EDITOR'S INTRODUCTION

Jun 28, 2024

By Lucie Hollingsworth

Many of our readers may feel far removed from the housing affordability crisis, but perhaps we're not opening our eyes wide enough. The housing affordability crisis affects us all, which is why we've dedicated this issue of the Marin Lawyer to the subject. Are you having trouble hiring staff? Figuring out how to walk your children to school without encountering homeless individuals? Have you tried to hire a caregiver for aging parents? (FYI – at $17 per hour, there's a good chance whoever you hire lives in their car.) As an attorney focusing on housing and homeless policy, these are the complaints I regularly hear – and they often come from the same people who object to new housing developments.

PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE

Jun 28, 2024

By Scott Buell, Buell Law and Mediation

Homelessness is Hard for Everyone

Jun 28, 2024

By Christine O’Hanlon, Deputy Public Defender

No matter what your political leanings are, I think most of us are frustrated by the chronic problems with homelessness in our communities. No one likes to see tent cities, camps, people sleeping on the streets, trash, remnants of drug and alcohol addiction, and other belongings strewn about our streets. I am sure the people living like that did not plan to live like that and wish it were different for them too. They don’t want to be out there like that, but have given up when faced with the steep obstacles to rectify their individual circumstances. Even with the $18 million Marin County received to work on homelessness this spring, there does not seem to be a solution to this problem, which seems like it has bounded too far out of control to reel it back in.

Advocates Must Ensure That Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing is Top Priority in Marin County

Jun 28, 2024

By Savannah Wheeler, Fair Housing Advocates of Northern California

Recently, jurisdictions in Marin County and across the state updated their housing elements, the portion of a jurisdiction’s General Plan that addresses how the jurisdiction will meet the housing needs of everyone in the community over the next eight years. In this process, much attention was paid to the new housing element requirements involving affirmatively furthering fair housing (“AFFH”). Jurisdictions have a legal duty to affirmatively further fair housing, which means “taking meaningful actions, in addition to combating discrimination, that overcome patterns of segregation and foster inclusive communities free from barriers that restrict access to opportunity based on protected characteristics.” (1) Assembly Bill 686 requires that a housing element is consistent with the AFFH duty by including an assessment of fair housing to identify fair housing issues in the jurisdiction, and by including priorities, goals, and actions to remediate these issues and promote fair housing, among other requirements.

An Update on California's Broker Fee Class Action Antitrust Lawsuits

Jun 28, 2024

By Elisha Yang, Hanson Bridgett LLP

In March of 2024, the National Association of Realtors (NAR) agreed to settle its high-profile antitrust lawsuit (the "NAR Settlement"), which includes the payment of approximately $418 million in damages and adjustments to its rules and policies governing commission payments to its brokers and agents. Prior to the announcement of this settlement, several similar lawsuits were filed against NAR and/or real estate brokerage firms and related organizations across the nation, two of which were filed in California. In both of these California lawsuits, plaintiffs claim that the named defendants engaged in anticompetitive practices to keep real estate commissions high in violation of state and federal antitrust regulations.

Leveraging Recent State Legislation to Maximize Housing Production: A Study of AB 1287’s Technical Changes to State Density Bonus Law

Jun 28, 2024

By Robin Baral, Hanson Bridgett LLP

As the Marin County Civil Grand Jury acknowledged two years ago, the “[l]ack of affordable housing is a problem throughout Marin County.” (1) Fast forward to this year, more than 50 housing-related bills intended to address California’s housing crisis have now become state law. The bills were designed to reduce barriers to housing production and incentivize the development of more affordable housing. One of those bills, AB 1287 (Alvarez), promotes housing production by amending State Density Bonus Law to enable developers to receive an additional density bonus that can double the allowable density increase on an eligible site. State Density Bonus Law is a proven tool for facilitating greater certainty in the local approval process and entitling projects that are financially feasible to construct. (1) June 24, 2022, Affordable Housing: Time for Collaboration in Marin.