Residential
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June 14, 2024
Miami Tower Takes $668M In Fla.'s Biggest Construction Loan
Kramer Levin Naftalis & Frankel LLP and Saul Ewing LLP advised developer Property Markets Group on taking out a $668 million construction loan — the largest in state history — for its Waldorf Astoria Hotel and Residences Miami.
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June 14, 2024
Political Speech Groups Challenge NJ Judicial Privacy Case
Two voting-integrity groups moved Friday to dismiss federal claims brought against them under New Jersey's Daniel's Law on the grounds that their business of publishing voter registration information is political speech protected by the First Amendment and federal voting rights laws.
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June 14, 2024
Polsinelli Adds Ex-Withers Real Estate Atty In NY
Polsinelli PC has hired a commercial real estate attorney from Withers as a shareholder in New York.
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June 13, 2024
CRE Expert Joins Emmet Marvin's Real Estate Finance Group
Emmet Marvin & Martin LLP announced that the firm has added a partner to its real estate finance group, bringing with her the commercial real estate expertise she gained from Cadwalader Wickersham & Taft LLP.
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June 13, 2024
NexPoint Asks Investors To Shake Up REIT After Ponzi Case
In a letter to shareholders June 13, an investor accused four incumbent trustees of repeatedly acting against their fiduciary duties in overseeing United Development Funding, a Texas-based firm controlled by four executives now serving time for running a Ponzi scheme.
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June 13, 2024
Mich. Bill Seeks Income Tax Credit For Home Down Payments
Michigan would create an income tax credit for homebuyers who purchase a single-family residence that would equal a portion of the down payment amount as part of a bill introduced in the state House of Representatives.
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June 13, 2024
Fla. Developer Inks $50M Capital Stack for Affordable Complex
Developer and construction company Pinnacle announced that it has secured $49.9 million in financing from various sources, which will allow the company to begin construction on a 120-unit expansion of an affordable housing community in unincorporated Miami-Dade County.
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June 13, 2024
Blackstone's $10B AIR Buy Gets Nod From Top 2 Proxy Firms
Denver-based Apartment Income REIT Corp.'s shareholders have recommendations from the two leading proxy advisory firms to approve an agreement to sell off the real estate investment trust to private equity giant Blackstone for $10 billion, the company announced June 13.
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June 13, 2024
Thompson Thrift Closes $250M Multifamily Development Fund
Thompson Thrift announced that the national real estate firm raised more than $250 million for its latest multifamily development fund, which will enable work on seven housing communities in suburban markets across the nation.
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June 13, 2024
Ohio Senate OKs Requiring Tax Payments For Property Splits
Ohio would require delinquent property taxes to be paid before a real parcel was subdivided or transferred and would prohibit tax-delinquent property owners from buying tax-foreclosed property under a bill passed by the state Senate.
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June 13, 2024
NYC Real Estate Week In Review
Willkie, Latham and Milbank were among the law firms that handled the largest New York City real estate deals that hit public records last week, a period that saw three deals north of $100 million hit records.
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June 12, 2024
NY Court Axes Landlords' Challenge To Rent Law Tweak
A New York federal judge dismissed landlords' suit challenging a December law that raised the stakes for property owners that fail to cooperate with municipalities attempting to enact rent stabilization, finding again that their Fourth and Fourteenth Amendment claims fall short.
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June 12, 2024
Oversupply Drags On Sun Belt Multifamily Sector
More than a fifth of multifamily collateralized loan obligations were categorized as concerning in April, with markets in the West and Southwest seeing the most concern, according to a recent report from KBRA Analytics.
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June 12, 2024
The Loan Discrimination Suits Notching Through Fed. Courts
Lawsuits over loan discrimination and the fallout faced by minority borrowers are being litigated in federal courts across the country, with banks, developers and the federal government facing claims.
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June 12, 2024
Calif. Pension System Invests $100M In Nuveen Housing Fund
The California Public Employees' Retirement System has provided $100 million for global investment manager Nuveen's affordable housing fund, Nuveen announced Wednesday.
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June 12, 2024
NYC Broker Bill Roils Agents, Who Say Landlords Won't Help
Scores of brokers rallied Wednesday on the steps of New York City Hall to oppose a bill before the New York City Council that would put the onus on landlords, rather than tenants, to pay broker fees.
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June 12, 2024
Mass. Tax Board Says No To Decrease In Parcel Values
The owner of a pair of Massachusetts land parcels failed to show they were overvalued by local assessors, a state tax board ruled in a decision released Wednesday, saying the owner sought relief beyond the board's authority on several issues.
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June 12, 2024
NJ Judicial Privacy Law Hit With Constitutional Challenge
Companies accused of violating Daniel's Law hit back in New Jersey federal court this week, calling the judicial data privacy protection measure unconstitutionally vague, harsh and riddled with loopholes, and arguing it is being "cynically" misused by the plaintiff, a data privacy company.
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June 12, 2024
Saul Ewing, Atty Allowed 'Unconscionable' Lease, Suit Says
A former Saul Ewing LLP client who is considered a vulnerable adult is suing the firm and one of its partners, claiming the lawyer failed to negotiate the "unconscionable terms" of a lease that required the client to take out a $400,000 loan and allowed his stepbrother tenant to pay rent one-seventieth the property's market value.
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June 12, 2024
Ore. Tax Court Affirms No Retroactive Fix To Home Value
The tax valuation of an Oregon residence erroneously assessed at a larger square footage cannot be retroactively reduced, the Oregon Tax Court said, upholding the state tax department's rejection of the request.
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June 12, 2024
First 'Survivor' Winner Wants $3M Tax Case Tossed
The winner of the first season of the TV series "Survivor" asked a Rhode Island federal court to toss the government's case against him seeking nearly $3.3 million in unpaid taxes, saying the liabilities stem from his flawed criminal conviction for tax evasion nearly 20 years ago.
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June 11, 2024
2nd Circ. Cites Macquarie In Booting Suit Over Go-Private Deal
The Second Circuit refused to revive a proposed class action accusing a real estate services provider of artificially depressing share prices, applying apparently for the first time the U.S. Supreme Court's Macquarie decision on alleged failures to disclose certain information.
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June 11, 2024
Listing Co. Urges Court To Ignore DOJ's Broker Deal Issues
A multiple listing service that has struck a $3 million settlement over broker commission rules told a Massachusetts federal court the changes proposed by the U.S. Department of Justice go far beyond what's required and would create an antitrust problem in the real estate industry.
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June 11, 2024
Conn. Man's Land Not Used For Farming, Appeals Court Finds
A tax assessor in Connecticut properly declassified a property owner's land as farmland, the state's appellate court ruled in an opinion released Tuesday, affirming a trial court's finding that the property was no longer used for farming.
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June 11, 2024
San Diego Hit With Class Action Over Homeless Camp Sweeps
Homeless residents in San Diego County filed a proposed class action against the county, two cities and state agencies in federal court, alleging they effectively criminalized homelessness amid an affordable housing shortage in order to drive unhoused citizens elsewhere.
Expert Analysis
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Short Message Data Challenges In E-Discovery
As short message platforms increasingly dominate work environments, lawyers face multiple programs, different communication styles and emoji in e-discovery, so they must consider new strategies to adapt their processes, says Cristin Traylor at Relativity.
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Ambiguity In 'Buy America' Implementation May Slow Projects
The White House Office of Management and Budget's most recent guidance, which builds on a complex patchwork of Buy America restrictions that vary by federal agency, would perpetuate government contractors' uncertainty regarding product and material classification and could delay infrastructure projects, say attorneys at Miles & Stockbridge.
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Thomas Report Is Final Straw — High Court Needs Ethics Code
As a recent report on Justice Clarence Thomas' ongoing conflicts of interest makes evident, Supreme Court justices should be subject to an enforceable and binding code of ethics — like all other federal judges — to maintain the credibility of the institution, says Erica Salmon Byrne at Ethisphere.
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La. Suit Could Set New Enviro Justice Litigation Paradigm
Inclusive Louisiana v. St. James Parish, a lawsuit filed recently in Louisiana federal court that makes wide-ranging and novel constitutional and statutory claims of environmental racism based on centuries of local history, could become a new template for environmental justice litigation against governments and businesses, say attorneys at King & Spalding.
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Lawyer Discernment Is Critical In The World Of AI
In light of growing practical concerns about risks and challenges posed by artificial intelligence, lawyers' experience with the skill of discernment will position them to help address new ethical and moral dilemmas and ensure that AI is developed and deployed in a way that benefits society as a whole, says Jennifer Gibbs at Zelle.
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Don't Forget Alumni Engagement When Merging Law Firms
Neglecting law firm alumni programs after a merger can sever the deep connections attorneys have with their former firms, but by combining good data management and creating new opportunities to reconnect, firms can make every member in their expanded network of colleagues feel valued, say Clare Roath and Erin Warner at Troutman Pepper.
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Every Lawyer Can Act To Prevent Peer Suicide
Members of the legal industry can help prevent suicide among their colleagues, and better protect their own mental health, by learning the predictors and symptoms of depression among attorneys and knowing when and how to get practical aid to peers in crisis, says Joan Bibelhausen at Minnesota Lawyers Concerned for Lawyers.
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Issues For Housing Credit Investors Following Bank Failures
Amid the uncertainty caused by the bank failures last month, low-income housing tax credit investors may want to revisit underwriting criteria for their equity guarantors and certain provisions under their partnership agreements, say Brad Butler and Maci Followell at Frost Brown.
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10th Circ. Ruling Could Gut Homeowners' Ch. 13 Safety Net
The Tenth Circuit’s recent ruling in Doll v. Goodman could spell the end of Chapter 13 protection for consumers in a number of states, and if the decision is replicated in other circuits, homeowners across the country could lose their homes for lack of a viable bankruptcy administration, says former U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Catherine Bauer, now at Signature Resolution.
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FTC Proposal Greatly Widens Auto-Renewal Regulation
The Federal Trade Commission's proposed rule on automatic renewal subscriptions would impose significant new obligations on sellers of negative option plans and expand the agency's enforcement powers, likely requiring companies to examine and change their practices, say attorneys at Squire Patton.
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Do Videoconferences Establish Jurisdiction With Defendants?
What it means to have minimum contacts in a foreign jurisdiction is changing as people become more accustomed to meeting via video, and defendants’ participation in videoconferencing may be used as a sword or a shield in courts’ personal jurisdiction analysis, says Patrick Hickey at Moye White.
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Humanism Should Replace Formalism In The Courts
The worrying tendency for judges to say "it's just the law talking, not me" in American decision writing has coincided with an historic decline in respect for the courts, but this trend can be reversed if courts develop understandable legal standards and justify them in human terms, says Connecticut Superior Court Judge Thomas Moukawsher.
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20 Years On, Campbell Holds Lessons On Reining In Ratios
Twenty years ago, the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in State Farm v. Campbell provided critical guidance on the constitutionally permissible ratio of punitive to compensatory damages — and both Campbell and subsequent federal circuit court decisions informed by it offer important pointers for defendants, say attorneys at Dechert.