Residential
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October 23, 2024
Investor Tied To Texas AG Seeks Investigation Info From Feds
Real estate investor Nate Paul is looking to get more information from federal prosecutors about their investigation into federal fraud charges he's facing — topics that featured prominently during the failed impeachment of Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton — according to court filings from U.S. Attorney's Office employees.
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October 23, 2024
9th Circ. Judge Suggests Equity Pact Counts As Wash. Loan
A Ninth Circuit judge said Wednesday he was "struggling with" a company's stance that its equity-sharing agreement with two homeowners in Washington state doesn't amount to a loan covered by state laws regulating reverse mortgages, saying the arrangement appears to check the boxes of the statutory definition.
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October 23, 2024
NJ City Permitted Bigger Project To End Suit, Opponent Says
A property owner's nonprofit has brought a new lawsuit claiming that the city of Hoboken, New Jersey, gave a developer more than $50 million in project benefits in a settlement that could nearly double the scope of a pair of mixed-use developments along the scenic Palisades cliffs.
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October 23, 2024
Securities Claim Cut From Fraud Suit Against Calif. Developer
A California federal judge trimmed a securities claim from a Sonoma resident's suit against a real estate company embroiled in a fraud scandal and recommended that the rest of the claims be brought in state court.
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October 23, 2024
Hunton Real Estate Leader Eyes Deal Volume Uptick In 2025
Real estate investors are closely monitoring the Federal Reserve's next moves, and with the belief that more rate cuts are coming, deal volume will likely pick up next year, one of Hunton Andrews Kurth LLP's real estate leaders told Law360 in a recent interview.
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October 23, 2024
Where Harris, Trump Stand On Housing, Wall Street Landlords
In the run-up to the November presidential election, Kamala Harris has made housing one of the keystones of her campaign platform as she seeks to take on Wall Street landlords and tackle a nationwide housing affordability crisis, while Donald Trump believes illegal immigration is largely to blame for rising home prices.
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October 23, 2024
Jones Day Brings Back RE Ace In Dallas From Winstead
Jones Day announced Wednesday that it is boosting its real estate offerings in Dallas with a returning attorney whose regional knowledge and industry experience will be a "real asset" to clients and who previously practiced in the area with Winstead PC.
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October 23, 2024
Ga. Firm Owner Denies SEC Ponzi Scheme Allegations
The owner of an Atlanta-area firm accused of running a multimillion-dollar "classic Ponzi scheme" has denied all wrongdoing, telling a Georgia federal judge he merely acted in reasonable reliance on others' advice and experience.
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October 23, 2024
Gibson Dunn, Seyfarth Guide $235M Brooklyn Condo Deal
An entity connected to Jenel Real Estate sold a Brooklyn condominium building to an entity affiliated with a KKR & Co. and Dalan Real Estate joint venture in a $235.4 million deal guided by Gibson Dunn & Crutcher LLP and Seyfarth Shaw LLP, according to official property records.
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October 23, 2024
2nd Circ. Backs Early Wells Fargo Win In $100M RMBS Case
The Second Circuit on Wednesday approved an early win for Wells Fargo in a lawsuit brought by Commerzbank AG alleging it lost $100 million investing in residential mortgage-backed securities, saying the German lender didn't have standing to sue.
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October 23, 2024
MVPs: Wachtell's Adam Emmerich & Robin Panovka
Adam Emmerich and Robin Panovka of Wachtell Lipton Rosen & Katz's real estate practice group guided Spirit Realty Capital Inc. in its $9.3 billion all-stock acquisition by Realty Income Corp., one of a string of multibillion-dollar acquisitions that earned the practice group leaders a spot as one of the 2024 Law360 Real Estate MVPs.
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October 22, 2024
NY Judge Trims HOA's Nuisance Suit Against Queens Stadium
A New York state court judge has pared a Forest Hills, Queens, homeowners association's nuisance suit against a local stadium owner accused of disturbing the neighborhood with lots of noise, traffic and crowds.
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October 22, 2024
Blank Rome, Goodwin Law Guide $105M NYC Apartment Deal
PGIM Real Estate has sold a New York City apartment building for $104.5 million, a notable loss clocking in at nearly $20 million below PGIM's original 2015 purchase price, per county property records.
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October 22, 2024
Building Permits, Construction Starts Dip In September
The number of building permits issued and construction starts fell in September, even as the total number of housing units completed nationwide continues to rise, a delayed marker of previous months' stronger permitting activity, per data compiled by the U.S. Census Bureau.
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October 22, 2024
Housing Biz Engaged In 'Rent-To-Own' Fraud, Renters Say
A proposed class of renters has accused homeownership company Landis Technologies Inc., its affiliates and multiple investment firms in Pennsylvania federal court of running a fraudulent rent-to-own scheme.
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October 22, 2024
The 2024 Prestige Leaders
Check out our Prestige Leaders ranking, analysis and interactive graphics to see which firms stand out for their financial performance, attractiveness to attorneys and law students, ability to secure accolades and positive legal news media representation.
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October 22, 2024
How Law Firms Get And Keep Elite Status
For decades, a handful of New York-based law firms thoroughly dominated the national consciousness when it came to power, profitability and prestige. But in today's legal market, increased movement of partners and clients from one firm to the next has begun to shake things up and create opportunities for go-getters to ascend the ranks.
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October 21, 2024
Rocket Mortgage Faces DOJ Suit Alleging Refi Race Bias
The U.S. Department of Justice on Monday sued Rocket Mortgage and two appraisal companies in Colorado federal court for allegedly undervaluing a woman's Denver home because she was Black, asserting that the mortgage company then canceled her refinancing application when she reported the alleged discrimination.
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October 21, 2024
Colo. Tenants Facing Eviction Are Entitled To Jury Trials
The Colorado Supreme Court ruled Monday that tenants in the state have a right to jury trials in eviction actions filed by their landlords if factual disputes exist in the case.
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October 21, 2024
US, Land Donor Settle Fight Over $1.9M Cut To Deduction
The federal government settled a suit brought by a Louisiana partnership that accused the IRS of using a flawed appraisal to drive down its tax deduction for a land donation by nearly $1.9 million, according to Louisiana federal court filings.
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October 21, 2024
Baha Mar Developer Wins $1.6B Verdict Over Delays
A New York state judge has handed the developer of the Bahamian resort Baha Mar a $1.6 billion verdict against a Chinese state-owned construction firm that was accused of concealing its massive delays in building the project and then sabotaging the development entirely when it realized catching up was hopeless.
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October 21, 2024
NYC Real Estate Week In Review
Greenberg Traurig and Fried Frank were among the law firms that handled the largest New York City real estate deals that hit public records last week, a period headlined by a nearly $160 million Manhattan deal.
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October 21, 2024
North Carolina Hits Vacation Rental Co. With Robocall Lawsuit
North Carolina Attorney General Josh Stein filed suit against timeshare company Club Exploria LLC in North Carolina federal court, accusing the company of illegally spamming residents across the state with robocalls that sought to sell timeshares and vacation rentals.
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October 21, 2024
Judge Upholds Ginnie Mae's Authority To Vacate Bank's Lien
A Texas federal judge ruled that the Government National Mortgage Association didn't overstep its authority when it vacated a bank's lien on a loan worth tens of millions of dollars, rejecting Texas Capital Bank's bid for partial summary judgment.
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October 21, 2024
Justices Won't Review IRS' Additions To Developer's $2M Deal
The U.S. Supreme Court said Monday it wouldn't review an Eleventh Circuit decision allowing the Internal Revenue Service to back out of a deal to settle an Alabama real estate developer's tax debt for $2 million.
Expert Analysis
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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.
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How New Rule Would Change CFIUS Enforcement Powers
Before the May 15 comment deadline, companies may want to weigh in on proposed regulatory changes to enforcement and mitigation tools at the disposal of the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, including broadened subpoena powers, difficult new mitigation timelines and higher maximum penalties, say attorneys at Venable.
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2nd Circ. Eminent Domain Ruling Empowers Municipalities
The Second Circuit's recent decision in Brinkmann v. Town of Southold, finding that a pretextual taking does not violate the Fifth Amendment's takings clause, gives municipalities a powerful tool with which to block unwanted development projects, even in bad faith, say James O'Connor and Benjamin Sugarman at Phillips Lytle.
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SEC Should Be Allowed To Equip Investors With Climate Info
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's new rule to require more climate-related disclosures will provide investors with much-needed clarity, despite opponents' attempts to challenge the rule with misused legal arguments, say Sarah Goetz at Democracy Forward and Cynthia Hanawalt at Columbia University’s Sabin Center for Climate Change.
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8 Fla. Statutes That Construction Cos. Should Prepare For
In this article, Jason Lambert at Hill Ward discusses a number of recent bills out of the Florida Legislature targeting construction companies in the Sunshine State that have been sent to the governor for signature, at least some of which will have broad impacts that affected companies should prepare for ahead of the July 1 effective date.
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Time To Fix NYC's Broken Property Assessment System
A New York appellate court's decision to revive Tax Equity Now New York v. City of New York may force the city to revamp its outdated and unfair real estate tax assessment system, which could be fixed with a couple of simple changes, says Seth Feldman at Romer Debbas.
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Understanding The IRC's Excessive Refund Claim Penalty
Taxpayers considering protective refund claims pending resolution of major questions in tax cases like Moore v. U.S., which is pending before the U.S. Supreme Court, should understand how doing so may also leave them vulnerable to an excessive refund claim penalty under Internal Revenue Code Section 6676, say attorneys at McDermott.
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Bankruptcy Ruling Shifts Lease Rejection Claim Calculation
A New York federal court’s recent ruling in In re: Cortlandt provides guidance on how to calculate a landlord's damages claim when a bankruptcy debtor rejects a lease, changing from an approach that considers the remaining rent due under the lease to one that considers the remaining time, say Bethany Simmons and Noah Weingarten at Loeb & Loeb.
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Do Not Overstate Fla. Condo Termination Ruling's Impact
A close look at the unique language at issue in Avila v. Biscayne, in which a Florida appellate court deemed a condo termination to be invalid, shows that the case is unlikely to significantly affect other potential terminations, say Barry Lapides and Edward Baker at Berger Singerman.
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Takeaways From FDIC's Spring Supervisory Highlights
The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.'s spring 2024 consumer compliance supervisory report found that relatively few institutions had significant consumer compliance issues last year, but the common thread among those that did were inadequacies or failures in disclosures to consumers, says Matthew Hanaghan at Nutter.
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Walking With My Dog Makes Me A Better Lawyer
Thanks to my dog Birdie, I've learned that carving out an activity different from the practice of law — like daily outdoor walks that allow you to interact with new people — can contribute to professional success by boosting creativity and mental acuity, as well as expanding your social network, says Sarah Petrie at the Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office.
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What Calif. Eviction Ruling Means For Defaulting Borrowers
A California appellate court's recent decision in Homeward Opportunities v. Taptelis found that a defaulting borrower could not delay foreclosure with an improperly served notice of pendency of action, but leaves open a possibility for borrowers to delay eviction proceedings merely by filing lawsuits, say Anne Beehler and Krystal Anderson at Holland & Knight.