recent tracks:

Part IV: Legal Whatnot

Community Land Trusts:
(1) Legislate incentive for developers to set aside some % land for affordable housing.
(2) Set up a nonprofit Community Development Corporation (CDC) which purchases land & attachments.
(3) Set up criteria for qualified buyers based on household size and income in relationship to median for the area.
(4) Deed attachments (house) to qualified buyer with language restricting resale to similarly qualified buyers. CDC retains right to oversee resale and repurchase under certain conditions. Owners are provided with incentive to invest in the property, as the equity they build may be realized on resale, and the ownership rights permit the property to pass by will regardless of whether heirs qualify under the original formula--the restriction on resale, however, runs with the land and applies to heirs as well as original owners. Legal issues remain in placing enforceable restrictions on alienability in the deed. The owner must deal with other aspects of homeownership--taxes and utilities, for example--often with the aid of the CDC or another community support group, but this can also create legal issues in duplex or condo-style housing.
N.B. CDC oversees buyer's acquisition of financing to avoid predatory lending, and retains the right to purchase property faced with foreclosure.
N.B. The land itself is leased to the owner for a regular nominal fee, usually for a term of 99 years.

The whole process is a means of keeping housing affordable in perpetuity, of avoiding "gentrification," and of building an invested, supportive community. I think it's pretty great. I look forward to learning significantly more in the near future...

Property midterm:
I was just outside the range of the top 20%. This was slightly lower than I expected, but I missed a couple of easy questions (e.g. Name some statutory protections for intellectual property. I kept thinking in terms of specific acts, while the correct answer was just basically defining trademark and copyright. Oops.). Overall I'm not displeased, though.

Etc.
I applied for a public interest summer stipend, but need to get my letter-writing skills in gear if I have any hopes of attaining more substantial public interest work. I have a stack of newly-minted resumes ready to hit the mail, so hopefully I'll get things ready tomorrow and send them on their respective ways Monday. GLAD officially turned down my internship application today, with an actually signed letter thanking me for my patience and encouraging me to reapply. I can't tell if it's strictly form or not. I also had a nice meeting with a professor today who is not currently in need of a research assistant but anticipates she will be next year, and similarly encourages me to talk to her then. Hopefully someone will need me this year...I'm not discouraged, merely hopeful that I can find some rewarding work to do this year as well as next. And I'm always happier to be in active pursuit of such work than when I merely mull over the possibilities.