Virginia Lawyers Weekly VA Lawyers Weekly

A lease was not modified by a subsequent letter or estoppel certificate because neither document was signed by all parties and thus lacked mutual assent. Nor could subsequent conduct vary the unambiguous lease. Although the lease allowed the landlords to ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Business Contract Judge James A. Wynn Jr. Real Estate

The circuit court incorrectly sustained a county planning commission’s demurrer to a limited partnership’s claim that the denial of a permit to mine sand and gravel was “arbitrary and capricious.” The partnership provided unrebutted evidence that the denial was discriminatory, ...

Tagged with: Administrative Supreme Court of Virginia

Nature Conservancy, the holder of a conservation easement on property that has been taken as part of a permanent easement for construction of a natural gas pipeline, will receive the majority of the payout, based on its majority ownership of ...

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

Where a shipyard claims a natural gas company’s pipeline, constructed on an easement over the shipyard’s property, entitles it to severance damages, the court grants the gas company’s motion to exclude expert opinions on the amount of severance damages. Overview ...

Tagged with: Judge Mary Jane Hall Norfolk Circuit Court Real Estate Virginia Circuit Courts

Where the city of Richmond and circuit court denied appellant relief under a tax amnesty ordinance, this was error because the ordinance was misconstrued. Overview A Richmond city ordinance allows taxpayers to divide their real estate taxes into two installments, ...

Tagged with: Real Estate Supreme Court of Virginia

Where a homeowner was running a day care business in her house, a business exclusion in the homeowner’s policy applied to bar coverage for an injury suffered by an infant under her care. Background This declaratory judgment action concerns whether ...

Tagged with: Insurance Judge Robert S. Ballou Real Estate U.S. District Court - Western District

The trial court correctly sustained demurrers to her claim for equitable rescission of a foreclosure sale and a claim that the trustee breached a fiduciary duty by conducting the sale. Foreclosure Bank of America and Equity, the bank’s substitute trustee, ...

Tagged with: Justice Teresa M. Chafin Real Estate Supreme Court of Virginia

Where the taxpayer challenged tax as­sessments of an idled meatpacking plant on 12 acres of land, the taxpayer did not overcome the presumption of correctness that attached to a mass appraisal for two of the tax years in question, and ...

Tagged with: Justice Stephen R. McCullough Real Estate Supreme Court of Virginia

Where the Virginia Housing Development Authority obtained a district court detainer order that granted it possession of a house plaintiff was living in, plaintiff has pleaded insufficient facts to show the order was obtained by extrinsic fraud. The VHDA’s plea ...

Tagged with: Judge David W. Lannetti Norfolk Circuit Court Real Estate Virginia Circuit Courts

Where a bank had first- and third-priority liens on real property and recorded an agreement that subordinated the first-priority lien to the third-priority lien, the liens survived when the second-priority lienholder foreclosed after the property owners defaulted. The agreement was ...

Tagged with: Justice Elizabeth B. Lacy Real Estate Supreme Court of Virginia