Residential
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May 17, 2024
Short-Term Rental Owners Sue Colo. City Over Phase-Out Law
A group of short-term rental property owners claimed in Colorado federal court that a local ordinance enacted late last year "effectively bans most existing short-term rentals."
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May 17, 2024
Ohio School Board Can't Appeal Property Value To Court
An Ohio school board is prohibited from appealing a board of revision's valuation of a property that the school board didn't own to a court of common pleas, a state appeals court ruled.
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May 17, 2024
Wash. Energy Codes Challenged Again After 9th Circ. Decision
In the wake of a Ninth Circuit ruling that forced Washington officials to revisit regulations on natural gas appliances used in new construction, a group of natural gas companies, homeowners and construction interests are claiming the state's apparent fix is again out of step with federal law.
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May 17, 2024
House Advances Pro-Development Zoning Report Bill
Members of the House Financial Services Committee sent to the House floor a bipartisan bill that would require municipal recipients of federal development grants to provide information about progress toward adopting pro-development land use policies.
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May 16, 2024
No Double Jeopardy In Philly Execs' Embezzlement Case
Two former Philadelphia nonprofit executives convicted for an embezzlement scheme weren't subject to double jeopardy when a judge rescheduled trial after several jurors left, the Third Circuit ruled Thursday, reasoning that the court had no other choice.
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May 16, 2024
NJ Lets Some School Districts Hike Property Taxes Above Cap
New Jersey will allow school districts that experienced cuts in state school aid to request increases in local property tax levies above previously permitted amounts without voter approval under a bill signed by Gov. Phil Murphy.
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May 16, 2024
Oversight Hearing Adds Pressure On Calif. Insurance Chief
Under growing pressure from Gov. Gavin Newsom and the insurance industry, California’s top insurance regulator defended its process of implementing proposals to stabilize the Golden State’s faltering homeowners insurance market.
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May 16, 2024
Apt. Complex Must Face Insurer's Mold Death Coverage Suit
A Georgia federal judge has refused to toss an insurer's suit seeking to evade coverage of an apartment complex accused of failing to stop a mold infestation that killed a tenant, finding the insurer has plausibly alleged it does not have a duty to defend under the prevailing insurance policy.
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May 16, 2024
Multifamily Investing In San Diego Sees Q1 Decline
Investments in San Diego's multifamily market "reversed course" in 2024's first quarter after seeing consistent increases during the previous three quarterly periods, according to a CBRE report.
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May 16, 2024
HUD Calls Pa. Medical Marijuana Housing Suit Premature
A Pennsylvania housing authority and two would-be residents acted hastily in suing the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, since HUD hadn't formally threatened to pull the authority's funding over a state court order to offer assistance to medical marijuana users, a HUD lawyer told a federal judge Thursday.
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May 15, 2024
Hedge Fund Says Deal With Colo. Developer Lacked Details
A Colorado-based hedge fund owner and the former president of one of his entities have urged a Colorado state court to permanently toss a suit related to a Denver commercial housing project, arguing that they can't be accused of violating the project's term sheet due to its vagueness.
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May 15, 2024
Accusations Execs Looted RE Platform To Play Out In NY
Two directors of Fang Holdings Ltd. and their affiliates will have to face claims in New York of orchestrating a scheme to strip the Chinese operator of an online real estate portal of its value for personal gain after the court refuted arguments that the litigation belongs elsewhere.
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May 15, 2024
11th Circ. Judge Doubts Defense Of IRS Easement Notice
An Eleventh Circuit judge was skeptical Wednesday of the government's arguments that the Internal Revenue Service could issue a notice imposing reporting requirements on potentially abusive conservation easements without soliciting public feedback that administrative law requires.
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May 15, 2024
Arizona Judge Revives Opendoor Investors' Securities Suit
An Arizona federal judge has revived a consolidated securities class action accusing real estate company Opendoor Technologies Inc. of misleading investors about the benefits of its pricing algorithm software in order to go public in a reverse merger with a special-purpose acquisition company.
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May 15, 2024
Tenant Screening Co. Hit With Race Bias Complaint
A tenant screening software company racially discriminated against prospective Black residents by providing landlord and property manager users with the option to exclude housing voucher holders, according to a U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development suit filed by three fair housing rights groups.
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May 15, 2024
Md. Tax Court Affirms Denial Of Credit For Townhouses
A Maryland real estate developer was correctly denied a tax credit for townhouses built in Baltimore, as the credit is limited to certain multifamily buildings, the state tax court ruled.
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May 15, 2024
Colo. Will Extend Property Tax Assessment Rate Cuts
Colorado will extend its current temporary property tax rate reductions into 2024 and will lower tax rates for future years under a bill signed by Democratic Gov. Jared Polis.
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May 15, 2024
Klobuchar Wants FTC To Make Firms Report Real Estate Buys
It's time for the Federal Trade Commission to require the companies and private equity firms gobbling up residential real estate to report those acquisitions to the agency for antitrust purposes the same way they have to report other big purchases, Sen. Amy Klobuchar said.
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May 15, 2024
Holland & Knight Hospitality Leader Sees Mixed-Use Boom
As hotel companies ride a rebound in travel following occupancy lows in 2020 when the COVID-19 pandemic hit, the hospitality sector is also benefiting from a boom in demand for mixed-use residential and hotel projects, one of Holland & Knight LLP's hospitality leaders told Law360 in a recent interview.
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May 15, 2024
NYCB To Sell $5B In Warehouse Loans To JPMorgan Chase
New York Community Bancorp announced it has agreed to sell $5 billion worth of mortgage warehouse loans to JPMorgan Chase Bank.
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May 15, 2024
Mortgage Co.'s $2.4M Data Breach Settlement Gets Initial OK
A Connecticut federal judge gave her initial sign-off to a $2.4 million settlement between mortgage firm Planet Home Lending LLC and a consolidated class of customers whose personal data, including their Social Security numbers, was exposed in a cyberattack.
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May 14, 2024
RealPage, Landlords Look To Trim Ariz. Price-Fixing Case
Rental algorithm company RealPage and several landlords have urged an Arizona state court to trim fraud claims from the attorney general's case accusing them of using software to illegally raise rents for hundreds of thousands of renters, and they also asked to limit the time frame for enforcers' antitrust claims.
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May 14, 2024
Keller Williams Freed From Fla. 'Shotgun' Class Action, For Now
A Florida federal judge on Tuesday released Keller Williams Realty from a proposed racketeering class action, agreeing with a magistrate judge that the suit was a "shotgun pleading" claiming the broker sought to generate commissions by harassing homeowners into selling their properties.
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May 14, 2024
Colo. Lawmakers OK Sales Tax Exemption For Modular Homes
New modular homes would be exempt from Colorado's sales and use taxes, saving taxpayers about $1 million annually, under legislation passed by lawmakers and heading to Gov. Jared Polis.
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May 14, 2024
Tenn. Judge Wants Default Win For Bank But No Atty Fees
A Tennessee magistrate judge recommended partially granting a default judgment win to a bank suing a Florida-based developer accused of defaulting on about $15.3 million in loans, but also suggested denying the bank attorney fees.
Expert Analysis
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Why All Eyes Are On Florida's Affordable Housing Reform
Florida's Live Local Act, which took effect last month, promotes much-needed affordable housing developments with a mix of zoning preemption provisions and tax benefits that may attract interest from developers across the nation, say attorneys at Nelson Mullins.
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What Came Of Texas Legislature's Long-Promised Tax Relief
Following promises of historic tax relief made possible by a record budget surplus, the Texas legislative session as a whole was one in which taxpayers that are large businesses could have done somewhat better, but the new legislation is clearly still a positive, say attorneys at Baker Botts.
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Looking Behind The Curtain Of Residential Transition Loans
As residential transition loans and securitizations of such loans grow increasingly popular, real estate stakeholders should take care to understand both the unique features and potential challenges offered by this novel asset class, say attorneys at Mayer Brown.
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Hedging Variable Interest Rates In A Volatile Market
Variable rate loans, which were an advantageous borrowing method prior to the recent Federal Reserve rate hikes and subsequent volatility, are now the difference between borrowers remaining current on their obligations and defaulting due to the sharply increasing debt service requirements of their loans, say attorneys at Cassin & Cassin.
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Mallory Gives Plaintiffs A Better Shot At Justice
Critics of the U.S. Supreme Court's recent decision in Mallory v. Norfolk Southern claim it opens the door to litigation tourism, but the ruling simply gives plaintiffs more options — enabling them to seek justice against major corporations in the best possible court, say Rayna Kessler and Ethan Seidenberg at Robins Kaplan.
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CRA Plays Role In DOJ Fight Against Redlining
The U.S. Department of Justice’s recent consent order with ESSA Bank & Trust is a reminder that although the Community Reinvestment Act lacks a civil enforcement provision, financial institutions' CRA compliance efforts may have ramifications under various anti-discrimination statutes, say Collin Grier and Levi Swank at Goodwin.
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Colo. Eviction Case Could Transform Tenant Rights
The Colorado Supreme Court recently granted certiorari in a case that could open the door for tenants to assert allegations of discrimination and retaliation during eviction proceedings, and dramatically prolong the state's process, says Jacob Hollars at Spencer Fane.
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Courts Can Overturn Deficient State Regulations, Too
While suits challenging federal regulations have become commonplace, such cases against state agencies are virtually nonexistent, but many states have provisions that allow litigants to bring suit for regulations with inadequate cost-benefit analyses, says Reeve Bull at the Virginia Office of Regulatory Management.
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Harsh 11th Circ. Rebuke Should Inspire Changes At CFPB
The Eleventh Circuit's recent Consumer Financial Protection Bureau v. Brown decision, which found the CFPB's conduct had been egregious in a debt collection enforcement action, should encourage some reflection at the bureau regarding its level of attention to the reasonable due process concerns of regulated institutions, says Eric Mogilnicki at Covington.
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Tales From The Trenches Of Remote Depositions
As practitioners continue to conduct depositions remotely in the post-pandemic world, these virtual environments are rife with opportunities for improper behavior such as witness coaching, scripted testimony and a general lack of civility — but there are methods to prevent and combat these behaviors, say Jennifer Gibbs and Bennett Moss at Zelle.
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3 Alternatives To CRE Collateralized Loan Obligations
With current commercial real estate market conditions pushing issuers away from collateralized loan obligations, several Freddie Mac offerings should be considered as alternative exit strategies for mortgage loans secured by multifamily properties, say attorneys at Mayer Brown.
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Fla. Banking Brief: All The Notable Compliance Updates In Q2
Florida financial institutions must now navigate minimum interest rates for attorney trust accounts, restrictions on property sales to prohibited foreigners, and a ban on weighing environmental, social and governance factors to determine a customer's creditworthiness — changes that will add to banks' compliance pressures, says Patricia Hernandez at Avila Rodriguez.
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NY Court Sends Mixed Signals On Contested Foreclosure Law
Although New York's Appellate Division, Second Department, has avoided addressing the constitutionality and retroactive application of the Foreclosure Abuse Prevention Act, its conflicting pattern of applying FAPA to existing cases is creating confusion regarding the future of the law, say Christopher Gorman and John Muldoon at Abrams Fensterman and litigation support analyst Robert Marx.