Latest News
Dianne Jackson McLean to Receive 2024 Minority Bar Coalition Unity Award!
11/12/2024Dianne Jackson McLean has been selected to received the 2024 Minority Bar Coalition Unity Award! She was nominated by President Josi Kennon Swonetz on behalf of the California Association of Black...
Gabrielle Janssens & Rafael Yaquian Speak at the CALED Finance and Real Estate Summit
10/31/2024When: Thursday, October 31, 2024 Where: Embassy Suites LAX-North What: The Stages of Development What should be happening and when? By providing an overview of the phases of development and...
Law Alert – Treasury Announces New Markets Tax Credits Allocation Awards
On July 15, 2024, the United States Department of Treasury's Community Development Financial Institutions Fund ("CDFI Fund") announced the next round of New Markets Tax Credits ("NMTC") for combined...
Law Alert – The Grants Pass Holding: Enforcing Public-Camping Laws Is Not Cruel and Unusual Punishment
In a 6-3 decision with profound implications for cities and counties, the U.S. Supreme Court has decided City of Grants Pass v. Johnson, Case No. 23-175 (June 28, 2024). The Grants Pass Court held...
Law Alert – Corporate Transparency Act – What Housing Developers Need to Know Now
Congress enacted the Corporate Transparency Act ("CTA") as part of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021 to help law enforcement detect and deter illicit financial activities,...
Summary of 2023 Landlord-Tenant Legislation
During the 2023 legislative session, the State Legislature approved and the Governor signed into law a number of bills affecting landlord and tenants. Click here to read more.
SLAPP-ing Down Anti-Housing Lawsuits with SB 439
California Senate Bill 439 represents a novel adaptation of the state's anti-SLAPP (Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation) statute, extending the scope of a law designed to protect First...
LAW ALERT – 1-17-2024 – Retroactive Tax Exemption for Certain Housing Authority
AB 1528 clarifies that the tax exemption for housing authorities under Health and Safety Code section 34400 also applies to property held by certain housing authority-controlled nonprofit public...
Zoned Out! Court Strikes Down Housing Element Overlay Zone
The California Court of Appeal, in a 97-page decision published on April 7, 2023, held that the City of Clovis' housing element did not substantially comply with state law even though it had been...
Ethics Spotlight: ‘Implied Consent’ Under the No Contact Rule
By Dianne Jackson McLean for the California Lawyers Association In the context of the No-Contact rule[1], an attorney sending an email or text which includes her client to another attorney may...
ABAG Summary of AB 2011 and SB 6
AB 2011, the Affordable Housing and High Road Jobs Act of 2022, and SB 6, the Middle Class Housing Act of 2022, are intended to permit residential development on sites currently zoned and designated...
Law Alert – Single-Family Homes are Not Subject to the Housing Accountability Act
The Court of Appeal in Reznitskiy v. County of Marin (June 15, 2022, No. A161813) ___Cal.App.5th___ resolved a question that had plagued planners and developers: Does the Housing Accountability Act...
Law Alert – Summary of 2021 Legislative Session Housing Bills
Below is a summary of significant housing legislation that was passed in the 2021 legislative session and subsequently signed into law by Governor Gavin Newsom. Click here to read more.
New State Housing Legislation
Goldfarb and Lipman has been retained by the Association of Bay Area Governments (ABAG) to prepare materials to assist local jurisdictions in complying with SB 9, which allows up to four units on...
Law Alert – California Court of Appeal Weighs in on Approval and Denial of Density Bonus Concessions
The Second District Court of Appeal has issued the first published case on the standards that cities and counties must follow when an application is made for a “concession or incentive” under...