When there is so much real estate to buy in California, it may not be clear why anyone would benefit from purchasing surplus land in the first instance. After all, it requires going through a negotiation process with a public entity and may take longer than other land purchases. There…
In many ways, partition actions are relatively straightforward. Generally, in a partition action, the two property owners cannot agree on its use, and one of the owners asks the court to sell the property so each can go their separate ways. The question arises of whether one of the two…
The revised Surplus Land Act contains negotiation requirements to encourage the sale of surplus public land. Also, the law makes it more likely that the land will ultimately be developed for as much housing as possible. Prior to entering negotiations, however, AB 1486 requires that the agency selling the surplus…
When two parties jointly own property but cannot agree on its use, then the sale of the property by a “partition” action is frequently a great remedy to solve the dispute. This tool, however, is not available in all circumstances. While a “partition by sale” makes a lot of sense…
Everything old is new again. Or so it seems. Sometimes a new thing really is new. In this case, the question is whether the new Surplus Land Act is truly as big of a change as touted. After all, there was a Surplus Land Act before, and there’s a Surplus…
The purpose of this article is to address the goals that California’s Surplus Land Act was designed to accomplish. The article will address the prior version of the Surplus Land Act, the changes to definitions made in 2019, and provide a big-picture perspective on its aims. In 2019, the California…
As if eminent domain is not bad enough, after you’ve gone through the process, the government wants to tax you on the land it made you sell. Savvy property owners, however, can limit their tax liabilities through the use of a 1031 exchange process. Can a property owner limit the…
The purpose of this post is to address the process where a governmental entity makes an offer to purchase property in contemplation of the later use of the eminent domain. This post will address the rule that applies for offers prior to eminent domain, known as “pre-condemnation offers,” address specifics…
The purpose of this post is to discuss who should be part of a partition action. This post will discuss who is typically joined, note some interesting problems, and address how to properly prosecute such an action. After reviewing this article, the reader will be better able to identify who…
The purpose of this post is to discuss how a partial taking of your property may affect your property taxes. Often, in an eminent domain action, there are at least two types of damages or payment required. First, the government should pay the property owner for the property actually taken.…