InfoHive – Eminent Domain

What is happening? A court in Singapore determined that NFT owners do have property rights because  Singapore’s highest court “recognized NFTs as protectable digital assets and a form of legal property.”

Why is this important? NFTs are new. Ownership of decentralized ledgers is new. Laws and Regulations are slow to catch up.

How will this be important? Policy makers will start defining what NFTs are and whether and how the property rights attach.

Wiley Connect | Property Rights in NFTs Are in the Spotlight

What is happening? A report by Galaxy Digital Research says there are no ownership rights in an NFT.

Why is this important? The report says ownership of NFTs could be established by improving “the on-chain representation and transfer of intellectual property rights from NFT issuers to NFT token holders.”

How will this be important?  World of Women, a NFT collection, tries to get to this by creating “a governance structure in which the copyright of each WoW NFT ‘runs with’ the NFT, such that whoever owns the NFT owns the copyright.”

Business Standard | NFT owners have zero ownership of their digital arts, says Report

What is happening? Boise, Idaho suburb, Meridian, permits RVs and tiny homes to be parked on a property owners land, but does not allow anyone to live in the tiny home.

Why is this important? Being priced out of Boise, a woman bought a tiny home and reached an agreement with a property owner to park on his property for $600/mo. Meridian, Idaho Code Enforcers then began fines of $1000 per day.

How will this be important? Housing affordability is on the tip of everyone’s tongue.

IJ.org | Meridian, Idaho Tiny Homes

What is happening? A County Court in Iowa has ordered a Carbon Pipeline to publicly name the property owners that could face eminent domain.

Why is this important? Supporters of the release of names said property owners should be able to talk to each other.

How will this be important? The Iowa judge relied on Iowa’s Open Records Law to release the names.

KCCI 8 Des Moines | Summit Carbon ordered to release names in eminent domain case

What is happening? North Lake Tahoe is offering property owners up to $24,000 to rent to locals to help house seasonal workers.

Why is this important? A Tahoe Prosperity Center survey showed that 73% of locals agree the lack of housing for the local workforce is the greatest threat to the quality of life in North Tahoe.

How will this be important? 65% of the houses at North Tahoe are second homes that sit empty for the majority of the year. Under the “lease to Locals” program, ” Homeowners earn $2,500 per tenant for a lease that’s at least five months long, and $6,000 per tenant for long-term leases of 12 months or more. The highest $24,000 grants are reserved for homeowners who house four employees with a 12-month lease. “

SF Gate | ‘Desperate’ to unlock housing, Tahoe program pays $24,000 to homeowners who rent to locals

What is happening? 43 states allow property sales to occur remotely. Mortgage lenders are pushing the other states to come on board.

Why is this important? The states that have not provided for remote property closings are California, Connecticut, Georgia, Mississippi, South Carolina, Delaware, Massachusetts and Washington D.C.

How will this be important? Mortgage lenders blame a lack of legal innovation. Federally the  Secure Notarization Act, which would allow notaries nationwide to perform remote online notarization has passed the House and is awaiting action in the Senate.

Wall Street Journal | Virtual Real-Estate Closings Go Mainstream, but Some States Hold Out

What is happening? RCF Connects, a nonprofit in Richmond California, is snapping up blighted properties and rebuilding them as all electric homes with solar panels and backup storage.

Why is this important? When completed, the homes will be offered to first-time home ownership among the city’s Black and brown residents. The program is funded in part by a grant from the California Energy Commission.

How will this be important? In exchange for the affordable first time home, the home buyer will “enjoy low energy bills and access to electricity during an outage — they’ll also be helping to relieve California’s congested power grid, and even be able to make money doing it. That’s because the house will be part of a new “virtual power plant”.”

Route Fifty | The Plan to Turn Blighted Houses into a New Source of Green Power for the Grid

What is happening? Sens. Jacky Rosen, D-Nev., John Boozman, R-Ark., and Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn. are authoring the Drone Infrastructure Act to fund $100 Million program for drones to inspect infrastructure.

Why is this important? The $100 M will fund workforce programs to support the next generation of inspectors who will use drones to inspect infrastructure.

How will this be important? There’s a companion bill in the House.

Route Fifty | Bill Would Offer Grants to Boost Use of Drones to Inspect Infrastructure

What is happening? Florida Governor signed HB 1059 (FL | 2021) that requires local jurisdictions to post online not only their permitting processes but also the status of permit application.

Why is this important? The bill is said to strongly incentivizes cities and counties to approve new home permits in a timely way

How will this be important? If cities fail to approve permits timely manner there are fines.

Washington Post | Opinion  Florida started penalizing bureaucratic delay. Housing permits spiked.

What is happening? Los Angeles has new distance requirements for homeless encampments that keep encampments away from schools.

Why is this important? Distance requirements exist in multiple land use areas- for alcohol sales, sexually oriented businesses, and short term rentals.

How will this be important? Will other localities adopt distance requirements for homeless encampments?

Los Angeles Times | L.A. cracks down on homeless encampments