Residential
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November 26, 2024
NAR Buyer-Broker Settlement Approved Over DOJ Concerns
A Missouri federal judge granted final approval Tuesday to the National Association of Realtors' antitrust settlement with home sellers, signing off on a $418 million payment and changes to broker commission rules, as NAR and the plaintiffs assailed the U.S. Department of Justice for raising last-minute concerns about the deal.
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November 26, 2024
NYC Lawmakers Detail Breakdown Of $5B Housing Plan
The New York City Council's $5 billion "City for All" initiative aims to provide more funding for affordable housing development and preservation, a down payment assistance program, infrastructure investments and more, the city lawmakers announced.
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November 26, 2024
9th Circ. Pauses Ruling For VA To Build Vets' Housing
The Ninth Circuit paused a federal judge's order for the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs to build housing for veterans on a Los Angeles campus, allowing time for several constituents to weigh in on the matter.
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November 26, 2024
New Orleans Property Owner Revives Bid To Nix Arbitration
A New Orleans property owner has again urged a Louisiana federal judge to overturn his order forcing it to arbitrate a $7 million Hurricane Ida damage claim with 11 insurers for a block of luxury apartments and retail shops, pointing to a recent ruling by the state's top court.
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November 26, 2024
NY Authorizes County, City To Raise Tax Rates On Hotel Stays
New York authorized Dutchess County and the city of Hudson to increase taxes on hotel and motel stays under legislation signed by Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul.
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November 26, 2024
7th Circ. Says Insurer Must Defend $3.4M Faulty Work Row
An architectural design firm's commercial general liability insurer must defend it and its owner against faulty work claims seeking more than $3.4 million in damages, the Seventh Circuit ruled, after the Illinois Supreme Court overturned prior appellate precedent siding with insurers in such disputes.
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November 25, 2024
Gov't Defends EB-5 Rule That Hikes Up Petition Fees
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security and its U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services agency pushed for an early win in Texas federal court against a suit challenging increases for filing fees for petitions related to USCIS' EB-5 immigrant investor program.
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November 25, 2024
NY State Court Strikes Rent Stabilization In Poughkeepsie
A New York state court judge vacated the city of Poughkeepsie's recent adoption of rent stabilization, finding that an underlying housing vacancy survey too broadly interpreted a state law that raised the stakes for landlords that failed to cooperate with such surveys.
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November 25, 2024
Feds Want Ex-FBI Agent's Bribery Appeal Tossed
Federal prosecutors have told the D.C. Circuit to reject an ex-Federal Bureau of Investigation agent's appeal of his bribery convictions in a property buying scheme, arguing there was "sufficient evidence" against him.
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November 25, 2024
US Bank Loses Bid To Block Fla. Case Over Condo Ponzi Debt
A federal judge denied a motion from U.S. Bank in abstaining from a Florida condo association's state court moves to free itself from a bond debt tied to a development district that was established nearly two decades ago by the architects of a Ponzi scheme.
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November 25, 2024
NJ Judge Allows Nonprofit To Join Affordable Housing Fight
A New Jersey nonprofit is aligned with the state's government in a challenge to a new affordable housing obligation framework it adopted, but that alignment of goals does not mean the nonprofit should not also be allowed to intervene on the case, a Garden State judge said in an order.
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November 25, 2024
Tenant's Death Excluded From Coverage, Kansas Judge Says
A Kansas federal judge granted an insurer an early win in a coverage dispute with an apartment complex over an underlying lawsuit in which a tenant's son says his father died of hypothermia because of a faulty furnace, finding that a "habitability exclusion" barred coverage for the suit.
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November 25, 2024
Mortgage Co. Unfairly Inflated Borrowers' Balances, Suit Says
Shellpoint Mortgage Servicing was hit Friday with a proposed class action alleging the company and its predecessor in interest, Specialized Loan Servicing LLC, inflated borrowers' balances on long-dormant second mortgages through "unfair, deceptive and unconscionable means."
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November 25, 2024
4th Circ. Stands By HELOC 'Offset' Ruling Against PNC
The full Fourth Circuit has declined to reconsider a panel decision that extended protections under the Truth In Lending Act by barring banks from dipping into a cardholder's deposit account to cover outstanding payments on a home equity line of credit without the borrower's consent.
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November 25, 2024
NYC Real Estate Week In Review
Goldgrub Law and Mandelbaum Barrett are among the law firms that steered the largest New York City real estate deals to hit public records last week, a period that saw several large residential transactions across Manhattan and Queens.
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November 25, 2024
Law Firm Leasing Surpasses Pre-COVID Rate So Far In 2024
The rate at which U.S. law firms are signing major office leases — those at or above 20,000 square feet — has surpassed pre-pandemic levels, according to new data released by Savills on Monday, showing that while activity is up, firms are divided on whether to expand, downsize or maintain their square footage.
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November 25, 2024
DOJ Says Realtor Commissions Deal Is No Antitrust Shield
The U.S. Department of Justice warned the National Association of Realtors that changes to broker commission rules agreed to in a settlement with home sellers do not shield the industry from government antitrust scrutiny.
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November 25, 2024
Fla. Judge Trims Complaint Over Deadly Crane Collapse
A Florida state court judge Monday dismissed several liability counts against a Connecticut manufacturer sued in a lawsuit over a crane collapse in downtown Fort Lauderdale that killed a worker and injured at least two other people, saying the liability allegations must be more specific.
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November 25, 2024
Justices Won't Hear Takings Clause Claim For Wrecked House
The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday denied a woman's petition seeking to review a Fifth Circuit decision that held McKinney, Texas, did not need to compensate her for destroying her home while resolving a hostage situation with an armed fugitive.
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November 25, 2024
Housing Project Will Pollute Public Water, Conn. City Says
The construction of 16 houses in Ledyard, Connecticut, will contaminate the groundwater and endanger the drinking water supply for people living on the site, the city of Groton's water department said in an appeal of the project's approval to the state court.
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November 25, 2024
Condo Boards Likely Safe From Corporate Transparency Law
New corporate reporting requirements under an anti-money laundering law likely do not apply to condominium associations, a Massachusetts federal judge ruled.
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November 25, 2024
Fla. Judge Won't Toss Banker's Suit Over $1.7M Stolen Funds
A Florida judge said Monday he would not dismiss a lawsuit by a Miami banker who is the son of Ecuador's former comptroller accusing his company's ex-CFO of embezzling $1.7 million to invest in a condominium unit, but the judge ordered the banker to provide a more specific breakdown of the allegedly misused funds.
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November 25, 2024
Home Automation Co. Strikes $1.5M Deal To End OT Suit
A smart home technology company reached a $1.5 million deal to resolve allegations from a collective of current and former employees who accused the company of wrongfully classifying them as overtime-exempt, costing them overtime pay, according to a filing in Georgia federal court.
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November 22, 2024
Ex-NFL Player Scott Turner Picked For Trump's HUD Secretary
Donald Trump announced Friday that he nominated retired NFL player and former executive director of the White House Opportunity and Revitalization Council Scott Turner to serve as secretary of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
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November 22, 2024
Service Fees Not 'Incidental' To Debt Collection, 11th Circ. Told
Ocwen Loan Servicing LLC urged the Eleventh Circuit on Friday to reverse two Florida lower court judgments finding it violated debt collection practices with a fee to process phone or internet payments, saying it's not an illegal "incidental" charge because the borrower is paying for an optional service.
Nonprofit Wins Right To Buy In LIHTC Verdict Against Investor
A California federal jury allowed an affordable housing nonprofit to take possession of a 320-unit Long Beach complex built with low-income housing tax credits over arguments from an investor challenging the transfer after buying into a partnership for the development.
Land-Use Attys Praise NYC's Modified Zoning Plan
Land-use attorneys say a revised version of Mayor Eric Adams' City of Yes plan — New York City's most comprehensive zoning overhaul in over 60 years, if approved — will speed up affordable housing production, yet they stressed a continued need for more infrastructure investment and funding.
Progress Hit With Fair Housing Suit, Class Action Sought
Progress Residential LLC has violated the Fair Housing Act of 1968 with a discriminatory application denial policy that disproportionally affects Black renters, according to a complaint filed Wednesday in Indiana federal court that seeks a class action.
Expert Analysis
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How CFIUS' Updated Framework Affects Global Investors
The recent change to the monitoring and enforcement regulations governing the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States will broaden administrative practices around nonnotified transaction investigations, increase the scope of information demands from the committee and accelerate its ability to impose mitigation on parties, say attorneys at Simpson Thacher.
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Flying Makes Me A Better Lawyer
Achieving my childhood dream of flying airplanes made me a better lawyer — and a better person — because it taught me I can conquer difficult goals when I leave my comfort zone, focus on the demands of the moment and commit to honing my skills, says Ivy Cadle at Baker Donelson.
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'Reverse Redlining' Suit Reveals Language Risks For Lenders
The Justice Department's case against consumer finance provider Colony Ridge highlights the government's focus on lending to consumers with limited English proficiency and the risks of generating marketing materials in other languages while conducting actual transactions in English, say attorneys at Goodwin.
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Circus Arts Make Me A Better Lawyer
Performing circus arts has strengthened my ability to be more thoughtful, confident and grounded, all of which has enhanced my legal practice and allowed me to serve clients in a more meaningful way, says Bailey McGowan at Stinson.
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Hurricane Coverage Ruling Clarifies Appraisal Scope In Fla.
In a case involving property insurance for hurricane damage, a Florida federal court recently enforced policy limits despite an appraisal award exceeding those limits, underscoring the boundaries between valuation and coverage — a distinction that provides valuable guidance for insurers handling post-catastrophe claims, says Tiffany Bustamante at Cozen O’Connor.
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Feds May Have Overstepped In Suit Against Mortgage Lender
The U.S. Department of Justice's lawsuit against Rocket Mortgage goes too far in attempting to combat racial bias and appears to fail on the fatal flaw that mortgage lenders should be at arm's length from appraisers, says Drew Ketterer at Ketterer & Ketterer.
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Foreclosing Lenders Still Floating In Murky Legal Waters In NY
The New York foreclosure landscape remains in disarray after the state's highest court last month declined to weigh in on whether legal changes from 2022 that severely curtailed lenders' ability to bring successive foreclosure cases were retroactive, says Brian Rich at Barclay Damon.
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Being A Navy Reservist Makes Me A Better Lawyer
Serving this country in uniform has not only been one of the greatest honors of my life, but it has also provided me with opportunities to broaden my legal acumen and interpersonal skills in ways that have indelibly contributed to my civilian practice, says Phillip Smith at Weinberg Wheeler.
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Philly's Algorithmic Rent Ban Furthers Antitrust Policy Trends
A Philadelphia bill banning the use of algorithmic software to set rent prices and manage occupancy rates is indicative of growing scrutiny of this technology, and reflects broader policy trends of adapting traditional antitrust principles to respond to new technology, say attorneys at Ballard Spahr.
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Playing Ultimate Makes Us Better Lawyers
In addition to being fun, ultimate Frisbee has improved our legal careers by emphasizing the importance of professionalism, teamwork, perseverance, enthusiasm and vulnerability, say Arunabha Bhoumik and Adam Bernstein at Regeneron.
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How Property Insurance Coverage Shrank After The Pandemic
Insurers litigating property claims are leveraging rulings that provided relief in the COVID-19 context to reverse the former majority rule on physical loss or damage in all contexts, say attorneys at Reed Smith.
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Why Secured Lenders Must Mind The Gap In UCC Searches
If not adequately addressed, the Uniform Commercial Code filing indexing gap can interfere with a lender's expected lien priority, but taking appropriate preclosing actions and properly timing searches can eliminate this risk, says Robert Wonneberger at Barclay Damon.
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Being An Artist Makes Me A Better Lawyer
My work as an artist has highlighted how using creativity and precision together — qualities that are equally essential in both art and law — not only improves outcomes, but also leads to more innovative and thoughtful work, says Sarah La Pearl at Segal McCambridge.