Neither COVID-19 Nor California’s Response Amounts to ‘Physical’ Harm to Property—C.A.

Div. Three of the Fourth District Court of Appeal held yesterday that the owner of an Orange County mall was properly denied reassessment of its property taxes due to sharp declines in valuation of the real estate following the COVID-19 pandemic under a California law providing for such relief in the event of a “major misfortune or calamity” that causes “damage or destruction.”