Residential

  • 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

    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

    Property Plays: Buffalo, Swerdlow Group, Tampa Bay Rays

    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.

  • March 14, 2025

    Demand Tightens Florida Land Market In '24, Broker Finds

    Large-acreage land transactions and institutional investors drove much of the activity in Florida's land market in 2024, with agricultural land transforming into residential, solar or other development as the state's population grows.

  • March 14, 2025

    3 Firms Rep Franklin BSP Realty Trust's $425M NewPoint Buy

    Hogan Lovells, Reed Smith and Paul Weiss guided Franklin BSP Realty Trust's $425 million acquisition of commercial real estate finance company NewPoint Holdings JV LLC, boosting the REIT's multifamily loan offerings.

  • March 14, 2025

    PulteGroup GC Rakes In $3M After '23 Dip

    Atlanta-based U.S. homebuilder PulteGroup paid its general counsel more than $3 million in total compensation in 2024, marking a 13% increase from his 2023 total compensation as the company raked in a record $17 billion in home sale revenues last year, according to a recent securities filing.

  • March 14, 2025

    Mont. Ranch Claims Ranger Retaliation In Easement Dispute

    A Montana landowner told a federal judge that a U.S. Forest Service official launched a retaliatory criminal investigation after the managers of a ranch complained about public parking on an access road near the Custer Gallatin National Forest.

  • March 14, 2025

    Ark. Bill Aims To Ban Certain Separate Property Assessments

    Arkansas would not allow accessory dwelling units to be assessed separately from a principal residence through a constitutional amendment proposed by a bill introduced in the state House of Representatives.

  • 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

    Fla. Condo Says Insurers Unfairly Handled Hurricane Claim

    A Pensacola Beach condominium complex told a Florida federal court that it is entitled to recover attorney fees and other costs associated with what it alleged was its insurers' failures to fairly handle its claim for Hurricane Sally damage.

  • 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

    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

    NYC Developers Already Putting City Of Yes Tweaks To Use

    New York City's City of Yes for Housing Opportunity is already reshaping development following its December passage, allowing one developer to nearly double the height of a multifamily project in the Bronx, panelists at New York Build said Thursday.

  • 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

    Walker & Dunlop Arranges $176M Single-Family Rental Refi

    Commercial real estate adviser Walker & Dunlop Inc. said Thursday that it arranged a $176 million credit facility to refinance a group of seven single-family rental communities in the Atlanta area.

  • 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.

  • March 13, 2025

    Mich. Justices Struggle With Line-Drawing For Rental Use

    Michigan Supreme Court justices on Thursday said they were struggling with where to draw the line for when homes can be rented short-term as property owners along a Lake Michigan neighborhood urged the state's top court to reverse a lower court's decision that said a restrictive covenant barred all vacation rentals.

  • March 13, 2025

    Insurers Must Cover Real Estate Cos. In False Claims Dispute

    A pair of directors and officers insurers must provide coverage to real estate holding companies in an underlying False Claims Act whistleblower action, a Delaware Superior Court judge ruled, finding that a breach of contract exclusion does not bar coverage.

  • March 13, 2025

    Thompson Thrift Raises $255M For Multifamily Developments

    Thompson Thrift announced Thursday it pulled in $255 million from its limited partners to build a portfolio of high-quality apartment communities across the U.S., beating the company's original fundraising goal of $230 million.

  • March 13, 2025

    RealPage Pushes Bid To Duck Antitrust Case In NC

    RealPage and a group of landlords backed up a motion to shut down claims that the company's software helps fix rental prices brought by the U.S. Department of Justice and a group of states in North Carolina federal court.

  • March 13, 2025

    NY Bill Seeks Tax Break For Residential Green Infrastructure

    New York state would provide a partial property tax abatement for owners of residential properties in New York City who undertake green infrastructure projects as part of a bill introduced in the state Senate.

  • March 12, 2025

    NYC Beefs Up Inspections After Bronx Building Collapse

    A New York City Department of Buildings enforcement official said Wednesday that the agency is proactively targeting known bad actors and companies associated with them following a November 2023 major structural collapse at a multifamily property in the Bronx.

Expert Analysis

  • Algorithm Price-Fixing Ruling May Lower Antitrust Claims Bar

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    A Washington federal court's refusal to dismiss Duffy v. Yardi Systems, an antitrust case over rent prices allegedly inflated by revenue management software, creates an apparent split in the lower courts over how to assess such claims, say attorneys at Morgan Lewis.

  • California's New Homeowner Law Could Hamper Foreclosures

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    While A.B. 2424, which took effect this month in California, gives homeowners in default additional protections, it also provides loopholes that can be used to delay foreclosure auctions, and the cost of these delays will likely be passed on to the borrower, says Stephen Britt at Severson & Werson.

  • Small Biz Caught In Corporate Transparency Act Crossfire

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    Despite compliance being put on hold due to a nationwide preliminary injunction, small businesses have been caught in the middle of the legal battle over the Corporate Transparency Act — and confusion over the law's requirements could result in major penalties, say attorneys at Snell & Wilmer.

  • What's Ahead As Transparency Act Comes To A Crossroads

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    Synthesizing the contrasting federal district and appellate court rulings on the Corporate Transparency Act’s validity reveals several main areas of debate that will likely remain at issue as challenges to the law continue winding through the courts, say attorneys at Farella Braun.

  • Ohio Banking Brief: All The Notable Legal Updates In Q4

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    Ohio's banking and financial services sector saw several significant developments in the fourth quarter of 2024, including a landmark Uniform Commercial Code ruling, adjustments to the state's Homebuyer Plus Program and the launch of the state's first women-led bank, says attorney Alex Durst.

  • In The CFPB Playbook: A Sprint To The Finish Line

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    The fourth quarter of 2024 was an impressive demonstration of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's ability to regulate, enforce and supervise, even on borrowed time following the election results, and we should expect the current bureau to run nonstop until Jan. 20, say attorneys at Covington.

  • The 6 Most Significant FCRA Litigation Developments Of 2024

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    From a key sovereign immunity decision at the U.S. Supreme Court to a ruling on creditworthiness out of the Seventh Circuit, several important Fair Credit Reporting Act cases wound their way through the courts in 2024, each offering takeaways for both plaintiffs and defendants, say attorneys at Shipkevich.

  • 10 Noteworthy CFPB Developments From 2024

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    In a banner year for consumer finance regulation, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau made significant strides in its efforts to rein in Big Tech and nonbank financial firms, including via rules regarding open banking, credit card late fees, and buy now, pay later products, say attorneys at Wiley.

  • The Story Of 2024's Biggest Bank Regs, And Their Fate In 2025

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    U.S. federal bank regulators were very active in 2024 with initiatives ranging from antitrust and capital to proposals regarding controlling shareholders and incentive-based compensation, but many regulations face an uncertain future under the new administration, say attorneys at Latham.

  • Conducting A 'Reasonably Expected Market Area' Analysis

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    Regardless of whether the incoming administration scales back on redlining examinations and investigations, lenders should take steps to understand how regulators define "reasonably expected market areas," and how to conduct analyses of such areas, say attorneys at Mitchell Sandler.

  • Adapting Force Majeure To A Predictably Unpredictable World

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    As the climate and political landscapes get more complicated, force majeure provisions will likely be triggered increasingly often, demanding an evolving understanding of when events and their impacts are truly unforeseeable, say attorneys at Nossaman.

  • Impact Of Corporate Transparency Act Ambiguity On Banks

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    Even though banks generally needn't file beneficial ownership information reports, financial institutions must continue to monitor the status of the Corporate Transparency Act and understand its requirements in case the nationwide injunction that was issued against the CTA earlier this month is overturned, say attorneys at Armstrong Teasdale.

  • Strategies For Home Equity Investment Providers In 2025

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    The home equity investment product market is thriving even amid consumer concerns, regulatory scrutiny and conflicting court decisions, setting the stage for a promising but challenging environment for providers in 2025, say attorneys at Sheppard Mullin.