Residential
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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.
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June 28, 2024
Final Rules Exempt REITs From Stock Buyback Tax
Real estate investment trusts and regulated investment companies may be able to avoid the stock buyback tax but would still be required to keep records under final regulations on reporting and paying the tax released by Treasury and the IRS Friday.
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June 28, 2024
Mass. Senate OKs $5B Housing Bill Without Local-Option Tax
Massachusetts would authorize about $5 billion in bonding authority to promote housing under legislation passed by the state Senate that leaves out a local-option real estate transfer fee sought by Democratic Gov. Maura Healey.
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June 28, 2024
NYC Housing Worker Gets Jail In 1st Sentence Of Bribery Bust
A Manhattan federal judge hit a retired New York City public housing superintendent with a year in prison Friday for taking $7,500 in bribes, a potentially worrisome signal for 69 others charged in a major anti-corruption sweep.
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June 28, 2024
Supreme Court Strikes Down Chevron Deference
The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday overturned a decades-old precedent that instructed judges about when they could defer to federal agencies' interpretations of law in rulemaking, depriving courts of a commonly used analytic tool and leaving lots of questions about what comes next.
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June 28, 2024
Supreme Court Backs Oregon City's Anti-Camping Laws
The U.S. Supreme Court upheld an Oregon city's anti-camping ordinances Friday against a challenge from homeless residents who allege the laws penalize them for being homeless.
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June 27, 2024
Texas Bank Moves For Partial Win In Ginnie Mae Loan Suit
Texas Capital Bank told a federal judge that it's entitled to tens of millions of dollars in collateral on which it has a first-priority lien that it said Ginnie Mae wrongfully diverted to itself, and that the court has already addressed the issue that warrants partial summary judgment in its favor.
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June 27, 2024
Proposed Calif. Insurance Tradeoff Draws Mixed Reactions
Insurance industry representatives and consumer advocates in California are pitching opposing visions for a proposed regulatory tradeoff at the heart of state officials’ efforts to increase homeowners insurance availability at a time of heightening wildfire risks.
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June 27, 2024
Goldman Raises $3.4B For Real Estate Secondaries Fund
Goldman Sachs Alternatives raised $3.4 billion in capital commitments for its latest real estate secondaries fund, making it the largest such fund to date, per the company.
Expert Analysis
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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.
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Ghosting In BigLaw: How To Come Back From Lack Of Feedback
Junior associates can feel powerless when senior colleagues cut off contact instead of providing useful feedback, but young attorneys can get back on track by focusing on practical professional development and reexamining their career priorities, says Rachel Patterson at Orrick.
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States Must Fight Predatory Real Estate Listing Agreements
As momentum against long-term real estate listing agreements continues to grow, states should take action to render existing agreements unenforceable and discourage future unfair and deceptive trade practices in real estate, says Elizabeth Blosser at the American Land Title Association.
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Steps To Success For Senior Associates
Excerpt from Practical Guidance
Adriana Paris at Rissman Barrett discusses the increased responsibilities and opportunities that becoming a senior associate brings and what attorneys in this role should prioritize to flourish in this stressful but rewarding next level in their careers.
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Legal Profession Must Do More For Lawyers With Disabilities
At the start of Disability Pride month, Rosalyn Richter at Arnold & Porter looks at why lawyers with disabilities are significantly underrepresented in private practice, asserting that law firms and other employers must do more to conquer the implicit bias that deters attorneys from seeking accommodations.
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Ohio Tax Talk: Building On Federal Affordable Housing Credit
Ohio's soon-to-be-implemented low-income housing tax credit could significantly affect the state's affordable housing landscape and influence tax-credit deal financing for these projects, though Senate changes may have dampened the new credit's immense potential, say Raghav Agnihotri and Rachael Chamberlain at Frost Brown.
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Appellate Funding Disclosure: No Mandate Is Right Choice
The Advisory Committee on Appellate Rules' recent decision, forgoing a mandatory disclosure rule for litigation funding in federal appeals, is prudent, as third-party funding is only involved in a minuscule number of federal cases, and courts have ample authority to obtain funding information if necessary, says Stewart Ackerly at Statera Capital.
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LA's High-Value Real Estate Transfer Tax Should Be Scrapped
Los Angeles’ recently implemented high-value property transfer tax has chilled the real estate market, is failing to meet revenue expectations and raises significant constitutional concerns, making it a flawed piece of legislation that should be invalidated, says attorney Paul Weinberg.
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How Attys Can Avoid Exposing Their Firms To Cyberattacks
Attorneys are the weakest link in their firms' cyberdefenses because hackers often exploit the gap between individuals’ work and personal cybersecurity habits, but there are some steps lawyers can take to reduce the risks they create for their employers, say Mark Hurley and Carmine Cicalese at Digital Privacy & Protection.
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Foreign Investment In Real Estate Is Getting More Complicated
Increasing federal scrutiny and a proliferation of new state laws targeting foreign investment in real estate may complicate or prevent transactions even by U.S. companies or funds that have shareholders or limited partners from China and other countries of concern, say attorneys at Akin.
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Virginia 'Rocket Docket' Slowdown Is Likely A Blip
After being the fastest or second-fastest federal civil trial court for 14 straight years, the Eastern District of Virginia has slid to 18th place, but the rocket docket’s statistical tumble doesn't mean the district no longer maintains a speedy civil docket, says Robert Tata at Hunton.
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Home Equity Option Contracts Appear Ripe For Rating
Given that home equity option contracts share similarities with evolving asset types like litigation funding, and that courts continue to characterize them as real estate option contracts, it seems they are poised to be rated in the near future, say Darius Horton and Holly Spencer Bunting at Mayer Brown.
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5 Management Tips To Keep Law Firm Merger Talks Moving
Many law firm mergers that make solid business sense still fall apart due to the costs and frustrations of inefficient negotiations, but firm managers can increase the chance of success by effectively planning and executing merger discussions, say Lisa Smith and Kristin Stark at Fairfax Associates.