Bar Exam Toolbox Podcast Episode 122: Listen and Learn -- Easements (Real Property)
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
The Arizona Court of Appeals recently held that members of a homeowners’ association are not entitled to severance damages to their residential parcels when common areas are condemned....more
On December 7, 2023, the Arizona Court of Appeals held in State of Arizona v. Foothills Reserve Master Owners Association, Inc. that 589 homeowners in an Ahwatukee subdivision were not entitled to “proximity damages” after...more
In the recent case Romero v. Shih, the California Supreme Court clarified that under California law, parties to a real estate transaction may create an implied easement that effectively grants the dominant tenement exclusive...more
Yesterday, the Court of Appeals of Virginia held that, in order to establish an implied easement, a party must prove the physical location of the easement. In Thomas E. Morris, et al. v. Anthony Heath Parker, et al., Record...more
As properties age, it is not uncommon for lingering easements to exist on record which were originally created to serve needs that no longer exist or are practically speaking outdated. Recorded easements can affect a...more
The New York Supreme Court (Appellate Division) (“Appellate Court”) addressed in an August 11th Memorandum and Order (“Memorandum”) an issue involving a judicial action alleging diminished flow of water between two...more
Sullivan's Permitting & Land Use Practice Group and Litigation Department have released the second issue of their Zoning and Development Newsletter. The publication aims to provide our firm's clients and others interested...more
This week, the Court considers a property owner’s claim to an easement over a maintenance road on federal land, and casts doubt on the longstanding “person aggrieved” standing requirement in bankruptcy appeals. ...more
Most folks laboring in the property tax and valuation vineyards would not think that an easement attached to a parcel of real estate could create a separate tax liability for its owner. That presumption might be true in most...more
Under California’s easement “merger” (merger of title) doctrine set forth in Civil Code sections 811 and 805, an easement (or servitude) is “extinguished” by “the vesting of the right of the servitude and the right to the...more
Citizen suits begin with private parties sending “notice letters” to potential defendants apprising them that, if a specified action isn’t done within a certain period, litigation will be filed. A primary purpose of these...more
A Court of Appeals of Maryland (“Court”) addressed in an august 16th Opinion a dispute between a windfarm owner and neighboring coal cleaning operation. See Gestamp Wind North America, Inc., et al. v. Alliance Coal, LLC, et...more
The First Appellate District held that tribal sovereign immunity bars a quiet title action to establish a public easement for coastal access on property owned by an Indian tribe. Self v. Cher-Ae Heights Indian Community, 60...more
Evidence about past wildfires and the risk of future wildfires impacting residents near a proposed project does not require the lead agency to prepare an environmental impact report unless there is substantial evidence...more
A California Court of Appeal held that longstanding use of a landowner’s property for access and parking by residents of the adjacent lot had established a prescriptive easement. Husain v. California Pacific Bank, 61...more
On May 27, 2021, a division of the Colorado Court of Appeals issued its opinion in Amada Family Limited Partnership v. Pomeroy, 2021 COA 73. In that case, the court decided two significant issues that apparently had never...more
Plaintiffs own property in the Village of Freeport on Randall Bay and granted a drainage easement to the Village in 1961. The easement, dated September 6, 1961, allowed the Village to “construct and maintain one underground...more
In 2018, the CEQA Guideline which defines the term “mitigation” was amended to add “conservation easements” to the list of measures that can provide “compensatory” mitigation for an environmental impact. Guideline §15370(e)....more
The Third Appellate District determined that Placer County met relevant statutory requirements when it partially abandoned public easement rights in a road originally intended to be used only for emergency access and public...more
Porter Hedges recently scored a significant victory for landowners Terrance and Kenneth Hlavinka and their families (“the Hlavinkas”) against HSC Pipeline Partners, a subsidiary of Enterprise Products Partners. On June 18,...more
On May 29, 2020, the Federal Circuit issued its decision in Caquelin v. United States, reaffirming precedent governing the way courts evaluate the taking of private property in Rails-to-Trails litigation—specifically, that a...more
A landowner grants a license by allowing someone else to use the land. A license can be created by express permission, or by acquiescence (allowing the use with full knowledge and without objecting). Normally, a license is...more
Since the California Supreme Court’s 2019 Oroville decision, which narrowed inverse condemnation liability for public agencies, several court decisions have followed suit. ...more
Friday, February 28th, in Southwestern Electric Power Company v. Lynch et al., the Texas Supreme Court decided a hotly contested case regarding the interpretation of “general easements.” In Texas, the term “general easement”...more