Source: http://www.hometownstation.com, March 2, 2016

A Santa Clarita real estate attorney is weighing in on the multitude of legal issues associated with the recent Aliso Canyon gas leak in Porter Ranch for the area’s residents and homeowners.

Thousands of residents of apartment homes, townhomes and houses were forced to relocate for the nearly four months it took Southern California Gas Company to plug the leak, with many now seeking legal counsel for their situation.

“Obviously it’s a disaster, and there are significant amounts of real estate issues in Porter Ranch,” said Jeff Hacker of Hacker Law Group. “Imagine if you were in escrow to sell your house, and all of a sudden the governor declares a state of emergency. What does a buyer want to do? The buyer wants to back out of the deal, because the the buyer doesn’t want to buy in an area where there’s a significant health hazard to the buyer and the buyer’s family.”
Other real estate issues Hacker has seen in relation to the leak involve apartment building tenants who were still required to pay rent during their temporary relocation, and landlords suffering losses as a result of tenants permanently leaving the area.
Because the gas leak is considered an unforeseen and extraordinary circumstance, the legal ramifications of such a situation are still largely unclear.
“The (real estate) documentation just in bare bones isn’t going to specifically address this type of situation,” Hacker said, “and if it does, it would do it only in a very, very general sense.”
As a result, real estate attorneys like Hacker are proceeding based on what’s called basic contract principles, examining legal doctrines that deal with mistakes of material facts, acts of God, impossibility of performance and others.
“There’s a doctrine called force majeure which is basically an act of God,” Hacker explained. “One can argue this is really not an act of God, because Southern California (Gas Company) isn’t God, but force majeure also deals with strikes, labor strife and other circumstances that, while not necessarily an act of God, they are beyond folks’ control.”
While the related legal battles are becoming a primary focus for many now that the leak has been plugged, Hacker believes residents are in for a long process.
“This is going to, unfortunately, go on for a long time,” he said. “There’s a myriad of legal issues and it’s hard to believe that it’s going to get resolved in a short period of time. I wish it would, the residents deserve that. They don’t deserve to go through this strife and this tumult, but it’s rare when big business does the right thing. I hope they do that here.”