Tag: property rights
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Shakedown in Miami: City Presses Deed Holder to Give Up Front Yard Space for Potential Street Expansion
Chad is a deed holder in Miami. He says the city is trying to take front yard space away from him. He only wanted to create a backyard dwelling unit. When he requested permission, Miami insisted that Chad must transfer a part of his front yard to the city. What’s more, the strange process Miami…
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California Ends “Home Equity Theft” in Property Tax Foreclosures
California recently made an important change to its foreclosure law. When California deed holders face foreclosure on liens placed against their titles for unpaid property taxes, they would find themselves losing all their equity. It’s a practice commonly called home equity theft. From October 2025 on, California deed holders will no longer have to face…
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Texas Law Restricting Foreign Buyers Chills Chinese Investment
Tonya Li works as a real estate agent in Austin. A Sotheby’s agent, Li has represented Chinese clients for the better part of a decade. Li reports losing 50% of her work after Texas enacted a new state law, banning certain foreigners from buying real estate. Texas Senate Bill 17 came into effect in September.…
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Home Building or Repairs: How to Fight Construction Fraud or an Unfair Lien
Residential construction fraud can include contractors not finishing paid-for work; fraudulent invoicing for work not done; manipulative bidding; malicious liens; or false statements about their credentials, or about whether (or how much) work is required. For an example of the first problem, we begin with a current set of allegations in metro Philadelphia.
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Time’s Up! MV Realty Ordered to Lift Its Claims From Thousands of Property Records
The party’s over! States are now rushing to ban listing agreements that tie deed holders to particular brokerages to sell their homes in the future. One big reason for this appears to be their residents’ complaints about a certain “MV Realty” company. Several states are acting on MV Realty agreements as you read this. The company has…
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Can Ohio Stop You from Transferring Your Deed to a Green Card Holder?
Ohio lawmakers are debating a bill that could restrict non-citizens, including green card holders, from purchasing land in large segments of Ohio. It would be the most severe law of its kind.
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The Water Log: A Deed Holder’s Intro to Storm Runoff
Storms aren’t exactly getting milder out there. And did you know that rainstorms can implicate a property owner’s rights? Severe or recurrent storms can create significant challenges for a deed holder. Flooding is the costliest risk for homes. Here, we cover just the basics of stormwater and deeds.
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Trees Don’t Respect Property Lines. Who’s Liable for Accidents or Hazards?
Trees are beautiful. They cool our Earth, buffer noise, and drink up stormwater. They offer habitat to birds, and so much more. Trees can make beautiful, natural borders between properties. But, from time to time, they do play a role in tensions between deed holders. Today we explore a few common conflicts related to trees…
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Senior Deed Transfers: Is Capacity In Question?
When an older adult transfers property, sometimes questions come up about whether the deed holder had legal capacity to transfer it. Did the person grasp the meaning of the transfer? Was the transfer voluntary? A court could undo a problematic deed transfer in a quiet title action. But deeds are presumed valid. If they’re properly…
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Bam! Deed Holder in Home Equity Theft Case Gets Help From U.S. Supreme Court
After the Supremes stepped in, Kevin Fair recovered the deed he lost to foreclosure — over a $588 debt. A Nebraskan got a gift during Christmas week: the return of his house deed. Kevin and his late spouse Terry Fair lived in one home for 25 years. It was paid off. The Fairs had always…
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Am I the Nuisance, or Is My Neighbor? What the Law Says
The law of nuisance came from Merry Olde England, and it crops up in property cases to this day. Sometimes, a nuisance is both private and public. Consider a body shop that emits fumes or dumps oil — impacting specific residences, and creating a public hazard at the same time. Or perhaps it feels more…
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How Do Zoning Variances Work?
A zoning variance is permission from local authorities for a property owner to do something against the standard rules. For example, maybe you want to install a backyard cottage on your property, but that’s not allowed by local regulations. Or maybe you want permission to create a rain garden, or put up a fence despite…
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It’s a Crime! Deed Theft Crackdown Gets Serious
Deed theft deprives homeowners — and generations that follow them — of the precious home equity they worked so hard to earn. When someone sets out to exploit someone else’s deed, the targets are often seniors, minority households, and people who own debt-free homes in gentrifying neighborhoods. In New York, as of 2024, deed theft…
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What If the Deed Is Not Recorded? (Never Let This Happen.)
By accepting a deed, you become a new property owner. Be sure to file the deed you accept with the county recorder’s office. The recording becomes your public notice that you now own the property described on the deed. You might have heard that a deed works to transfer property as soon as it’s offered…
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Deed Theft Should Not Exist
What Does It Take to Safeguard a Title? If you hold the deed, you can’t be evicted, right? True — except if your deed is pulled out from under you by a nasty actor. It shouldn’t happen, but it does. Just ask Dada, a homeowner in Oklahoma City. Someone recorded a quitclaim on Dada’s deed,…
