October 2013

Here’s one we’ve been meaning to post for a while, if only because it presents a fascinating issue about the nature of Torrens title (so much so that we filed an amicus brief on behalf of Pacific Legal Foundation in the Intermediate Court of Appeals).

The State of Hawaii has filed an Application for a writ of certiorari, asking the Hawaii Supreme Court to review for grave error the ICA’s opinion in In re Trustees Under the Will of the Estate of James Campbell, No. 30006 (June 13, 2013).

In that case, the ICA held that the intent of the land court registration provisions in Chapter 501 of the Hawaii Revised Statutes is to “preserve the integrity of titles,” slip op. at 11, and “a certificate of title is unimpeachable and conclusive except as otherwise provided by law.” Id.  That seems straightfoward enough, as any dirt lawyer…

Continue Reading New HAWSCT Cert Application: State Not Required To Preserve Encumbrances In Land Court Registration

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There we were, attending the recent conference on “The Takings Issue,” at Touro Law School. In the parking lot, we spy this:

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Which got us to thinking: what would we put on our vanity license plate, were we inclined to do so? (Our answer at the top of this post).

And, it got us to thinking of others with land-usey plates, including this one, famously from Dwight Merriam:

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How about you, what would you put on your plate?

Use this vanity plate generator to make it, and send it our way. If we get enough, we may post ’em. Continue Reading Land Use: License Plate Edition

As we noted here, the International Academic Association for Planning Law and Property Rights, 8th Annual Conference 2014 will take place in Haifa, Israel, February 11-14, 2014. Earlier this year, we attended PLPR when it visited Portland, and it was well worth going, so the 2014 conference should be similar.

Professor Rachelle Alterman, Chair of the 2014 conference forwards this reminder:

This is a reminder that the deadline for abstract submissions for PLPR 2014 is15 October 2013. Click here for the website, here for the call for papers and here to submit your abstract now.

We are happy to announce that our opening reception will take place on 12 February and will be hosted by the Mayor of Haifa, in the historic City Hall in the Hadar mid-town area.  In addition, we will have a special pre-dinner reception on 13 February, hosted by the Bahai World Center (click here for more on the Bahai Gardens in Haifa).

Please note that we have added a new workshop to our list of optional pre-conference workshops: Workshop 5 on National Land Ownership and housing policy. Click here to see the new workshop in the list and and to submit your workshop registration form (you are welcome to resubmit if your preferences have changed).

We look forward to seeing you at PLPR 2014 Conference

Rachelle Alterman for the Local Organizing Committee

So fire up those keyboards and get to writing!
Continue Reading Reminder: Upcoming Deadline For Abstracts For Property Rights Conference

Hey, that rhymes! Today, in a not-entirely-unexpected move, the U.S. Supreme Court granted cert and agreed to review United States v. Brandt Revocable Trust, No. 09-8047 (Fed. Cir. Sep. 11, 2012).

We say not-unexpected for two reasons. First, the Tenth Circuit expressly noted its ruling created a circuit split (that’s catnip to counsel considering a petition). Second, the Solicitor General did not oppose the petitition, but agreed that it should be granted to resolve the split in the government’s favor. 

The issue in the case is whether the federal government retained an “implied reversionary interest” when it issued these patents, or whether these grants were subject only to a railroad easement. The difference is that easements may be extinguished, while reversionary interests cannot. In this case, the railway abandoned its use, after which the federal government instituted a quiet title action in federal court asserting it owned the…

Continue Reading Cert Grant In Brandt

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A big thanks to my Owners Counsel of America and ABA State and Local Government Law Section colleague Dwight Merriam for emceeing today’s well-attended double session on land use and takings law at the International Municipal Lawyers Association’s 2013 annual meeting in San Francisco. Dwight and I were joined by land use expert Cecily Barclay, who presented sessions on Harvey Cedars, while I covered Koontz and Dwight did the relevant parcel/Lost Tree sessions. Continue Reading IMLA Conference Session On Koontz, Harvey Cedars, Relevant Parcel