Residential
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July 16, 2024
Ex-Philly Charter School Exec Gets 7 Years For Embezzlement
Abdur Rahim Islam, who ran famed R&B producer Kenny Gamble's Philadelphia-based housing and education nonprofit, was sentenced Tuesday to seven years in prison for stealing hundreds of thousands of dollars from the organization and using the ill-gotten gains for Caribbean vacations.
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July 15, 2024
Investor Sues To Block Co-Founder Takeover At Startup Redy
Colorado investor Deer Park Road Management Co. argues a non-celebrity co-founder of real estate marketplace Redy.com took money from the startup to fund his lifestyle and cover an $875,000 civil defamation settlement as he tries to complete a takeover of the company's board.
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July 15, 2024
Bulk Billing Regs Could Hurt Lower-Income Tenants, FCC Told
Tighter regulations on bulk billing in multitenant environments could make it harder for seniors, low-income households and students to afford high-speed internet service, industry representatives told the Federal Communications Commission.
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July 15, 2024
VA Campus' Income Limits Are Discriminatory, Judge Finds
A California federal judge sided with a class of homeless, disabled military veterans on some of their claims in a lawsuit accusing the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development of discrimination for failing to build permanent supportive housing for them in Los Angeles.
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July 15, 2024
Broker Guides $57M Sale Of Fla. Multifamily Community
A Florida-based real estate company purchased a 296-unit multifamily Fort Myers, Florida, community in a $57 million deal brokered by JBM Institutional Multifamily Advisors, the broker announced Monday.
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July 15, 2024
Conn. Mixed-Use Project Moves Ahead With $165M Financing
Four firms and one solo practitioner guided Barings and Counterpointe Sustainable Real Estate's provision of a combined $165.3 million for the second phase of Baywater Properties' mixed-use development in Darien, Connecticut, according to a Monday statement from Barings.
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July 15, 2024
Pa. Extends Tax Breaks To Longtime Pittsburgh Homeowners
Pennsylvania will expand a property tax relief program to allow longtime homeowners in Pittsburgh to claim tax breaks related to rising real estate taxes under a bill signed by Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro.
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July 15, 2024
DC Circ. Won't Rethink Revived DOJ Realtor Antitrust Probe
The D.C. Circuit won't reconsider a ruling that allowed the U.S. Department of Justice to reopen an investigation into certain rules and policies of the National Association of Realtors, rejecting the trade group's request that the court correct "far-reaching and exceptionally important" legal errors.
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July 15, 2024
McElroy Deutsch Fights 'Malicious' Claim In Exec Fraud Case
McElroy Deutsch Mulvaney & Carpenter LLP and its former business development director, who is accused of stealing millions from the firm partially via fraudulent credit card use, are at odds over whether the firm's ex-employee should be allowed to bring a malicious prosecution counterclaim in New Jersey state court.
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July 15, 2024
Multifamily CMBS Loan Distress Keeps Climbing
The percentage of commercial mortgage-backed securities loans for multifamily properties in distress has more than tripled since January, reaching new heights in June, per a report from CRED iQ.
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July 15, 2024
LendingTree Urges FCC To Narrow Lead Consent Rule
Loan marketplace LendingTree is asking the Federal Communications Commission to add an exception to its new "lead generator" consent rule, saying that as it's currently constructed, the rule disadvantages small businesses competing with larger brand names.
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July 15, 2024
TPG Real Estate Buys MHC Portfolio In $740M Deal
Canadian Apartment Properties Real Estate Investment Trust on Monday revealed it has agreed to sell its manufactured-home community portfolio to private equity giant TPG's real estate platform for $740 million.
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July 12, 2024
Law360 Names 2024's Top Attorneys Under 40
Law360 is pleased to announce the Rising Stars of 2024, our list of 158 attorneys under 40 whose legal accomplishments belie their age.
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July 12, 2024
Property Plays: Brookfield, Bally's, Kushner Cos.
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 12, 2024
Conn. Justices Avoid Entanglement Issues In Rabbi Land Row
The Connecticut Supreme Court on Friday agreed that a property dispute between the Chabad Lubavitch of Western and Southern New England Inc. and a Stamford rabbi belongs before a private religious panel, settling the case on arbitration principles and declining to analyze broader entanglement questions.
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July 12, 2024
Behind Ex-McElroy Deutsch CFO's Ch. 11
McElroy Deutsch Mulvaney & Carpenter's former chief financial officer, who has admitted to skimming off $1.5 million from his firm, has filed for bankruptcy in New Jersey as he faces both a civil suit and criminal charges over the embezzlement.
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July 12, 2024
DC To Offer 15-Year Tax Freeze For Office Conversion Projects
Washington, D.C., plans to offer a 15-year property tax freeze for projects that aim to reposition an office building for a different commercial use, building on the city's larger effort to enliven its downtown, according to an announcement by Mayor Muriel Bowser.
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July 12, 2024
FHFA Unveils New Protections For Multifamily Tenants
Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will institute new tenant protections for multifamily properties financed by both enterprises, the Federal Housing Finance Agency announced Friday.
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July 12, 2024
Loan Guarantor Can't Dodge Citibank's Foreclosure Bid
A New York federal judge refused to dismiss a loan guarantor from Citibank's mortgage loan foreclosure suit accusing the owner of a Brooklyn apartment building of defaulting on a $15 million commercial mortgage loan.
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July 11, 2024
Biden's FDIC Pick Hangs Tough Amid GOP Doubts On Record
President Joe Biden's candidate for Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. chair faced scrutiny Thursday as Republican senators at her nomination hearing expressed their skepticism about her readiness to lead the agency, but her critics nevertheless appeared unlikely to derail her prospects for confirmation outright.
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July 11, 2024
Allstate Must Face Deflated Payments Suit, Judge Rules
Allstate cannot escape a proposed class action accusing the insurer of wrongfully depreciating labor costs as part of actual cash value payments to insureds for property damage, an Arizona federal judge ruled, finding that the named plaintiff didn't lack standing and that her claims weren't time-barred.
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July 11, 2024
Ross Steps Down At Related Cos. To Run Florida-Based Firm
Stephen M. Ross, a giant in the real estate development world, is stepping away from his leadership role as chairman of Related Cos., which he founded in 1972, to focus on the South Florida market as the head of a new firm.
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July 11, 2024
Condo Owner Can Sue Over Icy Sidewalk, Mich. Justices Rule
A condominium owners' association can be sued by a member who slipped on ice in a common area, the Michigan Supreme Court ruled Thursday, finding an association has a duty to exercise reasonable care to protect condo owners in shared spaces.
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July 11, 2024
Pa. Condo Owner Group Takes Inner-Tower Conflict To Court
The residents association of a downtown Pittsburgh condo building sued the building's commercial association in state court, alleging they have been improperly denied access to commercial sections of the building needed to complete HVAC repair work.
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July 11, 2024
Lender Seeks Receivership Of Goldman Sachs SF Properties
A lender affiliated with the Royal Bank of Canada claimed in California state court that a company affiliated with Goldman Sachs and a property owner defaulted on a $162 million loan and urged the court to place the company's property portfolio into receivership.
Expert Analysis
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The Year Ahead In Foreign Investment And National Security
In 2024, expect the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, already at the forefront of addressing national security threats, to increase monitoring and enforcement related to outbound investment, focus on supply chain resilience in nondefense sectors, and heighten oversight of agricultural transactions, say attorneys at Holland & Knight.
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A Challenging CRE Environment Holds Opportunities In 2024
As the commercial real estate market faces reduced occupancy levels and rising financing costs, the new landscape will be favorable to those who can leverage capital, strategic vision and expertise to meet challenges like taking on distressed properties and converting office space to residential use, say Nesa Amamoo and Vered Rabia at Skadden.
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A Former Bankruptcy Judge Talks 2023 High Court Rulings
In 2023, the U.S. Supreme Court issued four bankruptcy law opinions — an extraordinary number — and a close look at these cases signals that changes to the U.S. Bankruptcy Code will have to come from Congress, not the courts, says Phillip Shefferly at the University of Michigan Law School.
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Children's Book Writing Makes Me A Better Lawyer
Becoming a children's book author has opened doors to incredible new experiences of which I barely dared to dream, but the process has also changed my life by serving as a reminder that strong writing, networking and public speaking skills are hugely beneficial to a legal career, says Shaunna Bailey at Sheppard Mullin.
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DOJ Comments Reveal Road Ahead For Mortgage Redlining
Comments from two U.S. Department of Justice representatives at a recent fair lending conference show that the DOJ is prioritizing investigations and enforcement against redlining risks, and highlight important compliance steps for lenders, say Lori Sommerfield and Chris Willis at Troutman Pepper.
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DOJ's RealPage Notice Signals Focus On Pricing Algorithms
The U.S. Department of Justice's Antitrust Division recently filed a statement of interest in the Realpage multidistrict litigation to stake out its position that price-fixing algorithms pose a great anti-competitive threat, which suggests that the DOJ and private parties may continue to bring similar actions in the future, say attorneys at Simpson Thacher.
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4 Key Types Of Coming FHLBank Reforms To Watch
Though the Federal Housing Finance Agency's recent report on the Federal Home Loan Bank System has received relatively little attention, the regulatory and legislative changes it proposes in four categories herald the start of a significant effort by the agency to reform the system’s structure and operations and overhaul requirements for member banks, say attorneys at Mayer Brown.
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Property Owner Considerations Around Electric Vehicle Bans
In light of a property management company's recent ban on electric vehicles in Canada, it's worth considering how similar bans might fare in Florida and other U.S. states, and the legal ramifications that could potentially arise, say Gerardo Ortega and Gary Kaleita at Lowndes.
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Trump NY Fraud Trial Shows Civil, Criminal Case Differences
Former President Donald Trump’s civil fraud trial currently unfolding in New York provides a reminder that civil bench trials can be just as damaging, if not more so, than criminal prosecutions, due to several key elements of civil litigation procedure, says retired attorney David Moskowitz.
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Why NYC Building Owners Shouldn't Ignore Emissions Rule
New rules from the New York City Department of Buildings clarify the previously vague good faith efforts that building owners may make to mitigate penalties for not complying with a major carbon emission law that takes effect in January, and should discourage owners from simply paying the fines instead of decarbonizing, says William McCracken at Moritt Hock.
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What NJ's Green Remediation Guidance Means For Cleanups
Recent guidance from the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection promoting greener approaches to restoring contaminated sites demonstrates the state's commitment to sustainability and environmental justice — but could also entail more complexity, higher costs and longer remediation timelines, say J. Michael Showalter and Bradley Rochlen at ArentFox Schiff.
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A New Path Forward For Surplus Land Owners In Calif.
A new California law signed last month enables some religious institutions and nonprofit colleges to build affordable housing on surplus land, and its requirements — which are more manageable than they may appear — will support long-term benefits including good housing and the survival of worthy institutions, says Stephen Wilson at Withers.
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Inside Bank Regulators' Community Lending Law Overhaul
The federal banking agencies' recently finalized changes to the Community Reinvestment Act not only account for the gradual shift to an environment where lending and deposit-taking are primarily conducted online, but also implement other updates such as diversity initiatives and a new series of lending tests, say attorneys at Norton Rose.