Overlawyered » fair housing

DoJ: Wells Fargo biased in maintenance of foreclosed properties

Walter Olson — Mon, 14 May 2012 15:26:30 +0000

Kevin Funnell at Bank Lawyers Blog is a bit cynical about the Department of Justice’s headline-ready threats of enforcement action:

[The DOJ claims] appear to be based upon consumer advocates’ claims that the bank takes better care of foreclosed-upon real estate it owns in neighborhoods where white people live than it does in areas where minorities live. I suspect that the bank will assert that (a) any rational real estate owner is only going to invest money in a piece of real estate where the owner has a realistic chance of recouping that investment through a higher sales price, (b) that such recoupment decisions are made on a property-by-property basis based upon objective data like recent comparable sales prices and fair market valuations, (c) that the economic reality-driven facts of life are that many more such properties are located in majority-white neighborhoods than in minority neighborhoods, and (d) there has been no intent to discriminate, merely to minimize losses…. As we’ve previously noted, the DOJ is on a jihad against lenders based upon “disparate impact” theories that the DOJ knows, in its heart-of-hearts, are highly fragile when exposed to the light of logic, the kind of logic applied by the US Supreme Court. Justice will likely pursue Wells Fargo and try to squeeze some dough out of it before the highest court eventually shuts down this racket.

Tags: fair housing, mortgages

DoJ: Wells Fargo biased in maintenance of foreclosed properties is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

April 23 roundup

Walter Olson — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 04:07:43 +0000

Fearful of adverse Supreme Court ruling, Department of Justice said to have exercised pressure on city of St. Paul to buckle in housing-disparate-impact case [Kevin Funnell]
Justice Janice Rogers Brown: we can dream, can’t we? [Weigel] The Brown/Sentelle opinion everyone’s talking about, questioning rational basis review of economic regulation [Hettinga v. U.S., milk regulations; Fisher, Kerr]
Claim: “The Bachelor” TV franchise discriminates on basis of race [Jon Hyman]
Chicago sold off municipal parking garages. Good. It also promised to disallow proposals for private parking nearby. Not good [Urbanophile]
Bad day in court for Zimmerman prosecution [Tom Maguire, more, Merritt]
“I want some systematic contacts wherever your long arm can reach” — hot-’n'-heavy CivPro music video satire [ConcurOp, language]
Federal judge dismisses charge against man who advocated jury nullification outside courthouse [Lynch, Sullum, earlier]

Tags: broadcasters, Chicago, competition through regulation, disparate impact, fair housing, jury nullification, Martin-Zimmerman case, procedure, Supreme Court

April 23 roundup is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

April 18 roundup

Walter Olson — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 04:05:17 +0000

“MPAA: you can infringe copyright just by embedding a video” [Timothy Lee, Ars Technica]
NYC: fee for court-appointed fire department race-bias monitor is rather steep [Reuters]
Larry Schonbron on VW class action [Washington Times] Watch out, world: “U.S. class action lawyers look abroad” [Reuters] Deborah LaFetra, “Non-injury class actions don’t belong in federal court” [PLF]
Will animal rights groups have to pay hefty legal bill after losing Ringling Bros. suit? [BLT]
You shouldn’t need a lobbyist to build a house [Mead, Yglesias]
“Astorino and Westchester Win Against Obama’s HUD” [Brennan, NRO] My two cents [City Journal] Why not abolish HUD? [Kaus]
“Community organized breaking and entering,” Chicago style [Kevin Funnell; earlier, NYC]

Tags: animal rights, bloggers and the law, Chicago, class action settlements, class actions, fair housing, land use and zoning, loser pays, mortgages, movies film and videos, NYC, real estate

April 18 roundup is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

“Hands off people’s choice of roommates”

Walter Olson — Sun, 25 Mar 2012 09:20:45 +0000

The Ninth Circuit properly vindicates the constitutional principle of freedom of association in a clash with housing discrimination law. [Rigel Oliveri, Washington Post]

Tags: fair housing, housing discrimination, Ninth Circuit

“Hands off people’s choice of roommates” is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

February 22 roundup

Walter Olson — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 05:23:02 +0000

Florida courts allow probe of finances of MDs who treat many injury plaintiffs [Dolman Law Group; Crable v. State Farm]
Booster clubs: “Does Title IX Reach Voluntary Donations?” [Joshua Thompson, PLF, earlier here, here]
Freedom to Discriminate in Choice of Roommates: 9th Circuit case of Fair Housing Council v. Roommate.com [Eugene Volokh; related from David Bernstein h/t commenter wfjag]
PI firm employee “disliked sending clients to [chiropractors] because insurers were more reluctant to settle those claims” [ABA Journal]
“Bill introduced to de-criminalize the Lacey Act” [Paul Enzinna, PoL; earlier on Gibson Guitar and wood imports here, here] More: Reason.tv on the raids [Balko]
“Australia: A Cautionary Tale of Litigation Financing?” [WSJ Law Blog]
Constitutional law book review: Jay Wexler, “The Odd Clauses” [Greenfield, Lowering the Bar]

Tags: Australia, chiropractors, constitutional law, fair housing, housing discrimination, litigation finance, Title IX

February 22 roundup is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

Feds sue housing co-op for not allowing “comfort dog”

Walter Olson — Sun, 19 Feb 2012 18:29:15 +0000

In 2005 Jack and Sandra Biegel purchased a unit in Long Island’s Woodbury Gardens, which had a no-pet policy. The next year they acquired a miniature schnauzer to assist with Sandra’s multiple ailments, which included depression and strained breathing. She died the next year. Now the federal government is taking Jack’s side against the co-op in its effort to enforce its rules. [NY Daily News]

Tags: fair housing, Long Island, service animals

Feds sue housing co-op for not allowing “comfort dog” is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

“The court that broke Jersey”

Walter Olson — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 13:58:28 +0000

Steve Malanga on New Jersey’s perennially activist Supreme Court [City Journal]. We’ve periodically discussed the court’s lamentable jurisprudence in its Abbott (school finance redistribution) and Mount Laurel (towns given quotas to build low-income housing) decisions. The court has also nullified constitutional limitations on borrowing by the state.

Tags: fair housing, New Jersey, schools

“The court that broke Jersey” is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

Dogs in the dorms

Walter Olson — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 05:31:31 +0000

The Justice Department has sued the University of Nebraska-Kearney and its regents and employees for allegedly “denying reasonable accommodation requests by students with psychological or emotional disabilities seeking to live with emotional assistance animals in university housing.” [Disability Law]

More/update: Inside Higher Ed.

Tags: colleges and universities, fair housing, Nebraska, service animals

Dogs in the dorms is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

November 14 roundup

Walter Olson — Mon, 14 Nov 2011 12:28:58 +0000

Seeking to address widespread pharmaceutical shortages, Obama executive order downplays government role in causing them [Fair Warning, WSJ editorial, earlier here, here, here, here, etc.]
“The school has a strict no-hugging policy….” [WKMG Orlando]
Retired Justice John Paul Stevens isn’t buying the “Thomas should recuse” meme [USA Today via Legal Ethics Forum]
Not COPPA-cetic: among other unintended consequences, Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act has encouraged parents to help kids to falsify ages online [Danah Boyd via Jim Harper, Suderman, Reason, Stewart Baker, earlier]
Lawmaking from the bench: Maryland high court strikes down law limiting landlords’ lead paint liability [Ronald Miller] “Maryland court sides with plaintiffs in slip-and-fall cases” [Emily Babay, Examiner]
Trial lawyers help bail out Bexar County Democratic party [San Antonio Express-News]
Supreme Court agrees to hear case arguing that aggressive enforcement of local housing code violates federal Fair Housing Act [Magner v. Gallagher, SCOTUSBlog, Illinois Municipal League, http://www.inversecondemnation.com/inversecondemnation/2011/11/potemkin-village-hawaiian-style.html">Fisher/Forbes]

Tags: Clarence Thomas, fair housing, lead paint, Maryland, Mikal Watts, pharmaceuticals, privacy, slip and fall

November 14 roundup is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

September 6 roundup

Walter Olson — Tue, 06 Sep 2011 05:09:46 +0000

“For any value of x, ‘X’s Law’ is a bad idea.” [David Wagner on this Radley Balko post]
“Politicized hiring at DOJ” shoe is on the other foot now [Caroline May, Daily Caller; Hans Bader/CEI]
“THE FACTS: Nothing is unconstitutional until courts declare it to be so,” quoth AP. Whaaaa? [Taranto]
Pull back your town’s Section 8 program, get sued or investigated [James Bovard, WSJ]
New Jersey Turnpike Authority legal payouts include $150K in legal fees to ADA claimant [Press of Atlantic City]
NYT’s faux-criticism of Title IX enforcers: colleges aren’t cowed enough by them [Joshua Thompson, PLF Liberty Blog]
After silicosis-payout scandal, lawsuits aim at defrauded insurer among other parties [Brenda Sapino Jeffreys, Texas Lawyer, earlier]

Tags: constitutional law, disabled rights, fair housing, insurers, New Jersey, New York Times, Title IX

September 6 roundup is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system