Since the In re Crane decision was handed down by the Bankruptcy Court for the Central District of Illinois in April 2012, all eyes in the mortgage banking industry have been focused on the appeal of the decision pending in the U.S. District Court, in the hopes that the widely criticized ruling of the Bankruptcy … Continue Reading
Recent Developments in the Law Portend of Widespread Reconsideration of This Question This post was written by Dusty Elias Kirk with Contribution from Kyle Smith. Courts in a number of states are reconsidering how to determine whether a property owner, often a nonprofit entity, is entitled to a property tax exemption or other special property tax … Continue Reading
Pennsylvania’s transportation infrastructure needs far surpass the Commonwealth’s ability to fund them. According to a 2010 study by the State Transportation Advisory Committee, an additional $3.5 billion a year is needed to fully meet those needs. To close the funding gap and facilitate the development of new transportation facilities throughout the Commonwealth, Pennsylvania, on July … Continue Reading
Title to Oil and Gas in PA Threatened In 1882, the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania pronounced what would be known as the Rule in Dunham’s Case. In Dunham and Shortt v. Kirkpatrick, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court held that a grant or reservation of "all minerals" does not include oil or gas, despite the fact that … Continue Reading
On July 26, 2012, in a decision of major significance to the Marcellus Shale industry, the Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court in the case of Robinson Township et al. v. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission et al., No. 284 M.D. 2012 (Pa. Commw. Ct. 2012), declared Section 3304 of Act 13 of Pennsylvania’s Oil and Gas … Continue Reading
A class-action complaint, filed this July in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania, seeks millions of dollars in damages from four telecom companies, alleging a deliberate failure to obtain the permission of hundreds of Beaver County property owners before burying fiber-optic cables on their lands. According to the plaintiffs in Lake … Continue Reading
This posting was also written by Curt Heffler. Construction Ahead: In a recent Pennsylvania Superior Court case (Commerce Bank v. Kessler), the court held that an open-end mortgage recorded after commencement of construction on the mortgaged property does not have statutory priority over a subsequently recorded mechanic’s lien unless all of the proceeds of the loan … Continue Reading
The City of Chicago has prevailed in the latest round of a "no holds barred" battle with local property owners over the constitutionality of The Chicago Landmarks Ordinance. In a decision dated May 2, 2012 by the Circuit Court of Cook County, the property owners' claims that the Landmarks Ordinance was unconstitutionally vague and violated due process were rejected, and the court upheld the Ordinance. Hanna and Mrowka v. City of Chicago. No. 06 CH 19422. The landowners had previously won a highly favorable ruling at the appellate court level (in 2009), which raised the prospect of the invalidation of the Ordinance (as reported in a previous Reed Smith Client Alert) - a result that would have sent shockwaves through the historic preservation community nationwide. With the case remanded to it for decision, the trial court considered the due process vagueness issue in detail, including as to the clarity of the Ordinance's criteria for landmark status; but it was not persuaded by the property owners' arguments, and found that they did not meet their burden of rebutting the presumption of the constitutionality of the legislation, thus upholding the Ordinance.… Continue Reading
The Government has today published the new National Planning Policy Framework and here is a link. This comes into effect immediately and is part of the Government’s drive to simplify planning in the UK to promote growth. Government sources today called it ‘unashamedly pro-growth.’ Last summer’s draft of the NPPF got a lot of criticism … Continue Reading
Real estate purchasers whose contract permits the return of the earnest money deposit if financing cannot be obtained must be extremely careful in how this contingency is worded in the purchase contract, or a purchaser may get an unwelcome surprise, and be forced to forfeit the earnest money when financing cannot be obtained. Typically, when … Continue Reading
Chicago's Vacant Building Ordinance, which imposes substantial and unprecedented duties on mortgagees of residential real estate located in the city of Chicago, continues to generate controversy - and lawsuits.… Continue Reading
In this post we revisit private rights of way from the perspective of a development site – looking at how they are created, varied, and how they can be extinguished. Q1: ‘I recently purchased a large estate. At the time of purchase, my lawyers reported that the area close to one boundary was subject to a … Continue Reading
Changes to construction legislation coming into force on 1 October 2011 (1 November 2011 in Scotland) will incorporate revisions to the fair payment and adjudication provisions required to be included in construction contracts. Unless developers are careful about updating their construction contracts, they may unwittingly find that the provisions they believe to be agreed are … Continue Reading
This post was also written by Laura Peasnell. Telecom masts can be a welcome source of income but can also pose problems when you want to redevelop a property. The Law Commission has just announced that it is going to review the Electronic Communications Code which may be good news for property owners. The review process will … Continue Reading
We have previously posted on the potential pitfalls for developers arising because of Commons legislation. No developer of land historically used for leisure activities by the public can afford to ignore the risks of commons registration, as the Courts are currently interpreting the legislation in favour of the users of the land (not the owners). A … Continue Reading
This post was also written by Harriet Morgan. From 6 April 2011, residential property with a consideration of over £1m will be subject to a higher SDLT rate of 5%. This means that a purchaser whose transaction will complete on or after 6 April 2011 will find themselves paying more SDLT than if completion had … Continue Reading
Since we posted on the effects of The Commons Act 2006 back in June 2009 there have been three cases. Many land owners will now find it harder to resist an application for registration of land as a town or village green and will have to live with the restrictions that registration creates. The recent … Continue Reading
On 6 April 2010, the new Community Infrastructure Levy (‘CIL’) Regulations came into force, partially replacing the current system of Section 106 agreements. There won’t be an immediate change in the planning regime, but now is the time to think about the CIL and any potential impact on future developments and transactions.… Continue Reading
In our previous posting 'Land Agreements come under the Competition Law Spotlight' when government consultation was underway, we reported on the likely impact of Competition Law applying to property deals. Whilst the issue arose out of the Competition Commission's market investigation into the supply of groceries, the changes that will apply from 6 April 2010 can affect any property agreements and will affect pre-existing agreements as well as anything to be entered into after 6 April. The commercial property world needs a new competition law mindset.… Continue Reading
This post was also written by Mark Hargreaves. Following on from our original blog on the Bribery Bill there have been some changes to the Bill during its speedy passage through Parliament. We have no doubt that this Bill will be enacted before the General Election. Agents, investors and developers do need to be aware … Continue Reading
This is a hot topic in that a number of developments are currently being delayed/called into question by claims that the site is common land or is a town or village green. Developers need to take care when they plan to develop land that has been used by the public for their recreation. Why? That … Continue Reading
