Residential

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • 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. 

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • July 23, 2024

    Insurers Must Defend Well Driller In Lead Contamination Suit

    Insurers must defend a drilling company accused of contaminating a rental property's water supply with dangerous levels of lead, a Montana federal court ruled, saying they haven't shown the underlying claims fall outside the policies' insuring agreements or are otherwise excluded from coverage.

  • July 23, 2024

    Miami-Dade County Nabs $40M For Public Housing Upgrades

    Miami-Dade County announced that it received a $39.9 million grant from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, which will support investment in two public housing campuses in Overtown and across the entire neighborhood.

  • July 22, 2024

    EPA Awards $4.3B In Grants For Climate Change Projects

    The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said it's steering $4.3 billion in grant funding to 25 projects that promise to help curb greenhouse gas pollution, advance environmental justice and transition the country to clean power.

  • July 22, 2024

    Pretium Raises $1.5B For Investing In Single-Family Rentals

    Investment firm Pretium raised $1.5 billion for its sixth single-family housing fund, surpassing its fundraising goal with investments from U.S. pension plans, insurers, U.S. wealth managers and others, the firm announced Monday.

  • July 22, 2024

    New Precedent, New Fate For NAR 'Cooperation' Rule Suit

    A California federal judge reversed course Monday and revived a lawsuit, tossed in 2021, targeting National Association of Realtors rules that prevent real estate agents from listing properties outside their affiliated networks, after an intervening Ninth Circuit decision redirected the product market in question.

  • July 22, 2024

    Colo. Judge Blocks Zoning Ban On Church's Shelter Program

    A Colorado federal judge preliminarily blocked a town from enforcing zoning regulations to prevent a church from allowing homeless people to live in RVs on church property, finding the church could likely prove such enforcement unlawfully violates its religious freedom.

Expert Analysis

  • Looking Behind The Curtain Of Residential Transition Loans

    Author Photo

    As residential transition loans and securitizations of such loans grow increasingly popular, real estate stakeholders should take care to understand both the unique features and potential challenges offered by this novel asset class, say attorneys at Mayer Brown.

  • Hedging Variable Interest Rates In A Volatile Market

    Author Photo

    Variable rate loans, which were an advantageous borrowing method prior to the recent Federal Reserve rate hikes and subsequent volatility, are now the difference between borrowers remaining current on their obligations and defaulting due to the sharply increasing debt service requirements of their loans, say attorneys at Cassin & Cassin.

  • Mallory Gives Plaintiffs A Better Shot At Justice

    Author Photo

    Critics of the U.S. Supreme Court's recent decision in Mallory v. Norfolk Southern claim it opens the door to litigation tourism, but the ruling simply gives plaintiffs more options — enabling them to seek justice against major corporations in the best possible court, say Rayna Kessler and Ethan Seidenberg at Robins Kaplan.

  • CRA Plays Role In DOJ Fight Against Redlining

    Author Photo

    The U.S. Department of Justice’s recent consent order with ESSA Bank & Trust is a reminder that although the Community Reinvestment Act lacks a civil enforcement provision, financial institutions' CRA compliance efforts may have ramifications under various anti-discrimination statutes, say Collin Grier and Levi Swank at Goodwin.

  • Colo. Eviction Case Could Transform Tenant Rights

    Author Photo

    The Colorado Supreme Court recently granted certiorari in a case that could open the door for tenants to assert allegations of discrimination and retaliation during eviction proceedings, and dramatically prolong the state's process, says Jacob Hollars at Spencer Fane.

  • Courts Can Overturn Deficient State Regulations, Too

    Author Photo

    While suits challenging federal regulations have become commonplace, such cases against state agencies are virtually nonexistent, but many states have provisions that allow litigants to bring suit for regulations with inadequate cost-benefit analyses, says Reeve Bull at the Virginia Office of Regulatory Management.

  • Harsh 11th Circ. Rebuke Should Inspire Changes At CFPB

    Author Photo

    The Eleventh Circuit's recent Consumer Financial Protection Bureau v. Brown decision, which found the CFPB's conduct had been egregious in a debt collection enforcement action, should encourage some reflection at the bureau regarding its level of attention to the reasonable due process concerns of regulated institutions, says Eric Mogilnicki at Covington.

  • Tales From The Trenches Of Remote Depositions

    Author Photo

    As practitioners continue to conduct depositions remotely in the post-pandemic world, these virtual environments are rife with opportunities for improper behavior such as witness coaching, scripted testimony and a general lack of civility — but there are methods to prevent and combat these behaviors, say Jennifer Gibbs and Bennett Moss at Zelle.

  • 3 Alternatives To CRE Collateralized Loan Obligations

    Author Photo

    With current commercial real estate market conditions pushing issuers away from collateralized loan obligations, several Freddie Mac offerings should be considered as alternative exit strategies for mortgage loans secured by multifamily properties, say attorneys at Mayer Brown.

  • Fla. Banking Brief: All The Notable Compliance Updates In Q2

    Author Photo

    Florida financial institutions must now navigate minimum interest rates for attorney trust accounts, restrictions on property sales to prohibited foreigners, and a ban on weighing environmental, social and governance factors to determine a customer's creditworthiness — changes that will add to banks' compliance pressures, says Patricia Hernandez at Avila Rodriguez.

  • NY Court Sends Mixed Signals On Contested Foreclosure Law

    Author Photo

    Although New York's Appellate Division, Second Department, has avoided addressing the constitutionality and retroactive application of the Foreclosure Abuse Prevention Act, its conflicting pattern of applying FAPA to existing cases is creating confusion regarding the future of the law, say Christopher Gorman and John Muldoon at Abrams Fensterman and litigation support analyst Robert Marx.

  • Expect CFPB Scrutiny On AI In Lending

    Author Photo

    As the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau prioritizes regulatory oversight of the financial services industry's use of automated systems and artificial technology, it will need to balance regulation and innovation, and companies should prepare to mitigate any potential for bias or unfair, deceptive or abusive acts and practices, say attorneys at Goodwin.

  • Level Up Lawyers' Business Development With Gamification

    Author Photo

    With employee engagement at a 10-year low in the U.S., there are several gamification techniques marketing and business development teams at law firms can use to make generating new clients and matters more appealing to lawyers, says Heather McCullough at Society 54.