Housing Law Commons^™

Liability Rule Practices Amidst The Property Rule Of Indonesian Capital Market, Adiwarman Adiwarman

Indonesia Law Review

Shareholder protection is the most important legal issue in capital market law. Conflict of interest is one of the corporate actions in the capital market. The property rule requires independent shareholders’ approval for conflicts of interest transactions. The property rule paradigm empowers independent shareholders in the company’s decision-making process. In practice, listed companies violate the property rule and are subject to sanctions, but the rights of shareholders will be reduced due to fines imposed by the capital market authorities. A normative method is used to answer the problem of how does Indonesia enforce the conflict of interest rule in order …

Who’S The Fairest Of Them All: Circuit Split Over Landlord Liability For Tenant-On-Tenant Discrimination Under The Fair Housing Act, Kelli Conway

Brooklyn Law Review

This note explores a circuit split between the Second and Seventh Circuits regarding whether landlords and property owners can be held liable for postacquisition, tenant-on-tenant discrimination. This issue is one of first impression in recent years, resulting in divergent holdings. To address conflicting judicial approaches to an increasingly prevalent civil claim, this note argues for the necessity of a Congressional amendment to the Fair Housing Act (FHA), the law which generally governs housing discrimination. Specifically, the proposed amendment would recognize postacquisition discrimination as an actionable claim and append a test to the FHA for postacquisition liability as employed by the …

Landlord Liability For Tenant-On-Tenant Harassment Under The Fair Housing Act, Mary Karapogosian

Cardozo Law Review

No abstract provided.

Justice For All: Demanding Accessibility For Underrepresented Communities In The Law: A Roger Williams University Law Review, Roger Williams University School Of Law

School of Law Conferences, Lectures & Events

No abstract provided.

The Failed Federalism Of Affordable Housing: Why States Don't Use Housing Vouchers, Noah M. Kazis

Michigan Law Review

This Article uncovers a critical disjuncture in our system of providing affordable rental housing. At the federal level, the oldest, fiercest debate in low-income housing policy is between project-based and tenant-based subsidies: should the government help build new affordable housing projects or help renters afford homes on the private market? But at the state and local levels, it is as if this debate never took place.

The federal government (following most experts) employs both strategies, embracing tenant-based assistance as more cost-effective and offering tenants greater choice and mobility. But this Article shows that state and local housing voucher programs are …

Cle Working Paper No. 3/2022--What Is The Test For Interlocutory Injunctions Affecting Homeless Encampments? A Critique Of Vancouver Fraser Port Authority V Brett And Associated Case Law, Stepan Wood

Centre for Law and the Environment

Vancouver Fraser Port Authority v Brett (VFPA v Brett), decided in 2020, marked a new low in judicial responses to the intersecting crises of housing, homelessness, poverty, toxic drugs, mental health, racism and colonialism. By dropping to the ground the already low bar for granting interlocutory injunctions to evict homeless encampments from publicly owned land i n BC, this decision invites a critical assessment of BC courts’ approach to homeless encampment injunctions. In this paper I present the first comprehensive survey of 21st century BC homeless encampment interlocutory injunction applications, which shows that they have an extremely high …

Checking Out Indefinitely: Supporting Survivors Of Sex Trafficking Alongside Training And Education For Lodging Employees, Alyssa M. Grzesiak

William & Mary Journal of Race, Gender, and Social Justice

There are roughly five million victims of sex trafficking in the United States. Over the course of a decade, over 3,500 instances of human trafficking involved a hotel or motel. Traffickers are relying on unaware lodging establishment employees, as well as complicit employees and managers, to successfully carry out their crimes. Despite the vital role the lodging industry plays in human trafficking, only seven states have implemented mandatory training for hotel and motel employees. This Note posits that the implementation of mandatory training and education programs for employees of lodging establishments could increase awareness and responsiveness to human trafficking, thus …

“Pigs In The Parlor”: The Legacy Of Racial Zoning And The Challenge Of Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing In The South, Jade A. Craig

MC Law Review

The Fair Housing Act of 1968 includes a provision that requires that the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) administer the policies within the Act to “affirmatively further” fair housing. Scholars have largely derived their analysis from studying large urban areas and struggles to integrate the suburbs. The literature, however, has not focused on the impact of zoning and discriminatory land use policies within and around low-income rural and small communities or specifically in the southeastern United States. Scholars have also insufficiently considered the implications of these policies on the duty to “affirmatively further” fair housing.

Racial zoning was …

White Picket Fences & Suburban Gatekeeping: How Long Island’S Land Use Laws Cement Its Status As One Of The Most Segregated Places In America, Jessica Mingrino

St. John's Law Review

(Excerpt)

The average wealth of Black families is one-seventh that of white families in the United States today. Homeownership—the primary avenue through which Americans accumulate personal and generational wealth—is the leading driver of the wealth disparity between white and Black American families, known as the “racial wealth gap.” The systematic and intentional exclusion of Black people from developing communities during the twentieth century largely excluded people of color from the housing boom and denied them the opportunity afforded to white people to multiply their assets. Contrary to widespread belief, however, legislation-backed oppression of Black Americans did not end in the …

Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity, And Homelessness Post-Bostock, Alaina Richert

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

Housing discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity is a critical problem facing LGBTQ+ people in the United States. In addition, LGBTQ+ people, particularly transgender people, disproportionately suffer from homelessness and face discrimination by homeless shelters on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity. This homelessness and discrimination both disproportionately affect transgender people of color. This Note makes two contributions that would enable courts to grant meaningful relief in these contexts. First, it argues that “sex” in the Fair Housing Act includes sexual orientation and gender identity after the holding in Bostock v. Clayton County. Second, …

Can Affordable Homes Be Healthy? Legal Strategy, Socio-Legal Studies And Activism In Indonesia, Santy Kouwagam

The Indonesian Journal of Socio-Legal Studies

This article uses two Constitutional Court decisions in Indonesia to exemplify the importance of analysing legal strategies. These decisions declared a rule barring developers from building and selling tiny houses to be unconstitutional and invalid. The article shows that ‘justice’ in legal procedures still needs further definition, and that judges’ elaboration of decisions and their legal reasoning still needs improvement. The article will first discuss the cases, using Legal Strategy analysis. It will then highlight problems with the commoditisation of houses. Finally, it will argue that the problem of unhealthy and unaffordable housing in Indonesia can be resolved, by bringing …

Mad Plume V. Mad Plume, 22-Ap-08 (Blkft. Tr. Ct. App., Aug. 31, 2022), Blackfeet Appellate Court

Court Decisions

In the Blackfeet Tribal Court of Appeals, the Court considered an appeal concerning the award of the family home in Blackfeet Tribal Court, disputing the proper successor in Death to the property, located on the Blackfeet Indian Reservation. The legal decedent owner of the home passed away in 2013, and legally conveyed the home by gift deed to the Appellant. The respondent produced a subsequent, unnotarized document purporting to dispute the prior conveyance. The court rejected the second document, awarding the home to the appellant. The Court clarified that the respondent failed to produce sufficient documentation to sustain her burden …

Eviction Court Displacement Rates, Nicole Summers

Northwestern University Law Review

This Essay introduces the concept of eviction court displacement rates, defined as the percentage of eviction filings that result in tenant displacement. The Essay argues that a jurisdiction’s eviction court displacement rate provides crucial insight into the role of its legal system in driving substantive eviction outcomes. The Essay then compiles existing data on court displacement rates and compares those rates across jurisdictions. This comparison reveals massive variation in court displacement rates nationwide. In some jurisdictions, a tenant’s likelihood of displacement upon receiving an eviction filing is approximately one in twenty. In other jurisdictions, it is higher than one in …

Property Law And Inequality: Lessons From Racially Restrictive Covenants, Carol M. Rose

Northwestern University Law Review

A long-standing justification for the institution of property is that it encourages effort and planning, enabling not only individual wealth creation but, indirectly, wealth creation for an entire society. Equal opportunity is a precondition for this happy outcome, but some have argued that past inequalities of opportunity have distorted wealth distribution in contemporary America. This article explores the possible role of property law in such a distortion, using the historical example of racially restrictive covenants in the first half of the twentieth century. I will argue that the increasing professionalization and standardization of real estate practices in that era included …

American Courts' Image Of A Tenant, Nadav Shoked

Northwestern University Law Review

What is the core of current American residential landlord–tenant law, and how was that core formed? This Essay argues that in the past few decades courts have settled on a two-pronged landlord–tenant law regime. The law provides tenants with assurances respecting the quality of the units they rent. It does not, conversely, provide them with any assurances respecting the price of the rental units—and, therefore, respecting their ability to remain in those units.

The first component of the regime was established through the well-known judicial creation and endorsement of the warranty of habitability. The second component’s entrenchment is often attributed …

Compulsory Terms In Property, Timothy M. Mulvaney

Northwestern University Law Review

The state’s imposition of compulsory terms in property relations—such as habitability warranties binding landlords and tenants and minimum wages binding employers and employees—has long been conceived by analysts generally situated on the political right as an affront to individual freedom and inevitably harmful to the terms’ intended beneficiaries. This critique, though, seems to have special purchase in public discourse today not only within its traditional circle of supporters on the right but, at least in some instances, for a sizable number on the left as well. The bipartisan acceptance of this critique is serving as a substantial roadblock to a …

Compulsory Terms In Property, Timothy M. Mulvaney

Faculty Scholarship

The state’s imposition of compulsory terms in property relations—such as habitability warranties binding landlords and tenants and minimum wages binding employers and employees—has long been conceived by analysts generally situated on the political right as an affront to individual freedom and inevitably harmful to the terms’ intended beneficiaries. This critique, though, seems to have special purchase in public discourse today not only within its traditional circle of supporters on the right but, at least in some instances, for a sizable number on the left as well. The bipartisan acceptance of this critique is serving as a substantial roadblock to a …

An Unqualified Prohibition Of Self-Help Eviction: Providing A Right To Court Process For All Residential Occupants, Matthew P. Main

Cardozo Law Review

Stability in one’s home is essential to safety, security, and human dignity. The right to court process prior to eviction should be unassailable. Yet, for some of the most marginalized residential occupants, that right does not exist. Nearly every state has codified laws that prohibit landlords from taking the law into their own hands to evict a tenant without a court order. In most states, however, the prohibition of so-called “self-help evictions” hinges on whether an occupant is considered a “tenant” or a “licensee.” The law shelters residential occupants who establish a formal landlord-tenant relationship in the premises where they …

The Real Estate State And Group-Differentiated Vulnerability To Premature Death: Exploring The Political-Economic Roots Of Covid-19’S Racially Disparate Deadliness In New York City In The Spring Of 2020, John Whitlow

Journal of Civil Rights and Economic Development

(Excerpt)

In May 2020, after several bleak months in which Covid-19 took the lives of thousands of New York City’s most vulnerable residents, a vigil was held in Corona Plaza, Queens, to honor the sixty-seven members of Make the Road New York whose time was cut short by the virus. At the event, State Senator Jessica Ramos spoke of the disproportionate toll Covid-19 has taken on working class, immigrant New Yorkers: “[t]hese communities are on the frontlines without adequate protections and have been left to grapple with extreme food insecurity, . . . evictions, and unemployment . . . .” …

Trading Places Or Changing Spaces? At The Crossroads Of Defining And Redressing Segregation, Melvin J. Kelley Iv

Connecticut Law Review

Segregation rates have remained stagnant in many regions of the United States since the passage of the federal Fair Housing Act (FHA) in 1968 and experts expect them to increase in large metropolitan areas. Consequently, poor Blacks will be subjected to the extreme deprivation of group life chances that characterize racially and economically segregated environments. The global pandemic has only further exacerbated these dire circumstances. While severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) may not discriminate, housing, healthcare, criminal, and economic policies have, rendering impoverished communities of color particularly vulnerable to the ravages of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).

The …

Legal Benefits Of Homeownership, Nino C. Monea

New Mexico Law Review

The law prizes expensive, single-family homes above all other forms of housing. This Article details the many ways that the law benefits homeowners and distains renters, mobile-home owners, and the homeless. There are seven topics: (1) zoning laws mandate single-family homes and ban localities from requiring affordable housing, (2) the Tax Code allows homeowners to write off innumerable expenses but virtually nothing for renters, (3) lenders seeking to foreclose on a mortgage must surmount many hurdles, but landlords may act with nearly a free hand to evict, (4) federal, state, and local institutions all work to support the housing market …

Segregation Autopilot: How The Government Perpetuates Segregation And How To Stop It, Heather R. Abraham

Journal Articles

Housing segregation is a defining feature of the American landscape. Scholars have thoroughly documented the government’s historic collusion in segregating people by race. But far from correcting its reprehensible past, the government continues to perpetuate housing segregation today. As if on autopilot, its spending and regulatory activities routinely reinforce housing segregation. Not only is this immoral and bad policy, it is against the law. The government has a statutory duty to conduct its business in a manner that reduces housing segregation. This duty arises from a unique civil rights directive passed by Congress over fifty years ago in the Fair …

A Liberal Theory Of Property In Condominium, Douglas C. Harris

All Faculty Publications

The building engineer’s report on the low-rise condominium apartment building details the scope of work required. The roof is leaking, the elevator requires seismic upgrading, the windows and exterior siding are failing, and the heating system needs rebuilding. Although the owners of the individual apartments have been paying monthly fees in anticipation of these common property expenses, each owner faces a substantial special levy to cover the expected costs. The land developer’s offer to purchase the complex is eye-popping. Anticipating that the city will permit it to demolish the existing building and construct a high-rise condominium apartment tower on the …

Session 4: Plunging Into Deep Water: An Immersion In Fintech, Defi (Decentralized Finance), & Web3, Joseph M. Vincent

SITIE Symposiums

This panel featured entrepreneurs providing their expert insight into the background, workings, and expected developments of the FinTech industry. Moderated by Adjunct Professor of Law Joseph M. Vincent, the panel features Ron Oliveira, Kory Hoang, and Jonathan Blanco.

The panelists provided insight on topics regarding: (1) the fundamental changes in financial services since the advent of FinTech; (2) background on the Stablecoin industry including a background of what Stablecoin is, and why it has been under recent scrutiny; and (3) the NFT market and the direction the NFT space is heading. In a Q&A session, the panelists also offered their …

Session 3: Deep Innovation Dive In Health Equity: Truveta (“Saving Lives With Data”), Steve Tapia, Dave Heiner

SITIE Symposiums

This session is a “deep dive” into health equity and research via a moderated discussion with Truveta, a new data partnership company poised for research breakthroughs in the healthcare sector. In it, Dave Heiner, General Counsel and Chief Policy Officer for Truveta, discusses the company’s healthcare-centered mission and the key role that data plays in the healthcare field.

Session 2: Diversity Perspectives: In-House Counsel, Debbie Akhbari

SITIE Symposiums

This expert panel addressed diversity perspectives in the legal field. Moderated by Debbie Akhbari, six panelists shared their stories. The panelists were Leticia Hernández, Bernadette Lopez, Elida Moran, Catherine Romero, Rachel Seals, and Katina Thornock. Each panelist's stories have been broken into its own section in the summary of proceedings.

Many diverse candidates have incorrect assumptions made about them, resulting in doors being closed by those in positions of power. This panel shared their personal stories and encouraged students and newer attorneys to keep “knocking on those doors” and for those in positions of power to open those doors. Through …

Session 1: Innovation In Legal Services, Steven W. Bender, Michael Cherry, Matthew Spencer

SITIE Symposiums

This panel featured two “disrupters” who detailed their experiences innovating in the legal services space. The first panelist spoke about data-driven regulatory reform and the other spoke as an entrepreneur whose product introduces artificial intelligence (AI) into the legal recruiting process. Two additional panelists provided commentary regarding the second panelist’s presentation.

The panel provided insight on the topics of: (1) the legal regulatory process at large; (2) how a data-driven and feedback-oriented sandbox provides an alternative regulatory process; (3) the legal hiring and recruiting process and (4) how AI allows law firms to consider alternative hiring metrics when assessing candidates …

Introduction To The 5th Annual Innovation And Technology Law Conference, Annette Clark

SITIE Symposiums

Seattle University School of Law’s then dean, now Dean Emerita, Annette Clark, opens the 5^th annual Innovation and Technology Law Conference, co-sponsored by the Seattle Journal of Technology, Environmental, and Innovation Law (SJTEIL) at Seattle University School of Law. Annette Clark has been involved with the planning and organization of the Innovation and Technology Law Conference since the conference’s inception. The theme of the 5^th annual 2022 conference is “deep innovation dives.”

Annette Clark explains that “This conference is part of our continuing efforts at Seattle [University] Law to expand educational opportunities for our students and community in …

5th Annual Innovation And Technology Law Conference: Deep Innovation Dives, Steven W. Bender

SITIE Symposiums

Steven W. Bender, Seattle University School of Law Professor and organizer of the SITIE Symposium series, details the history of the SITIE symposiums and the 2022 proceedings. He discusses how this year's symposium builds on themes and issues raised in previous symposiums and looks ahead to the 2023 SITIE symposium.

No Pact With The Devil: Defending & Strengthening New York City’S Permanent Affordability Commitment Together (Pact) - P3, Madeline Martinez

Journal of Law and Policy

Faced with the dual threats of a federal receivership and a growing deficit of federal appropriations, in 2018, New York City Mayor Bill DeBlasio enrolled the New York City Housing Authority (“NYCHA”) into the Permanent Affordability Commitment Together (“PACT”). PACT would allow NYCHA to convert its federal Section 9 funding streams into federal Section 8 vouchers and permit the local public housing authority to enter public-private partnerships with private developers. This move would infuse NYCHA with an additional $12.8 billion in funding to counteract its roughly $31.8 billion deficit. However, immediately after the mayor unveiled his plans to pursue PACT, …