Entries by Peterson, Martin & Reynolds LLP

Listing Agent and Property Owner Have Duty to Notify Visitors of Concealed Dangerous Condition of Which Agent Has Actual or Constructive Knowledge

Aurora Loan Services owned a foreclosed residence in Lafayette and retained Rockville Realty as the listing broker. The home had an attic that was converted into a “bonus room” with a pull-down stairway ladder hinged with metal brackets. Hall, a real estate agent showing the home to a prospective buyer, fell and was injured when […]

Servient Tenement Owner’s Refusal to Authorize Necessary Improvements to Access Road Was Interference With Easement

Servient Tenement Owner’s Refusal to Authorize Necessary Improvements to Access Road Was Interference With Easement– Angela J. Okamura   Plaintiff Flora Dolnikov purchased undeveloped property in the Hollywood Hills. The property had an existing recorded easement running with the land for access by way of the adjacent parcel, or servient property.  After obtaining permits from […]

Equitable Indemnity Claim Did Not Arise Until Claimant Aware of Grounds

In Centex Homes, the Homeowners’ association (HOA) brought action against builder for violations of various statutory building standards. Builder moved for leave to file a cross-complaint against city for, among other things, equitable indemnification. City argued that builder’s claim for equitable indemnity was untimely. The trial court agreed and dismissed the claim against city; the […]

Construction Lenders Cannot Circumvent Stop Payment Notices

Construction Lenders Cannot Circumvent Stop Payment Notices – Jonathan H. Finke   Point Center Financial, Inc., served as a construction lender for a condominium project in San Diego, California. Included in lender’s construction funds were loans obtained from third-party investors, from which lender prepaid itself interest, loan underwriting and other fees totaling over $1.5 million. […]

Court Confirms Privilege Between Title Insurer, Insured and Attorney

Attorneys rely daily on the existence of the attorney client privilege to communicate openly with their clients without fear of being compelled to disclose these communications. Clients are justifiably reluctant to disclose information without assurances that their communications are protected. Our system could not function in its current form without the ability of attorneys and […]

Not a Riddle – When is a Non-navigable River Navigable?

This case, Sumner Hill Homeowners Assoc., Inc. v. Rio Mesa Holdings, LLC (2012) 205 Cal.App.4th 999, involved two issues: whether homeowners had private access rights to the San Joaquin River, which turned on whether a portion of that river is “navigable” within the purview of the Harbors & Navigation Code, and whether a plaintiff claiming […]