The Docket: July 17, 2026
The Docket is PLF’s weekly newsletter covering the cases, clients, and policy battles shaping the future of liberty in America. You can catch up on last week’s Docket here and subscribe below to receive future editions in your inbox.
An attorney reflects on the implications of George Sheetz’s fight for property rights; Illinois enacts home equity theft reforms; and a pair of California sisters fight back after the City of Petaluma strips them of every potential use of their property.
A California city piled emergency rent caps on top of existing local rent controls—now property owners are fighting back
When the government eliminates all potential uses of your property, the Constitution demands it pay you just compensation for that taking. But too often, instead of honoring their constitutional obligations, government officials deploy every trick in the book to avoid giving property owners their due.
That’s exactly what’s happened to PLF clients Heather Kratt and Holly Manzano after the City of Petaluma, California, stripped them of their ability to use the lot they purchased with plans to transform the space into a local marketplace. Although a lower court initially sided with the City, Heather and Holly have since filed an appeal—represented at no cost by PLF and Kristen Renfro of Desmond, Manning, Livaich & Cunningham—to continue their fight.
Sheetz after Sheetz: An epilogue from El Dorado County
When PLF client George Sheetz asked for permission to place a modest manufactured home on his rural property in El Dorado County, California, the County demanded that he pay $23,420 for county-wide traffic improvements before it would say yes. George paid under protest, built his home, and challenged the fee as an unconstitutional condition on his right to use his property.
That challenge became Sheetz v. County of El Dorado, a case that reached the U.S. Supreme Court and produced a unanimous ruling: The Constitution’s limitations do not disappear when a legislature uses the land planning process as a tool to extract money from owners. In his latest on the PLF blog, senior attorney Brian Hodges explains the constitutional implications of George’s fight—before and after SCOTUS—and what it means for property owners everywhere.
Could lower impact fees be key to solving California’s housing crisis?
California currently has some of the highest housing prices in the nation. But a recent study from the RAND Corporation suggests that one simple policy change could help move the needle dramatically—all without costing taxpayers a dime.
Illinois enacts bill protecting homeowners from government seizure
Last Friday, Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker signed legislation requiring the government to return surplus home equity to homeowners when it sells their property to collect a property tax debt.
PLF’s Kileen Lindgren applauded the move, noting that “this new law recognizes that the government is entitled to collect what it is owed, and not a dollar more.”
Three years ago, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled the practice of home equity theft unconstitutional, deciding in favor of 94-year-old PLF client Geraldine Tyler. Illinois was the last state to respond.
Quick Hits
- The Hill: New York’s no-bid contracting scandal—a quarter-billion dollars, awarded by race
- DC Journal: The Administrative Procedure Act at 80—still falling short
- The Hill: It’s not ‘just’ to erase someone’s home equity
