Christina Hausner

Firm/Organization: Russell Krafft & Gruber, LLP

Latest Articles

Expanding Gay Rights

August 6, 2015

Everyone knows about the recent Supreme Court decision Obergefell v. Hodges with regard to gay marriage. Last year, President Obama entered an Executive Order prohibiting federal contractors from discriminating on the basis of gender identity and sexual orientation. In recent years, there has been a gradual acceptance that discrimination against transgender individuals constitutes discrimination on the basis of sex prohibited under federal law Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Now, for the…

Lancaster Law Blog

What’s Happening With Changes to Overtime Requirements?

By Christina Hausner

August 4, 2015

On July 6, 2015, the Department of Labor proposed changes to the manner in which overtime pay is calculated for executive, administrative and professional employees. These employees, collectively referred to as white collar workers, have been exempt from overtime pay protections for many years. To be considered exempt, the employees must meet certain minimum tests related to their primary job duties and be paid on a salary basis at not less than $455 a…

Lancaster Law Blog

Update for Filing an Annual Tax Assessment Appeal

By Christina Hausner

July 8, 2015

In a recent blog post I shared that it was time to think about filing an annual tax assessment appeal. The new common level ratio (CLR) for 7/1/15 – 6/30/16 is 1.29, up slightly from last year’s 1.26. CLR is the factor you apply to your property’s assessed value to determine fair market value. For example, a property that is assessed at $100,000.00 should have a fair market value of $129,000.00. If the fair…

Lancaster Law Blog

Time to Start Thinking About Filing an Annual Tax Assessment Appeal

By Christina Hausner

June 17, 2015

It is that time again to start thinking about whether you want to file an assessment appeal challenging the assessed value of your real estate. Property taxes are based on the assessed value of real estate, and the assessed value of the real estate should reflect the fair market value. In Lancaster County, these appeals are heard annually in the fall, and the deadline for filing is August 1. Last year, on August 5, we…

Lancaster Law Blog

Pipeline Update – Do I Have to Sign Documents Now?

By Christina Hausner

April 2, 2015

Now that Transcontinental Gas Pipeline Company has submitted its application for a Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity in conjunction with the Atlantic Sunrise Pipeline Project, we can echo what some other advocates have recommended. Specifically, do not sign documents granting an easement or property rights or an agreement to do so without giving careful consideration and obtaining counsel. Williams is required to pay fair consideration for whatever property rights it is acquiring from…

Lancaster Law Blog

What is Just Compensation?

By Christina Hausner

October 16, 2014

Tonight I am speaking at the Pipeline Informational Event sponsored by Lancaster County Conservancy and Lancaster Farmland Trust. I have been told that some property owners mistakenly believe that if they fail to accept the offer that is made to them or to negotiate an agreement with the pipeline company, their property can be taken without their consent, and that they would be unpaid. This is totally incorrect. A governmental agency or public utility can…

Lancaster Law Blog

Criminal Charges, Convictions and Employment

By Christina Hausner

October 7, 2014

When I read that Lancaster City Council voted on October 1, 2014 to delete the box inquiring whether an employment applicant had been convicted of a crime from Lancaster City’s employment application form, it reminded me of how conflicted our positions are on criminal activity and employment. The “Ban the Box” movement is a nationwide effort to reduce the effects of criminal convictions on employment. At the same time that Council is explaining…

Lancaster Law Blog

Pipelines and Eminent Domain

By Christina Hausner

August 4, 2014

Last Wednesday, I attended an excellent program sponsored by the Penn State Cooperative Extension, “Making Sense of Natural Gas Pipelines and Right-of-Way Agreements”. Over the years, I have represented both condemnors and condemnees and was interested to hear how the acquisition process works with the pipeline proposed by Williams in Lancaster County. I learned many practical and tactical considerations that landowners and their attorneys can use to their benefit. What is commonly referred to as…

Lancaster Law Blog

Countdown for Annual Tax Assessment Appeal Filing

By Christina Hausner

July 8, 2014

The deadline for challenging your 2014-2015 Lancaster County property assessment is August 1, 2014. Appeals filed after August 1, 2014 won’t be heard until 2015 and won’t take effect until 2016. And if you are relying upon an appraisal to support your appeal, the written appraisal report must be filed with the Lancaster County Assessment Office by August 15, 2014. This means the time to act is now. How do you know whether an assessment…

Lancaster Law Blog

Follow up to Death in the Digital Age

By Christina Hausner

April 2, 2014

As a follow up to Death in the Digital Age, a story about the online afterlife of a woman in Pontiac Michigan caught my attention. Her body was discovered in her vehicle parked in her garage by an individual entering the property on behalf of the mortgage company which had foreclosed upon the property for non-payment. The unusual thing? It was five years after her death in 2009. She had arranged for automatic online…

Christina Hausner

Expanding Gay Rights

What’s Happening With Changes to Overtime Requirements?

Update for Filing an Annual Tax Assessment Appeal

Time to Start Thinking About Filing an Annual Tax Assessment Appeal

Pipeline Update – Do I Have to Sign Documents Now?

What is Just Compensation?

Criminal Charges, Convictions and Employment

Pipelines and Eminent Domain

Countdown for Annual Tax Assessment Appeal Filing

Follow up to Death in the Digital Age

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