Real Estate

  • March 17, 2025

    4th Circ. Tosses HOA Closing Fees Suit

    The Fourth Circuit tossed a North Carolina property owner's proposed class action alleging that a property management company unlawfully charged excessive closing fees when she sold two properties.

  • March 17, 2025

    High Value Dubious In $23M Easement Dispute, 11th Circ. Told

    A partnership that claimed a $23 million tax deduction for a conservation easement donation failed to consider the lack of market demand for a potential quarry it used to justify the land's high value, the U.S. government told the Eleventh Circuit.

  • March 17, 2025

    DC Commercial Property Taxable Values Drop Nearly 8%

    Commercial property values in Washington, D.C., dropped 7.87% in their 2025 assessments compared with a year earlier, the district's tax office said.

  • March 14, 2025

    Fannie, Freddie Can't Avoid $612M Investor Win, Judge Rules

    A D.C. federal judge on Friday upheld a $612.4 million jury verdict against the Federal Housing Finance Agency, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, ruling that the jury was provided with "ample evidence" that reasonably led to its conclusion that FHFA improperly amended stock purchase agreements related to the companies.

  • March 14, 2025

    Real Estate Recap: Waldorf Reno, DEI Scrubbing, CFIUS Risk

    Catch up on this past week's key developments by state from Law360 Real Estate Authority — including a chat with the legal team behind the 10-year renovation of Manhattan's iconic Waldorf Astoria, how real estate companies are dropping mention of diversity, equity and inclusion from public filings, and increasing scrutiny by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States.

  • March 14, 2025

    Judge Hands Landlord Win In Maryland Nurse's Eviction Case

    A Maryland federal judge mostly sided with a landlord that was hit with a nurse practitioner's $1 million suit, which alleged that the landlord wrongfully locked her out of her place of business when she wasn't there and evicted her.

  • March 14, 2025

    4th Circ. Dubious Of Private Island's Win In Fair Housing Fight

    The Fourth Circuit on Friday seemed poised to upend a lower court ruling siding with a gated community in a discriminatory housing suit brought by the developer of a proposed assisted living facility, with one judge lamenting a lack of analysis on whether the facility's accommodation request was necessary and reasonable.

  • March 14, 2025

    Calif. Insurance Chief OKs State Farm Rates Pending Hearing

    The California Department of Insurance on Friday provisionally approved State Farm's request for an emergency rate hike following the Los Angeles fires, including a nearly 22% increase for homeowners, saying final approval will be contingent on the insurer justifying its request at a hearing.

  • March 14, 2025

    Mich. Panel Revives Hangar's Property Tax Challenge

    The Michigan Court of Appeals revived a company's argument that it is exempt from a city's tax on a hangar it leased from a regional airport authority, saying the state Tax Tribunal should have required the municipality to prove that a tax statute applied to the company.

  • March 14, 2025

    Calif. Tribe Looks To Defend Casino Land Trust Decision

    A California tribe at the crux of an Interior Department decision to take 221 acres of trust land for the construction of its casino development wants to intervene in a challenge to the order, saying it and the federal agency have different goals in dismissing the dispute.

  • March 14, 2025

    Connecticut Wants Retailers' Hemp Law Challenge Tossed

    The state of Connecticut has asked a federal judge to toss a lawsuit by nearly a dozen hemp retailers challenging statutes designed to regulate hemp-derived products with high levels of THC, saying the retailers' lawsuit is deficient in multiple ways.

  • March 14, 2025

    Off The Bench: Ex-Jet Sues Over Favre Clip, New Soccer Build

    In this week's Off The Bench, a retired football superstar claims an argument with icon Brett Favre should have never been aired on television, one trading card company gets the upper hand on another in dueling antitrust suits, and an English soccer club opts for a new stadium over a rebuild of the old one.

  • March 14, 2025

    Taxation With Representation: Davis Polk, Paul Weiss

    In this week's Taxation With Representation, Mallinckrodt PLC and Endo Inc. combine, Rocket Cos. buys Redfin, and Endo divests its international pharmaceuticals business to Knight Therapeutics Inc.

  • March 14, 2025

    Brooklyn Man Gets 45 Months For 'Seinfeld'-Themed Fraud

    A Brooklyn federal judge sentenced a podcaster and purported cryptocurrency guru to 45 months in prison after he pled guilty to scamming investors out of more than $2 million using fictitious businesses, including one apparently named after "Seinfeld" character George Costanza's fake prospective employer Vandelay Industries.

  • March 14, 2025

    Washington Dept. OKs Property Conversion Tax Break Regs

    Washington state's Department of Revenue adopted regulations to clarify eligibility requirements for a retail sales and use tax break for the conversion of commercial property to affordable housing authorized by a 2024 law, according to a rulemaking order.

  • March 13, 2025

    Watchdog Says Federal Landlord Used Prohibited Chinese Drone

    The U.S. General Service Administration's Office of Inspector General on Thursday pressed the Public Buildings Service to tell one of its contractors to stop using a drone manufactured by a Chinese company that the U.S. Department of Defense has identified as a potential national security threat.

  • March 13, 2025

    $181K Sanctions Against Texas AG-Tied Investor Stand

    A Texas appeals court upheld around $181,000 in sanctions against the real estate developer at the center of Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton's failed impeachment, finding in a Thursday opinion that developer Natin Paul breached court orders when he wired money to an NBA player.

  • March 13, 2025

    Sister Sues To Enforce $28M Spanish Family Arb. Award

    A sister has sued two brothers in Miami-Dade County state civil court to enforce an approximately $28 million arbitral award over assets and property in Florida, Spain and the Dominican Republic, saying they tried to cut her out of a family agreement signed by their mother.

  • March 13, 2025

    Tampa Bay Rays Halt Plans For New $1.3B MLB Stadium

    Major League Baseball's Tampa Bay Rays announced Thursday that it will stop developing a $1.3 billion stadium that's connected to a larger $6.5 billion redevelopment plan for the Historic Gas Plant District in St. Petersburg, Florida.

  • March 13, 2025

    Housing Advocacy Groups Sue Over HUD Grant Cuts

    A coalition of advocacy organizations filed a proposed class action in Massachusetts federal court Thursday against the Trump administration over the termination of dozens of grants to programs targeting housing discrimination.

  • March 13, 2025

    State Farm Hit With Hail Damage Coverage Suit

    A married couple accused State Farm Fire and Casualty Co. in Ohio federal court of wrongfully denying coverage after their home was damaged by wind and a hailstorm.

  • March 13, 2025

    Coverage Bars Fla. Worker Who Died In Fall, Insurer Says

    A Michigan-based insurance company has asked a Florida federal court to declare that it doesn't owe coverage in a claim stemming from a condominium worker's death after falling five stories, asserting that its policy doesn't cover the death if it occurred during the scope of the employer's business.

  • March 13, 2025

    Ore. Tribes Challenge Utility's Eminent Domain Bid

    An Oregon Indigenous community is fighting a bid by Portland General Electric Co. to condemn five acres of public land for the maintenance and operation of its hydroelectric project, arguing that the move is a pretext to eliminate its ceremonial fishing platform at the state's largest waterfalls.

  • March 13, 2025

    Founder Wants $14.7M In Logistics Developer SPAC Dispute

    The founder of a Latin America-based logistics property developer told a Florida federal court that he is owed at least $14.7 million as part of a 2024 special purpose acquisition company merger.

  • March 13, 2025

    Smith Currie Hires Veteran Construction Atty To Fla. Office

    Smith Currie Oles LLP has hired a former Siegfried Rivera construction litigation attorney as partner in the firm's Fort Lauderdale, Florida, office, the firm announced Wednesday.

Expert Analysis

  • How Southern Calif. Fires Can Affect National, Local Pricing

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    The fire-related California state of emergency declared last month in Los Angeles and Ventura counties triggered laws around price-gouging and pricing restrictions that affect not just individuals and businesses in the state, but also nationwide, meaning sellers should be mindful of how price changes are discussed and rolled out, say attorneys at Proskauer.

  • Opinion

    Undoing An American Ideal Of Fairness

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    President Donald Trump’s orders attacking birthright citizenship, civil rights education, and diversity, equity and inclusion programs threaten hard-won constitutional civil rights protections and decades of efforts to undo bias in the law — undermining what Chief Justice Earl Warren called "our American ideal of fairness," says Reuben Guttman at Guttman Buschner.

  • Pier Pressure: Contract Takeaways From Pa. Ocean Liner Suit

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    The settlement that resolved the fate of the landmark SS United States ocean liner illustrates important lessons on managing contract disputes, illuminating common trade-offs such as the choice between deferred legal risk and the cost of legal foresight, says Christopher Seck at Squire Patton.

  • How Trump EPA Could Fix Carbon Combustion Residuals Rule

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    The Trump administration is likely targeting the recently adopted carbon combustion residual rule, especially since it imposes very stringent, detailed and expedited requirements on coal power plants — but even if the rule is not vacated entirely, there are measures that could greatly reduce its regulatory burden, says Stephen Jones at Post & Schell.

  • CFPB Small Biz Study Brings Fair Lending Considerations

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    The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's recent report highlighting potential racial discrimination in small business lending may not result in more aggressive enforcement under the Trump administration — but lenders can expect state regulators, private plaintiffs and advocacy groups to step up their own efforts, say attorneys at Husch Blackwell.

  • Corp. Transparency Act's Future Under Treasury's Bessent

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    The Corporate Transparency Act’s ultimate fate faced uncertain terms at the end of 2024, but new U.S. Department of the Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent's statements and actions so far demonstrate that he does not intend to ignore the law, though he may attempt to make modifications, say attorneys at Taylor English.

  • Nippon Order Tests Gov't Control Over Foreign Investments

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    The U.S. government is primarily interested in restraining foreign transactions involving countries of concern, but former President Joe Biden’s January order blocking the merger of Nippon Steel and U.S. Steel shows that all foreign direct investments are under the federal government’s microscope, say attorneys at Blank Rome.

  • A Look At A Possible Corporate Transparency Act Exemption

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    Attorneys at Kirkland offer a deep dive into the application of the Corporate Transparency Act's reporting requirements specifically to U.S.-domiciled co-issuers in typical collateralized loan obligation transactions, and consider whether such issuers may be able to assert an exemption from the CTA's reporting requirements.

  • Opinion

    Inconsistent Injury-In-Fact Rules Hinder Federal Practice

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    A recent Third Circuit decision, contradicting a previous ruling about whether consumers of contaminated products have suffered an injury in fact, illustrates the deep confusion this U.S. Supreme Court standard creates among federal judges and practitioners, who deserve a simpler method of determining which cases have federal standing, says Eric Dwoskin at Dwoskin Wasdin.

  • Virginia AI Bills Could Serve As Nationwide Model

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    If signed into law, two Virginia bills focused on regulating the use of high-risk AI systems in the private and public sectors have the potential to influence similar legislation in other states, as well as the compliance strategies of companies operating in the commonwealth and across the U.S., say attorneys at Woods Rogers.

  • Takeaways From Oral Argument In High Court Trademark Case

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    Unpacking oral arguments from Dewberry Group v. Dewberry Engineers, which the U.S. Supreme Court is expected to rule on this year, sheds light on the ways in which the decision could significantly affect trademark infringement plaintiffs' ability to receive monetary damages, say attorneys at Buchanan Ingersoll.

  • In-House Counsel Pointers For Preserving Atty-Client Privilege

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    Several recent rulings illustrate the challenges in-house counsel can face when attempting to preserve attorney-client privilege, but a few best practices can help safeguard communications and effectively assert the privilege in an increasingly scrutinized corporate environment, says Daniel Garrie at Law & Forensics.

  • As EPA Backs Down, Expect Enviros To Step Up Citizen Suits

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    As President Donald Trump's U.S. Environmental Protection Agency draws down federal enforcement efforts, environmental groups will step into the void and file citizen suits — so companies should focus on compliance efforts, stay savvy about emerging analytical and monitoring methods, and maintain good relations with neighbors, say attorneys at Beveridge & Diamond.

  • Series

    Collecting Rare Books Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    My collection of rare books includes several written or owned by prominent lawyers from early U.S. history, and immersing myself in their stories helps me feel a deeper connection to my legal practice and its purpose, says Douglas Brown at Manatt Health.

  • Emphasize Social Spaces During RE Project Public Review

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    As Boston continues to work through revisions to its public review process for real estate projects, developers attempting to balance impact mitigation and community improvements may benefit from emphasizing the ways in which development plans can facilitate open social exchange, says David Linhart at Goulston & Storrs.

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