Nathan Rimmer v. City of Edmonds, WA
Fighting extortionate “forever tree” permit conditions to build family home
City of Edmonds cannot demand use of Nathan's land that's irrelevant or disproportionate to the permit he's seeking. The City's demand is unconstitutional, invalid, and cannot stand in the way of a final decision on his application. Such a rule serves no purpose other than to further aggrandize local zoning and land use authority while trampling th ...
Jennifer Schultz and Ceanna Johnston v. Washington Vet Board and Secretary of Health
Defending the right to practice horse floating against unreasonable licensing requirements
Floating has a long history of being practiced by professionals who are not veterinarians. Washington should encourage, rather than criminalize, such skilled and caring trained professionals. Washington's overly restrictive law harms horses and unreasonably denies citizens their right to earn a living—a blatant violation of the Washington Constit ...
Sheetz v. County of El Dorado
Supreme Court rules against extortionate permit fees
Once his land was ready and all George needed was a county building permit, he was stunned when told he could have his permit, but only if he paid a so-called traffic impact fee of more than $23,000. George weighed the immense cost against the hard work he put into his land and his yearning for a retirement home, and he paid the fee under protest. ...
HomeRoom, Inc. v. City of Shawnee, Kansas
Shared household ban harms families, housing, and due process
People choose to live with non-relatives for many reasons—they're new to town, they want to make friends and build a community, they have no family nearby, or they can't afford to buy a house or pay rent on a solo income. At a time when Americans are delaying marriage and families (in 2017, nearly 32% ...
John Williams, et al. v. Alameda County, et al.
California housing providers fight for the right to possess their own property
The government cannot destroy owners' fundamental right to repossess their property by prohibiting their ability to evict bad tenants. Represented at no charge by Pacific Legal Foundation, Sheanna, John, Jacqueline, Michael, and Robert are fighting back. These small-time rental property owners and the nonprofit Housing Providers of America filed a ...
Vondra v. City of Billings
Local government wields unannounced, warrantless search power over private businesses and home practitioners
Short stints in a salon and a chiropractor's office are all it took for Theresa Vondra to discover her true passion: helping people achieve total body wellness through massage therapy. She graduated from massage therapy school in 2006 and spent several years working for others before starting her own practice in Billings, Montana, where she was ...
Yim v. City of Seattle (II)
Seattle wages unconstitutional war on landlords
In a misguided effort to combat racial disparities in housing, the City of Seattle passed the "Fair Chance Housing Ordinance," which forbids housing providers from considering applicants' criminal histories, usually uncovered in a standard background check. PLF represents several small-scale housing providers who are denied their constitutionally g ...
Riddick v. City of Malibu
Holding local California governments accountable for banning “granny flats”
Jason and Elizabeth Riddick live in Malibu, California, with their three children. Elizabeth's mother, Renee Sperling, is aging with several disabilities, including immunodeficiency. The Riddicks seek to add an attached ADU onto their existing single-family home in order to provide Renee a safe and private place to live. The Riddicks' modest propos ...
Donnelly v. City of San Marino
Holding local California governments accountable for banning “granny flats”
Accessory dwelling units, better known as "in-law apartments" or "granny flats," have long been recognized as a valuable and essential component of California's response to the state's worsening housing shortage. So essential in fact, state law establishes a right to build ADUs, severely limiting local governments' restrictions on new ADU developme ...