Law Commons^™

Fear And Loathing: Combating Speculation In Local Communities, Ngai Pindell

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

Local governments commonly respond to economic and social pressures on property by using their legal power to regulate land uses. These local entities enact regulations that limit property development and use to maintain attractive communities and orderly growth. This Article argues that government entities should employ their expansive land use powers to limit investor speculation in local markets by restricting the resale of residential housing for three years. Investor speculation, and the upward pressure it places on housing prices, threatens the availability of affordable housing as well as the development of stable neighborhoods. Government regulation of investor speculation mirrors existing, …

Home Sweet Home? What Massachusetts Can Tell Us About The Prospects For The Illinois Affordable Housing Planning And Appeal Act, Christian B. Hennion

Chicago-Kent Law Review

By most accounts, it is apparent that the United States lacks sufficient affordable housing to satisfy its needs. In an effort to remedy its own "affordability gap," Illinois enacted the Affordable Housing Planning and Appeals Act, a largely market-driven measure that will provide frustrated developers with a new appeals mechanism from unfavorable local land use decisions. This new mechanism will empower a statewide appeals board to override local zoning decisions, under certain circumstances, in an effort to remove roadblocks to affordable housing construction. In taking this approach, Illinois follows the example of Massachusetts, which has had a similar measure in …

Unintended Consequences: Eminent Domain And Affordable Housing, Matthew J. Parlow

Matthew Parlow