Residential
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March 10, 2025
Ex-NFL Player Gets 2½ Years For $5.3M Ponzi Scheme
A former NFL linebacker was sentenced to two and a half years in prison Monday after pleading guilty to running a Ponzi scheme in which he bilked $5.3 million from investors who believed they were buying into luxury real estate and gold mines in Alaska and Ghana.
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March 10, 2025
Judge Tosses Challenge To Chicago Tenant Law
An Illinois federal judge dismissed a Chicago apartment building owner's suit over a local ordinance that requires the owners of foreclosed rental properties to pay qualifying tenants with a one-time relocation fee or offer them a new lease.
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March 10, 2025
The Legal Team Behind The Waldorf Astoria's Transformation
The iconic Waldorf Astoria in Manhattan recently concluded a 10-year renovation of the original hotel and partial conversion to retail, a club with amenities, and luxury residential condos. Law360 Real Estate Authority caught up with two attorneys from Kramer Levin Naftalis & Frankel LLP who worked on the project and left their mark on the famed property.
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March 10, 2025
2 Firms Sued After Cyber Thief Steals $442K From Estate
Law firms SutterWilliams LLC and Allender & Allender PA were hit with a negligence and malpractice suit after a cybercriminal allegedly used spoofed email accounts to trick an attorney at the latter firm into handing over $442,600 from the sale of a late Pennsylvania sheriff's deputy's house in Florida.
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March 10, 2025
Paul Weiss, Fenwick Build Rocket's $1.75B Redfin Buy
Detroit-based real estate-focused fintech platform Rocket Cos., advised by Paul Weiss Rifkind Wharton & Garrison LLP, on Monday announced that it has agreed to buy Fenwick & West LLP-led digital real estate brokerage Redfin in a $1.75 billion all-stock deal.
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March 10, 2025
NYC Real Estate Week In Review
Sullivan & Cromwell and Phillips Nizer are among the law firms that assisted with the largest New York City real estate deals that hit public records last week, with most of the week's biggest transactions in Manhattan.
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March 10, 2025
High Court Skips Florida Brokerage's Copyright Fee Appeal
The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declined to review a Florida real estate brokerage firm's challenge to lower court decisions denying it attorney fees when another company accusing it of copyright infringement voluntarily dropped the case.
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March 07, 2025
Condo Says Insurer Is Delaying $2M Hidden Damage Claim
A condo owners association told a Washington federal court that its insurer is deliberately delaying investigation and payment of its claim for over $2 million in hidden rain damage to its Seattle property, saying the carrier is trying to run out the limitations period in its policies.
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March 07, 2025
NYC Bar Atty On New Shelter Advocacy Project
The New York City Bar Association's pro bono arm recently rebranded and expanded its homeless assistance program into the Shelter Advocacy Project. Its leader, attorney Jennifer Quijano, talked to Law360 about how the program aims to tackle urgent day-to-day issues creating barriers for people who are homeless, such as storage facility disputes, shelter placement challenges, and housing voucher delays.
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March 07, 2025
SD Lawmakers Request Study Of Tax Relief For Homeowners
South Dakota instructed its Legislative Research Council to review the state's property tax policies and identify ways to provide property tax relief to homeowners under a concurrent resolution approved by state lawmakers.
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March 07, 2025
False Policy Info Tanks Property Owner's Coverage Suit
A New York federal judge ruled that an insurer doesn't have to cover a property owner and manager embroiled in a dispute with Vrbo tenants who fell through the balcony of a South Carolina condo, because the owner lied to the carrier and said it didn't offer short-term rentals.
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March 07, 2025
Flatiron Realty Inks $1B Credit Facilities For Luxury Housing
Flatiron Realty Capital LLC announced Friday that the private equity firm has closed on several credit facilities totaling $1 billion, adding that the facilities are intended to spur the production of luxury single-family homes in the U.S.
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March 07, 2025
DOJ Cites SDNY Prosecutors' Texts In Bid To End Adams Case
President Donald Trump's Justice Department doubled down Friday on its bid to toss the corruption case against New York City Mayor Eric Adams, citing newly released internal correspondence showing "troubling conduct" by Southern District of New York prosecutors the agency criticized as "careerist" and insubordinate.
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March 07, 2025
Kan. House Approves Limits On Property Tax
Kansas would limit the taxable valuation of real property and would create a property tax funding limit through protest petition under two measures passed in the House of Representatives on Friday.
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March 07, 2025
Mass. Housing Law Called Unfunded Mandate In Latest Suit
A controversial Massachusetts housing law requiring multifamily zoning near Boston-area transit facilities is facing a new legal challenge after the town of Wrentham argued in a Thursday state court suit that it's an unfunded mandate on localities.
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March 07, 2025
Jailed Developer Dropped From RICO Foreclosure Suit
A Michigan federal judge dropped a developer from a suit alleging a racketeering scheme stripped homeowners of their foreclosed homes' surplus equity, finding the harm they allege is not tied closely enough to a bribery scheme the developer later pled guilty to.
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March 07, 2025
Minn. Bills Seek Sales Tax Break For Home Construction
Construction materials for single-family and multifamily homes for first-time homebuyers would be exempt from some Minnesota sales and use taxes under legislation introduced in the state Senate.
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March 07, 2025
Marcus & Millichap Wraps Up $61M Calif. Project Refi
Marcus & Millichap's IPA Capital Markets division lined up an 18-month $60.9 million nonrecourse loan that will refinance a 28.9-acre oceanfront redevelopment project in Huntington Beach, California, the brokerage firm announced.
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March 06, 2025
Fla. Report Draws Serious Accusations Of Insurer Misconduct
A Florida analysis showing that carriers in the state were reporting millions in income losses while affiliated companies were earning billions is helping to reveal a long-standing pattern of insurer misconduct, according to consumer advocates.
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March 06, 2025
Habitat Unveils $82M Affordable Housing Production Fund
Habitat for Humanity International announced that its financing arm has established an $82.5 million property acquisition fund to support affordable housing production, guided by Holland & Knight LLP and Paradise Law Group.
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March 06, 2025
California City Abandons Battle Over Affordable Housing
A wealthy Southern California city wants to drop its appeal of a legal nonprofit's suit that was filed over the city's opposition to a mixed-income affordable-housing project, according to a filing in a state appellate court.
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March 06, 2025
Wyoming Creates Partial Property Tax Break For Homeowners
Wyoming established a tax exemption for a portion of homeowners' properties under a bill signed by the governor.
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March 06, 2025
Feds Want Foreclosure On NJ Property In $16.2M Tax Fight
A New Jersey property owned by a man who owes $16.2 million in taxes should be foreclosed on and sold to pay his debt, the U.S. government said Thursday, arguing that a property easement no longer restricts it from a sale.
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March 06, 2025
Sekisui Teams Up With Brookfield On Resi Communities
North America Sekisui House LLC has invested in five of Brookfield Residential's master-planned communities, expanding a partnership that spans 11 states and 13 markets, in a deal guided by Snell & Wilmer and Cleary Gottlieb.
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March 06, 2025
Ga. Attys Fight Bid To 'Hijack' $44M Realtor Settlement
Attorneys hoping to finalize a $44 million class action settlement in Georgia with four real estate brokerages urged a federal judge Thursday to reject a bid to "hijack" their litigation by the lawyers behind the series of landmark settlements with the National Association of Realtors and various brokerages over their fee inflation practices.
Expert Analysis
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Rental Price-Fixing Suit Against RealPage Doesn't Add Up
Recent government antitrust litigation against RealPage, alleging that the software company's algorithm for setting rental prices amounts to price-fixing, has failed to allege an actual conspiracy, and is an example of regulatory overreach that should be reined in, says Andrew Ketterer at Ketterer & Ketterer.
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Navigating FEMA Grant Program For Slope Fixes After Storms
In the aftermath of Hurricanes Helene and Milton, it is critical for governments, businesses and individuals to understand the legal requirements of the Federal Emergency Management Agency's grant programs to obtain funding for crucial repairs — including restoration of damaged infrastructure caused by landslides and slope failures, says Charles Schexnaildre at Baker Donelson.
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Colorful Lessons From NYC's Emotional Support Parrot Suit
A recently settled lawsuit in New York federal court concerning housing discrimination claims from a resident who had emotional support parrots highlights the importance of housing providers treating accomodation questions seriously even if they may appear unusual or questionable, say attorneys at Seyfarth.
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Recent Securities Cases Highlight Risks In AI Disclosures
Increasing public disclosure about the use and risks of artificial intelligence, and related litigation asserting that such disclosures are false or misleading, suggest that issuers need to exercise great care with respect to how they describe the benefits of AI, say Richard Zelichov and Danny Tobey at DLA Piper.
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Consider Best Legal Practices For Commissioning Public Art
Commissioning public art for real estate projects can provide many benefits to real estate developers and the public, but it's important to understand the unique legal and contracting aspects of the process to ensure that projects are completed on time and on budget, says Sarah Conley Odenkirk at ArtConverge.
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Proposed Mortgage Assistance Rule: Tips For Servicers
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's recent proposal to alter Regulation X mortgage servicing procedures to broadly construe requests for assistance, and stay foreclosure proceedings during loss mitigation review, will, if finalized, require mortgage servicers to make notable procedural changes to comply, says Louis Manetti at Locke Lord.
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How Multifamily Property Owners Can Plan For The EV Future
As the electric vehicle market expands, and federal and state incentives and mandates intended to promote EV use come into effect, owners and operators of multifamily residential properties should be prepared to meet the growing demand for onsite EV charging infrastructure, say Sydney Tucker and Andreas Wokutch at Frost Brown.
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Fla. Insurer-Breach Cases Split On Unrepaired Property Issue
A Florida appellate court's recent decision in Universal v. Qureshi is directly at odds with a 2020 decision from another Florida appellate court, and raises important questions for policyholders and insurers about the proper measure of damages in breach claims involving unrepaired property, say Andrea DeField and Yaniel Abreu at Hunton.
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Colorado Banking Brief: All The Notable Legal Updates In Q3
In the third quarter of 2024, Colorado's banking and financial services sector faced both regulatory updates and changes to state law due to recent federal court decisions — with consequences for local governments, mortgage lenders, state-chartered trust companies and federally chartered lenders serving Colorado consumers, says Sarah Auchterlonie at Brownstein Hyatt.
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In The CFPB Playbook: No Lazy, Hazy Days Of Summer
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is headed for a brisk fall season, on the heels of a heated summer, which included the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling that the CFPB funding structure is constitutional, and in advance of the November election, says Eamonn Moran at Holland & Knight.
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Basel Endgame Rules: A Change Is Coming
The Federal Reserve Board's recently announced recalibration of the Basel endgame proposal begins a critical chapter in the evolution of not only the safety and soundness of U.S. banks, but also of banks' abilities to lend and support American businesses and consumers, say attorneys at Davis Wright.
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Reassessing Lease Provisions To Account For ESG Initiatives
As companies seek to build ESG considerations into their businesses, it's crucial to understand how such initiatives can quickly become significant enough to compel reassessment of lease agreement provisions, and how best to modify leases accordingly, say Julian Freeman and Gabe Pitassi at Cox Castle.
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Avoid Getting Burned By Agencies' Solar Financing Spotlight
Recently coordinated reports and advisories from the U.S. Department of the Treasury, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and the Federal Trade Commission maximize the spotlight on the consumer solar financing market and highlight pitfalls for lenders to avoid in this burgeoning field, says Mercedes Tunstall at Cadwalader.