Residential

  • March 26, 2025

    NY Court Of Appeals Ices Free Rent Cases, Redefines Fraud

    A unanimous decision this month by New York's highest court scrambled landlord attorneys' strategy in pending rent overcharge cases, but also handed their clients a win on whether rent concessions expose landlords to overcharge claims.

  • March 26, 2025

    Sotomayor Urges Caution On Nondelegation Doctrine Revamp

    U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor cautioned her colleagues during oral arguments Wednesday against using a challenge to the Federal Communications Commission's administration of a broadband subsidy program as a way to resurrect the long-dormant nondelegation doctrine. Several conservative justices, however, seemed willing to disregard that admonition.

  • March 26, 2025

    NYC Property Cos. Hit With Security Deposits Class Action

    A proposed class of residential tenants accused a property manager and a property owner in New York federal court on Wednesday of violating state law by not placing their security deposits in accounts that would accrue interest and paying security deposits without accrued interest after the tenants moved out.

  • March 26, 2025

    JP Morgan REIT Buys Sunbelt Housing Projects For $67M

    J.P. Morgan Real Estate Income Trust Inc. has bought two residential communities in Wilmington, North Carolina, and Atlanta for a combined $67 million as part of a larger strategy of investing in workforce housing, the company said Wednesday.

  • March 26, 2025

    Student Housing Dispositions Declined In 2024, Colliers Says

    Dispositions of student housing properties mostly decreased among varying types of funds in 2024, according to a Colliers report.

  • March 26, 2025

    New FinCEN Rule Is 'Game Changer' For Real Estate Investors

    The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network's stopgap rule removing beneficial ownership reporting requirements for U.S. companies significantly lightens the regulatory burden for investors, especially those in the real estate sector, attorneys told Law360 Real Estate Authority.

  • March 26, 2025

    Greystar Scores Partial Win In Eviction Fee Lawsuit

    A Massachusetts federal judge has trimmed some claims from a proposed class action accusing a Greystar entity and a Boston residential building owner of unlawfully charging tenants legal fees related to eviction proceedings.

  • March 26, 2025

    Resi Buildings Next Up In $500M New Jersey Office Revamp

    The Connell Co. unveiled plans on Wednesday for a luxury residential component of a 185-acre, mixed-use campus in Berkeley Heights, New Jersey, the latest phase in the owner's $500 million overhaul of an outdated office park.

  • March 25, 2025

    Home Sellers Oppose DOJ Statement In Mass. Listing Deal

    Home sellers that agreed to a $3.95 million settlement with a multiple listing service over its broker commission rules are defending the deal from the U.S. Department of Justice's attacks, telling the Massachusetts federal judge weighing approval that the government has yet to suggest terms it would find acceptable.

  • March 25, 2025

    Insurers Must Face Heating Oil Buyers' $35M Coverage Suit

    Customers who allege they suffered $35 million in damage after purchasing substandard heating oil can continue to seek coverage of underlying litigation, with a Massachusetts federal judge saying Tuesday their case contained enough controversy to deny insurers summary judgment.

  • March 25, 2025

    Hamilton Lane Buys Major Stake In $74M Multifamily Portfolio

    Hamilton Lane Partners purchased an 85% stake in a $74 million portfolio of multifamily properties located in New York City's SoHo and West Village neighborhoods, the investment manager announced Tuesday.

  • March 25, 2025

    State Farm Beats Suit Alleging Property Loss Undervaluation

    A Pennsylvania federal judge on Tuesday tossed a proposed class action brought by homeowners accusing State Farm of limiting compensation by improperly employing a "new construction" setting in software when calculating property damage, finding their policy did not require the insurer to use a specific computation method for loss calculations.

  • March 25, 2025

    NJ Judge Upholds Mansion Tax On Sale Of Doomed House

    A New Jersey company that bought a property for $4.7 million after obtaining approval to demolish an uninhabitable farmhouse on the land and use the property for industrial purposes owes the state's so-called mansion tax on the purchase, the state Tax Court ruled Tuesday.

  • March 25, 2025

    Judge Orders HUD To Reinstate $30M In Housing Grants

    A Massachusetts federal judge temporarily revived $30 million in housing anti-discrimination grants slashed by the Trump administration, explaining that his hands are essentially tied by a First Circuit ruling in a separate case reinstating teacher training grants.

  • March 25, 2025

    Colo. Atty Gave $2M Mineral Rights To Other Client, Suit Says

    The special district for a Colorado residential community has sued its former lawyer and firms White Bear Ankele Tanaka & Waldron PC and Spencer Fane LLP for malpractice, claiming the attorney failed to secure its mineral rights, instead executing a deal that favored one of Spencer Fane's other clients.

  • March 25, 2025

    Miami Realtors Urge Creativity In Help For Condo Owners

    With talk of a Florida condo crisis garnering national headlines and commanding significant attention during the state legislature's annual session, leaders at the Miami Association of Realtors said they hope lawmakers will take a creative approach and look to initiatives Miami-Dade County has pursued to help owners navigate these rough waters.

  • March 24, 2025

    NC Urges Court To Rule Fla. Realty Co. Duped Homeowners

    The North Carolina Attorney General's Office has urged a state business court to find that a Florida real estate company targeted homeowners and tricked them into signing long-term predatory agreements in exchange for small cash advances, saying it is undisputed that the law was broken.

  • March 24, 2025

    PPR Capital Buys $87M Tenn. Build-To-Rent Community

    Private equity real estate investment firm PPR Capital Management and real estate investment firm and developer Center Creek Capital Group collaborated on an $87 million acquisition of a Knoxville, Tennessee, build-to-rent community, PPR announced Monday.

  • March 24, 2025

    Colo. Tenants Accuse Centerspace Of Neglect, Junk Fees

    Tenants at an apartment building in Denver, Colorado, have accused landlord Centerspace LP of neglecting the property, allowing refuse and safety violations to pile up even as it charged residents surprise junk fees, per a suit the landlord removed to Colorado federal court.

  • March 24, 2025

    NM House Requests Study Of Short-Term Rental Tax Policy

    New Mexico's House of Representatives unanimously approved legislation requesting a study on how the state's tax policies and regulatory framework affect short-term rentals.

  • March 24, 2025

    Texas High Court Revives Developer's Floodplain Takings Suit

    The Texas Supreme Court has said a developer can again argue at trial court that Houston's new floodplain system thwarted its planned community and amounted to a regulatory taking, even though the ordinance was a valid exercise of police power.

  • March 24, 2025

    NYC Real Estate Week In Review

    Hogan Lovells and Sidley Austin are among the law firms that landed work on the largest New York City real estate deals that hit public records last week, a group of transactions that included a pair of nine-figure Manhattan deals.

  • March 24, 2025

    Comparable Homes Don't Lower Mass. Property's $430K Value

    A Massachusetts home will remain valued at $429,500, a state tax panel said in a decision released Monday, rejecting the owner's arguments that the home valuation grew at a higher rate than that of comparable properties.

  • March 24, 2025

    No Evidence To Lower Home Value, Mass. Panel Says

    A Massachusetts panel declined to drop a condominium unit's valuation in a decision released Monday, rejecting the owner's argument that local assessors had increased home valuations in that particular area more than for other homes in the town.

  • March 21, 2025

    NJ AG Says Landlord Discriminated Against Low-Income Renters

    The New Jersey Division on Civil Rights has found probable cause that the owner of a Garden State apartment complex and its leasing agent allegedly discriminated against poor tenants through illegal minimum-income requirements, Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin announced Friday.

Expert Analysis

  • The Tides Are Changing For Fair Access Banking Laws

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    The landscape of fair access banking laws, which seek to prevent banks from denying services based on individuals' ideological beliefs, has shifted in the last few years, but a new presidential administration provides renewed momentum for advancing such legislation against the backdrop of state efforts, say attorneys at Latham.

  • How Congress Can Stem Consumer Finance Law Uncertainty

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    In the face of rising uncertainty about consumer finance laws that are based largely on fluctuating administrative rules, Congress should cement certain existing laws into statute and clarify federal agencies' delegations of authority, say attorneys at Bradley Arant.

  • Illuminating The Trend Of Florida's Unpaid Hurricane Claims

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    The sheer number of insurance claims closed without payment for damage caused by Hurricanes Milton and Helene reveals a systemic problem within Florida's insurance industry exacerbated by complex issues, including climate change and state regulators' resource limitations, say attorneys at Farah & Farah.

  • Insurance Considerations For LA Wildfire Recovery

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    Businesses and homeowners affected by the destructive Southern California wildfires must act swiftly and strategically to navigate the complexities of the insurance recovery process, including by identifying all applicable policies, documenting damage thoroughly and keeping abreast of relevant state law, say attorneys at Morgan Lewis.

  • LA Wildfires' Effect On Calif. Insurer Of Last Resort

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    Attorneys at Willkie discuss the background of California's insurer of last resort — known as the Fair Access to Insurance Requirements Plan — and examine the process of assessing member insurers and relevant recent property insurance market developments in light of the destruction from the ongoing Los Angeles wildfires.

  • Algorithm Price-Fixing Ruling May Lower Antitrust Claims Bar

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    A Washington federal court's refusal to dismiss Duffy v. Yardi Systems, an antitrust case over rent prices allegedly inflated by revenue management software, creates an apparent split in the lower courts over how to assess such claims, say attorneys at Morgan Lewis.

  • California's New Homeowner Law Could Hamper Foreclosures

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    While A.B. 2424, which took effect this month in California, gives homeowners in default additional protections, it also provides loopholes that can be used to delay foreclosure auctions, and the cost of these delays will likely be passed on to the borrower, says Stephen Britt at Severson & Werson.

  • Small Biz Caught In Corporate Transparency Act Crossfire

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    Despite compliance being put on hold due to a nationwide preliminary injunction, small businesses have been caught in the middle of the legal battle over the Corporate Transparency Act — and confusion over the law's requirements could result in major penalties, say attorneys at Snell & Wilmer.

  • What's Ahead As Transparency Act Comes To A Crossroads

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    Synthesizing the contrasting federal district and appellate court rulings on the Corporate Transparency Act’s validity reveals several main areas of debate that will likely remain at issue as challenges to the law continue winding through the courts, say attorneys at Farella Braun.

  • Ohio Banking Brief: All The Notable Legal Updates In Q4

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    Ohio's banking and financial services sector saw several significant developments in the fourth quarter of 2024, including a landmark Uniform Commercial Code ruling, adjustments to the state's Homebuyer Plus Program and the launch of the state's first women-led bank, says attorney Alex Durst.

  • In The CFPB Playbook: A Sprint To The Finish Line

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    The fourth quarter of 2024 was an impressive demonstration of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's ability to regulate, enforce and supervise, even on borrowed time following the election results, and we should expect the current bureau to run nonstop until Jan. 20, say attorneys at Covington.

  • The 6 Most Significant FCRA Litigation Developments Of 2024

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    From a key sovereign immunity decision at the U.S. Supreme Court to a ruling on creditworthiness out of the Seventh Circuit, several important Fair Credit Reporting Act cases wound their way through the courts in 2024, each offering takeaways for both plaintiffs and defendants, say attorneys at Shipkevich.

  • 10 Noteworthy CFPB Developments From 2024

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    In a banner year for consumer finance regulation, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau made significant strides in its efforts to rein in Big Tech and nonbank financial firms, including via rules regarding open banking, credit card late fees, and buy now, pay later products, say attorneys at Wiley.