Jenifer Levini, Attorney at Law

10/16/2022

Over the past year Beach House Rentals has stolen the rental income from homeowners, senior citizens, in the City of Capitola. Last week, Levini Law filed suit against the perpetrators to help our clients. You can read some of the details in the Santa Cruz Sentinel

After months of complaints and private lawsuits, the owner of a Capitola property management and beach house rental company has been charged with numerous counts of felony elder financial abuse and…

10/12/2022

COMMERCIAL ZONING LAW CHANGES TO CREATE HOUSING
A lot of us have probably seen empty office buildings, retail spaces or parking lots and thought that they should be converted to housing. Well, thanks to AB 2011 and SB 6, recently signed by Governor Newsom, certain types of commercial zones may be repurposed for housing development projects. There are long lists of requirements to make these changes including: creation of affordable units, project size, safe distances from freeways and heavy industry, and it must be in an urban area.

Legislation signed today will create much-needed new housing units aimed at helping middle and low income Californians and create thousands of good paying jobs SAN FRANCISCO – Building on California’s…

09/27/2022

Tiny Home Builders Legal Handbook is the roadmap for both established tiny home manufacturers and newbies just starting to manufacture and sell tiny homes on wheels. It explains the practical legal steps to protect your business and your personal assets to build a thriving business. Having a legal business will help you attract customers and avoid fines, penalties and lawsuits.
The book describes why and how to form a corporation, vehicle sales contracts, how to get licensed to manufacture and/or sell tiny homes on wheels in all 50 states including links to the state agencies, how to avoid reimbursing your customers because your THOW is a lemon and the three types of lawsuits. Eliminate guesswork and avoid costly missteps in your business. Knowledge is power.

Tiny Home Builders Legal Handbook

08/15/2022

Congratulations to Justice Guerrero
https://www.npr.org/2022/03/29/1089377137/patricia-guerrero-california-supreme-court-justice-judge-latina?fbclid=IwAR0M8WQKcZ5LQlv8LM-UBcfQm1vfNDGxE5RMf_D6PR6FwpPylHTthRU4bOU

Justice Patricia Guerrero has been an associate justice in a federal appeals court, a trial court judge, a law partner and a federal prosecutor.

08/12/2022

SHORT-TERM RENTALS NOT BANNED IN MANHATTAN BEACH
In 2019, the City of Manhattan Beach enacted a short-term rental ban to stop residents from “Airbnbing” housing in the City. This ban was challenged by a resident who owned property near the beach. He won. The court stopped the City from enforcing the ordinance because it was a type of amendment to its zoning law in the coastal zone that requires Coastal Commission approval. The Coastal Commission is charged with protecting access to the California coast and it has publicly stated that short-term rentals should be allowed at the coast because they increase coastal access. We’ve seen similar court rulings striking down bans on short-term rentals in Santa Barbara and Oxnard.
Keen v. City of Manhattan Beach (2022) 77 Cal.App.5th 142

08/11/2022

STOLEN MONEY RETURNED FROM ROGUE CAPITOLA PROPERTY MANAGER
Congratulations to a Levini Law client, a Capitola homeowner, who had his income stolen by his property manager for 2021 and 2022. Yesterday, I was able to get all the money returned to him without having to sue the thieves. This saved him tons of legal and court fees and emotional misery. This photo is the train trestle crossing over the Soquel Creek where it enters the village of Capitola at sunset. Finally, a happy day for the senior citizen who had his confidence and contract breached by someone he trusted.

08/02/2022

CONGRATULATIONS - WEST CLIFF DRIVE HOUSE SOLD
Congrats to a Levini Law client who just closed escrow, selling her house, steps off West Cliff Drive, in Santa Cruz, California. The seller and the buyers became friends and helped each other with different steps in the transaction. Now, a new surfer is hitting world renown surf spots. If you need help buying or selling by owner, feel free to reach out to Levini Law.
Map image (C) Google.

07/28/2022

UNDERGROUND EASEMENTS CAN CREATE PROBLEMS
I am currently rewriting the easements for property owners where PG&E is moving their electric utility lines underground. Easements are a complicated subject because once PG&E has an easement they may, depending on how the easement is written, have control of a substantial part of your property. Unfortunately, the easements they are asking owners to sign lacks all the necessary language to allow owners to use and control their own property. I recommend not signing those generic easements and not accepting the nominal payment they offered for the easement. An interesting case recently went to court called Pear v. City and County of San Francisco on this subject. In that situation, the language of the easement wasn’t clear. That ambiguity resulted in the City charging the owners $6200/month to use their own property because the City had an easement for an underground water pipeline across the property. This situation underscores the importance of having very clearly drafted easements. If you need help with an easement situation, please contact me. Here’s the citation Pear v. City and County of San Francisco, 67 Cal. App. 5th 61 (6th Dist. 2021).
Photo by Intricate Explorer on Unsplash.

Jenifer Levini, Esq., delivers high quality real estate, land use and business legal services and strategy. Call now for a free consultation.

07/20/2022

LEGAL BILLS – PROBLEM 1: INCREMENTS
There are many things that bother me about the way lawyers are forced to and chose to bill our clients. One of the worst traditions in legal billing in breaking hours up into 10, 6-minute increments. This means that if a lawyer works 7 minutes, 2 increments, the client is billed for 12 minutes. If the lawyer works 3 minutes which is one increment, the client is billed for 6 minutes. Basically, it’s always rounded up. In the olden days before we had digital timers and lawyers used clocks with faces, this made sense. Now, there isn’t any reason for clients to pay for time that they did not get services. Just want you to know that I bill in 1-minute increments. This means that my clients pay for only the exact number of minutes that I actually worked on their situation.
Note: royalty-free photo by Pixabay on pexels.com

07/05/2022

SENIOR CITIZEN BEATS MEAN-SPIRITED HOMEOWNER’S ASSOCIATION
Congratulations to a Levini Law client, a handicapped senior citizen who was bullied by the Homeowner’s Association (HOA) board members and manager in a senior living community. When an HOA does not follow their own CC&Rs and/or state laws, not only must they change their ways, additionally they have to pay the legal fees for any homeowner who is hurt by their violations. This despicable group built a fence across the property that made it impossible for the handicapped members of the community to access their common garden area. I forced them and their insurance company to pay my client’s legal expenses for mediation where they agreed to hold the required election to see if the homeowners really wanted that fence. The community overwhelmingly voted to remove the fence. The fence is finally gone! Now the seniors, handicapped homeowners and tenants have access to the entire property as they were supposed to all along. HOA directors can become bullies, inebriated with the power of making decisions for others. They do not realize that they cannot do whatever they want to do. Their actions are governed by the community’s CC&R and California’s Davis-Sterling Act, among other laws. If you have problems with an HOA, feel free to reach out to Levini Law.

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06/22/2022

LANDLORD PROTECTS HOUSE FROM TENANT’S OWNERSHIP CLAIM
Congratulations to Levini Law client, landlord. After a tenant did construction on a home without landlord’s permission, she claimed that she owned part of the house and/or the landlord had to pay her for the unauthorized construction. In fact, a tenant is only allowed to make changes or repairs to the property after notifying, then receiving her landlord’s permission. The repair cost cannot exceed one month’s rent and the repairs must be necessary for habitability. This tenant had no right to any reimbursement for any repair or improvements she made without permission. California Civil Code §1942.