Bar Exam Toolbox Podcast Episode 122: Listen and Learn -- Easements (Real Property)
Yesterday, the Court of Appeals of Virginia issued a significant opinion in Thibault Enterprises, LLC v. David A. Yost, et al., Yost Living Trust, a case involving a dispute over a 50-foot granted easement for ingress and...more
The United States Court of Appeals (“9th Circuit”) addressed in a December 18th memorandum issues arising out of challenges to the Natural Resource Conservation Services (“NRCS”) funding of an irrigation district. See Matthew...more
California law is clear that the owner of a private right-of-way easement has a duty to maintain the easement. What is less clear is how far that duty to maintain may stretch...more
Title insurance is issued using standardized forms of policies and endorsements. The most commonly used forms for commercial properties are those promulgated by the American Land Title Association (ALTA), a nationwide title...more
Co-Author Jesse Long The United States District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin (“Court”) addressed in an August 22nd Opinion a riparian rights issue. See Clott et al., v. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 2024 WL...more
While many Californians consider the legality of cannabis to be settled law, the ongoing conflict between California and federal laws on the subject continue to give rise to unexpected outcomes when it comes to real property...more
U.S. Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals - Ga v. Shafer - elections, federal officer removal, pretrial habeas - Ga v. Clark - elections, federal officer removal, special purpose grand jury, federal question - Gemini...more
An Illinois United States District Court (“Court”) addressed in a September 30th Order issues involving interpretation of riparian rights and easements. The issues arose in the context of Tuggers Burger & Ale House...more
On August 28, 2024, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) of the U.S. Department of Treasury (Treasury) issued a final rule requiring real estate professionals involved in real estate closings and settlements to...more
The United States Department of Agriculture Natural Resources Conservation Service (“NRCS”) issued a September news release announcing funding for the Agricultural Conservation Easement Program (“ACEP”) for fiscal year 2025....more
When you grant an easement over your lands to another, who has the obligation to maintain the lands and the improvements on those lands? One might argue that it is the grantor of the easement—that the owner has the obligation...more
In the latest episode of Digging Into Land Use Law, Karla MacCary and Elinor Eizdi explore the law of implied easements, which is a murky area of the law that was made more clear by a recent California Supreme Court case that...more
In litigation underlying Satcher v. Columbia County, 2024 WL 3802370 (Ga. Aug. 13, 2024), property owners sued the County related to damage caused by their privately-owned 48-inch pipe that had been used as part of the...more
As coastal erosion continues to shrink beaches, the sand that remains has become ever more valuable; and in Maine, a battle over the beach has reached the state’s highest court. In most coastal states, the intertidal land —...more
Governor DeSantis signed HB 799 into law on June 27, 2024, impacting all developments subject to covenants or restrictions of any flavor, whether residential or commercial....more
In the late 1990s and early 2000s, the IRS was confronted with a proliferation of corporate transactions that it viewed as aggressive tax shelters. Relying on the authority Congress delegated through Section 6011(a), the IRS...more
As development picks up for the summer, Washington state property owners facing easement disputes will benefit from understanding the Uniform Easement Relocation Act (UERA), 64.65 RCW, which came into effect last year....more
The Court of Appeals of South Carolina (“Court”) addressed in a March 20th Opinion an issue involving easements granting access to or control over a body of water. See Carr Farms, Inc. and Titan Farms, LLC v. Watson, 2024 WL...more
What do you do when you learn the old fence that you and your neighbor thought was the correct boundary turns out to be wrong … or when you discover your house or garage has been constructed on your neighbor’s property? Such...more
An easement is a right to make some specific use of land owned by another. Because easements involve the easement owner using land owned by someone else and because it is human nature to value and protect property, it is...more
For one reason or another, not every parcel of land originally targeted for a renewable energy project is able to be included in a final site plan. Typically, developers try to secure private easements from contiguous...more
On 8 May 2024, the Court of Appeal in Drax Smart Generation Holdco Ltd v Scottish Power Retail Holdings Ltd [2024] EWCA Civ 477 (“Drax”) handed down judgment overturning the decision of the High Court, finding that the...more
Michael Heller’s, Matthew Spero’s and Lawrence Han’s Winter issue of the Title Reporter was published in the Real Estate Finance Journal. This article discusses the following court rulings and other title insurance-related...more
The U.S. Supreme Court (SCOTUS) has again rejected a state's narrow interpretation of the constitutional limits on government's ability to impose development conditions. A unanimous SCOTUS ruled on April 12 in favor of the...more
What to do with a Texas pipeline easement that doesn’t define the width? In Premcor Pipeline Company v. Wingate they fought about it. The dispute began when Premcor wanted to run a pig through one of two pipelines on...more