The Real News

RELAW, APC
March, 2016
State Law Prohibits Cities from Enforcing Brown Lawn Ordinances

The state of California is a little low on water.  In fact, on January 17, 2014, the Governor proclaimed a State of Emergency relative to the water shortage and directed state officials to take all necessary actions to make water immediately available.
Despite the water shortage, local ordinances in many areas require residents to water their lawns and impose penalties on those who fail to comply.  Local officials say conserving water and maintaining healthy landscaping are not mutually exclusive goals. They claim that brown lawns drive down property values and suggest that homeowners replace their lawns with drought-resistant landscaping to meet local standards.  As Al Baker, the president of the California Association of Code Enforcement Officers put it, "[d]uring a drought or non-drought, residents have the right to maintain their landscaping the way they want to, so long as it's aesthetically pleasing and it's not blighted."
For those more worried about water, like Governor Brown, the conversation of water is of greater concern to the state than the color of one's lawns.  As such, the Governor signed a new law to address this issue.  This law, codified in Government Code section 8627.7, states: "During a period for which the Governor has issued a proclamation of a state of emergency under this chapter based on drought conditions, a city, county, or city and county shall not impose a fine under any ordinance for a failure to water a lawn or for having a brown lawn."
This new law, combined with AB 2100 which prohibited HOA's from fining residents for having brown lawns back in 2014, is a big win for the "brown is the new green" movement.

Case of the Month
The People of the State of California v. Southern California Gas Company
As its Wikipedia page states, Porter Ranch is an affluent neighborhood in the northwest region of the San Fernando Valley region of the city of Los Angeles, California.  For anyone in Southern California watching the news it is better known as the site of the methane gas leak.
Indeed, a natural gas leak in Porter Ranch has caused an ongoing public health and environmental emergency, sickening residents and compelling thousands to relocate.  In the Complaint filed against Southern California Gas Company, the owners of the leaking tanks, by the Attorney General for the state of California, the leak is also threatening to undermine statewide efforts to reduce greenhouse gas ("GHG") emissions and mitigate the pace and effects of climate change.
The leak was discovered in October 2015 and continuously emitting gases until it was permanently sealed off February 18, 2016.  According to findings of a group of scientists who have published their research in the journal Science, the leak is the largest methane gas leak in U.S. History.  Further, the gas being emitted, though mostly methane, also has constituents of several federally listed hazardous air pollutants including: benzene (a known carcinogen and reproductive toxin), toluene (a reproductive toxin), ethylbenzene (a carcinogen), and xylene.
The suit by the attorney general seeks civil penalties (aka money damages), a permanent injunction and other equitable relief with the following goals: (1) to ensure the leak is repaired as quickly as possible; (2) to ensure the causes of the leak, and the reasons for the difficulties in fixing it, are fully understood and action plans put in place to prevent a recurrence of this type of event; (3) to ensure that any systemic deficiencies in the operation of all natural gas-injection wells and other infrastructure at similar storage facilities are appropriately addressed; (4) to mitigate the impacts of the uncontrolled emission of a massive quantity of GHGs into the environment; and (5) to impose appropriate civil penalties as allowed by law for the conduct that caused this disaster.
Considering the current pace of the California justice system, it will likely be years before this case is resolved.  It is only one of many filed by governmental agencies related to the gas leak.  Further, nothing in this case does anything to help the people of Porter Ranch, who have been injured physically and financially by this disaster.  Instead, those issues will be litigated through class-action lawsuits, several of which are already filed.

Millions Purportedly Stolen by Owner of Title Company
Real estate settlement companies are in the business of holding other people's money.  As such, the profession is highly regulated to try and protect the consumers who have entrusted their funds therewith.
Unfortunately, that regulation doesn't guarantee that embezzlement of trust funds will not occur.  For customers of Millennium Title in Texas, this news has been quite the shock.
The company was seized by the Texas Department of Insurance when it was discovered that millions were missing from the trust account.  Further, the company had less than $10,000 on hand to pay more than $100,000 in business debts at the time of seizure.
At that time the owner, Nancy Carroll, was nowhere to be found.  Carroll, who apparently relocated to Chicago, has subsequently been arrested.  At the time of her arrest she was driving a Mercedes Benz S63 valued at more than $100,000 and was renting a home valued at more than $1.5 million dollars for $8,500 a month.  Neighbors in Chicago said she has started a moving truck business and had rented a villa in Italy for the summer.  The car was seized at the time of arrest and all know accounts of Carroll have been frozen.  If convicted, Carroll's assets will likely be liquidated to pay restitution to those harmed.  Her trip to Italy is also on hold indefinitely.
In Texas the finding that a title company is financially impaired triggers statutory responsibilities under the Texas Title Insurance Guaranty Association ("TTIGA").  In this case TTIGA will have to pay covered claims as defined by law resulting from shortages of escrow funds in the accounts of Millennium Title.  The TTIGA covers up to $250,000 in losses per transaction.  Anyone with funds in excess of that amount would get reimbursed the difference only upon liquidation and then only if funds are available.

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March 8, 2016-Antelope Valley Escrow Association

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Jennifer Felten, Esq., Principal & Editor
(805) 265-1031
jennifer@relawapc.com 
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