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Articles 1 - 30 of 102

Full-Text Articles in Property Law and Real Estate

Navigating The Legal Waters Of Privatized Commodities And Human Rights: An Exploration Of The Tension Between Water As A Human Right And Water As Investment Property Under International Law, Ella Capen Jun 2026

Navigating The Legal Waters Of Privatized Commodities And Human Rights: An Exploration Of The Tension Between Water As A Human Right And Water As Investment Property Under International Law, Ella Capen

Brooklyn Journal of International Law

This Note examines the clash between domestic law and international law within the context of Chile’s 2022 modification to the 1981 Water Code as the country transitions from treating water as a privatized commodity to water as a public good. Chile’s 1981 Water Code emerged against the backdrop of a neoliberal economic regime and privatization scheme enabled by the United States and enforced by dictator Augusto Pinochet. This Note reveals the potential difficulties in unraveling established economic and legal foundations, and the conflicts between bilateral investment treaties and local legislation that mutually govern property rights. By examining Chile’s domestic Law …


Urbanizing Nuisance, George F. K. Werner Mar 2026

Urbanizing Nuisance, George F. K. Werner

Brooklyn Law Review

If you are a prospective resident of neighborhoods like Brooklyn’s Bushwick or Chicago’s Bronzeville, being close to a hip music venue may sound like a never-ending party—that is, until you discover that the hip music venue is your downstairs neighbor, and the party really never ends. Similarly, newcomers to gentrifying neighborhoods are often drawn by a sense of authenticity and vibrancy. But the sights, sounds, and smells that make neighborhoods “authentic” or “vibrant” may not be a good fit for the lifestyles those newcomers bring with them. In these cases, should a plaintiff be able to successfully sue in nuisance? …


Chasing The American Dream: Young Adults In Financial Crisis, A. Mechele Dickerson Dec 2025

Chasing The American Dream: Young Adults In Financial Crisis, A. Mechele Dickerson

Brooklyn Journal of Corporate, Financial & Commercial Law

For nearly two decades, I have written about housing and I have chronicled why it is so hard for middle-class Americans to become homeowners. More recently, I have explored the concept of the “traditional” household (husband, wife and 2.5+ children) and stressed that, notwithstanding the substantial federal and state subsidies this household formation receives, it is no longer the norm. While the housing crisis persists, it has now metastasized into a widespread and sweeping financial and social breakdown. In my forthcoming book, The Middle-Class New Deal: Restoring Upward Mobility and the American Dream, I more broadly explore the challenges adults …


Emission Impossible: Challenging The Imposition Of New York City’S Local Law 97, Daniel Lopiccolo Sep 2025

Emission Impossible: Challenging The Imposition Of New York City’S Local Law 97, Daniel Lopiccolo

Brooklyn Journal of Corporate, Financial & Commercial Law

New York City’s Local Law 97 was passed by the City Council in 2019 with the goal of reducing citywide carbon emissions. The law imposes civil penalties on property owners whose buildings fail to comply with carbon emissions limits stipulated by the city. While the law admirably aims to minimize New York’s carbon footprint, its present burden is excessive and disproportionate to the offense committed, making the cost of affording lower and middle-class housing units increasingly untenable for many New Yorkers, especially for property owners in co-op and condo communities. Many such as Glen Oaks Village Owners, Inc., the plaintiffs …


The Most Exclusive Real Estate: Breaking Through Exclusionary Zoning On Long Island, Isaac R. Burke May 2025

The Most Exclusive Real Estate: Breaking Through Exclusionary Zoning On Long Island, Isaac R. Burke

Brooklyn Law Review

There is little question that New York, like many states across the country, is facing a housing crisis: too few housing units are built each year to accommodate the state’s ever-growing job market. The seemingly-obvious fix is to build more housing –– but in many of New York’s communities, adding new housing is nearly impossible due to so-called “exclusionary zoning,” which prevents anything but single-family homes from being built. In a majority of suburban localities, duplexes, triplexes, and other small apartment buildings are either illegal, shunted into a small, densely zoned corner of the town, or are met with such …


Municipal Overreach: The Case Against Benefit-Based Land Use Exactions, Michael Krasna Apr 2025

Municipal Overreach: The Case Against Benefit-Based Land Use Exactions, Michael Krasna

Brooklyn Law Review

In the Summer of 2023, a quiet buzz was building in New York City that Madison Square Garden’s Special Permit—the land use vehicle that allows it to operate an arena— was in jeopardy. Contributing to the hubbub were discussions about a controversial form of land use regulation: benefit-based exactions. Exactions are requirements imposed on property owners by local governments whereby, in return for a discretionary land use approval, property owners dedicate a portion of their property to further the government’s interest or pay a fee in lieu thereof. While exactions are primarily used by a municipality when a new development …


Aerial Highways: The Fifth Amendment Implications Of Commercial Drone Delivery Services, Marc C. Mcallister, Karen A. Sauls Apr 2025

Aerial Highways: The Fifth Amendment Implications Of Commercial Drone Delivery Services, Marc C. Mcallister, Karen A. Sauls

Brooklyn Law Review

Commercial drone delivery systems that deliver packages of purchased products directly to the homes of consumers are being developed and tested by many companies in America, including Walmart and Amazon. Soon enough, our skies will be filled with low-flying drones. This Article joins the growing cohort of legal scholars discussing drones, but focuses on an issue not addressed to this point - how commercial drone delivery systems can undermine and diminish the property rights of private landowners. In the past, most legal scholars have addressed the interplay between drones and private property by examining potential tort liability for drone operators …


What Really Is “Objectionable Conduct” In New York Co-Ops? Navigating A Board Deferential Standard Of Review Post-Pullman, Jenna Tammaro Feb 2025

What Really Is “Objectionable Conduct” In New York Co-Ops? Navigating A Board Deferential Standard Of Review Post-Pullman, Jenna Tammaro

Brooklyn Law Review

Home is where the heart is, and in the United States, home ownership is an integral part of the American dream. A place to call home offers emotional safety as well as financial security. Property ownership can even mark the start of generational wealth. Since a home is something that can mean so much to so many, the loss of one’s home is an unimaginable fear. The risk becomes even greater when the odds are stacked against homeowners, particularly for cooperative corporation (co-op) shareholders in New York. Co-op proprietary leases exploit the risk of loss for these owners. Most proprietary …


Property Rights Or Obstacles To Progress?: The Fundamental Flaws In Takings Jurisprudence, Liam Higgins Dec 2024

Property Rights Or Obstacles To Progress?: The Fundamental Flaws In Takings Jurisprudence, Liam Higgins

Journal of Law and Policy

New York boasts some of the strongest protections for tenants out of all jurisdictions throughout the country. Chief among these laws is the state Rent Stabilization Law (“RSL”). Among other protections, the RSL has limited excessive rent increases on regulated apartments, granted tenants a right of renewal so that they could remain in their homes, and permitted family members to take over the tenancy of their loved ones upon their passing. The RSL has been amended several times throughout its history, each time providing more or less protections depending on the administration at the time. Recently, in 2019, the New …


Ticnerships, Bradley T. Borden Jun 2024

Ticnerships, Bradley T. Borden

Brooklyn Journal of Corporate, Financial & Commercial Law

Tenancy-in-common (TIC) ownership has been around for centuries, but the commercial use of TIC ownership of real property has accelerated over the last couple of decades. The impetus for TIC ownership of real property is twofold: (1) a desire property owners have to obtain the tax benefits of section 1031 of the Internal Revenue Code and (2) the desire property owners have to own property with other property owners and other professional managers and developers. Because section 1031 only applies to exchanges of real property, interests in partnerships and LLCs—the most common type of real property ownership—do not qualify for …


Summary Eviction Proceedings As A Debt Collection Tool: How Landlords Use Serial Eviction Filings To Collect Rent, Grace Vetromile May 2024

Summary Eviction Proceedings As A Debt Collection Tool: How Landlords Use Serial Eviction Filings To Collect Rent, Grace Vetromile

Brooklyn Law Review

This note explores how landlords use housing court as a debt collection tool, impacting the rights of tenants and their ability to fairly adjudicate claims in summary eviction proceedings. Disparities in the number of evictions that are filed, as compared to evictions that are ultimately executed, indicate that landlords do not always use eviction proceedings to kick out a tenant, but rather as a method of debt collection. Using these proceedings in this manner affects a tenant’s ability to defend against eviction, even when the tenant has meritorious claims that their landlord did not provide a habitable apartment. This note …


South Africa Land Reform: More Is Less, Elizabeth Stephani May 2024

South Africa Land Reform: More Is Less, Elizabeth Stephani

Brooklyn Journal of International Law

In 2019, South Africa's Parliament considered a bill to amend the Constitution and expropriate land taken from black South Africans during Apartheid. The bill did not pass, despite a general consensus in the country that land reform is needed (Part I). Thus, lawmakers are challenged by exactly how to achieve equitable land reform for South Africa. This paper looks to the language of the proposed amendment and offers improvements alongside accepted U.S. legal frameworks (Part II). By comparing Just Compensation under the Takings Clause of the United States Constitution and South Africa's proposed expropriation amendment, this paper advocates for clear …


Nato Allies On The Brink Of War: The Cause For Implement-Ing A Dispute Resolution Mechanism Within The North Atlantic Treaty, Samantha Solomotis May 2024

Nato Allies On The Brink Of War: The Cause For Implement-Ing A Dispute Resolution Mechanism Within The North Atlantic Treaty, Samantha Solomotis

Brooklyn Journal of International Law

NATO is the largest peacekeeping military alliance in the world and is not yet done growing. Recent events in Ukraine have reinforced the importance of NATO as a defensive alliance. New threats, both internal and external, are emerging. Intra-alliance conflicts over ideological agreements, border disputes, and member contributions put the fate of the organization at risk. To retain its strength as it grows, NATO must develop stronger cohesion between member states to ensure effectiveness and prevent dissolution. This Note uses the recently reignited conflict between Greece and Turkey—NATO members and belligerent neighbors—to demonstrate the pressing need and peacekeeping utility of …


Electric Vehicles At The Expense Of Communities: Lithium Mining And The Deprivation Of Argentinian Indigenous Peoples’ Rights, Christopher Orjuela May 2024

Electric Vehicles At The Expense Of Communities: Lithium Mining And The Deprivation Of Argentinian Indigenous Peoples’ Rights, Christopher Orjuela

Brooklyn Journal of International Law

Lithium has become a valuable commodity and resource globally. The metal’s power generating and storing qualities have directly contributed to the development of the lithium-ion battery, which is primarily used in electric vehicles. As the demand for electric vehicles continuously grows, electric vehicle manufacturers require substantially larger quantities of lithium to ensure their supply meets demand. Thus, manufacturers rely on lithium mining companies to establish mining operations in lithium dense areas and extract tremendous amounts of the element. One country where an abundance of lithium can be found is Argentina. Known as one of the countries comprising the “lithium triangle,” …


Artful Imbalance: How The Us Tax Code And State Trust Laws Enable The Growth Of Inequality Through High-Value Art Collections, Mimi Strauss Mar 2024

Artful Imbalance: How The Us Tax Code And State Trust Laws Enable The Growth Of Inequality Through High-Value Art Collections, Mimi Strauss

Brooklyn Law Review

The United States has become the leading jurisdiction for those who wish to buy and store high-value art and NFTs, pay as few taxes as possible, and ultimately secure their wealth for generations. This “onshore” tax crisis is the result of tax loopholes, money laundering, the securitization of art and NFTs, and the state-by-state trust system. These forms of tax dodging—both legal and illegal—contribute to wealth inequality and deplete the welfare state. As natural disasters and pandemics become ever more present, the United States will rely more heavily on taxes, and that burden should be carried by everyone, not just …


Democratizing New York’S Eminent Domain Regime, Gregory Wagner Jan 2024

Democratizing New York’S Eminent Domain Regime, Gregory Wagner

Brooklyn Law Review

Since the Supreme Court’s landmark eminent domain decision in Kelo v. City of New London, forty-three states have amended their eminent domain laws to constrain their own eminent domain powers. New York, however, was not one of them. In Goldstein v. N.Y. State Urban Development Corp., New York’s highest court decided firmly in favor of the state’s broad eminent domain powers, yet counseled New York lawmakers to act to legislatively limit the state’s unbridled eminent domain authority. Again, New York did not do so—allowing an eminent domain regime that leads to systemic deprivation of public participation to remain fully in …


Balancing Preservation With Growth: How Less Judicial Deference To Decisions Made By The Landmarks Preservation Commission Can Save New York City, Amy Cushman Jan 2024

Balancing Preservation With Growth: How Less Judicial Deference To Decisions Made By The Landmarks Preservation Commission Can Save New York City, Amy Cushman

Brooklyn Law Review

The New York City Landmarks Law of 1965, envisioning the preservation of historical treasures, empowered the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) with the authority to designate and regulate landmarks and historic districts. Originally established in response to public outcry over the loss of iconic architectural structures, the LPC aimed to safeguard the city's cultural, social, and architectural legacy. However, this note contends that recent LPC decisions, particularly the issuance of Certificates of Appropriateness for luxury residential construction involving partial demolition of landmarks, betray the original preservation goals. Delving into the legal recourse available under the New York Civil …


The Section 1031 Qualified-Use Requirement, Bradley T. Borden Jan 2024

The Section 1031 Qualified-Use Requirement, Bradley T. Borden

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.


Taking The Land Back: How To Return Stolen Land To The Indigenous People Of New York State Through Eminent Domain, Devin Nicole Barbaro Dec 2023

Taking The Land Back: How To Return Stolen Land To The Indigenous People Of New York State Through Eminent Domain, Devin Nicole Barbaro

Journal of Law and Policy

From the moment that European colonizers landed in North America hundreds of years ago, land rights have been stripped away from the Indigenous people of this land. Land Back is an activism and advocacy movement to regain land rights for the Tribal Nations across the United States. Returning stolen land to Tribal Nations is a form of reparations for the atrocities the United States has inflicted upon these Nations for hundreds of years. Additionally, land that is managed by Indigenous communities is proven to be more resilient against the detrimental effects of climate change, making the return of land to …


Same Old Story, New Solution: Force Majeure Deficiencies In The Wake Of Covid-19 And An Unorthodox Approach To Drafting It, Steven H. Dovi May 2023

Same Old Story, New Solution: Force Majeure Deficiencies In The Wake Of Covid-19 And An Unorthodox Approach To Drafting It, Steven H. Dovi

Brooklyn Journal of Corporate, Financial & Commercial Law

On January 20, 2020, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported the first laboratory-confirmed case of the 2019 Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) on American soil.[1] On March 8, 2021—more than a year later—the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York decided Gap v. Ponte Gadea New York.[2] It ruled, inter alia, that the COVID-19 pandemic, in keeping with the relevant provision’s narrow tailoring, did not amount to a force majeure event and a defense to breach.[3] While seemingly one of the first decisions of its kind in the Southern District, this Note argues that the holding …


Ticnerships, Bradley T. Borden Jan 2023

Ticnerships, Bradley T. Borden

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.


The Development Of The American “Security Interest” And Its Effect On The International Harmonization Of Security Rights, Henry Gabriel Dec 2022

The Development Of The American “Security Interest” And Its Effect On The International Harmonization Of Security Rights, Henry Gabriel

Brooklyn Journal of Corporate, Financial & Commercial Law

No abstract provided.


Mezzanine Real Estate Loan Foreclosures: What Is Commercially Reasonable During An Emergency?, Christopher J. Collins Jun 2022

Mezzanine Real Estate Loan Foreclosures: What Is Commercially Reasonable During An Emergency?, Christopher J. Collins

Brooklyn Journal of Corporate, Financial & Commercial Law

Owners of commercial real estate frequently use mezzanine debt as an additional source of financing. In contrast to mortgage loans, which are secured by real property, the collateral for mezzanine real estate loans is the mezzanine borrower’s ownership interest in the entity that owns the property. This ownership interest is considered personal property, and thus foreclosure and disposition of the collateral is governed by the Uniform Commercial Code, which requires foreclosure sales to be “commercially reasonable.” During COVID-19, mortgage loan foreclosures were stayed in New York pursuant to executive order. Despite the fact that, in a practical sense, mezzanine loan …


Sharing Your Home With Strangers: Common-Interest Ownership And Financing Options, Debra Bechtel, Crystal Liu, Ernira Mehmetaj, David Reiss Apr 2022

Sharing Your Home With Strangers: Common-Interest Ownership And Financing Options, Debra Bechtel, Crystal Liu, Ernira Mehmetaj, David Reiss

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.


The Case For An International Solution To The Restitution Of Cultural Property: Morality, Legality And Righting Western Wrongs, Ariana Catarisano Dec 2021

The Case For An International Solution To The Restitution Of Cultural Property: Morality, Legality And Righting Western Wrongs, Ariana Catarisano

Brooklyn Journal of International Law

In 2020, the conversation surrounding the return of cultural property acquired during the colonial era was given new life after the world watched as Black Lives Matter activists exposed systemic racial injustice in the United States. Thousands of objects currently sit in western museums under the guise of sharing these cultures and civilizations with the world, but this brings little comfort to communities suffering the genocidal consequences of colonialism. As formerly colonized nations battle the western world for the return of their cultural property, success is often dictated by a combination of power, money, and the ability to turn the …


Mutual Fund Stewardship And The Empty Voting Problem, Jill E. Fisch Dec 2021

Mutual Fund Stewardship And The Empty Voting Problem, Jill E. Fisch

Brooklyn Journal of Corporate, Financial & Commercial Law

When Roberta Karmel wrote the articles that are the subject of this symposium, she was skeptical of the potential value of shareholder voting and the emerging involvement of institutional investors in corporate governance. In the ensuring years, both the increased role and engagement of institutional investors and the heightened importance of shareholder voting offer new reasons to take Professor Karmel’s concerns seriously. Institutional investors have taken on a broader range of issues from diversity and political spending to climate change and human capital management, and their ability to influence corporate policy on these issues has become more significant. The broadened …


Looking Forward: Professor Roberta Karmel’S Prescient Views On The Transformation Of Self-Regulatory Organizations And Of The Securities Market Structure At The Turn Of The Last Century, James A. Fanto Dec 2021

Looking Forward: Professor Roberta Karmel’S Prescient Views On The Transformation Of Self-Regulatory Organizations And Of The Securities Market Structure At The Turn Of The Last Century, James A. Fanto

Brooklyn Journal of Corporate, Financial & Commercial Law

This essay examines Professor Roberta Karmel’s scholarship on the transformation of self-regulatory organizations (SROs) and the securities market structure, a transformation that occurred at the turn of the last century. It explains how she examined the events from the perspective of a lawyer who had a rich knowledge of the history of the SROs, the securities markets, and their regulation and how she provided a practical understanding of the way these markets worked. It points out that, rather than offering an overarching theory that would explain all of these developments and that would guide regulators and legislators in SRO and …


The Coming Shift In Shareholder Activism: From “Firm-Specific” To “Systematic Risk” Proxy Campaigns (And How To Enable Them), John C. Coffee, Jr. Dec 2021

The Coming Shift In Shareholder Activism: From “Firm-Specific” To “Systematic Risk” Proxy Campaigns (And How To Enable Them), John C. Coffee, Jr.

Brooklyn Journal of Corporate, Financial & Commercial Law

This article distinguishes two types of shareholder activism: (1) firm-specific activism, which has a long history and focuses on changes at a specific target company, and (2) systematic risk activism, which seeks to reduce the systematic risk in a portfolio and thereby benefit diversified investors. Typically, such a systematic risk campaign may force a portfolio company to internalize negative externalities to benefit the other companies in the portfolio (such as by reducing carbon emissions or undertaking climate risk reforms). But, systematic risk activism faces an inherent difficulty: the party that leads this campaign and invests in the target company may …


Qualified Opportunity Funds: Private Equity Exemptions From Public Responsibility, Audrey E. Abate May 2021

Qualified Opportunity Funds: Private Equity Exemptions From Public Responsibility, Audrey E. Abate

Brooklyn Journal of Corporate, Financial & Commercial Law

The historic Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA), passed and signed into law in 2017, included a pilot program of a new kind of tax advantage: the Qualified Opportunity Zone. The obscure provision has since spawned novel investment vehicles, called Qualified Opportunity Funds, through which qualified individuals and entities participate in what are often significant tax advantages, including deferral of capital gains for up to ten years. Because Qualified Opportunity Funds have come into existence so recently, regulation has been slow to catch up to the ways in which this tax program is rapidly attracting capital from private equity, investment …


Looking For A Silver Lining: How The Covid-19 Pandemic Forced New York To Reckon With Its Affordable Housing Crisis, Daniel Finnegan May 2021

Looking For A Silver Lining: How The Covid-19 Pandemic Forced New York To Reckon With Its Affordable Housing Crisis, Daniel Finnegan

Brooklyn Journal of Corporate, Financial & Commercial Law

Since the Great Depression, the United States government has failed to find an adequate remedy to a nationwide housing shortage amongst low- and moderate-income individuals and families. The COVID-19 public health crisis has exacerbated this ongoing, nation-wide housing crisis, and has highlighted the racial inequities present in our housing market. Furthermore, it has pushed New York State’s residential housing market into a uniquely precarious position. Dramatic legislation is required at the state level to address the housing crisis caused by the massive growth in income-insecure and housing-insecure individuals that resulted from the pandemic, as well as the widespread departure of …