Recent Articles

Tinder is a free online dating service. It presents users with photos of potential dates. How superficial is that? The user can swipe right to express approval or swipe left to express disapproval. Good looking or not – I guess. I’d have to use my younger brother’s photo. In 2015, Tinder released a premium service [...]

Easements Generally An easement allows one party to use the land of another party for a particular purpose.  Easements can be created in California in a variety of ways: by written agreement, by implication, by necessity, by equity, and, also, by prescription -- adverse, notorious, open, and continuous use without the permission of the landowner [...]

Over the past few years I’ve counseled hundreds of “upside down” homeowners facing foreclosure. Not so much recently, but a few years ago, the usual situation involved a big-bank talking the talk but not walking the talk of a short sale or loan modification, and in the end foreclosing ‑‑ taking the property ‑‑ even with a borrower/homeowner willing [...]

Most of you have heard of a prescriptive easement. This interesting legal theory often comes into play when one property owner inadvertently builds over the property line of a neighbor or when a driveway or path has been used over someone else’s property. Can the encroachment or use of the path or driveway ever become [...]

It’s fair to say that most of us like a good deal. There’s nothing wrong with that. One potentially good deal you should be very careful about: buying a home in foreclosure. Whether trying to help a friend in foreclosure or looking to buy a home in foreclosure on the cheap, beware. HOME IN FORECLOSURE [...]

As you faithful readers, if any, recall, we annually present a handful of our favorite Bulwer-Lytton Fiction Contest winners, and here is a sampling. The Bulwer-Lytton Fiction Contest is named after novelist Edward George Earl Bulwer-Lytton who wrote many famous novels including “Paul Gifford” which started with the immortal words, “It was a dark and [...]

In November of 2014, the City of Malibu enacted Measure R, a voter-approved initiative designed to limit large developments and chain establishments. The measure was funded in large part by Rob Reiner, director and pioneer of such venerable feature films as This Is Spinal Tap, The Princess Bride, A Few Good Men and The Bucket [...]

Today’s column, sports fans, is about Placerville, aka Hangtown, a historic foothill community, in many ways like Truckee and Tahoe City. HISTORIC COURTHOUSE Placerville’s historic downtown courthouse, built in 1912 and renovated in 1971, is part of El Dorado County’s four courtrooms, two located downtown and two located in a County administrative complex. The California [...]

Holiday Season To Do List For General Contractors: 1) Trim The Tree; 2) Buy Gifts for Family; 3) Enter Into All Pending Contracts With Subcontractors Before January 1, 2018 On October 14, 2017, Governor Jerry Brown signed Assembly Bill 1701 into law.  AB 1701 requires general contractors to pay the unpaid wages of their subcontractors’ [...]