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A Light in the Darkness: The “Small Business Know-Before-You-Bid Construction Transparency Act of 2017”

May 15, 2017

By Brian Esler

Construction, Legal Developments—National, From the Ground Up

Federal government contracting comes with a myriad of challenges, not the least of which are sometimes opaque procedures for getting paid (or taking action if you’re not getting paid). A bill has just been introduced in the House of Representatives t...

Environmental Groups Seek to Kill "Zombie Permits"

Apr 26, 2017

By Jeff C. Miller

Environmental, Legal Developments—Oregon, Regulation, From the Ground Up

Environmental groups recently sued the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality (“DEQ”) over its alleged failure to renew permits in a timely manner. Most permits issued by DEQ under the Clean Water Act have an initial term of five years. According...

City of Corvallis Loses the First Round of the Voter Annexation Fight

Mar 02, 2017

Land Use, Legal Developments—Oregon, From the Ground Up

On February 24, 2017, Judge Matthew J. Donohue, Benton County Circuit Court, released a decision upholding SB 1573, which exempts certain annexations from voter approval. A number of cities in Oregon have home rule charter provisions that require vot...

IRS: "Shea It Ain't So!" The Ninth Circuit Opens The Door For Real Estate Developers to Defer Income Tax

Feb 27, 2017

Construction, Real Estate, Tax, From the Ground Up

In a coup for real estate developers, the Ninth Circuit affirmed the U.S. Tax Court's approval of a real estate developer's strategy to defer income in Shea Homes, Inc. v. Commissioner, 834 F.3d 1061 (9th Cir. 2016). The strategy appears fairly narro...

Chapter 2: Ending “Drive-By” Lawsuits Under the ADA

Feb 06, 2017

Construction, Legal Developments—National, Regulation, From the Ground Up

We wrote about the plans to amend the Americans With Disabilities Act on January 31, 2017, to deal with so-called drive-by lawsuits claiming that there are illegal physical barriers to access. Now we have the language in the proposed bill, HR 620. Th...

Planning for Snowstorms in Commercial Leases

Feb 02, 2017

Housing, Leasing, Real Estate, From the Ground Up

With Portland weathering one of its top-ten snowstorms of all time earlier this month, one question that landlords and prospective tenants alike are asking is how to plan for snow and ice storms in their leases. The allocation of responsi...