Private Property Rights. Lege Trend: HOA Reform. 5 Point Focus from the East.

South Carolina activists are pushing for Home Owner Association reform. The Legislature has a speical committee studying HOA reform. 

The 7 Hot HOA Topics that stand to be reformed:

  • HOAs collecting fees and not performing basic maintenance like:  clearing  garbage; maintaining a holding pond, or enforcing neighborhood rules.
  • Improve transperancy in HOA funding use
  • Improved conflict of interest standards to keep HOA boards and association management completely separate
  • strengthen HOA fiduciary requirements to home owners
  • Prohibiting the use of home owner fees to pay for liability insurance to protect the board, and require private insurance not using home owner fees for payment of policies

MyrtleBeach online | Special panel tackling HOA issues before legislature reconvenes in January

 

Private Gain from Eminent Domain Sparks Documentary. Top 3 Concerns from Land Owners

A documentary about a pipeline that would start in Belton, South Carolina, run through Georgia and end in Jacksonville is in the works. The top 3 concerns that emerged from landowners are:

  • A private company using eminent domain to increase profits
  • The pipeline will run through 3 states in areas that are rural and aging, increasing the chance that fewer landowners will be financially able to hire attorneys
  • Land has been in some families for 100s of years.

WAGTV | Local documentary spotlights landowners’ fight against Kinder Morgan

 

 

Legal trend: Eminent Domain Causes project Cost to Increase by 6 Times.

Where is this eminent domain case occurring? The San Benito County, California

What’s the project being built? bridge

What’s the impetus of the cost increase? Legal feees associated with eminent domain

What is the predicted cost increase? From $50,000 to acquire land to $300,000

Benito Link  | Eminent domain causes bridge construction legal costs to balloon

Private Property Rights: State vs. the Feds. 3 Things to Know about the Northern Border Property Rights Fight.

  • Land shifted along the Red River, as river banks do. This caused the state border to shift. The federal Bureau of Land Management stepped in to save the day and took control of 113 acres along the border.
  • 7 Texas landowners sued. GLO joined the suit to help the Texans.
    • Local county officials have also joined the lawsuit to help the Texas landowners.
  • The landowners ahve the blessing of conservatives like TPPF.

CBSDFW | Bush’s Texas Agency Joins Lawsuit Alleging Federal Land Overreach

TPPF | TPPF Statement on Texas General Land Office Intervening in Aderholt, et al. v. Bureau of Land Management

South East Times Record | Abbott announces support of Red River landowners

Deadline to Report Eminent Domain Power Fast Approaching. 5 Things to Know About Eminent Domain Transparency.

  • Online eminent domain database was created by SB 1812 (Kolkhorst & Geren)
  • All entities with eminent domain authority, public & private, can begin reporting on December 7th. The Form will be here. 
  • Deadline for reporting is February 1, 2016.
  • Comptroller recommends that entities with eminent domain authority designate one officer or employee as point of contact for current eminent domain information
  • 10 Pieces of Information will be online:
    • the entity’s full legal name;
    • the entity’s address and public contact information;
    • the name and contact information of the appropriate officer, or other person, representing the entity;
    • the type of entity;
    • the legal provision(s) granting the entity’s eminent domain authority;
    • the focus or scope of the eminent domain authority granted to the entity;
    • the earliest date the entity had authority to exercise the power of eminent domain;
    • the entity’s taxpayer identification number, if any;
    • whether the entity exercised its eminent domain authority in the preceding calendar year by filing a condemnation petition under Section 21.012, Property Code; and 
    • the entity’s Internet website address or, if the entity does not operate an Internet website, contact information to enable the public to obtain information from the entity.

INTERIM SHARING ECONOMY: Private Property Rights: In an Airport Taxi Permit?

Who is claiming a property right in a permit? Taxi drivers that hold a permit to service DFW are claiming a property right in the taxi permit for DFW

How did this argument emerge? The DFW airport board amended its rules on ground transportation. Thereafter, the taxis sued Uber and Lyft.

The response from the sharing economy? There is no vested proeprty right in a permit to operate at DFW

Who will decide this dispute? A Dallas County Court

Courthouse News Service | Uber & Lyft Fight Cabbies in Dallas

Quick Take Eminent Domain- Do the Required Condemner Funds in Escrow Belong to the Condemner or the Land Owner?

Background: In Florida to trigger quick take possession of land via eminent domain, the condeming entity has to deposit funds with the court.

Legal Fight Over Which Party Gets the Interest on Funds Held in an Eminent Domain case: 

  • The landowner wants the interest to fulfill the compensation owed
  • The Court of Appeals allowed 90% to be returned to the condemning entity

The Case:  Livingston v. Frank, 150 So. 3d 239 (Fla. 2d DCA 2014)

How is this relevant to Texas? The Texas Supreme Court in 2015 denied requiring a pipeline from having to keep funds with the court after a $1.6 million award for landowners. 

IN RE EAGLE FORD LAND PARTNERS, L.P. 

OCA Files Supreme Court Amicus Brief: A Government IOU Is Not Just Compensation in Eminent Domain

Legal Trend: Eminent Domain at the Beach.

Background:

  • Gulf Breeze, Florida has a 50 foot wide, 15 feet long parcel that has been used fror beach access
  • The town wants to allow continued beach access, as it has for 50-60 years,  and seeks eminent domain
  • The 2 property owners involved counter and say that the city has failed to block access to private property

What the courts will look at:

  • Considering the long use of the property as beach acess, did the city acquire a legal easement?
  • If not, can eminent domain be used?

Pensacola News Journal | Gulf Breeze defending public beach access

4 Ways a Legal Trend Pushed an Activism Movement that Forever Empowered Land Owners Against Pipelines.

  • Eminent Domain. Kelo. Lives. Limited Partnerships in pipeline development are still uneasy about access to land via eminent domain
  • Texas Rice Land Partners v. Denbury case empowered landowners to challenge pipelines
  • Legal Process means “significant legal costs and project delays”
  • Ted Cruz the face of Texas politics is no longer business conservatives but is a firebrand

Trib Talk  Bracewell & Giuliani | Obstacles to pipeline development highlight Texas’ conservative split