Forrester on Real Estate Law

"Property Rights and Disaster Recovery"

Kevin Forrester — Sun, 15 Apr 2012 12:56:55 -0800

From Ilya Somin at The Volokh Conspiracy:

"In this recent Wall Street Journal op ed, Historian David Beito and economist explain how respect for property rights enabled the city of Joplin, MO to recover from a devastating tornado much faster than similarly stricken Tuscaloosa, Alabama, which severely restricted property rights in order to pursue a 'top-down' redevelopment plan:"

Last April 27, one of the worst tornadoes in American history tore through Tuscaloosa, Ala., killing 52 people and damaging or destroying 2,000 buildings. In six minutes, it put nearly one-tenth of the city’s population into the unemployment line. A month later, Joplin, Mo., suffered an even more devastating blow. In a city with half the population of Tuscaloosa, a tornado killed 161 and damaged or destroyed more than 6,000 buildings….

n Joplin, eight of 10 affected businesses have reopened, according to the city’s Chamber of Commerce, while less than half in Tuscaloosa have even applied for building permits, according to city data we reviewed. Walgreens revived its Joplin store in what it calls a “record-setting” three months. In Tuscaloosa, a destroyed CVS still festers, undemolished. Large swaths of Tuscaloosa’s main commercial thoroughfares remain vacant lots, and several destroyed businesses have decided to reopen elsewhere, in neighboring Northport.

The reason for Joplin’s successes and Tuscaloosa’s shortcomings? In Tuscaloosa, officials sought to remake the urban landscape top-down, imposing a redevelopment plan on businesses. Joplin took a bottom-up approach, allowing businesses to take the lead in recovery….

The Alabama city’s recovery plan, “Tuscaloosa Forward,” is indeed state-of-the-art urban planning—and that’s the crux of the problem. It sets out to “courageously create a showpiece” of “unique neighborhoods that are healthy, safe, accessible, connected, and sustainable,” all anchored by “village centers” for shopping (in a local economy that struggles to sustain current shopping centers). Another goal is to “preserve neighborhood character” from a “disproportionate ratio of renters to owners.” The plan never mentions protecting property rights.

In Joplin, the official plan not only makes property rights a priority but clocks in at only 21 pages, compared with Tuscaloosa’s 128. Joplin’s plan also relied heavily on input from businesses (including through a Citizen’s Advisory Recovery Team) instead of Tuscaloosa’s reliance on outside consulting firms. “We need to say to our businesses, community, and to our citizens, ‘If you guys want to rebuild your houses, we’ll do everything we can to make it happen,’” said Joplin City Council member William Scearce in an interview.

Instead of encouraging businesses to rebuild as quickly as possible, Tuscaloosa enforced restrictive zoning rules and building codes that raised costs—prohibitively, in some cases. John Carney, owner of Express Oil Change, which was annihilated by the storm, estimates that the city’s delays and regulation will cost him nearly $100,000. And trying to follow the rules often yielded mountains of red tape, as the city rejected businesses’ proposals one after another….

Joplin took a dramatically different approach. According to interviews with local business owners, right after disaster struck the city council formally and informally rolled back existing regulations, liberally waving licensing and zoning mandates….

The owner of one Joplin construction company told us that when it came to regulations, the “city just sort of backed out. . . . We had projects that we completed before we got building permits.” Said another Joplin resident: “When you have the magnitude of that disaster, really the old ways of doing things are suspended for a while until you create whatever normal is. . . . The government was realistic to know that there is a period of time when common sense, codes and laws that are in place to protect people are suspended for the sake of the greater good.”

Listening to the #WhatILoveAboutAfrica Conversation

Kevin Forrester — Mon, 26 Mar 2012 20:10:33 -0800

After KONY 2012, "What I Love About Africa" reclaims the narrative about the African continent.

Think Change, Press Play

Kevin Forrester — Tue, 06 Mar 2012 21:40:46 -0800

KONY 2012:

KONY 2012 from INVISIBLE CHILDREN on Vimeo.

Update: It's a shame when the storyteller becomes the story: San Diego Local's Share Mixed Reaction to KONY 2012 Creator's Troubles.

Update 2: Charity Navigator and more on Invisible Children: The Charity Behind KONY 2012.

A Sad Day in North County

Kevin Forrester — Thu, 01 Mar 2012 23:59:46 -0800

In 2010, the San Diego Association of REALTORS wanted to own the North San Diego County Association of REALTORS ("NSDCAR"), and NSDCAR wisely said no.

In 2012, the East San Diego County Association of REALTORS ("ESDCAR") and the Pacific Southwest Association of REALTORS ("PSAR") wanted to join NSDCAR, and NSDCAR unfortunately, Wednesday, said no again. ESDCAR and PSAR were a good match with NSDCAR, and the three associations together would have made a great association.

Wednesday was a sad day in North County.

ESDCAR approves merger with NSDCAR

Kevin Forrester — Mon, 27 Feb 2012 21:19:09 -0800

As of Noon, Monday, February 27, the East San Diego County Association of REALTORS cleared their high threshold of 51% of eligible voters voting in favor of merging with the North San Diego County Association of REALTORS. The ESDCAR Board of Directors had previously authorized the release of the merger vote count once this threshold was crossed.

“It was the Board’s desire to allay any fears in South County and North County that ESDCAR might not be participating in the proposed merger,” said President Peg Tischer-Keeley. “We didn’t want there to be any doubts about our participation in the merger to affect the vote one way or another in either South County or North County. It seemed to us a material fact that voters in the other associations might want to know before they cast their vote.”

Congratulations East County, and thank you for your confidence in South County and North County!

I hope that your confidence is returned over the next two days by all of our remaining members voting in favor of the proposed merger of all three associations.

Kevin Forrester

"Peace Through Service"

Kevin Forrester — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 14:34:33 -0800

"Peace Through Service" is the 2012 - 2013 Rotary International theme.

Welcoming the Merger of ESDCAR, NSDCAR and PSAR

Kevin Forrester — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 15:59:08 -0800

Dear North San Diego County REALTORS:

I am writing in favor of welcoming the members of the East County Association of REALTORS and the Pacific Southwest Association of REALTORS into a merger with our association.

North County, East County, and Pacific Southwest all have had the option of passively allowing themselves to be merged with the San Diego Association of REALTORS, and have rejected that option. North County all too recently rejected a merger with the San Diego Association of REALTORS by a slim margin of 356 votes out of 2,896 votes cast. In other words, a change of 179 votes from “no” to “yes” out of 2,896 votes cast in our recent election could have changed the voting outcome.

East County and Pacific Southwest are smaller than North County, but they share our “member service” attitude. They are our friends in the world of organized real estate and they have reached out to us in the spirit of friendship for our help in preserving the culture that is common to all three of our associations. They were each also very supportive of our “SaveNSDCAR” efforts in the latest merger exercise.

As described in an August 2011 blog posting by R. Alan Smith, the Executive Officer of East San Diego County, North San Diego County was once 7 smaller associations that merged to become the model REALTOR Association that North San Diego County now is. Alan's blog also includes our District Map and speaks favorably of NSDCAR's established District system which, for more than twenty years, "has given [our] constituent groups all the advantages of a larger association while preserving local identity."

Adding East County and Pacific Southwest to North County’s model is not a loss; it is a gain to each association, and to all of the members of the merged associations. Should a merger of North County, East County and Pacific Southwest be approved by the members of all three associations, the resulting merged association will be unified, stronger, and better able to preserve the member and customer service attitude in San Diego County that we all so strongly believe in.

I encourage you to welcome East County and Pacific Southwest into partnership with us in continuing to work toward our common goal of member and association excellence.

Kevin Forrester,
2003 & 2005 NSDCAR President

"The EPA Had a Bad Day at the Supreme Court"

Kevin Forrester — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 18:21:22 -0800

“'For 75 years, the courts have interpreted statutes with an eye toward permitting judicial review, not the opposite,' said Justice Stephen G. Breyer."

Read more on Sackett v. Environmental Protection Agency from Damon W. Root of Reason Magazine here.

"Alan Gura's Expensive Lesson"

Kevin Forrester — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 19:16:22 -0800

"When he took on Dick Heller's case, it likely seemed like a lost cause. A good cause, perhaps, but an uphill fight the whole way. Up the steepest hill you can find. The steepest hill that never ends. Yet Alan Gura took it on, and because he did, the Supreme Court reversed its view of the Second Amendment to the Constitution, restoring it to a fundamental right, in District of Columbia v. Heller.

For his efforts, District Court Judge Emmet Sullivan smacked him."

Continue reading at Simple Justice.

Douglas E Noll Selected as President of the California Dispute Resolution Council

Kevin Forrester — Sun, 01 Jan 2012 17:35:01 -0800

"'The CDRC monitors legislation affecting mediation, arbitration, and collaborative law, and assists Californians to resolve disputes in ways they choose, rather than have limited choices by the desires of special interests,' Noll explains."

Press Release.

"Redevelopment is Dead in California"

Kevin Forrester — Thu, 29 Dec 2011 15:35:21 -0800

"After a run of more than 50 years, redevelopment and tax increment financing for development in California have come to an end."

(See Sheppard Mullin's "Update On Redevelopment Law: The Supreme Court Makes it Official - Redevelopment Is Dead In California".

"Liberty and Federalism"

Kevin Forrester — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 23:18:12 -0800

“'The very purpose of a Bill of Rights was to withdraw certain subjects from the vicissitudes of political controversy, to place them beyond the reach of majorities and officials, and to establish them as legal principles to be applied by the courts. One’s right to life, liberty, and property, to free speech, a free press, freedom of worship and assembly, and other fundamental rights may not be submitted to vote; they depend on the outcome of no elections.'”

Justice Robert Jackson quoted in Timothy Sandefur's comment on "Liberty and federalism in the Individual Mandate cases".

We are Americans

Kevin Forrester — Sun, 11 Sep 2011 08:02:16 -0800

Let's remember on September 11, 2011, this historic message of President John F. Kennedy's January 20, 1961, inaugural address:

‎Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe, in order to assure the survival and the success of liberty.

This much we pledge – and more.

Remember, today and every day, that we are Americans.

Property is a Human Right (the video version)

Kevin Forrester — Thu, 25 Aug 2011 18:22:45 -0800

Learn Liberty.org has released this excellent video of Timothy Sandefur discussing "Property Rights in 21st Century America" or, in other words, property rights as human rights.

Debating the Constitution

Kevin Forrester — Sat, 06 Aug 2011 20:51:22 -0800

Thanks go to Gerald J. Russello, editor of The University Bookman, for this excellent review of Constitutional Originalism: A Debate, by Robert W. Bennett and Lawrence B. Solum, in which Messrs. Bennett and Solum present what Mr. Russello describes as "state-of-the-art cases for the two main schools of constitutional interpretation" - originalism and "living constitutionalism."

New law gives added protection to short sale hopefuls

Kevin Forrester — Thu, 21 Jul 2011 17:14:42 -0800

The California Association of REALTORS takes us "behind the headlines" with this summary of California Senate Bill 458 recently signed into law by Governor Brown, and other recent real estate news:

New short-sale law: Beyond the Headlines (pdf)

Your Private Property is Not a Government Program

Kevin Forrester — Sat, 11 Jun 2011 13:25:40 -0800

California Redevelopment Agencies fight to defend their turf.

Closing Remarks by the President on Osama Bin Laden

Kevin Forrester — Sun, 01 May 2011 20:54:06 -0800

The cause of securing our country is not complete. But tonight, we are once again reminded that America can do whatever we set our mind to. That is the story of our history, whether it’s the pursuit of prosperity for our people, or the struggle for equality for all our citizens; our commitment to stand up for our values abroad, and our sacrifices to make the world a safer place.

Let us remember that we can do these things not just because of wealth or power, but because of who we are: one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

Thank you. May God bless you. And may God bless the United States of America.

President Barack Obama

May 1, 2011

Originalism Uncomplicated

Kevin Forrester — Fri, 29 Apr 2011 20:56:25 -0800

The battle line in originalism is between those who believe that the Constitution means what it says, and those who believe that the Constitution means what they say.

Property is a Human Right

Kevin Forrester — Thu, 31 Mar 2011 08:41:27 -0800

Timothy Sandefur reminds us that property is a human right in his “Cornerstone of Liberty: Property Rights in 21st Century America” which contains the following passage:

Thomas Jefferson rephrased the classic [John] Lockean trinity, ‘life,liberty, and property,’ as ‘life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness’ in the Declaration of Independence. Jefferson was making clear that the fundamental rights of mankind include the right to use one’s liberty in pursuit of one’s own goals and that property rights are a manifestation of the fundamental right of liberty. According to Jefferson, ‘[T]he first principal of association’ is ‘the guarantee to every one of a free exercise of his industry, and the fruits acquired by it.’ Life, liberty, and property are essentially the same idea seen from three different time perspectives: the present tense of self-ownership is the right to life; the future tense is the right to liberty, the right to act in the future; and the past tense of self-ownership is the right to property, the right to keep the fruits of our self-investment. As Madison summed it up, ‘The personal right to acquire property, which is a natural right, gives to property, when acquired, a right to protection, as a social right.’”

Sandefur at 55, footnotes omitted, emphasis added.

Natural rights are rights that predate the formation of any government or citizenship. At the time of drafting the Declaration of Independence “these truths” were deemed to be self-evident that we were endowed by our Creator with certain unalienable rights, including “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness” – or life, liberty and property as described by John Locke, and in the Virginia Declaration of Rights.

Timothy Sandefur's "Cornerstone of Liberty" is excellent, readable, and a vital reference for everyone interested in the origin and protection of human rights.