Law Commons^™

Freeing The City To Compete, James J. Kelly Jr.

Journal Articles

In this paper, I examine how the rights of owners, lenders and residents threaten the functioning of real markets in distressed urban neighborhoods, perpetuating the pall that vacant and abandoned houses cast over their future. Even a single abandoned house can present an example of how the rights of several stakeholders create a form of gridlock known as anticommons, which isolates that property from a potentially transformative transfer of title. In addition to this legal anticommons, some neighborhoods are so beset by vacant property problems that they require coordination of investment that is frustrated by both the multiplicity of private …

Just, Smart: Civil Rights Protections And Market-Sensitive Vacant Property Strategies, James J. Kelly Jr.

James J. Kelly Jr.

This essay, prepared for and published by the Center for Community Progress, a national, non-profit intermediary dedicated to developing effective, sustainable solutions to turn vacant, abandoned and problem properties into vibrant places, examines the legal and normative implications of local governments' use of neighborhood real estate market data to strategically focus vacant property remediation tools. I and other writers, such as Frank Alexander, Alan Mallach and Joseph Schilling, have argued for the importance of understanding the economic feasibility of market-based rehabilitation of derelict, vacant houses in making decisions as to how and when to use a variety of code enforcement, …

Affirmatively Furthering Neighborhood Choice: Vacant Property Strategies And Fair Housing, James J. Kelly Jr.

Journal Articles

When many of us think about fair housing enforcement, scenes involving undercover apartment applicants ferreting out racially biased landlords come to mind. Indeed, fair housing "testers" have been and continue to be an important element of civil rights accountability.' However, implementation of the Fair Housing Act of 1968 has had at least as much to do with increasing the supply of decent, affordable housing options to members of protected groups as with assuring those individuals that they will not be denied a particular housing unit because of the color of their skin or a disability.

This macro aspect of fair …

Just, Smart: Civil Rights Protections And Market-Sensitive Vacant Property Strategies, James J. Kelly Jr.

Journal Articles

This essay, prepared for and published by the Center for Community Progress, a national, non-profit intermediary dedicated to developing effective, sustainable solutions to turn vacant, abandoned and problem properties into vibrant places, examines the legal and normative implications of local governments' use of neighborhood real estate market data to strategically focus vacant property remediation tools. I and other writers, such as Frank Alexander, Alan Mallach and Joseph Schilling, have argued for the importance of understanding the economic feasibility of market-based rehabilitation of derelict, vacant houses in making decisions as to how and when to use a variety of code enforcement, …

Federalism And Municipal Innovation: Lessons From The Fight Against Vacant Properties, Benton C. Martin

Benton C. Martin

Cities possess a far greater ability to be trailblazers on a national scale than local officials may imagine. Realizing this, city advocates continue to call for renewed recognition by state and federal officials of the benefits of creative local problem-solving. The goal is admirable but warrants caution. The key to successful local initiatives lies not in woolgathering about cooperation with other levels of government but in identifying potential conflicts and using hard work and political savvy to build constituencies and head off objections. To demonstrate that point, this Article examines the legal status of local governments and recent efforts to …

The Anti-Federalists’ Toughest Challenge: Paper Money, Debt Relief, And The Ratification Of The Constitution, George Van Cleve

Faculty Articles

During the mid-1780s many American states facing widespread financial and social instability in the aftermath of the Revolutionary War actively managed their economies. They authorized paper money, adopted debtor-relief measures, or both. Several historians of these anti-recession measures conclude that such efforts were beneficial. But despite that, the Constitution, as contemporaries understood it, abrogated state powers to issue paper money or provide debtor relief in Article I, Section 10. During ratification, Anti-Federalists were often silent on Section 10, though there were exceptions and popular support for paper money and debtor relief probably prevented ratification in some states. Anti-Federalists did not …

Land Banking Tax Delinquent Property: Reform And Revitalization, Patricia A. Hemann

Cleveland State Law Review

This note will examine the role of land banking generally in the urban revitalization process, describe the changes made by House Bill 1327 in proceedings for foreclosure of tax liens, outline the mechanism of a land reutilization program, and discuss the viability of an LRP in Ohio as both a method of reducing tax delinquency rates and a tool for redevelopment of the inner city.

Land Banking Tax Delinquent Property: Reform And Revitalization, Patricia A. Hemann

Cleveland State Law Review

This note will examine the role of land banking generally in the urban revitalization process, describe the changes made by House Bill 1327 in proceedings for foreclosure of tax liens, outline the mechanism of a land reutilization program, and discuss the viability of an LRP in Ohio as both a method of reducing tax delinquency rates and a tool for redevelopment of the inner city.

Can The Town Of Ramapo Pass A Law To Bind The Rights Of The Whole World?, Fred P. Bosselman

Florida State University Law Review

No abstract provided.

Commonwealth Of Puerto Rico V. Rosso: Land Banking And The Expanded Concept Of Public Use, David L. Callies

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

As the supply of vacant land on which to expand dwindles, the economic, social and cultural blight attendant upon the rapid but relatively unplanned growth of metropolitan areas increasingly becomes a subject of grave concern throughout the world. The two most common traditional approaches to land use problems are now proving inadequate, given the nature of urban sprawl. The first is zoning, basically an exercise of the police power whereby a governmental body restricts the use of land by appropriate regulation without compensating the owner. The restriction must be for the purpose of promoting the health, morals, safety or welfare …