Residential
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July 02, 2024
Real Estate Policy Areas To Watch In Chevron's Wake
Housing rules, permitting practices and climate goals stand to be challenged by an anticipated wave of litigation spurred by back-to-back U.S. Supreme Court opinions that alter how and when judges can interpret ambiguous legislation.
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July 02, 2024
Real Estate Attys Pore Over Housing Dollars In NYC Budget
The New York City Council approved a $112.4 billion budget on June 30, just one day before the deadline, and while the full budget breakdown has not yet been made public, counsel for real estate developers say the funds could help alleviate the housing development backlog, if used well.
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July 02, 2024
Mass. Mobile Parks Residents Say Co. Overcharged Rents
A manufactured housing company took advantage of its Massachusetts mobile home park tenants "for illicit financial gain" by charging them illegally excessive rents, not providing renewing residents with required five-year lease proposals and lying about lease offers, a putative class claimed Tuesday in Massachusetts state court.
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July 02, 2024
Distress Darkens Conversion Plans At Brookfield Malls
Financial challenges have shaken some of Brookfield's plans to redevelop a batch of malls it acquired six years ago into mixed-use centers, and two of the real estate company's indoor shopping complexes slumped into loan distress last month, KBRA said on Tuesday.
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July 02, 2024
Colo. City Housing Authority Says Board Can't Be Fired At Will
A Colorado city's ordinance violates state law because it gives the mayor the power to replace the commissioners of the city's housing authority without just cause, the housing authority has claimed in Colorado state court.
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July 02, 2024
Gov. Says Ky. Tower's Sale Didn't Cancel Ties To Laundering
Prosecutors and a pair of Miami businessmen have traded briefs over preserving the government's case in Florida federal court to seize $9.1 million from the sale of a Louisville, Kentucky, tower over alleged ties to a Ukrainian money laundering operation.
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July 02, 2024
Kelley Kronenberg Launches Florida Homebuying Practice
Kelley Kronenberg announced Friday the launch of a resident real estate practice focused on providing financial services on behalf of prospective home buyers in Florida.
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July 02, 2024
PE Firm Buys Texas Apartment Portfolio In 'Pricing Correction'
Real estate private equity firm Hamilton Point Investments said Tuesday it has acquired a portfolio of Houston apartment properties with a combined 1,174 units for $195 million as Texas undergoes a "significant multifamily pricing correction."
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July 02, 2024
The Residential Real Estate Q&A's You Can't Miss
Check out Law360 Real Estate Authority's hottest residential real estate Q&A's from the first half of 2024.
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July 01, 2024
W.Va. Homeowner's Depreciation Suit Survives Dismissal
A West Virginia federal court declined to toss a homeowner's lawsuit accusing an insurer, broker and loss adjuster of unlawfully depreciating the value of his home after a flood, determining that the homeowner met the pleading standards to defeat dismissal.
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July 01, 2024
Ill. Tax Applies To Re-Renters Of Hotel Rooms, Dept. Says
Illinois will impose an occupation tax on people who re-rent hotel rooms in the state as part of recently enacted omnibus legislation, the state Department of Revenue said.
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July 01, 2024
Morgan Properties Nabs 11 Apartment Properties In Pa.
Multifamily owner Morgan Properties announced Monday that it has bought 11 apartment developments across Pennsylvania from DePaul Management Co., adding that it has plans to renovate and upgrade the newly acquired properties.
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July 01, 2024
Calif. Ballot Measure Seeks Nix Of Tax Hike Threshold Change
California would scrap part of a ballot initiative that would have reduced the threshold needed for local governments to pass special taxes for public infrastructure and affordable housing projects under another ballot measure passed by legislators.
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July 01, 2024
Tenants Say Omaha Housing Authority Flouted Appeal Rights
A proposed class of Omaha Housing Authority tenants have filed suit against the public housing entity, telling a Nebraska federal court the agency overcharged extremely low-income tenants and thwarted their right to appeal rent increases.
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July 01, 2024
Petersen Health Gets OK For $118M Initial Bid On Facilities
A Delaware bankruptcy judge on Monday gave bankrupt senior living chain Petersen Health Care permission to accept a $118 million bid as the floor for an auction of its 82 facilities to be held on Tuesday.
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June 28, 2024
Chevron's End Is Just The Start For Energized Agency Foes
By knocking down a powerful precedent that has towered over administrative law for 40 years, the U.S. Supreme Court's right wing Friday gave a crowning achievement to anti-agency attorneys. But for those attorneys, the achievement is merely a means to an end, and experts expect a litigation blitzkrieg to materialize quickly in the aftermath.
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June 28, 2024
In Chevron Case, Justices Trade One Unknown For Another
The U.S. Supreme Court's decision to overrule a decades-old judicial deference doctrine may cause the "eternal fog of uncertainty" surrounding federal agency actions to dissipate and level the playing field in challenges of government policies, but lawyers warn it raises new questions over what rules courts must follow and how judges will implement them.
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June 28, 2024
Home Point Investor Attys Get $1.5M Fee As Judge OKs Deal
A Michigan federal judge on Friday granted final approval to a $5 million deal resolving investor allegations that mortgage lender Home Point exaggerated its ability to keep costs low ahead of its initial public offering, giving class counsel a $1.5 million cut of the deal.
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June 28, 2024
Property Plays: Goldman, WaFD, The Alamo
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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June 28, 2024
Homeless Advocates Balk As High Court OKs Anti-Camping Ban
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled Friday that an Oregon city's anti-camping ban doesn't amount to cruel and unusual punishment amid a challenge brought by a class of homeless residents, a move that residents' counsel says paves the way for municipalities to criminalize homelessness.
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June 28, 2024
NC Justices Revive Black Property Owners' Bias Suit
The North Carolina Supreme Court vacated a lower court's dismissal of discrimination claims brought by Black property owners against the city of Kinston alleging that the city targeted Black-owned buildings for condemnation while preserving white-owned buildings as historical, ruling Friday that the lower court applied the wrong legal standard.
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June 28, 2024
Judge Rejects Collusion Claim In Contested Foreclosure Deal
A Michigan federal judge approved on Thursday a class settlement between 43 Michigan counties and people who lost their homes in tax foreclosure, putting to bed accusations of collusion between the settling lawyers.
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June 28, 2024
Condo Seeks Bar On Enforcement Of Corp. Transparency Act
A Boston condominium association has asked a federal judge to shield it and other Massachusetts condo boards from enforcement of an anti-money laundering measure, saying the requirement to submit personal information to a government database creates an undue and unnecessary burden on volunteer organizations.
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June 28, 2024
Colombia Fends Off Real Estate Project Seizure Claim
Colombia has claimed an "unprecedented" victory in an arbitration initiated by a group of U.S. investors seeking hundreds of millions of dollars after their real estate development project was seized over allegations that the project had connections with illegal activity.
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June 28, 2024
NYC Realty Co. Defeats Most Of Building Super's Wage Claims
A New York realty group secured early wins on all but one of a building superintendent's wage claims, with a New York federal judge ruling Friday the worker had provided scant evidence in support, but the group must face claims related to wage deficits caused by a time clock malfunction.
Expert Analysis
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Colo. Eviction Case Could Transform Tenant Rights
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.
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Courts Can Overturn Deficient State Regulations, Too
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.
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Harsh 11th Circ. Rebuke Should Inspire Changes At CFPB
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.
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Tales From The Trenches Of Remote Depositions
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.
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3 Alternatives To CRE Collateralized Loan Obligations
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.
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Fla. Banking Brief: All The Notable Compliance Updates In Q2
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.
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NY Court Sends Mixed Signals On Contested Foreclosure Law
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.
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Expect CFPB Scrutiny On AI In Lending
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.
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Level Up Lawyers' Business Development With Gamification
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.
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Texas Construction Statute Of Repose Leaves Open Questions
Texas' new significantly shorter statute of repose barring certain suits against construction contractors contains some ambiguous wording that will likely raise questions to be decided by courts, says Mason Hester at Munsch Hardt.
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5 Ways Firms Can Rethink Office Design In A Hybrid World
As workplaces across the country adapt to flexible work, law firms must prioritize individuality, amenities and technology in office design, says Kristin Cerutti at Nelson Worldwide.
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In The CFPB Playbook: Abuse Policy, PACE, Payment Apps
From defining "abusive" conduct to implementing green energy financing to policing payment apps, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau was busy last quarter. Akerman's Nora Rigby discusses all this and more in the first installment of bureau activity recaps by former CFPB personnel.
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How To Avoid Flopping When Flipping Fla. Real Estate
As land prices rise, Florida real estate developers are increasingly contracting to flip property to other purchasers for a profit, and they should carefully consider the unique risks and issues associated with the different forms that the process can take, says Gary Kaleita at Lowndes.