Virginia Lawyers Weekly VA Lawyers Weekly

For tax purposes, the City of Fairfax must assess Army Navy Country Club’s land as residential property and omit “improvements” (e.g. clubhouse, pool, tennis courts) that would be demolished in the event of residential development. Background This case challenges tax ...

Tagged with: Fairfax County Circuit Court Judge Daniel E. Ortiz Real Estate Real Property Taxation Virginia Circuit Courts

The circuit court erred in in dismissing the plaintiff’s derivative action on the ground that the plaintiff had failed to first make a demand for the limited liability company to take action. No such demand is required when it would ...

Tagged with: Business Law Corporate Corporations Justice Stephen R. McCullough Real Estate Real Property Supreme Court of Virginia

Property owners must remove a gate impeding reasonable use of an easement on their property by the U.S. Forest Service, providing regulated recreational access to public lands. They erected the gate to mitigate illegal behavior resulting from public access. Background ...

Tagged with: Judge Elizabeth K. Dillon Real Estate Real Property U.S. District Court - Western District

A court order requiring a property owner to cure residential zoning violations gave him sufficient notice that he must remove “junk” not only from his front and side yards but also from his back yard. Background In April 2005, Henrico ...

Tagged with: Administrative Constitutional Due Process Judge Mary Grace O'Brien Municipal Real Estate Real Property Virginia Court of Appeals Zoning

Even though the owner of a servient estate had granted it to himself as trustee of a living trust, his subsequent easement – granted and recorded in his individual capacity – operated as a partial revocation of the prior transfer ...

Tagged with: Fairfax County Circuit Court Judge David Bernhard Real Estate Real Property Virginia Circuit Courts Wills & Trusts

A bank’s suit seeking a determination that tax liens against a foreclosed property must be discharged was a quiet title action for which the United States has waived sovereign immunity. Background The Knapps, who owned real property in Richlands, Virginia, ...

Tagged with: Banking Constitutional Judge James P. Jones Mortgage Real Property Taxation U.S. District Court - Western District

When a BMW store applied for a renovation permit but then performed a demolition instead, the City of Rockville, Maryland, revoked the previously-granted permit. The company’s initial permit applications contained material misrepresentations, so it had no property interest that could ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Business Law Constitutional Due Process Judge Glen E. Conrad Municipal Real Estate

A pipeline construction company had no legal right to use an access road on the defendants’ property, and therefore the company did not “possess” the land so as to require just compensation to the owner. Background This matter is before ...

Tagged with: Civil Procedure Judge Norman K. Moon Real Property U.S. District Court - Western District

Waterfront property owners who brought a groundless claim against their neighbor for working as a state agent to create a special tax district are liable for his attorneys’ fees. Background In this action, the Plaintiffs allege that Defendant Frank Gurdziel ...

Tagged with: Attorneys Fees Civil Practice Constitutional Due Process Judge Robert G. Doumar Municipal Real Estate Real Property U.S. District Court - Eastern District

Prospective buyers had only three days to rescind a purchase agreement after receiving the statutorily-required property owners’ association disclosures. The rescission period is not extended due to incomplete information in the disclosures as submitted. Background Plaintiffs Liam and Brandee Daly ...

Tagged with: Fairfax County Circuit Court Judge David A. Oblon Real Estate Real Property Virginia Circuit Courts