Residential
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June 05, 2024
Miami Developer Maintains Pioneering Touch In Latest Moves
Miami-area developer Masoud Shojaee spoke with Law360 Real Estate Authority about his project strategy and how it has led to longevity for his firm Shoma Group and given him confidence in helping to address a housing crisis and various challenges in the market.
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June 05, 2024
PennyMac Sued Over 'Release Costs' For Payoff Docs
PennyMac Loan Services LLC violated federal and Florida law by wrongfully charging "release costs" for its mortgage payoff statements that showed how much borrowers still owed, according to a proposed consumer class action filed in Florida federal court.
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June 05, 2024
Colo. To Exempt Modular Homes From Sales Tax
Colorado will exempt new modular home sales from state tax under a bill signed into law by Gov. Jared Polis.
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June 05, 2024
'Le Penthouse' Owner Files For Ch. 11 With $66M In Debt
The owner of "Le Penthouse," known as one of the most expensive New York City condominiums, filed for Chapter 11 protection in Manhattan bankruptcy court with $66.5 million in debt and a plan to sell off its properties including the penthouse.
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June 04, 2024
Judge Frets Nursing Home Co. LaVie $20M DIP Too Low
A Georgia bankruptcy judge on Tuesday gave interim approval to customary first-day motions and a $20 million debtor-in-possession loan for bankrupt nursing home operator LaVie Care Centers LLC.
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June 04, 2024
Miami Board Opposes Tower Amid Land Use Law Concerns
The design review committee for Miami's Wynwood neighborhood voted Tuesday against a 48-story mixed-use development proposed in the area, pushing back on the application, which makes use of a sweeping new Florida land use law for workforce housing.
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June 04, 2024
HUD Kicks Off Manufactured Housing Financing Program
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development launched a federally insured financing option for buying, revitalizing and refinancing manufactured housing communities in order to provide an alternative that doesn't involve private equity funds purchasing those communities, HUD announced Tuesday.
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June 04, 2024
Meet The Attorneys Guiding Nursing Home Co. LaVie's Ch. 11
A team of attorneys from McDermott Will & Emery LLP is guiding nursing home operator LaVie Care Centers LLC through its Chapter 11 case in Georgia.
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June 04, 2024
Albany Passes Good Cause Eviction, Again
The Albany Common Council has voted to opt New York's capital city in to the state's good cause eviction law, after the city's earlier attempt was struck down by a state judge.
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June 04, 2024
LA Landfill Owner Faces Suits Over Foul Fumes, Runoff
Some 800 people near a waste dump in Los Angeles County sued its operator for damages, alleging the company is liable for a smoldering underground fire at the site — the county's second-largest landfill — that has spewed toxic gas into the air for the last year, as well as geyser-like eruptions of polluted water from the ground.
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June 04, 2024
CFPB Cautions Firms Against Contractual 'Fine Print Tactic'
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau on Tuesday warned banks and other financial services firms against trying to "trick" consumers with unenforceable waivers in their customer contracts, saying their use of certain contractual terms and conditions can open them up to supervisory or enforcement action.
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June 04, 2024
Property Company Must Face Ex-Manager's Race Bias Suit
A Pennsylvania federal judge denied a real estate firm's effort to take an early win over a discrimination and retaliation suit brought by one of its Black former property managers, ruling that there are still too many open questions about the worker's treatment as she oversaw a problem-ridden Ohio apartment complex.
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June 04, 2024
Developer, Buyer Settle $10M Miami Condo Dispute
A German citizen and a developer have settled their dispute over a $9.6 million deal to buy a highly customized duplex condominium unit in a new Miami high rise, according to a notice filed in Florida federal court Monday.
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June 04, 2024
Experian Accuses Firms Of Fake Mortgage Denial Scheme
Credit reporting law firm Stein Saks PLLC headed up a nationwide scheme to "extort" Experian into settling "sham" lawsuits by consumers through creating fake credit denial letters in order to inflate damages and bolster their consumers' suits, according to a federal lawsuit filed by the credit reporting agency.
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June 04, 2024
Troutman Real Estate Ace Rejoins Morris Manning In Atlanta
Morris Manning & Martin LLP announced Tuesday that an attorney who left the firm as an associate for Troutman Pepper Hamilton Sanders LLP a little over a year ago has rejoined the firm in Atlanta as a partner in its real estate practice.
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June 04, 2024
Simpson Reps Frontdoor On $585M Home Warranty Co. Buy
Simpson Thacher is representing Frontdoor Inc. on a newly inked deal to buy fellow home warranties provider 2-10 Home Buyers Warranty, guided by Ropes & Gray, for $585 million in cash, according to a statement Tuesday.
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June 04, 2024
11th Circ. Affirms Nix Of IRS Easement Disclosure Guidance
The Eleventh Circuit affirmed Tuesday that an Internal Revenue Service notice imposing reporting requirements on potentially abusive conservation easements was invalid because the agency failed to solicit the public feedback required by administrative law.
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June 04, 2024
Colo. Orders Disclosure Of Info On Local Property Tax Levies
Local jurisdictions in Colorado will be required to provide certain information about their property tax levies under legislation signed into law by Democratic Gov. Jared Polis.
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June 03, 2024
PacifiCorp To Pay $178M To 400 Oregonians Over Fires
PacifiCorp has agreed to pay $178 million to more than 400 Oregon residents affected by a cluster of wildfires that burned more than a million acres of land on Labor Day 2020 amid dangerously dry and windy weather conditions, the utility announced Monday.
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June 03, 2024
Treasury Aims To Salvage Corp. Transparency Act At 11th Circ.
The Corporate Transparency Act is a valid exercise of congressional authority to curb money laundering under the commerce clause and the necessary and proper clause in the Constitution, the U.S. Treasury Department told the Eleventh Circuit on Monday in a bid to restore the law's reporting requirements.
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June 03, 2024
Corcoran Settles Nonprofit's Housing Voucher Bias Suit
A housing rights nonprofit has agreed to drop its housing voucher bias claims against real estate company Corcoran Group, which was accused in New York state court of discriminating against prospective tenants who use federal Housing Choice vouchers.
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June 03, 2024
Title Insurer Says Ga. Firm Must Repay $158K For Deed Error
A title insurance company said a Georgia law firm must reimburse it $158,000 for negligently issuing a title insurance policy on a real estate closing, telling a Georgia federal court that it is entitled to contractual and common law indemnity for its losses.
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June 03, 2024
'Luxury' Wasn't Part Of Mansion Deal, 3rd Circ. Told
An attorney for a luxury home-building company asked the Third Circuit on Monday to throw out a six-figure judgment against the company for allegedly falling short on its promise to construct a high-end house for two Western Pennsylvania homeowners, arguing the customers' suit was not based on promises made in the contract but on vague marketing statements.
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June 03, 2024
RI Panel OKs Providence Unrestricted Property Tax Rates
Rhode Island would allow the city of Providence to adopt a classification system that allows for unrestricted tax rates for the city's property classes under a bill moved to the Senate floor for consideration.
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June 03, 2024
NYC Real Estate Week In Review
Dylan Chan Law Firm and Kevin Kerveng Tung were among the law firms that guided the largest New York City real estate deals that hit public records last week, a period that saw six transactions above the $15 million mark become public.
Expert Analysis
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Congress Needs To Enact A Federal Anti-SLAPP Statute
Although many states have passed statutes meant to prevent individuals or entities from filing strategic lawsuits against public participation, other states have not, so it's time for Congress to enact a federal statute to ensure that free speech and petitioning rights are uniformly protected nationwide in federal court, say attorneys at Skadden.
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Banking Tips For Lending To Calif. Homeowners Associations
With current financial markets and recent changes to California law putting a brighter spotlight on lending, banks should understand the special considerations involved in lending to homeowners associations and the various possible remedies in the event of a default, says Alex Grigorians at Hanson Bridgett.
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Some Client Speculations On AI And The Law Firm Biz Model
Generative artificial intelligence technologies will put pressure on the business of law as it is structured currently, but clients may end up with more price certainty for legal services, and lawyers may spend more time being lawyers, says Jonathan Cole at Melody Capital.
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How Rent Proposals May Affect Most Populous Md. County
Of the various legislative changes concerning rent controls and property taxes that are being considered in Montgomery County, Maryland, comparatively milder controls are likely to prevail, but even these lenient measures may make it more difficult for the county to fulfill its needs for new housing, says Michael Murray at Greysteel.
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A Lawyer's Guide To Approaching Digital Assets In Discovery
The booming growth of cryptocurrency and non-fungible tokens has made digital assets relevant in many legal disputes but also poses several challenges for discovery, so lawyers must garner an understanding of the technology behind these assets, the way they function, and how they're held, says Brett Sager at Ehrenstein Sager.
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High Court's Ethics Statement Places Justices Above The Law
The U.S. Supreme Court justices' disappointing statement on the court's ethics principles and practices reveals that not only are they satisfied with a status quo in which they are bound by fewer ethics rules than other federal judges, but also that they've twisted the few rules that do apply to them, says David Janovsky at the Project on Government Oversight.
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Texas Justices' PNC Opinion Clarifies Subrogation Questions
Thanks to the sorely needed clarification provided by the Texas Supreme Court in PNC Mortgage v. Howard, a home equity lender now has a better understanding of what it can do when its own lien is constitutionally invalid but is either equitably or contractually subrogated to a prior lien, say Daron Janis and Dave Foster at Locke Lord.
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Assessing The Reach Of 9th Circuit's Natural Gas Ruling
The Ninth Circuit's recent decision in California Restaurant Association v. Berkeley, affirming that the Energy Policy and Conservation Act preempts certain state and local natural gas bans, may chill other efforts to limit usage of natural gas and raises important questions for utility companies, natural gas consumers and policymakers to consider, say attorneys at Greenberg Traurig.
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Time For Law Schools To Rethink Unsung Role Of Adjuncts
As law schools prepare for the fall 2023 semester, administrators should reevaluate the role of the underappreciated, indispensable adjunct, and consider 16 concrete actions to improve the adjuncts' teaching experience, overall happiness and feeling of belonging, say T. Markus Funk at Perkins Coie, Andrew Boutros at Dechert and Eugene Volokh at UCLA.
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Ch. 13 Ruling Issues Warning To Mortgage Servicers
The Ninth Circuit Bankruptcy Appellate Panel’s recent ruling in Orlansky, which held that the mortgage servicer violated the automatic stay in its post-petition communication to debtors, suggests that circuit bankruptcy courts may more closely scrutinize how certain fees are presented in monthly statements, say Justin Paget and Jennifer Wuebker at Hunton.
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Using Synthetic Securitization In Residential Mortgage Loans
In light of a recent Federal Reserve report emphasizing the importance of maintaining sufficient capital positions, banking organizations should consider using synthetic securitization to help mitigate capital charge associated with residential mortgage loan portfolios, say attorneys at Mayer Brown.
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Tips For In-House Legal Leaders In A Challenging Economy
Amid today's economic and geopolitical uncertainty, in-house legal teams are running lean and facing increased scrutiny and unique issues, but can step up and find innovative ways to manage outcomes and capitalize on good business opportunities, says Tim Parilla at LinkSquares.
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How Cities Can Tackle Post-Pandemic Budgeting Dilemmas
Due to increasing office vacancies around the country, cities may consider politically unpopular actions to avoid bankruptcy, but they could also look to the capital markets to ride out the current real estate crisis and achieve debt service savings to help balance their budgets, say attorneys at Cadwalader.