Residential
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July 29, 2024
Fraudster Faces Florida Condo Eviction Over Chain-Smoking
A Florida luxury condominium association has brought a state court lawsuit against an admitted real estate fraudster and seeks to have him removed as a tenant over his chain-smoking, saying he broke the terms of his lease but continues to reside in his condo unit.
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July 29, 2024
9th Circ. Rules Ch. 7 Debtor Can't Exempt Home From Estate
The Ninth Circuit ruled that a debtor in a Chapter 7 bankruptcy case in Washington state cannot pursue above-limit homestead exemption and that the remaining proceeds of her property should go to the bankruptcy estate, reversing the bankruptcy appellate panel's decision in 2022.
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July 29, 2024
Realtor.com Parent Fights Uphill For CoStar Injunction
A California federal judge appeared skeptical Monday of a preliminary injunction request from Realtor.com's parent company seeking to block rival CoStar from misappropriating trade secrets and unlawfully accessing its computers, saying the alleged theft doesn't appear to involve a secret "formula" but rather website content.
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July 29, 2024
NY City's Rent Regs Draw Legal Challenge
The Hudson Valley Property Owners Association made good on its promise to challenge Poughkeepsie, New York's, move to adopt rent stabilization citywide, alleging in New York state court that the underlying vacancy rate the city used to opt in was miscalculated.
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July 29, 2024
Mich. Justices Uphold Power To Pause Pandemic Deadlines
The Michigan Supreme Court affirmed Monday that it had the power to suspend case filing deadlines for three months at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, ruling the temporary measure was not an overreach of the judiciary's authority.
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July 29, 2024
NYC Real Estate Week In Review
Romer Debbas and Marcus Attorneys are among the law firms that steered the largest New York City deeds that hit public records last week, a slow period that saw only five transactions north of $15 million become public.
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July 29, 2024
Workspace To Sell Residential Development For £13M
Flexible workspace provider Workspace Group PLC said Monday that it has agreed to sell a residential redevelopment site in the southeastern English town of Woking for £13 million ($16.7 million).
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July 26, 2024
CFIUS Report Says More On Real Estate Than Meets The Eye
The Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States' latest report to Congress shows no significant change in the number of real estate-related cases the committee reviewed in 2023, but that does not mean properties weren't on the government's radar, attorneys say.
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July 26, 2024
Property Plays: Pretium, United Center, 830 Brickell
Property Plays is a weekly roundup of the latest loans, leases, sales and projects around the country. Send your tips — all confidential — to realestate@law360.com.
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July 26, 2024
Short-Term Rental Group Defends Colo. City Ordinance Suit
A group of short-term rental owners in Colorado urged a federal court on Thursday to reject a city's bid to dismiss their suit, which claims a 2023 ordinance that regulates where short-term rentals can operate "effectively bans most existing short-term rentals."
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July 26, 2024
Calif. Community Org Opposes FCC Bulk Billing Clampdown
A technology-focused community group in California has joined a chorus of advocates calling for the Federal Communications Commission to hit the brakes on a proposal to tighten rules for bulk billing in multitenant environments.
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July 26, 2024
Weyerhaeuser CEO Expects Single-Family Sector To 'Hold Up'
Weyerhaeuser Co. is confident the single-family market will hold up in the third quarter despite slumping sales as high mortgage rates persist, the lumber real estate investment trust said on its quarterly earnings call Friday.
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July 26, 2024
Chubb Unit Asks 11th Circ. To Undo $13.8M Appraisal Award
A Chubb unit asked the Eleventh Circuit on Friday to reverse the approval of a Florida condominium association's $13.8 million appraisal award for hurricane damage sustained in 2017, arguing that a lower court erred in finding that one of the appraisers was partial to the association.
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July 26, 2024
Insurers See Losses Amid Migration To Severe Weather States
Population migration into parts of the U.S. with more severe weather is one factor driving the worst U.S. homeowner's insurance underwriting results since at least 2000, according to a report on the insurance industry from AM Best.
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July 25, 2024
Newsom Cites High Court In Ordering Encampments Cleared
California Gov. Gavin Newsom on Thursday ordered state agencies to start removing homeless encampments on state property while providing outreach services to homeless residents following a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling that gave governments broader authority to ban camping in public.
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July 25, 2024
Mr. Cooper Picks Up Flagstar Resi Mortgage Unit For $1.4B
Flagstar Bank NA announced Thursday that it has inked a $1.4 billion deal to sell its residential mortgage servicing business to nonbank mortgage originator Mr. Cooper, as Flagstar and parent New York Community Bancorp eye a turnaround.
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July 25, 2024
Munck Wilson Adds Barnes & Thornburg Litigator In Dallas
Munck Wilson Mandala LLP is growing its litigation team, announcing Wednesday that it is bringing in a Barnes & Thornburg LLP commercial litigator in its Dallas office.
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July 25, 2024
IRS, Zaxby's Co-Founder To Settle $43M Easement Suit
The Internal Revenue Service agreed to settle a $43 million valuation dispute over a conservation easement donated by the co-founder of the Zaxby's restaurant chain and his wife, prompting a Georgia federal court Thursday to cancel next month's anticipated jury trial.
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July 25, 2024
Ore. Court Won't Toss Law Capping Taxable Home Values
A homeowner's attempt to lower the taxable value of his property was denied by the Oregon Tax Court, which said it did not have the authority to determine whether a law capping annual taxable value increases for some properties was unconstitutional.
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July 24, 2024
How Hinckley Allen Took On Rhode Island Beach-Access Law
A Rhode Island judge this month sided with beachfront property owners, represented by Hinckley Allen & Snyder LLP, ruling that a 2023 law that shifts the public access line landward amounts to a taking.
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July 24, 2024
Top Texas Real Estate News In 2024 So Far
Catch up on the hottest real estate news out of Texas so far this year, from data center construction and roadblocks in a major rail project to a Texas landowner's win in a takings suit and the U.S. Department of Justice's first predatory mortgage suit.
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July 24, 2024
Section 8 Landlords Face Trial In False Claims Act Suit
Tenants who receive Section 8 housing vouchers are staking out their arguments in a False Claims Act suit as landlords and property managers do the same ahead of the class action's trial next week in California federal court.
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July 24, 2024
Real Estate Buyer Says Developer Can't Arbitrate His Claims
A Miami-based venture capitalist has told a New York federal judge that real estate firm Desarrolladora La Ribera can't simultaneously invoke and reject arbitration clauses in a defamation suit against him and another homebuyer in a luxury Four Seasons-branded development in Los Cabos, Mexico.
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July 24, 2024
Connecticut Justices Won't Certify 'Slum' Tenant Class
A Connecticut state court judge was under no obligation to redefine a proposed class of low-income tenants in order to help them meet the certification requirements in a fraud and unfair trade practices lawsuit against their corporate landlord and property manager, the state Supreme Court hs ruled.
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July 24, 2024
NJ Atty Suspended For Using Client Funds From RICO Cases
The New Jersey Supreme Court this week issued a three-year suspension against an attorney accused of misusing client funds from a racketeering case to buy a new computer system and pay his wife for paralegal services.
Expert Analysis
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Assessing The Future Of Colorado's Economic Loss Rule
The Colorado Supreme Court's decision to review a state appellate court's ruling in Mid-Century Insurance Co. v. HIVE Construction will significantly influence the future of Colorado's economic loss rule, with high stakes for the cost of doing business in the state, says David Holman at Crisham & Holman.
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How Recent Laws Affect Foreign Purchase Of US Real Estate
Early diligence is imperative for U.S. real estate transactions involving foreign actors, including analysis of federal and state foreign investment laws implicated by the transaction, depending on the property's nature and location, the parties' citizenship, and the transaction's structure, say Massimo D’Angelo and Anthony Rapa at Blank Rome.
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What Shareholder Approval Rule Changes Mean For Cos.
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission recently approved proposed rule changes to shareholder requirements by the New York Stock Exchange, an approval that will benefit listed companies in many ways, including by making it easier to raise capital from passive investors, say attorneys at Baker Botts.
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High Court Case Could Reshape Local Development Fees
If last month's oral arguments are any indication of how the U.S. Supreme Court will rule in Sheetz v. County of El Dorado, it's unlikely the justices will hold that the essential nexus and rough proportionality tests under the cases of Nollan, Dolan and Koontz apply to legislative exactions, but a sweeping decision would still be the natural progression in the line of cases giving property owners takings claims, says Phillip Babich at Reed Smith.
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White Collar Plea Deals Are Rarely 'Knowing' And 'Voluntary'
Because prosecutors are not required to disclose exculpatory evidence during plea negotiations, white collar defendants often enter into plea deals that don’t meet the U.S. Supreme Court’s “knowing” and “voluntary” standard for trials — but individual courts and solutions judges could rectify the issue, says Sara Kropf at Kropf Moseley.
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How 2 CFPB Advisory Opinions Affect Reporting Agencies
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau issued two advisory opinions last month that demonstrate a continued commitment to address inaccuracies in background check reports and consumer file disclosures through broad interpretation of the Fair Credit Reporting Act, expanding on a coordinated federal agency effort, say attorneys at Cooley.
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Algorithmic Pricing Programs Caught In Antitrust Crosshairs
The Justice Department's investigation into software company RealPage follows a host of federal antitrust cases alleging that property owners and casino hotel operators use the same proprietary software programs to fix and maintain pricing, which means algorithmic pricing programs are considered a key price-fixing tool in the digital age, say attorneys at Ballard Spahr.
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A Welcome Turning Of The Page For Residential Real Estate
After one of the most challenging years on record for residential real estate, 2024 will likely be a time of transition to a stabler business climate, as sellers lose some of their excess bargaining power and the pace of sales picks up, says Marty Green at Polunsky Beitel.
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Strict Duty To Indemnify Ruling Bucks Recent Trend
A South Carolina federal court's recent decision that it lacked subject matter jurisdiction to decide an insurer's duty to indemnify prior to the finding of insured liability sharply diverges from the more nuanced or multipronged standards established by multiple circuit courts, says Richard Mason at MasonADR.
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Ill. Insurance Ruling Helps Developers, Community Orgs. Alike
The Illinois Supreme Court's decision in Acuity v. M/I Homes of Chicago, holding that commercial general liability policy exceptions did not prevent coverage for damage caused by faulty workmanship, will bring more potential insurance coverage for real estate developers and, in turn, larger payouts when community organizations sue them, say Howard Dakoff and Suzanne Karbarz Rovner at Levenfeld Pearlstein.
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NJ Foreclosure Law Will Have Multifaceted Impact On Lenders
New Jersey's A.B. 5664 introduces significant reforms to foreclosure proceedings in the state, potentially lessening the burden on lenders and servicers to maintain foreclosed properties, but also brings new limitations and time frames, say Christina Livorsi and Wael Amer at Day Pitney.
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11 Noteworthy CFPB Developments From 2023
Under Rohit Chopra’s leadership, 2023 was an industrious year for the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, with developments including the release of the proposed personal financial data rights rule, publication of proposed rules involving public registries for nonbanks and the bureau's continuous battle against junk fees, all of which are sure to further progress in 2024, say attorneys at Husch Blackwell.
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Insured Takeaways From 10th Circ. Interrelated Claims Ruling
The Tenth Circuit's recent ruling in American Southwest Mortgage v. Continental Casualty that multiple claims arising from consecutive audit years were interrelated — and thus subject to a per claim limit — creates a concerning precedent for policyholders, so companies should negotiate relevant policy language, says Michael Stockalper at Saxe Doernberger.