny in recent years in respect of the relationship between their uses and whether the use of one constitutes a private nuisance...more
Ellison v. Three Rivers Acquisition LLC et al., on remand from the Texas Supreme Court, is the third round of a boundary dispute between mineral lessees in Irion County. For the history of Ms. Ellison’s odyssey from...more
In Davies v Bridgend County Borough Council, the Court of Appeal of England and Wales has reaffirmed that encroachment of Japanese knotweed onto neighbouring land can amount to a nuisance and, for the first time, acknowledged...more
The Supreme Court has given its judgment in Fearn and others v Tate, and has widened the law on private nuisance to include being “overlooked” for the first time....more
The court reversed a decision to grant an implied easement between two homeowners but upheld granting an equitable easement. Romero v. Shih, 78 Cal. App. 5th 326 (2022). The two parcels in question were owned originally...more
Most easements are created by a recorded instrument. Not so with one of the more exotic species of easement — the “equitable easement.” A case recently published by California’s Second Appellate District — Romero v. Shih...more
A trespass by way of encroachment occurs when a building, structure, or other “thing” (as opposed to person or animal), goes beyond the boundaries of the owner’s land onto adjoining land without the permission or consent of...more
When it comes to pre-acquisition environmental due diligence, a properly prepared Phase I ESA is the ounce of prevention that is worth a pound of cure. Phase I Environmental Site Assessments (“Phase I ESA”) are a routine due...more
Before adjudication, a court must determine whether a plaintiff has standing. Standing means that the party has a right to access the courts for a particular dispute. A petitioner bears the burden to show an actual injury and...more
In Ohio, a condemning authority has the power to take private property for public use through eminent domain. This power is limited, however, by the requirements under the United States and Ohio Constitutions that require the...more
Some easements will contain express language that delineates the respective rights of the grantor and grantee to make use of the easement. Other times, even absent express language, a grantor can be prevented from using an...more
Generally, many property owners assume that where a lot is held in single and separate ownership they are entitled to an area variance “as of right.” That is not entirely true. An exception to the single and separate...more
In Matter of O’Connor and Son’s Home Improvement, LLC v. Acevedo, et al., the petitioner, O’Connor and Son’s Home Improvement, LLC (“Petitioner”), owns a 120-foot by 57-foot parcel of property (the “Property”) located in the...more
“Ratification is not a game of ‘gotcha’”, said the Texas Supreme Court in BPX Operating Co. v. Strickhausen. The Court, in a 5-4 opinion, addressed the standard for an oil and gas lessor’s implied ratification of an...more
In 2017, 8 Bayberry Rd, LLC submitted an application to the Zoning Board of Appeals of the Village of Bellport (“ZBA”) seeking several variances to convert an existing three-car garage into a squash court and work out area...more
In Dodge v. Baker, Plaintiff and Defendants are neighboring property owners of two parcels of land located in the Village of Sodus (the “Village”), in Wayne County, New York (the “Parcels”). Each parcel was created as the...more
The Texas Supreme Court in Concho Resources, Inc. v. Ellison enforced a boundary stipulation involving an unambiguous deed about which there had been no dispute. You can refer to our earlier post to understand the facts, the...more
The central issue in the Texas case of Cook v. Cimarex Energy Co.: Did Cook grant Cimarex a right of way across Cook’s land to the location of two Cimarex wells. No he didn’t. Reversing the trial court, the court of appeals...more
Bell v. Midway Petroleum Grp., L.P., 9th Dist.] Mar. 18, 2021 was a trespass to try title action, suit to quiet title for possession of a land, and a counterclaim for title by adverse possession. ...more
A proposed development - A developer has obtained planning permission to build some affordable housing, but the land on which it wishes to build borders my land. Several years ago, when the land was divided up from a...more
If you know someone with property that borders, is adjacent to, or abuts a natural lake, pond, bay, sea, or ocean, they may have littoral property rights. What that means is they may have the right to build a pier out to the...more
Applicants sought to subdivide two lots located at 550 Hill Street and 554 Hill Street in the Village of Southampton into three residential lots with a 25 foot wide access easement along the southerly side of an adjoining...more