NA In a recent article in the Atlantic, Rogé Karma, describes how NIMBY (“not in my backyard”) forces have been increasingly stifling housing construction many areas – including Sun Belt cities – where it was previously relatively easy: Something is happening in the housing market that really shouldn’t be. Everyone familiar with America’s affordability crisis […]
NA On Monday, California enacted an important new law breaking down a key regulatory barrier to new housing construction. The CalMatters website has a helpful summary: A decade-spanning political battle between housing developers and defenders of California’s preeminent environmental law likely came to an end this afternoon with only a smattering of “no” votes. The […]
A Staten Island family has been fighting the city tooth and nail for the right to keep “Lucy,” a beloved pet pygmy pig. Now the government has relented. For almost 15 years, Lucy has resided with the Gannones, her adopted family, in peaceful harmony. But in June, “the pig was subject to an anonymous 311 […]
Happy Tuesday, and welcome to the latest edition of Rent Free. This week’s newsletter includes stories on: The triumphant, albeit technical, return of missing middle housing in Arlington, Virginia New York’s Rent Guidelines Board allows a 3 percent rent increase. It’s not just Zohran Mamdani. In New York, everyone’s a socialist on housing. But first, […]
Susette Kelo’s famous “little pink house,” which became a nationally known symbol of the case that bears her name. (Institute for Justice.)  Last week, on June 23, was the 20th anniversary of Kelo v. City of New London, perhaps the most controversial property rights decisions in the history of the Supreme Court. Although the Fifth […]
Happy Tuesday, and welcome to another edition of Rent Free. This week’s stories include: A vetoed housing supply bill in Connecticut. A gutting of San Diego’s productive “bonus ADU” program. The legacy of the Supreme Court’s Kelo eminent domain decision two decades on. But first, our lead item on yet another case of eminent domain […]
Susette Kelo’s famous “little pink house,” which became a nationally known symbol of the case that bears her name (Institute for Justice). (Institute for Justice.)  Today is the 20th anniversary of Kelo v. City of New London, perhaps the most controversial property rights decisions in the history of the Supreme Court. Although the Fifth Amendment […]
Is your home your castle? Not when eminent domain law lets politicians confiscate your property if they claim it’s for “public use.” Politicians say they need the power to take property to build public projects like roads and railroad tracks. OK. Seems reasonable. But now, developers collude with politicians to use the law unfairly, to […]
The twentieth anniversary of Kelo v. City of New London is coming up on June 23. Kelo is the controversial Supreme Court decision which held that privately owned “economic development” was enough to satisfy the Fifth Amendment requirement that the government can only condemn property for a “public use.” The Yale Journal on Regulation has […]
Both buyers and sellers in one of the country’s most competitive real estate markets could soon have less negotiating power. In 2024, Gov. Maura Healey signed the Massachusetts Affordable Homes Act. The sprawling legislation included a measure requiring realtors to let potential buyers have a home inspection before purchasing a house. Buyers can still choose to […]
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