Overlawyered » real estate http://overlawyered.com Chronicling the high cost of our legal system Sun, 27 May 2012 14:01:44 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.2 April 18 roundup http://overlawyered.com/2012/04/april-19-roundup-3/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=april-19-roundup-3 http://overlawyered.com/2012/04/april-19-roundup-3/#comments Wed, 18 Apr 2012 04:05:17 +0000 Walter Olson http://overlawyered.com/?p=28794 “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] [...]

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

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

    ]]>     http://overlawyered.com/2012/04/april-19-roundup-3/feed/ 1     Near the landmark vacant lots, a landmark gas station http://overlawyered.com/2012/04/near-the-landmark-vacant-lots-a-landmark-gas-station/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=near-the-landmark-vacant-lots-a-landmark-gas-station http://overlawyered.com/2012/04/near-the-landmark-vacant-lots-a-landmark-gas-station/#comments Thu, 12 Apr 2012 12:29:29 +0000 Walter Olson http://overlawyered.com/?p=28884 New York City gets away with landmarking all sorts of properties no one would ordinarily consider to be of architectural or historic distinction. It’s almost as if the city’s using the law as a generalized development control or something [Annie Karni, NY Post via Ira Stoll] Tweet Tags: historic preservation, NYC, real estate

    Near the landmark vacant lots, a landmark gas station is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

    ]]>     New York City gets away with landmarking all sorts of properties no one would ordinarily consider to be of architectural or historic distinction. It’s almost as if the city’s using the law as a generalized development control or something [Annie Karni, NY Post via Ira Stoll]

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    Near the landmark vacant lots, a landmark gas station is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

    ]]>     http://overlawyered.com/2012/04/near-the-landmark-vacant-lots-a-landmark-gas-station/feed/ 0     Advocacy funding the Gotham way http://overlawyered.com/2012/03/advocacy-funding-the-gotham-way/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=advocacy-funding-the-gotham-way http://overlawyered.com/2012/03/advocacy-funding-the-gotham-way/#comments Thu, 29 Mar 2012 12:49:45 +0000 Walter Olson http://overlawyered.com/?p=28636 A Bronx nonprofit that’s gotten $240,000 from taxpayers teaches followers how to squat in city buildings. “It’s breaking and entering for dummies.” [NYPost] Tweet Tags: landlord tenant law, NYC, real estate

    Advocacy funding the Gotham way is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

    ]]>     A Bronx nonprofit that’s gotten $240,000 from taxpayers teaches followers how to squat in city buildings. “It’s breaking and entering for dummies.” [NYPost]

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    Advocacy funding the Gotham way is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

    ]]>     http://overlawyered.com/2012/03/advocacy-funding-the-gotham-way/feed/ 4     Canada: lender’s inspection may create liability to third parties http://overlawyered.com/2012/03/canada-lenders-inspection-may-create-liability-to-third-parties/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=canada-lenders-inspection-may-create-liability-to-third-parties http://overlawyered.com/2012/03/canada-lenders-inspection-may-create-liability-to-third-parties/#comments Wed, 14 Mar 2012 15:50:55 +0000 Walter Olson http://overlawyered.com/?p=28240 A British Columbia court has allowed a suit to proceed arguing that a government lending program which included inspection of the property to be renovated could incur a duty to third persons who might later fall on a staircase whose faults allegedly would have been detected had inspection not been negligent. [Erik Magraken; Benoit v. [...]

    Canada: lender’s inspection may create liability to third parties is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

    ]]>     A British Columbia court has allowed a suit to proceed arguing that a government lending program which included inspection of the property to be renovated could incur a duty to third persons who might later fall on a staircase whose faults allegedly would have been detected had inspection not been negligent. [Erik Magraken; Benoit v. Banfield]

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    Canada: lender’s inspection may create liability to third parties is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

    ]]>     http://overlawyered.com/2012/03/canada-lenders-inspection-may-create-liability-to-third-parties/feed/ 0     Urban development, the NYC way http://overlawyered.com/2012/03/urban-development-the-nyc-way/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=urban-development-the-nyc-way http://overlawyered.com/2012/03/urban-development-the-nyc-way/#comments Sat, 03 Mar 2012 15:45:25 +0000 Walter Olson http://overlawyered.com/?p=27958 “A 2-story Whole Foods on an empty lot in the heart of brownstone Brooklyn should not take 8 yrs to (maybe) get permits” [@MarketUrbanism on NYT coverage] Tweet Tags: land use and zoning, NYC, real estate

    Urban development, the NYC way is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

    ]]>     “A 2-story Whole Foods on an empty lot in the heart of brownstone Brooklyn should not take 8 yrs to (maybe) get permits” [@MarketUrbanism on NYT coverage]

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    Urban development, the NYC way is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

    ]]>     http://overlawyered.com/2012/03/urban-development-the-nyc-way/feed/ 0     “Lawyer Pleads Guilty in Scheme to Elect Condo Board Members Favoring Construction Lawsuits” http://overlawyered.com/2011/11/lawyer-pleads-guilty-in-scheme-to-elect-condo-board-members-favoring-construction-lawsuits/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=lawyer-pleads-guilty-in-scheme-to-elect-condo-board-members-favoring-construction-lawsuits http://overlawyered.com/2011/11/lawyer-pleads-guilty-in-scheme-to-elect-condo-board-members-favoring-construction-lawsuits/#comments Wed, 09 Nov 2011 05:24:03 +0000 Walter Olson http://overlawyered.com/?p=25562 “A Las Vegas lawyer who once ran a courthouse restaurant has pleaded guilty in a scheme to take $3,000 in kickbacks to rig two condo board elections in Nevada.” The takeover of the condo boards, advanced by methods that included stuffing ballot boxes with fake ballots, made it possible to bring in a favored law [...]

    “Lawyer Pleads Guilty in Scheme to Elect Condo Board Members Favoring Construction Lawsuits” is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

    ]]>     “A Las Vegas lawyer who once ran a courthouse restaurant has pleaded guilty in a scheme to take $3,000 in kickbacks to rig two condo board elections in Nevada.” The takeover of the condo boards, advanced by methods that included stuffing ballot boxes with fake ballots, made it possible to bring in a favored law firm to file construction-defect suits. “Federal prosecutors claim conspirators used straw buyers to buy properties in about a dozen condo communities from 2003 to 2009 and helped them win control of condo boards, AP says.” A wider investigation continues whose targets allegedly include judges. [ABA Journal]

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    “Lawyer Pleads Guilty in Scheme to Elect Condo Board Members Favoring Construction Lawsuits” is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

    ]]>     http://overlawyered.com/2011/11/lawyer-pleads-guilty-in-scheme-to-elect-condo-board-members-favoring-construction-lawsuits/feed/ 3     “The main force letting protesters stay in the park is old-fashioned crony capitalism” http://overlawyered.com/2011/10/the-main-force-letting-protesters-stay-in-the-park-is-old-fashioned-crony-capitalism/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=the-main-force-letting-protesters-stay-in-the-park-is-old-fashioned-crony-capitalism http://overlawyered.com/2011/10/the-main-force-letting-protesters-stay-in-the-park-is-old-fashioned-crony-capitalism/#comments Mon, 17 Oct 2011 05:04:36 +0000 Walter Olson http://overlawyered.com/?p=25179 Gordon Crovitz at the WSJ tells how muddled property rights, combined with the dependence of real estate developers on the good will of New York’s City Council, have resulted in the continuing occupation of Zuccotti Park. Tweet Tags: NYC, real estate

    “The main force letting protesters stay in the park is old-fashioned crony capitalism” is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

    ]]>     Gordon Crovitz at the WSJ tells how muddled property rights, combined with the dependence of real estate developers on the good will of New York’s City Council, have resulted in the continuing occupation of Zuccotti Park.

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    “The main force letting protesters stay in the park is old-fashioned crony capitalism” is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

    ]]>     http://overlawyered.com/2011/10/the-main-force-letting-protesters-stay-in-the-park-is-old-fashioned-crony-capitalism/feed/ 0     Cuba flirts with property ownership http://overlawyered.com/2011/10/cuba-flirts-with-property-ownership/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=cuba-flirts-with-property-ownership http://overlawyered.com/2011/10/cuba-flirts-with-property-ownership/#comments Sun, 02 Oct 2011 20:52:20 +0000 Walter Olson http://overlawyered.com/?p=24914 Eduardo Penalver explains at PrawfsBlawg: Cuban law has long permitted private homeownership…The most significant difference is that Cubans are not permitted to buy or sell their homes. Cuba’s blanket prohibition on sales leads to enormous problems. …The outcome of the 1980s experiment illustrates why Raul Castro’s housing reforms are likely to fail this time around [...]

    Cuba flirts with property ownership is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

    ]]>     Eduardo Penalver explains at PrawfsBlawg:

    Cuban law has long permitted private homeownership…The most significant difference is that Cubans are not permitted to buy or sell their homes. Cuba’s blanket prohibition on sales leads to enormous problems. …The outcome of the 1980s experiment illustrates why Raul Castro’s housing reforms are likely to fail this time around as well. … What the Cuban government refuses to acknowledge is that Cuba’s housing problem is not really a housing problem. It’s a socialism problem.

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    Cuba flirts with property ownership is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

    ]]>     http://overlawyered.com/2011/10/cuba-flirts-with-property-ownership/feed/ 1     Great moments in legal aid http://overlawyered.com/2011/07/great-moments-in-legal-aid/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=great-moments-in-legal-aid http://overlawyered.com/2011/07/great-moments-in-legal-aid/#comments Sun, 31 Jul 2011 13:24:19 +0000 Walter Olson http://overlawyered.com/?p=24078 From the United Kingdom: “Foreign squatters given legal aid to fight eviction from £1 million house… as its British owner has to represent himself in court” [Daily Mail, back in February] Tweet Tags: legal services programs, real estate, United Kingdom

    Great moments in legal aid is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

    ]]>     From the United Kingdom: “Foreign squatters given legal aid to fight eviction from £1 million house… as its British owner has to represent himself in court” [Daily Mail, back in February]

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    Great moments in legal aid is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

    ]]>     http://overlawyered.com/2011/07/great-moments-in-legal-aid/feed/ 8     Ban on smoking by renters http://overlawyered.com/2011/04/ban-on-smoking-by-renters/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=ban-on-smoking-by-renters http://overlawyered.com/2011/04/ban-on-smoking-by-renters/#comments Fri, 15 Apr 2011 05:09:59 +0000 Walter Olson http://overlawyered.com/?p=22531 The Bay Area town of Larkspur plans to forbid most apartment and condominium tenants from smoking in their own units. [Marin Independent Journal; related] Tweet Tags: Bay Area, real estate, smoking bans

    Ban on smoking by renters is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

    ]]>     The Bay Area town of Larkspur plans to forbid most apartment and condominium tenants from smoking in their own units. [Marin Independent Journal; related]

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    Ban on smoking by renters is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

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