Housing Law Commons^™

Confronting The Mortgage Meltdown: A Brief For The Federalization Of State Mortgage Foreclosure Law, Grant S. Nelson

Pepperdine Law Review

This Article argues for federal preemption of state procedures governing the foreclosure of mortgages and security interests in rents. While it also suggests that federal action limiting or prohibiting state anti-deficiency legislation may be appropriate, it leaves this issue to future consideration. Thus, its major focus is to advocate the congressional adoption of both Uniform Nonjudicial Foreclosure Act (UNFA) and Uniform Assignment of Rents Act (UARA) to make them available to all lenders nationwide. However, the federal government has a special stake in greater uniformity for its own account. This is especially the case as to mortgages on real estate ...

By The People, For The People? Community Participation In Law Reform, Natalina Nheu, Hugh Mcdonald

Access to Justice

This report is based on five case studies of law reform in New South Wales concerning housing, mental health, law and order, and civil procedure laws. It draws from publicly available literature and in-depth interviews with a number of informants involved in these case studies, as well as general literature and data on a number of Bills introduced and enacted in the New South Wales Parliament.

The report highlights the many constraints to the participation of disadvantaged people in law reform, and identifies a range of strategies that might be considered if the most disadvantaged people in the community are ...

Two Cheers For Gentrification, J. Peter Byrne

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

The very word "gentrification" implies distaste. Advocates for the poor and ethnic minorities see affluent whites bidding up the prices for urban housing to levels that force poor families out, depriving them of affordable housing, perhaps rendering them homeless, and changing the character of a neighborhood from one that reflects distinct ethnic and class needs and cultural traditions into a bland emporium for expensive consumer goods. Sometimes historic preservation laws are indicted as particular culprits in setting this dynamic in motion. A result of these perceptions is that the legal literature on gentrification, in general, and historic preservation both reflect ...

Improving Access To Justice: Plain Language Family Law Court Forms In Washington State, Charles R. Dyer, Joan E. Fairbanks, M. Lynn Greiner, Kirsten Barron, Janet L. Skreen, Josefina Cerrillo-Ramirez, Andrew Lee, Bill Hinsee

Seattle Journal for Social Justice

No abstract provided.

Striking A Match In The Historic District: Opposition To Historic Preservation And Responsive Community Building, Sarah N. Conde

Georgetown Law Historic Preservation Papers Series

In her 1981 Stanford Law Review article, Carol Rose articulated as a justification for the historic preservation "vogue" a community building rationale that transformed preservation from an end in itself to a means for community self-definition. Procedurally, Rose argued, preservation laws give communities the power to comment on the direction of development, and impurity of motive does not weaken the cause of community members who use the tools preservation law gives them. Suppose, she suggested, that the primary concern of neighbors is avoiding massive construction, and they emphasize history only as an instrument to oppose change. Such a motive is ...

Blighting The Way: Urban Renewal, Economic Development, And The Elusive Definition Of Blight, Colin Gordon

Fordham Urban Law Journal

This article examines the way municipalities have used increasingly broad interpretations of "blight" to compete for state tax increment financing (TIFs) for economic development purposes. It traces the definition of blight in the context of state and federal urban redevelopment programs from the nineteenth century through the Progressive Era to the advent of TIF laws in the 1980s and 90s. It goes on to discuss the how the concept of "blight" has shifted from a condition of substandard housing to a condition of "sub-optimal" local economic development, in part due to intense competition among municipalities for TIFs. The article concludes ...

Discriminatory Housing Statements And Section 3604(C): A New Look At The Fair Housing Act's Most Intriguing Provision, Robert G. Schwemm

Fordham Urban Law Journal

This article gives a new look at section 3604(c) of the Fair Housing Act. Through section 3604(c), the FHA has outlawed biased statements with respect to an even broader range of housing sales and rentals. The three main purposes of section 3604 directly bear on the FHA's ultimate goals of eliminating housing discrimination and achieving residential integration. Under the FHA, discriminatory statements are not only probative of a defendant's illegal intent, but also, by themselves, violate the statute if made "with respect to eh sale or rental of a dwelling." Further, the lack of aggressive enforcement ...

Homelessness And Substance Abuse: Is Mandatory Treatment The Solution?, Melanie B. Abbott

Fordham Urban Law Journal

For the government to be successful in addressing homelessness, it must focus on the link between homelessness and substance abuse. In New York City and elsewhere, advocates are reluctant to publicize the connection between substance abuse and homelessness. Federal laws and programs that attempt to deal with homelessness, such as welfare, Social Security, federal housing laws, and the McKinney Act and other various federal acts do not provide a comprehensive approach to treatment of those who are both homeless and substance abusers. Because the Supreme Court has held that the Constitution does not provide a right to shelter, advocates have ...

The Meaning And Nature Of Property: Homeownership And Shared Equity In The Context Of Poverty, Michael R. Diamond

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

While a Blackstonian view of property envisaged a “despotic dominion” of an owner over a thing, property has never been so absolute. In fact, as I argue in this paper, the nature of property has been culturally constructed and property means different thinks across cultures and even over time within the same culture. The question of the nature of property was highlighted for me when a student questioned whether equity limitations placed on homes purchased by low income buyers using subsidized public financing created a “second class” form of homeownership. In attempting to answer this question, I examined the ideas ...

The Effect Of The Standard Mortgage Clause In Insurance Policies, Harry P. Cooper Jr.

Indiana Law Journal

No abstract provided.