Property Law Developments

Public accommodation law applies to state actor

A federal court in Massachusetts has interpreted the Massachusetts public accommodations statute to apply to a public entity, the Martha's Vineyard Transit Authority, when a traveler was denied access to a bus because of his race. Brooks v. Martha's Vineyard Transit Auth., 2020 WL 30586 (D. Mass. 2020). Government entities are included in the category of "... Read more about Public accommodation law applies to state actor

Outdoor displays at florist shop not a prior conforming use

The Massachusetts Appeals Court ruled that outdoor displays at a florist shop exceeded the scope of prior uses by the store and thus did not constitute a prior nonconforming use that could continue despite new zoning regulations requiring special permit for such uses. Leonard v. Zoning Bd. of Appeals of Hanover, 135 N.E.3d 288 (Mass. App. Ct. 2019). Although the court found the prior law to be confusing and badly written,... Read more about Outdoor displays at florist shop not a prior conforming use

Regulatory takings claim against United States for reservoir design that foreseeably flooded upstream properties after Tropical Storm Harvey

The Court of Federal Claims has held the United States responsible for a regulatory taking because it created reservoirs and dams that it knew, or should have known, would overflow onto neighboring property and did nothing to stop that from happening. In re Upstream Addicks and Barker (Texas) Flood-Control Reservoirs, 2019 WL 6873696 (Fed. Cl...

Landlord may be liable for fair housing violation if no response to one tenant's racial harassment of another

In the case of Francis v. King's Park Manor, Inc., 2019 WL 6646495 (2d Cir. 2019), a tenant engaged in a vicious campaign of abuse and intimidation of another tenant, coming to his door and threatening to kill him and repeatedly yelling at him and calling him the...

Texas statute terminates tenancy on death of tenant

Texas law now provides that a lease terminates when a tenant dies, if the tenant's estate gives notice to the landlord of the death and removes the deceased tenant's belongings within 30 days. 2019 Tex. H.B. 69, codified at Tex. Prop. Code §92.0162.

New York finally imposes a duty to mitigate damages on residential landlords

After years of conflicting case law, the New York legislature has formally codified the obligation of landlords to mitigate damages when a tenant breaches lease obligations by abandoning the premises. 2019 N.Y. Laws 36, §4, codified at N.Y. Real Prop. Law§227-e....

Constructed pond on mountainous terrain is an abnormally dangerous condition that renders owner strictly liable for damage caused when it ruptured after a storm and flooded the downhill property

The Montana Supreme Court held in Covey v. Brishka, 2019 MT 164, 445 P.3d 785 (Mont. 2019), that it was so obviously unreasonably dangerous to construct a 4.5 million-gallon...

Proceeds of partition by sale divided according to ownership interests without any credit given to co-owner whose funds were used to buy the property

Because the Texas partition statute requires the proceeds of a partition sale to be divided "according to [the owners'] just rights therein," joint tenants were entitled to 50% of the sale proceeds even though one of the co-owners had used his own funds to purchase the property. ...

Landlords and condo associations may be liable for discrimination by tenants or unit owners against other occupants if they are aware of the conduct and take no action to stop it

New regulations adopted in 2016 provide that a discriminatory housing practice includes "[f]ailing to take prompt action to correct and end a discriminatory housing practice by a third-party, where the person knew or should have known of the discriminatory conduct and had the power to correct it." 24 C.F.R. §100.7(a)(iii),...

Rules governing court-ordered rental payments while eviction litigation is pending

When a landlord sued to evict a tenant for failure to pay rent, the court ordered to make rental payments (for "use and occupancy") during trial. The Massachusetts Appeals Court held that before ordering such payments, the trial judge must hold a hearing to determine whether the payments should be reduced because of defective conditions in the property....

Joseph William Singer

Bussey Professor of Law, Harvard Law School