Residential
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July 26, 2024
Calif. Community Org Opposes FCC Bulk Billing Clampdown
A technology-focused community group in California has joined a chorus of advocates calling for the Federal Communications Commission to hit the brakes on a proposal to tighten rules for bulk billing in multitenant environments.
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July 26, 2024
Weyerhaeuser CEO Expects Single-Family Sector To 'Hold Up'
Weyerhaeuser Co. is confident the single-family market will hold up in the third quarter despite slumping sales as high mortgage rates persist, the lumber real estate investment trust said on its quarterly earnings call Friday.
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July 26, 2024
Chubb Unit Asks 11th Circ. To Undo $13.8M Appraisal Award
A Chubb unit asked the Eleventh Circuit on Friday to reverse the approval of a Florida condominium association's $13.8 million appraisal award for hurricane damage sustained in 2017, arguing that a lower court erred in finding that one of the appraisers was partial to the association.
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July 26, 2024
Insurers See Losses Amid Migration To Severe Weather States
Population migration into parts of the U.S. with more severe weather is one factor driving the worst U.S. homeowner's insurance underwriting results since at least 2000, according to a report on the insurance industry from AM Best.
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July 25, 2024
Newsom Cites High Court In Ordering Encampments Cleared
California Gov. Gavin Newsom on Thursday ordered state agencies to start removing homeless encampments on state property while providing outreach services to homeless residents following a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling that gave governments broader authority to ban camping in public.
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July 25, 2024
Mr. Cooper Picks Up Flagstar Resi Mortgage Unit For $1.4B
Flagstar Bank NA announced Thursday that it has inked a $1.4 billion deal to sell its residential mortgage servicing business to nonbank mortgage originator Mr. Cooper, as Flagstar and parent New York Community Bancorp eye a turnaround.
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July 25, 2024
Munck Wilson Adds Barnes & Thornburg Litigator In Dallas
Munck Wilson Mandala LLP is growing its litigation team, announcing Wednesday that it is bringing in a Barnes & Thornburg LLP commercial litigator in its Dallas office.
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July 25, 2024
IRS, Zaxby's Co-Founder To Settle $43M Easement Suit
The Internal Revenue Service agreed to settle a $43 million valuation dispute over a conservation easement donated by the co-founder of the Zaxby's restaurant chain and his wife, prompting a Georgia federal court Thursday to cancel next month's anticipated jury trial.
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July 25, 2024
Ore. Court Won't Toss Law Capping Taxable Home Values
A homeowner's attempt to lower the taxable value of his property was denied by the Oregon Tax Court, which said it did not have the authority to determine whether a law capping annual taxable value increases for some properties was unconstitutional.
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July 24, 2024
How Hinckley Allen Took On Rhode Island Beach-Access Law
A Rhode Island judge this month sided with beachfront property owners, represented by Hinckley Allen & Snyder LLP, ruling that a 2023 law that shifts the public access line landward amounts to a taking.
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July 24, 2024
Top Texas Real Estate News In 2024 So Far
Catch up on the hottest real estate news out of Texas so far this year, from data center construction and roadblocks in a major rail project to a Texas landowner's win in a takings suit and the U.S. Department of Justice's first predatory mortgage suit.
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July 24, 2024
Section 8 Landlords Face Trial In False Claims Act Suit
Tenants who receive Section 8 housing vouchers are staking out their arguments in a False Claims Act suit as landlords and property managers do the same ahead of the class action's trial next week in California federal court.
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July 24, 2024
Real Estate Buyer Says Developer Can't Arbitrate His Claims
A Miami-based venture capitalist has told a New York federal judge that real estate firm Desarrolladora La Ribera can't simultaneously invoke and reject arbitration clauses in a defamation suit against him and another homebuyer in a luxury Four Seasons-branded development in Los Cabos, Mexico.
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July 24, 2024
Connecticut Justices Won't Certify 'Slum' Tenant Class
A Connecticut state court judge was under no obligation to redefine a proposed class of low-income tenants in order to help them meet the certification requirements in a fraud and unfair trade practices lawsuit against their corporate landlord and property manager, the state Supreme Court hs ruled.
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July 24, 2024
NJ Atty Suspended For Using Client Funds From RICO Cases
The New Jersey Supreme Court this week issued a three-year suspension against an attorney accused of misusing client funds from a racketeering case to buy a new computer system and pay his wife for paralegal services.
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July 24, 2024
Ex-McElroy Deutsch Exec Says Ch. 11 Doesn't Pause Claims
A former McElroy Deutsch executive told a New Jersey state court that just because her husband — former McElroy Deutsch chief financial officer John Dunlea — has filed for bankruptcy does not mean she needs to pause her claims against the firm for discrimination and retaliation.
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July 24, 2024
3 Takeaways On CFIUS' Bid To Expand Real Estate Coverage
Real estate practitioners should not overlook the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States' plan to bring 59 more military sites under its jurisdiction for reviewing land deals, even if the proposal comes as no surprise, attorneys said.
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July 24, 2024
State Bank Supervisors' GC On Regulation 'Push And Pull'
Margaret Liu, general counsel for the Conference of State Bank Supervisors, spoke to Law360 Real Estate Authority about navigating the balance between federal and state financial agencies, sharing information with the Federal Housing Finance Agency and what a recent U.S. Supreme Court decision means for state financial regulators.
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July 23, 2024
Real Estate Sector Wrestles With CrowdStrike Outage
Days after a sprawling information technology outage affecting 8.5 million Windows devices grounded airplanes and halted a number of services, the toll on the real estate industry — especially for the hospitality sector and financial services firms — is still being revealed.
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July 23, 2024
Ill. City Says Reparations Opponents Have No Standing
The city of Evanston, Illinois, has urged a federal judge to toss a proposed class action alleging a 2020 housing reparation program in the city is discriminatory, saying the plaintiffs lack standing since they are not local residents and do not own property in Evanston.
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July 23, 2024
KKR Financing REIT Sees The 'Proverbial Light' Ahead
Executives of KKR & Co.'s financing-focused real estate investment trust struck a hopeful tone about pursuing credit deals in the near future after taking a more guarded approach in the last year, while the company posted fewer losses than it previously forecasted for the second quarter.
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July 23, 2024
Mich. Raises Fine For Unreported Property Transfers
Michigan increased a penalty for property owners who fail to notify an assessor's office of a transfer of ownership under a bill signed Tuesday by Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer.
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July 23, 2024
Tax Foreclosure Kickback Suit Too Late, Mich. County Says
A Wayne County, Michigan, treasurer has argued in Michigan federal court that a putative class action accusing the county and other parties of engaging in a tax foreclosure and kickbacks scheme is time-barred.
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July 23, 2024
Biz Groups Form Lobby Effort To Fight FCC Bulk Billing Rules
Bulk billing agreements are often a boon for people living in apartment buildings and condos, according to a new coalition made up of multifamily housing organizations and a cable trade group, which was formed to push the Federal Communications Commission to reconsider banning such arrangements.
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July 23, 2024
Chicago Arena Owners Propose $7B Mixed-Use Project
The owners of Chicago's United Center, as well as city and community leaders, unveiled a $7 billion investment that aims to build a mixed-use project across more than 55 acres of land near the sports arena, according to a Tuesday announcement.
Expert Analysis
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Playing Hockey Makes Me A Better Lawyer
Nearly a lifetime of playing hockey taught me the importance of avoiding burnout in all aspects of life, and the game ultimately ended up providing me with the balance I needed to maintain success in my legal career, says John Riccione at Taft.
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Illinois EV Charging Act Sparks Developer Concerns
A recent state law in Illinois requiring multifamily housing to provide facilities for electric vehicle charging raises significant concerns for developers over existing infrastructure that isn't up to the task, says Max Kanter at Much Shelist.
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What NAR Settlement Means For Agent Commission Rates
If approved, a joint settlement agreement between the National Association of Realtors and a class of home sellers will likely take the onus off home sellers to compensate buyers' agents, affecting considerations for all parties to real estate transactions, say attorneys at Jones Foster.
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Calif. Banking Brief: All The Notable Legal Updates In Q1
The first quarter of the year brought the usual onslaught of new regulatory developments in California — including a crackdown on junk fees imposed by small business lenders, a big step forward for online notarizations and a ban on predatory listing agreements, says Alex Grigorians at Hanson Bridgett.
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2nd Circ. Ruling Clarifies When Demand Letters Are Claims
The Second Circuit’s decision last week in Pine Management v. Colony Insurance, affirming that an insurer had no obligation to defend an insured for claims made before the policy period, provides clarity on when presuit demands for relief constitute claims — an important issue that may be dispositive of coverage, says Bonnie Thompson at Lavin Rindner.
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Serving As A Sheriff's Deputy Made Me A Better Lawyer
Skills developed during my work as a reserve deputy — where there was a need to always be prepared, decisive and articulate — transferred to my practice as an intellectual property litigator, and my experience taught me that clients often appreciate and relate to the desire to participate in extracurricular activities, says Michael Friedland at Friedland Cianfrani.
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Preparing For Possible Calif. Criminal Antitrust Enforcement
Though a recent announcement that the California Attorney General's Office will resume criminal prosecutions in support of its antitrust enforcement may be mere saber-rattling, companies and their counsel should nevertheless be prepared for interactions with the California AG's Antitrust Section that are not limited to civil liability issues, say Dylan Ballard and Lillian Sun at V&E.
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Conn. Loan Law Tweaks May Have 3 Major Effects On Lenders
Recently proposed minor amendments to Connecticut’s consumer protection laws could nonetheless mean major and unexpected changes to state consumer financial services regulations that dictate how lenders and their customer-facing service providers handle fee payments, mortgage servicer licensing and private student loans, says Jonathan Joshua at Joshua Law Firm.
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Document Retention Best Practices To Lower Litigation Risks
As new technologies emerge and terabytes of data can be within the purview of a single discovery request, businesses small and large should take four document management steps to effectively minimize risks of litigation and discovery sanctions long before litigation ensues, says Kimbrilee Weber at Norris McLaughlin.
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Riding My Peloton Bike Makes Me A Better Lawyer
Using the Peloton platform for cycling, running, rowing and more taught me that fostering a mind-body connection will not only benefit you physically and emotionally, but also inspire stamina, focus, discipline and empathy in your legal career, says Christopher Ward at Polsinelli.
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The Challenges SEC's Climate Disclosure Rule May Face
Attorneys at Debevoise examine potential legal challenges to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's new climate-related disclosure rule — against which nine suits have already been filed — including arguments under the Administrative Procedure Act, the major questions doctrine, the First Amendment and the nondelegation doctrine.
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Class Actions At The Circuit Courts: March Lessons
In this month's review of class action appeals, Mitchell Engel at Shook Hardy discusses four notable circuit court decisions on topics from consumer fraud to employment — and provides key takeaways for counsel on issues including coercive communications with putative class members and Article III standing at the class certification stage.
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Spartan Arbitration Tactics Against Well-Funded Opponents
Like the ancient Spartans who held off a numerically superior Persian army at the Battle of Thermopylae, trial attorneys and clients faced with arbitration against an opponent with a bigger war chest can take a strategic approach to create a pass to victory, say Kostas Katsiris and Benjamin Argyle at Venable.