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By Lane V. Erickson, Attorney

On of the most important steps in the judicial process of an eviction is the eviction trial. In circumstances where the landlord has properly served the tenant the required Notice, and the tenant fails to appear or to file a response, the landlord will obtain a judgment by default. This is what occurs in about 90% of all cases. In the remaining 10% of cases, the eviction trial occurs.

In the eviction trial, a landlord has the burden of proving everything necessary to obtain a judgment against the tenant. In essence, a landlord must provide admissible evidence that everything claimed in his complaint is true. This is usually accomplished through the landlord’s own testimony and his presenting to the court evidentiary documents including the following:

By Lane V. Erickson, Attorney

The purpose of creating a Last Will and Testament is so you can give your property away to those you choose. But the question comes up sometimes about what happens if a gift that is given in a Last Will and Testament no longer exists when the giver of the gift dies. When this happens then the gift fails because it no longer exists. The key is contained in the language used in the Last Will and Testament. The few examples will help illustrate this.

Suppose for a moment that you create your Last Will and Testament. In doing so you provide a specific gift in your Last Will and Testament of your Range Rover car to your son. Now let’s suppose that you’re actually driving the Range Rover vehicle, you get into an accident which destroys the Range Rover and which leads to your death. In this instance your gift to your son specifically is your Range Rover car. Because your Range Rover car was destroyed in the accident that took your life, there is no Range Rover car remaining to be given to your son as a gift. In this example the gift of your Range Rover car to your son fails.

By:  T.J. Budge

The Idaho Constitution was amended in 1964 by the people of Idaho to provide for the establishment of a “Water Resource Agency,” now known as the Idaho Water Resource Board, with “power to formulate and implement a state water plan for optimum development of water resources in the public interest.” Idaho Const. Art. XV, § 7. The Board has advanced this objective in part through development of the Idaho Water Supply Bank. The Bank is a mechanism whereby unused water rights can be temporarily deposited or “leased” into the Bank and persons needing water can withdraw or “rent” water out of the Bank.

The process of depositing and withdrawing water from the Bank is purely administrative—it all happens on paper. The Idaho Water Resource Board maintains a set of forms that must be be used to lease water into or rent water from the Bank, and employs staff to process the applications.

By Tippi Jarman

Civil litigation can expose a losing party to paying the other party’s attorney’s fees. This is well known. However, the Idaho Supreme Court recently announced a new rule of law regarding attorney’s fees which will take effect on March 1, 2017. In the case of Hoffer v. Shappard, 2016 Ida. LEXIS 290 (September 28, 2016), the Idaho Supreme Court stated that Idaho courts will soon apply a different standard for attorney fees under Idaho Code Section 12-121. This new standard allows Idaho courts to award attorney fees under Idaho Code Section 12-121 “when justice so requires”. This is a significant change from the current standard of law under this statute. The current standard allows Idaho courts to award attorney fees under Idaho Code Section 12-121 only when the case was “brought, pursued or defended frivolously, unreasonably or without foundation”.

The good news is that the Idaho Supreme Court has long held that “where a specific statute exists for awarding attorney fees, the specific statute will control over the more general statute”. Bell v. Eagy, 2015 Ida. App. Unpub. LEXIS 18, (2015); citing First Fed. Sav. Bank of Twin Falls v. Riedesel Eng’g, 154 Idaho 626, 632, 301 P.3d 632, 638 (2012). This is important in family law cases because Idaho Code Section 32-704 allows for the award of attorney fees to a party maintaining or defending a divorce or custody case. The Idaho courts take into consideration certain specific factors on whether to award fees under this more specific statute, rather than the looser standard of “when justice so requires”.

ITD Board to Hold Subcommittee Meeting in Pocatello on 10/3/2016

The Idaho Transportation Department (ITD) is responsible for all highways on the State Highway System, such as interstates, state highways and U.S. routes. On Monday, October 3, 2016 at 1:30 p.m., the ITD Board will hold a subcommittee meeting in Pocatello at the ITD offices located at 5151 South 5th Avenue. This subcommittee meeting will discuss an application to allow trucks weighing up to 129,000 pounds on a section of U.S. 30 in eastern Idaho. Subcommittee meetings have been held in other parts of the state to review and analyze the request to allow the increased weight on non-interstate, state-maintained highways. The ITD and a subcommittee can reject or approve the requests for new routes. For more information regarding the request to increase truck weight, go to: http://itd.idaho.gov/129K/default.htm.

In 2003, the Idaho Legislature passed House Bill 395 to create a pilot project that would test the effect of legally increasing the weight of trucks from 105,500 pounds to 129,000 pounds on 16 specified routes in the State of Idaho. Later in 2005 and 2007, 19 routes were added. One of the tasks of this pilot project was to study this increased legal weight upon roadway safety.

By Lane V. Erickson, Attorney

The final step in the judicial process of an eviction is the physical removal of the tenant from the premises. Although it may seem strange, it is very common for tenants to not voluntarily leave the premises, even after the judicial eviction trial is over and the judge as entered an Order or Judgment for Eviction. Some tenants will simply stay in the premises until the bitter end.

A landlord who has received a Judgment for Eviction is entitled to seek Writ of Restitution or Writ of Possession from a court as well. A Writ of Restitution or Writ of Possession is a documents signed by the judge to the Sheriff, ordering the Sheriff to remove the tenant from the premises. Essentially, the landlord can then force the tenant out of the premises.

By Lane V. Erickson

The story is well-known by now because it’s been all over the news. Apparently a former librarian named Robert Morin who worked at the University of New Hampshire library passed away. In his Last Will and Testament he left a $4 million gift to the school. The University of New Hampshire used $100,000 from the gift to go to the library where Robert worked. The controversy arose because the University chose to use $1 million from the gift to pay for a new electronic scoreboard for the football field.

Many individuals in the community and around the nation are upset that a larger gift was not used by the University for the library. As the facts have come to light Robert’s last will and testament specifically designated that $100,000 would go to the library. However, Robert did not designate specifically how the remaining money should be used by the University. As a result, the University was free to spend $1 million from the gift for the electronic scoreboard despite what others thought should be done.

By Fred J. Lewis

We are currently in the 99th year of the Idaho Workers’ Compensation system. The Idaho legislature has not had to tinker much with the Idaho Workers’ Compensation system during that entire time period. I believe this is in large part due to the Claimants’ direct right of appeal to the Idaho Supreme Court. In other words, if you are injured on the job in the state of Idaho and you receive a result from the Idaho Industrial Commission and you and your lawyer believe the Commission has made a mistake on the application of the law, you can appeal the unfavorable decision directly to the Idaho Supreme Court. This allows the Idaho Supreme Court to make sure that the Idaho Workers’ Compensation Laws are applied evenly and correctly to all injured parties throughout the state.

You can even ask the Idaho Industrial Commission to give you a specific application of Idaho workers compensation law as to your case. This happens by having your Idaho Workers’ Compensation lawyer file papers with the Idaho Industrial Commission.

By Lane V. Erickson

Several times a week I have clients who come to me and ask me to either review an employee handbook for them or to create an employee handbook for use with their employees in their business.  The most universally, two specific questions that come up from my clients are discussed below.

WHAT IS AN EMPLOYEE HANDBOOK?

By Lane V. Erickson, Attorney

Landlord clients often ask me about what they can do legally to screen and/or reject prospective tenants. A landlord’s goal is to lease the premises to a tenant who will pay their rent and keep the premises in good shape. To accomplish this goal, there are several areas that a landlord can use to legally exclude or reject prospective tenants. Some examples include non-smoking; criminal convictions for any reason; low credit score; bad reference from previous landlord; etc. A landlord can deny housing to a prospective tenant for just about any reason, so long as the reason used is not an illegal reason. The list of illegal reasons are contained in the Fair Housing Act.

There are three basic documents that every landlord should use when leasing real property. One of these three documents is the Rental Application. When used correctly, the Rental Application provides the landlord with the best tools to legally reject a prospective tenant.

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