Residential
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September 04, 2024
Colo. Cuts Property Tax Assessment Rates, Limits Growth
Colorado will cut property tax assessment rates and impose caps on the growth of local revenue under legislation signed into law Wednesday by Gov. Jared Polis, staving off two ballot initiatives critics said would have devastated local government budgets.
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September 04, 2024
Insurer Must Cover Woman's Fire Claim, Wash. Panel Says
An insurer must cover a woman's claim for damage to her former home after she was assaulted and set on fire by her ex-husband, a Washington state appeals court ruled, finding that a domestic abuse exception to the policy's intentional loss exclusion applies.
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September 04, 2024
Real Estate Lawyers On The Move
Dentons, White & Case and K&L Gates are among the law firms that have made recent real estate and construction hires.
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September 04, 2024
Where BigLaw Real Estate Presidential Donations Are Going
Law360 examined presidential campaign contributions from over 1,000 BigLaw real estate attorneys to see where that slice of the legal community is sending its support. Here's what we found.
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September 04, 2024
McElroy Deutsch's Former CFO Fights Bid To Sink Ch. 11 Case
The currently incarcerated former chief financial officer for McElroy Deutsch Mulvaney & Carpenter LLP denied that his Chapter 11 filing was a bad faith maneuver meant to stall ongoing civil litigation, claiming instead that the bankruptcy will allow for the liquidation of property for the benefit of creditors.
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September 04, 2024
Mass. Tax Panel OKs Nix Of Value Cut On Renovated Housing
The owner of a Massachusetts apartment building that contains a commercial space was unable to have the property's valuation reduced because its evidence of comparable sales didn't account for differences in the properties, the state Appellate Tax Board affirmed.
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September 03, 2024
7th Circ. Upholds Arbitration In Menards Hidden Fees Suit
The Seventh Circuit on Tuesday upheld a decision to compel arbitration in a proposed class action claiming that home improvement retailer Menards used a hidden pickup service fee to manipulate its prices, saying the company provided "reasonably conspicuous" notice of its terms on the page where the lead plaintiff completed her online order.
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September 03, 2024
Moody's Says CMBS Delinquencies May Top Pandemic Highs
Delinquencies for commercial mortgage-backed securities increased for the 10th month in a row when the rate hit 6.5%, Moody's has found, signaling CMBS delinquency rates may climb beyond the 8.3% pandemic peak before the end of 2024.
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September 03, 2024
IRS Should Be Bound By $2M Bankruptcy Deal, Justices Told
An Alabama real estate developer who sought bankruptcy protection and agreed to settle his tax debts for $2 million asked the U.S. Supreme Court to review a decision allowing the IRS to demand additional taxes from him, saying the agency shouldn't be allowed to back out of the deal.
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September 03, 2024
Multifamily Real Estate Co. Buys Ind. Apartment Community
Gray Capital bought a 384-unit Indianapolis, Indiana, Class A apartment community, acquiring its 11th apartment asset in the area, the multifamily investment company announced Tuesday.
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September 03, 2024
Ex-Miami Atty's Countersuit Tossed Due To Litigation Privilege
A Florida state judge has tossed an ex-Miami city attorney's countersuit against a constituent, saying her suit fighting real estate fraud allegations that she says led to her termination is barred by the state's litigation privilege doctrine in which absolute immunity protects certain statements made in court proceedings.
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September 03, 2024
Construction Spending Sees Summer Bump, Per US Census
Money doled out for construction projects in July was 6.7% higher than the U.S. Census Bureau's $2 trillion spending estimate that it provided in July 2023 when seasonally adjusted at an annual rate, the federal agency announced Tuesday.
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September 03, 2024
Former Aide To NY Gov. Indicted On Foreign Agent Charges
A former aide to New York Gov. Kathy Hochul and ex-Gov. Andrew Cuomo was arrested Tuesday on allegations of secretly acting as an agent of China's government in a yearslong political conspiracy to promote the interests of the Chinese Communist Party and reap millions of dollars.
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August 30, 2024
Property Plays: Sixth Street, Citadel, 49ers
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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August 30, 2024
New York Code Council, Officials Duck Natural Gas Ban Suit
A New York federal court dropped the New York Department of State, the New York State Fire Prevention and Building Code Council and several state officials from trade groups' challenge to the state's recent ban on natural gas in new construction.
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August 30, 2024
Steward Says It Has Deal To Avert Some Hospital Closures
Bankrupt hospital operator Steward Health Care System has a tentative agreement that would eliminate over $6 billion of claims against it, keep the majority of its 31 hospitals operating while saving three from potential closure and set it on a path to confirm a Chapter 11 plan, attorneys told a Texas bankruptcy judge Friday.
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August 30, 2024
Marcus & Millichap Unit Closes $95M Apartment Complex Sale
A subsidiary of brokerage Marcus & Millichap has arranged the $95 million sale of a Simi Valley, California, multifamily property.
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August 30, 2024
Condo Board Coverage Suit Over Maui Wildfire Gets Tossed
A Hawaii federal judge tossed an insurer's suit seeking to avoid representing a condo association and property manager after owners sent a letter blaming the association for illegally having insufficient insurance before the 2023 Maui wildfires decimated Lahaina, concluding matters were best left to Hawaii state court.
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August 30, 2024
Developer Closes $70.2M Wash. Multifamily Property Buy
Real estate developer, investor and operator Security Properties purchased a 159-unit Sammamish, Washington, multifamily property for $70.2 million, the company announced.
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August 30, 2024
PE Firm Bascom Snaps Up Bakersfield Complex For $56.6M
Bascom Group said it has acquired a 249-unit, build-to-rent property in Bakersfield, California, for $56.6 million, in its sixth purchase of 2024.
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August 30, 2024
Home REIT Sells 101 Properties For £18.5M
Home REIT PLC said Friday that it has sold more than 100 properties for £18.5 million ($24.4 million), as the struggling property investment trust looks to pay back its debts and inject working capital into the business.
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August 29, 2024
PNC Asks 4th Circ. To Reconsider HELOC 'Offset' Ban Ruling
PNC Bank has asked the Fourth Circuit to take another look at its ruling that extended the "offset" provision of the Truth in Lending Act, which prevents banks from using funds held in deposit accounts to offset credit card debt without the consumer's consent, to home equity lines of credit.
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August 29, 2024
CFPB Fines NewDay $2.25M Over VA Home Loan Practices
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau levied a $2.25 million fine against NewDay Financial LLC on Thursday for allegedly deceiving active-duty service members and veterans seeking cash-out refinance loans on their home mortgages.
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August 29, 2024
Building Codes Key Part Of Mitigating Insurance Risks
Property and casualty insurers have highlighted resilient building as a way to address burgeoning property risk, but experts told Law360 the government alone cannot be expected to improve insurance outcomes without engagement from state and local jurisdictions and private organizations on issues like building codes and federal grants.
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August 29, 2024
Counterclaims Cut From $12.1M Home Security Contract Suit
The home-security arm of Pennsylvania-based builder Toll Brothers has persuaded a Connecticut state court to trim some of the counterclaims from its litigation with Security Systems Inc., successfully arguing that the buyer of nearly 10,000 customer accounts hasn't shown that damages exceed the $1.5 million "attrition reserve" the company was already holding on to.
Expert Analysis
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A Closer Look At Feds' Proposed Banker Compensation Rule
A recently proposed rule to limit financial institutions' ability to award incentive-based compensation for risk-taking may progress through the rulemaking process slowly due to the sheer number of regulators collaborating on the rule and the number of issues under consideration, say attorneys at Troutman Pepper.
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The FTC And DOJ Should Backtrack On RealPage
The antitrust agencies ought to reverse course on their enforcement actions against RealPage, which are based on a faulty legal premise, risk further property shortages and threaten the use of algorithms that are central to the U.S. economy, says Thomas Stratmann at George Mason University.
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Fishing Makes Me A Better Lawyer
Atop the list of ways fishing makes me a better lawyer is the relief it offers from the chronic stress of a demanding caseload, but it has also improved my listening skills and patience, and has served as an exceptional setting for building earnest relationships, says Steven DeGeorge at Robinson Bradshaw.
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Circuit Judge Writes An Opinion, AI Helps: What Now?
Last week's Eleventh Circuit opinion in Snell v. United Specialty Insurance, notable for a concurrence outlining the use of artificial intelligence to evaluate a term's common meaning, is hopefully the first step toward developing a coherent basis for the judiciary's generative AI use, says David Zaslowsky at Baker McKenzie.
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Ohio Tax Talk: The Legislative Push For Property Tax Relief
As Ohio legislators attempt to alleviate the increasing property tax burden, four recent bills that could significantly affect homeowners propose to eliminate replacement property tax levies, freeze property taxes for longtime homeowners, adjust homestead exemptions annually for inflation, and temporarily expand the homestead exemption, say Raghav Agnihotri and Rachael Chamberlain at Frost Brown.
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In The CFPB Playbook: Regulatory Aims Get High Court Assist
Newly emboldened after the U.S. Supreme Court last month found that the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's funding is constitutional, the bureau has likely experienced a psychic boost, allowing its already robust enforcement agenda to continue expanding, say attorneys at Husch Blackwell.
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What's New In Kentucky's Financial Services Overhaul
Kentucky's H.B. 726 will go into effect in July and brings with it some significant restructuring to the Kentucky Financial Services Code, including changes to mortgage loan license fees and repeals of provisions relating to installment term loans and savings associations, say attorneys at Frost Brown.
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A Comparison Of FDIC, OCC Proposed Merger Approaches
Max Bonici and Connor Webb at Venable take a closer look at the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.'s and Office of the Comptroller of the Currency's respective bank merger proposals and highlight certain common themes and important differences, in light of regulators continually rethinking their approaches to bank mergers.
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Tax Assessment: Recapping Georgia's Legislative Session
Jonathan Feldman and Alla Raykin at Eversheds Sutherland examine tax-related changes from Georgia’s General Assembly — such as the governor’s successful push to accelerate income tax cuts — and suggest steps to take before certain tax incentives are challenged in the state's next legislative session.
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11th Circ. Ruling May Foreshadow Ch. 15 Clashes
The Eleventh Circuit's recent decision in In re: Talal Qais Abdulmunem Al Zawawi has introduced a split from the Second Circuit regarding whether debtors in foreign proceedings must have a domicile, calling attention to the understudied nature of Chapter 15 of the Bankruptcy Code, say attorneys at Cleary.
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Teaching Yoga Makes Me A Better Lawyer
Being a yoga instructor has helped me develop my confidence and authenticity, as well as stress management and people skills — all of which have crossed over into my career as an attorney, says Laura Gongaware at Clyde & Co.
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A Look At New IRS Rules For Domestically Controlled REITs
The Internal Revenue Services' finalized Treasury Regulations addressing whether real estate investment trusts qualify as domestically controlled adopt the basic structure of previous proposals, but certain new and modified rules may mitigate the regulations' impact, say attorneys at Simpson Thacher.
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What CRA Deadline Means For Biden Admin. Rulemaking
With the 2024 election rapidly approaching, the Biden administration must race to finalize proposed agency actions within the next few weeks, or be exposed to the chance that the following Congress will overturn the rules under the Congressional Review Act, say attorneys at Covington.