Residential
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September 20, 2024
Green Groups Can't Bar Housing Project, SC Judge Says
A South Carolina federal judge on Thursday denied conservation groups' push to block a 9,000-unit housing development on the Cainhoy Peninsula near Charleston, ruling they've not shown they're likely to succeed in a case challenging federal reviews and approvals.
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September 19, 2024
US Argues Court Can't Stop Tribe From Blocking Roads
The U.S. government told a Wisconsin federal judge that a town's lawsuit seeking to stop the Lac du Flambeau Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians from barricading roads on tribal land can't be enforced, saying the Native American tribe is immune from the suit.
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September 19, 2024
Mich. Atty Gets 1 Year For Inflating Apartment Values
A Michigan attorney and real estate executive was sentenced Thursday to one year and a day in prison for inflating how profitable his company's apartments were, allowing him to sell them for more than $500 million.
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September 19, 2024
NYC Condo Owner Seeks Fast Confirmation On Ch. 11 Plan
Bankrupt New York City condominium complex Hudson 888 Owner LLC asked a New York bankruptcy judge to put it on the fast track to a confirmation hearing for its third proposed Chapter 11 plan, under which it would hand over residential real estate units to its main lender to clear debts.
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September 19, 2024
Proposed $4B Hawaii Fire Deal Faces Insurance Questions
A proposed $4 billion settlement made on behalf of the victims of a 2023 wildfire in Hawaii could be imperiled depending on how the Hawaii Supreme Court approaches key questions concerning insurers' rights to recoup payments made to the victims.
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September 19, 2024
Calif. City Defies State With Shelter Moratorium Extension
Norwalk, California, voted to extend a moratorium on new shelters and other forms of supportive housing in defiance of the state, a day after Gov. Gavin Newsom warned that the city's temporary ban was illegal.
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September 19, 2024
House Bill Proposes Tax Incentives For Military Housing
A bill introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives would seek to increase the availability and affordability of housing for service members in part by excluding the military's basic housing allowance from the income calculation for the low-income housing tax credit.
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September 18, 2024
Feds Delay Report Into Surfside Condo Collapse Until 2026
Federal investigators said a draft report into the June 24, 2021, collapse of the Champlain Towers in Surfside, Florida, that killed nearly 100 people won't be ready until 2026, instead of next year, after a series of holdups.
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September 18, 2024
Climate's Toll On Property Insurance May Spur Broader Action
A flurry of state and local policymaking has sought to reconcile building needs with worsening weather events and rising construction and insurance costs, but this patchwork approach may soon be blanketed by federal action as financial stakeholders' analysis of climate risk evolves.
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September 18, 2024
Data Brokers Say NJ Judicial Privacy Law Goes Too Far
A group of data brokers accused of violating the New Jersey judicial privacy measure Daniel's Law has doubled down on its argument to a federal court that the law cannot survive strict constitutional scrutiny and must be thrown out.
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September 18, 2024
Kirkland Guides Waterton's $1.73B Multifamily Fund Closing
Waterton, advised by Kirkland & Ellis LLP, raised $1.73 billion for its latest multifamily fund and plans to invest the capital in distressed opportunities and workforce housing projects across the U.S.
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September 18, 2024
NYC Real Estate Week In Review
Segal & Segal and Yeung & Wang are among the law firms that guided the largest New York City real estate deals that hit public records last week, a period that saw seven deeds at or above the $20 million mark become public.
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September 18, 2024
Northwind Lends $120M For Manhattan Residential Condo
Northwind provided a $120 million first-mortgage inventory loan for a 65-unit residential condominium building in New York that was recently completed in the city's midtown Manhattan area, the real estate private equity firm announced Tuesday.
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September 18, 2024
NJ Bank Agrees To $14M Subsidy Fund In DOJ Redlining Deal
A New Jersey regional bank has agreed to provide at least $14 million in loan subsidies as part of a proposed consent order unveiled Wednesday to settle U.S. government claims that it engaged in redlining, a form of illegal lending discrimination, in certain central parts of the state.
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September 17, 2024
Vt. Supreme Court Upholds $1.1M Property Valuation
The Vermont Supreme Court on Tuesday upheld the nearly $1.1 million valuation of a residential property determined by a hearing officer, saying the officer was not wrong to base the determination in part on a town assessment that was later found to be problematic.
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September 17, 2024
Chrisley Sentence Should Stick Despite 11th Circ., Feds Argue
Julie Chrisley's prison sentence shouldn't change even as a Georgia federal judge considers the former reality TV star's smaller role in a $36 million tax evasion and fraud scheme, prosecutors told the court Monday, noting that her time has already been shortened for other considerations.
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September 17, 2024
Ex-GT Attorney Joins Jones Day's Real Estate Ranks
A real estate attorney with a background in digital infrastructure work is moving from Greenberg Traurig LLP to the Washington, D.C., office of Jones Day.
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September 16, 2024
Fla. Condo Settles With Insurer Over Hurricane Ian Damage
A Florida condominium association seeking more than $1 million in coverage for property damage caused by a 2022 hurricane has settled with insurer Clear Blue Specialty Insurance Co.
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September 16, 2024
Colony Ridge Mortgage Co. Free Of Lending Suit, For Now
A federal judge on Friday gave the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau 30 days to amend its predatory lending lawsuit against a Texas mortgage company and a Houston-area real estate developer and lender, dismissing for now the government's claims that the mortgage company intentionally targets Hispanic consumers.
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September 16, 2024
CoStar Subscriber Settles Suit Over Property Records Access
Real estate data and analytics provider CoStar Group Inc. has reached a deal with former subscriber Leon Capital Group LLC to settle its claims that Leon downloaded property records from CoStar's database that it was not authorized to access, in a deal that permanently bars Leon Capital from accessing CoStar's data without authorization.
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September 16, 2024
Carlyle Commits $1B To Clean Real Estate Finance Co.
Investment giant Carlyle said Monday that it has taken a stake in and committed $1 billion to real estate finance company North Bridge, which will be used toward green commercial upgrades.
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September 16, 2024
King & Spalding, Winston Rep Hospice Facilities Deal
Healthcare investment banking firm Provident Healthcare Partners said Monday it assisted Crossroads Hospice & Palliative Care in its sale of a handful of hospice and palliative care facilities, in a deal crafted by King & Spalding LLP and Winston & Strawn LLP.
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September 15, 2024
Top Atty For NYC Mayor Resigns As Fed. Investigations Mount
As investigations and high-profile departures continue around New York City's embattled Mayor Eric Adams, his chief counsel resigned Saturday.
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September 13, 2024
The 2024 Regional Powerhouses
The law firms on Law360's list of 2024 Regional Powerhouses reflected the local peculiarities of their states while often representing clients in deals and cases that captured national attention.
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September 13, 2024
NC City Illegally Foiled Affordable Housing Effort, Builder Says
A coastal North Carolina city conspired to block an affordable housing project near the Camp Lejeune military base, flying in the face of demand, a project developer claimed in North Carolina federal court.
Expert Analysis
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Teaching Scuba Diving Makes Me A Better Lawyer
As a master scuba instructor, I’ve learned how to prepare for the unexpected, overcome fears and practice patience, and each of these skills – among the many others I’ve developed – has profoundly enhanced my work as a lawyer, says Ron Raether at Troutman Pepper.
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Decoding CFPB Priorities Amid Ramp-Up In Nonbank Actions
Based on recent Consumer Financial Protection Bureau enforcement actions and press releases about its supervisory activities, the agency appears poised to continue increasing its scrutiny over nonbank entities — particularly with respect to emerging financial products and services — into next year, say attorneys at Wiley.
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Shipping Containers As Building Elements Require Diligence
With the shipping container market projected to double between 2020 and 2028, repurposing containers as storage units, office spaces and housing may become more common, but developers must make sure they comply with requirements that can vary by intended use and location, says Steven Otto at Crosbie Gliner.
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7th Circ. Ruling Expands CFPB Power In Post-Chevron Era
The Seventh Circuit’s recent ruling in Consumer Financial Protection Bureau v. Townstone Financial interprets the Equal Credit Opportunity Act broadly, paving the way for increased CFPB enforcement and hinting at how federal courts may approach statutory interpretation in the post-Chevron world, say attorneys at Saul Ewing.
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Rock Climbing Makes Me A Better Lawyer
Rock climbing requires problem-solving, focus, risk management and resilience, skills that are also invaluable assets in my role as a finance lawyer, says Mei Zhang at Haynes and Boone.
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Tips For Lenders Offering Texas Home Equity Lines Of Credit
As interest in home equity lines of credit increases, lenders seeking to utilize such products in Texas must be aware of state-specific requirements and limitations that can make it challenging to originate open-end lines of credit on homestead property, says Tye McWhorter at Polunsky Beitel.
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Class Actions At The Circuit Courts: July Lessons
In this month's review of class action appeals, Mitchell Engel at Shook Hardy considers cases touching on pre- and post-conviction detainment conditions, communications with class representatives, when the American Pipe tolling doctrine stops applying to modified classes, and more.
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Expect CFPB To Enforce Warning Against 'Coercive' Fine Print
The recent Consumer Financial Protection Bureau warning against unenforceable terms "deceptively" slipped into the fine print of contracts will likely be challenged in court, but until then, companies should expect the agency to treat its guidance as law and must carefully scrutinize their consumer contracts, say attorneys at Ballard Spahr.
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How NJ Worker Status Ruling Benefits Real Estate Industry
In Kennedy v. Weichert, the New Jersey Supreme Court recently said a real estate agent’s employment contract would supersede the usual ABC test analysis to determine his classification as an independent contractor, preserving operational flexibility for the industry — and potentially others, say Jason Finkelstein and Dalila Haden at Cole Schotz.
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After Chevron: Impact On CFPB May Be Limited
The U.S. Supreme Court's decision in Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo is likely to have a limited impact on the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's regulatory activities, and for those who value due process, consistency and predictability in consumer financial services regulation, this may be a good thing, says John Coleman at Orrick.
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7th Circ Joins Trend Of No CGL Coverage For Structural Flaws
The Seventh Circuit, which recently held potential structural instability did not count as property damage under a construction company's commercial general liability policy, joins a growing consensus that faulty work does not implicate coverage without tangible and present damage to the project, say Sarah Abrams at Baleen Specialty, and Elan Kandel and James Talbert at Bailey Cavalieri.
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In The CFPB Playbook: Making Good On Bold Promises
The U.S. Supreme Court's decision upholding the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's funding structure in the second quarter cleared the way for the bureau to resume a number of high-priority initiatives, and it appears poised to charge ahead in working toward its aggressive preelection agenda, say Andrew Arculin and Paula Vigo Marqués at Blank Rome.
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FBI Raid Signals Growing Criminal Enforcement Of Algorithms
The U.S. Department of Justice Antitrust Division's increased willingness to pursue the use of algorithmic pricing as a potential criminal violation means that companies need to understand the software solutions they employ and stay abreast of antitrust best practices when contracting with providers, say attorneys at Rule Garza.