In the News

Are you a member of MCBA and thinking of increasing your involvement? Consider applying for a Director position for the Term 2025 - 2027

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.

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.

When unlawful detainer cases are set for trial in Marin County a mandatory settlement conference is set for the week prior to trial. These judicially supervised conferences are coordinated by Legal Aid of Marin scheduling volunteer attorneys from the Marin County Bar to provide unrepresented parties legal assistance at the conference.

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.