Law Commons^™

Note: City Of Oakland V. Wells Fargo Co.: Examining The Proximate Cause Standard Under The Fair Housing Act, Ava Lau-Silveira

Golden Gate University Law Review

The Financial Services Modernization Act of 1999 partially deregulated the financial industry under the premise of helping “everyone attain the American dream of home ownership.” In 1999, the “Fannie Mae” made subprime mortgage loans readily accessible to those who normally would not qualify. People in Oakland, who “used to find it difficult to obtain mortgages,” were suddenly able to obtain mortgage loans, but with subprime terms, which started with low monthly payments, but would increase based on changes in the market interest rates. By 2008, subprime borrowers began defaulting on their loans at an unprecedented rate.

During the 2008 mortgage …

Ab 1482 – Tenant Protection Act And Its Impacts On Tenants, Landlords, And The Broader Housing Market, Ava Lau

GGU Law Review Blog

With housing shortages and rent steadily increasing, many long-time tenants are in favor of passing rent control laws. Advocates argue that rent control offers many benefits, including providing security for tenants against rising rents, providing affordable housing to tenants, and protecting vulnerable tenants from displacement. Its benefits include allowing tenants to achieve better financial stability, keeping families in their homes, and preventing working-class tenants, seniors, and vulnerable members of society from being priced out of their long-time residences and neighborhoods. Without rent control, lower-income tenants would have difficulty securing and keeping a home. At the same time, landlords benefit from …

The Right To Housing: Possessing Home In California, Golden Gate University School Of Law

GGU Law Review Blog

In an area where the median home costs $820,000, San Francisco’s Bay Area is currently experiencing an affordable housing crisis. Unsurprisingly 25,951 people lack stable housing in the Bay Area. A recent Brookings Institute income inequality study ranked the San Francisco metropolitan area (including San Mateo, Alameda, Contra Costa and Marin Counties) the third highest in income inequality in the United States. In the Bay Area, where the median fair market rate for a two bedroom apartment is $3,121, the highest earners were making eleven times more than the lowest.

Among those most affected by the rising rents are minority …

More Housing Near Public Transit: Relocating The Bay Area’S Poor, Maneesha Birdee

Poverty Law Conference & Symposium

Housing discrepancy, coupled with an environmental push set in place a decade ago to reduce car-based greenhouse gas emissions, propelled a housing and public transportation bill. Senator Scott Weiner, along with Senator Nancy Skinner and Assembly Member Phil Ting, created Senate Bill 827 (“Bill”). The Bill proposes building denser housing near public transportation, thereby allowing more people to live close to their jobs. The Bill was introduced in January 2018 and sparked feverous debate over California housing. It was amended two times—once in March 2018 and once in April 2018. Two weeks after its April amendment, in a lively senate …

Density, Affordable Housing And Social Inclusion: Modest Proposal For Cape Town, Colin Crawford

Publications

What I would like to offer in this short article are some thoughts about ways Cape Town might benefit from lessons in the United States' long and still continuing struggle with racially segregated housing and to do so by promoting strategies that are not only inclusionary in aim but also more environmentally sustainable if developed properly. I do this in part from the conviction that this is a benefit of any comparative legal scholarship - to suggest different ways of looking at problems. In this, I will particularly examine density-focused incentives. Indeed, incentive-based practices, it seems to me, might have …

2015-2016 Legislative Summary, Assembly Committee On Housing And Community Development

California Agencies

No abstract provided.

Urban Decay, Austerity, And The Rule Of Law, Brent T. White

Publications

Detroit has failed and its infrastructure is crumbling. But Detroit is not an isolated case. It is a paradigmatic example of increasing urban decay across the United States. While commentators have warned that the declining state of the country's infrastructure threatens U.S. prosperity, there is a bigger issue at stake. Decaying urban environments jeopardize the rule of law, undermining the very foundation of the social contract. This Article shows that the strength of the rule of law in a given country can be predicted by that government's ability (or inability) to provide public services-particularly, a livable urban environment. When urban …

Annual Report 2012-2013: Gearing Up, California Housing Finance Agency

California Agencies

No abstract provided.

Looking For A Home: How Micro-Housing Can Help California, Dawn Withers

Golden Gate University Environmental Law Journal

Humans have long shared small homes and small communal spaces. In the Middle Ages, it was common for many people to share a bed and for many people to share a room. Pilgrims lived in homes of about 165 square feet, and German farmers in nineteenth-century Texas built 200-square-foot homes for use on the weekends when they came to town. After the 1906 earthquake, San Francisco built 140-square-foot homes to shelter survivors.

Continuing the tradition of living in small quarters is no simple task in the modern era. How and where we live is not determined by us alone but …

Annual Report 2011-2012: Building Bridges, California Housing Finance Agency

California Agencies

No abstract provided.

Unlawful Detainer Pilot Program: Report To The California Legislature, California Research Bureau

California Agencies

Renters who remain at a property when they no longer have a legal right to reside at the location may be sued for unlawful detainer. Most often, an unlawful detainer is filed against a renter who is no longer paying rent but continues to occupy a residence. A person may also be the subject of an unlawful detainer if they commit or allow the commission of illegal activity at a rental property. The Los Angeles City Attorney developed the pilot programs under review in this report to "surgically remove" unlawful detainers who were contributing to illegal activities as a method …

Annual Report 2010-2011: Changing With The Times, California Housing Finance Agency

California Agencies

No abstract provided.

California's Anti-Discrimination Legislation, Proposition 14, And The Constitutional Protection Of Minority Rights: The Fiftieth Anniversary Of The California Fair Employment And Housing Act, David B. Oppenheimer

Golden Gate University Law Review

Fifty years ago, in 1959, the State of California outlawed racial discrimination in employment. But it took the California Legislature four more years to prohibit racial discrimination in private housing, and the immediate response was a successful campaign by the real-estate industry to repeal the law through a voter initiative. This essay tells the story of that campaign and the courageous judicial decisions that nullified the initiative.

Justifying Discrimination: How The Ninth Circuit Circumvented The Intent Of The Fair Housing Act, Katherine Brinson

Golden Gate University Law Review

This Note argues that the test applied by the Ninth Circuit in Community House was unreasonably inflexible and inconsistent with the goals of the Fair Housing Act, and that, by allowing for only limited, inflexible exceptions, the court foreclosed an opportunity to expand free or affordable housing for homeless women, men, and families. By contrast, a more flexible approach that weighs the adverse impact on the alleged victim against the benefits of the offered justifications, would better serve the purposes of the Fair Housing Act by allowing each community to maximize the housing opportunities it offers.

Housingdiscrimination.Com?: The Ninth Circuit (Mostly) Puts Out The Welcome Mat For Fair Housing Act Suits Against Roommate-Matching Websites, Diane J. Klein, Charles Doskow

Golden Gate University Law Review

This Article illuminates the bases of the Ninth Circuit's decision in Fair Housing Council v. Roommates.com and clarifies the issues on remand.

Take This House And Shove It: The Emotional Drivers Of Strategic Default, Brent T. White

Publications

No abstract provided.

City Of Edmonds V. Oxford House, Inc.: Opening Doors To Housing For Handicapped Persons, Michelle R.K. Todus

Golden Gate University Law Review

This note will begin with an examination of the Edmond Court's reasoning, and follow with a brief discussion of Oxford House and the FHA. Next, the important role Oxford House has played in challenging discriminatory housing practices will be summarized. This note will then examine the Congressional intent behind the FHA, concluding with a brief exploration of the national impact this decision may have on handicapped persons and local ordinances.

Residence Restrictions On Custodial Parents: Sex-Based Discrimination?, Alix Gravenstein Pastis

Golden Gate University Law Review

Residence restrictions are frequently imposed on the custodial, but not the noncustodial, parent. These restrictions come into play when the custodial parent wishes to move with the child, the noncustodial parent opposes the move, and a court is called upon to resolve the dispute. The court will do so based upon a determination of what it judges to be in the best interests of the child. The best interests inquiry ultimately resolves itself into a question of whether the custodial parent's reasons for making the move are sufficiently substantial to outweigh the noncustodial parent's interest in existing visitation privileges. A …

Fisher V. City Of Berkeley: Applying Due Process And Preemption To Rent Control Ordinances, Scott T. Dunning

Golden Gate University Law Review

In Fisher v. City of Berkeley, the California Supreme Court addressed the validity of Berkeley's latest rent control ordinance. With the exception of a retaliatory eviction provision, the court upheld the ordinance against all challenges. These challenges included alleged due process violations, and claims that certain provisions in the ordinance were preempted by state law. The Fisher court discussed five relevant issues: 1) the facial validity of the ordinance's rate of return standard; 2) the facial validity of the ordinance's rate adjustment procedures; 3) whether the ordinance constitutes an unreasonable restraint on the alienation of property; 4) the validity of …

California's Housing Element Guidelines And The Housing Crisis, Michael Rawson

Golden Gate University Law Review

No abstract provided.

Lender Liability For Failure To Enforce Life-Threatening Housing Code Violations, Eric B. Rasmussen

Golden Gate University Law Review

No abstract provided.

Birkenfeld V. City Of Berkeley: Blueprint For Rent Control In California, Michael L. Marowitz

Golden Gate University Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Right To A Decent Home, Stephen Nathan Dorsi

Golden Gate University Law Review

No abstract provided.

Housing Law Handbooks: Legal Self-Help For The Intended Beneficiaries, Helen Shapiro

Golden Gate University Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Morality Of Strategic Default, Brent T. White

Publications

No abstract provided.

Underwater And Not Walking Away: Shame, Fear, And The Social Management Of The Housing Crisis, Brent T. White

Publications

No abstract provided.

Annual Report 2009-2010: Opening Doors, Funding Possibilities, California Housing Finance Agency

California Agencies

No abstract provided.

Unlawful Detainer Pilot Program, Administrative Office Of The Courts

California Agencies

Under the general framework of the Uniform Controlled Substances Act (Health & Saf. Code, §§ 11570–11587), one of the key provisions of the pilot program is the additional authority granted to city attorneys and city prosecutors to file unlawful detainer (UD) actions against any tenants who are engaged in illegal drug activities. By establishing this program, the Legislature hoped that city attorneys would be able to deal with drug nuisance problems in the community more effectively if property owners, out of safety concerns or other considerations, are unwilling to file unlawful detainer actions to evict offending tenants.

In 2004, AB …

Annual Report 2008-2009: New Directions, California Housing Finance Agency

California Agencies

No abstract provided.

Annual Report 2007-2008: Where Home Means Everything, California Housing Finance Agency

California Agencies

No abstract provided.