37th Annual Meeting of the Real Property Law Section
April 19 – 22, 2018
Hyatt Regency Embarcadero
Five Embarcadero Center
San Francisco
** Earn up to 15.75 Hours MCLE Credit Including Credit in Legal Ethics, Elimination of Bias, and Competency Issues **
How to Get Your Project Approved Under the New Housing Laws
Friday, April 20
10:45 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.
2017 has been touted as the “year of housing” in the Legislature. Based on the Legislature’s concern that local governmental approvals are one of the biggest obstacles to approval of housing at all income levels, numerous bills were enacted to provide “by right” approvals and narrow the grounds for denying or reducing the density of conforming housing projects. This session will describe the bills that have been signed by the Governor and what can be expected in the next legislative session.
Speakers: Nahal Hamidi Adler, Barbara Kautz, Rafael Yaquian
Everyone Wants to Get the Project Done
Saturday, April 21
12:00 p.m. – 1:15 p.m.
This panel will evaluate the ethical rules that real property attorneys should consider in real estate transactions in which multiple parties are involved and the transactions are initially non-adversarial. The panel will review the applicable California Rules of Professional Conduct, the State Bar Act, court decisions and practical tips regarding joint representation, confidentiality, conflict of interest, written disclosures, waivers, and when it may be necessary for attorneys to withdraw from representations.
Speakers: Celia Lee, Robert Mills, Dianne Jackson McLean
Redevelopment Dissolution and the Impairment of Contracts
Saturday, April 21
1:30 p.m. – 2:45 p.m.
The California legislature’s 2011 abolition of redevelopment caused a seismic shift in funding for infrastructure, housing and other real property development in California. California is now one of the only states in the country without redevelopment. At the time dissolution happened, hundreds of millions of dollars were already committed to projects that were well underway when the Legislature acted. Dozens of lawsuits have been filed, challenging redevelopment dissolution’s impairment of ongoing contracts. This panel will report on how the courts have been deciding redevelopment dissolution issues, and the effect of those decisions on project funding.
Speakers: Dianne Jackson McLean, Dolores Dalton, Rafael Yaquian
The Front Lines: Implementation at Federal, State and Local Levels
Sunday, April 22
8:00 a.m. – 10:00 a.m.
The U.S. Supreme Court issued a ruling that the Federal Fair Housing Act included claims based on disparate impact and HUD released its new guidelines. These two actions taken together have the potential to change how government decisions for affordable housing are made. This panel will discuss the decision, the new rules, and impacts of both on affordable housing developers, both in the selection of sites for new development as well as the operation of affordable housing.
Speakers: Karen Tiedemann, Heather Gould