Residential
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October 02, 2024
Conn. Receiver Gains Access To Apt. Co-Op's BofA Accounts
Bank of America agreed to provide a court-appointed receiver with access to a distressed housing cooperative's bank accounts Wednesday amid efforts by the municipalities of Bridgeport and Stratford, Connecticut, to obtain a court order.
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October 02, 2024
Climate Risk Is Turning The Tide In Buyer, Investor Behavior
Climate risk isn't yet the kind of consideration that would make or break the average property deal. But as it becomes less of an abstract concept and more of a concrete part of due diligence, it's on the verge of causing major ripples throughout the real estate industry.
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October 02, 2024
US Seeks To Drop $1M Tax Suit Against Sleep Clinic Founder
The U.S. government seeks to drop its case against a sleep clinic founder and his wife, whom it had accused of hiding assets, after the couple agreed to pay their tax liabilities in full, according to a filing in California federal court Wednesday.
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October 01, 2024
Data Brokers Decry 'Ill-Tailored' NJ Judicial Privacy Law
Data brokers such as Equifax, Thomson Reuters and Zillow urged a New Jersey federal judge Tuesday to toss a suit accusing them of violating Daniel's Law, arguing the state's judicial privacy measure is unconstitutionally broad and unevenly applied.
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October 01, 2024
Calif. Judge Won't Let Insurers Slip Mold Coverage Suit
A California federal judge mostly refused to allow a group of insurers to escape a suit filed by the owner and operator of a 231-unit California apartment complex seeking coverage for mold under a $69 million builders risk policy.
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October 01, 2024
Investment Firm Raises $4.7B For Bonds, Real Estate Loans
Monarch Alternative Capital LP announced Monday that it raised $4.7 billion for the completion of its sixth closed-end fund, surpassing the opportunistic credit and real estate firm's goal and the amount raised for the previous fund.
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October 01, 2024
DC Council Passes Temporary ERAP Reforms
Washington, D.C., officials approved an emergency bill on Tuesday to reform the city's Emergency Rental Assistance Program, a move that council members said can address a financial crisis among landlords of affordable housing that arose from some tenants' misuse of the program.
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October 01, 2024
Insurers Say $40M Hurricane Claims Must Be Arbitrated
A group of insurers led by certain underwriters at Lloyd's, London urged a Louisiana federal court to reject a group of property owners' "last-ditch effort" to avoid arbitrating their hurricane damage claims totaling over $40 million, arguing the owners "don't dispute" that the arbitration provision in their policy is enforceable.
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October 01, 2024
NC Judge Trims Most Of $200M Apartment Complex Sale Suit
A North Carolina federal judge tossed out the breach of contract and deceptive trade practices claims in a real estate firm's suit over a soured $200 million deal to acquire a portfolio of apartment complexes, but the court said the buyer's claims could come back later.
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October 01, 2024
McElroy Deutsch Must Face 'Malicious' Claim From Fired Exec
A former business development director from McElroy Deutsch Mulvaney & Carpenter LLP has been given the go-ahead from a New Jersey state judge to bring a malicious-prosecution claim against the firm in litigation over her and her husband's alleged multimillion-dollar embezzlement from the firm.
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October 01, 2024
Foreclosure Class Wants To Stop Mich. Atty's Victim Outreach
Lawyers behind a proposed tax foreclosure class action in Michigan federal court have said an attorney who recently secured a settlement in a similar case sent a misleading solicitation letter to a client in a bid to undermine the proceedings.
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September 30, 2024
New Calif. Law Limits Warehouse Builds, Experts Say
With Gov. Gavin Newsom's signature Sunday, California has enacted broad restrictions on warehouse development that could pack new projects into commercial areas away from homes, schools and parks, frustrating both business and environmental groups.
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September 30, 2024
Faced With $100M In Unpaid Rent, DC Plans ERAP Reforms
Washington, D.C., officials plan to reform the city's Emergency Rental Assistance Program, saying changes made to it during the COVID-19 pandemic have led to an unsustainable situation where affordable-housing landlords across the district are owed about $100 million in unpaid rent.
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September 30, 2024
Akerman Guides Developer's $165M Fla. Land Purchase
Akerman LLP advised developer GT USA on the company's $165 million purchase of over 2,300 acres of Lake County, Florida, land, the law firm announced on Monday.
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September 30, 2024
NYC Public Housing Tenants Defend Rental Assistance Suit
New York tenants have urged a federal court not to toss their claims that the New York City Housing Authority failed to recalculate rents for residents whose income levels fell during the pandemic, saying their claims aren't time-barred because named tenants' applications are still pending.
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September 30, 2024
NY Man Must Face Brownstone Deed Theft Charges
A New York state court on Monday denied a Long Island man's bid to escape charges accusing him of using forgery and shell companies to steal two brownstone buildings in Harlem that are worth millions of dollars, disagreeing with the man's argument that the case was too stale to prosecute.
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September 30, 2024
Mich. Justices Give Condo Drowning Suit Another Chance
The Michigan Supreme Court on Monday remanded a premises liability lawsuit against a condominium owners association that was brought by the estate of a member, saying an appeals court should take into account the justices' recent ruling that condo associations have a duty to exercise reasonable care to protect condo owners in shared spaces.
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September 27, 2024
Homeowners Can Use Reservation Roads During Tribal Fight
A Wisconsin federal judge has ruled that non-Indian homeowners in the town of Lac du Flambeau may continue to drive on four roads within a Chippewa reservation as the U.S. government joins the tribe in its fight against the town over their respective rights to access.
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September 27, 2024
New Orleans Inspector Indicted For Bribing Top City Official
A New Orleans resident and his home inspection company were indicted in Louisiana federal court Friday on charges that he operated a yearslong scheme of taking bribes to let unlicensed electricians work on hundreds of homes and bribing top city officials to look the other way.
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September 27, 2024
Fla. Timeshare Biz Wins $1.3M Fee Award In False Ad Suit
A Florida federal judge has awarded more than $1.3 million in attorney fees to a timeshare company that prevailed in a lawsuit against a Wyoming company over a false advertising scheme encouraging customers to stop paying for their properties, after agreeing the marketers pursued an "exceptionally weak case" that would not succeed.
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September 27, 2024
Mo. Tenants OK Rent Strikes Against Fannie-Backed Buildings
Tenants in Kansas City, Missouri, voted to authorize rent strikes beginning Tuesday at two multifamily properties backed by Fannie Mae loans, in what organizers say would be part of a coordinated effort to target bad actors benefiting from federally-supported loans.
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September 27, 2024
La. Property Owners Fight Arbitration Of $40M Coverage Row
Dozens of companies seeking insurance payouts for damage caused by hurricanes Ida and Zeta urged a Louisiana federal court not to push their $40 million suit to arbitration, pointing to a clause in their policy allowing them to bring suit over money owed in any U.S. court.
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September 27, 2024
Constitution Permits Blocked Anti-Laundering Law, Panel Told
The U.S. government urged the Eleventh Circuit on Friday to reinstate the Corporate Transparency Act passed in 2021, arguing that the anti-money laundering law is within Congress' powers to regulate economic activity and necessary to have businesses report beneficial ownership to combat crimes like tax evasion and terrorist financing.
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September 27, 2024
RealPage Wants DOJ Antitrust Case Moved To Tennessee
RealPage has asked a North Carolina federal court to transfer the government's antitrust case against it to Tennessee, where private litigation has been playing out over claims the software company helps residential landlords fix rental prices.
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September 27, 2024
Hurricane Helene Losses Could Exceed $5B: Market Analyst
The losses from Hurricane Helene, a Category 4 storm that slammed into Florida's panhandle Thursday evening, could exceed $5 billion and challenge insurers dealing with high reinsurance costs, according to an early estimate from the insurer credit rating company AM Best.
Expert Analysis
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Rock Climbing Makes Me A Better Lawyer
Rock climbing requires problem-solving, focus, risk management and resilience, skills that are also invaluable assets in my role as a finance lawyer, says Mei Zhang at Haynes and Boone.
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Tips For Lenders Offering Texas Home Equity Lines Of Credit
As interest in home equity lines of credit increases, lenders seeking to utilize such products in Texas must be aware of state-specific requirements and limitations that can make it challenging to originate open-end lines of credit on homestead property, says Tye McWhorter at Polunsky Beitel.
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Class Actions At The Circuit Courts: July Lessons
In this month's review of class action appeals, Mitchell Engel at Shook Hardy considers cases touching on pre- and post-conviction detainment conditions, communications with class representatives, when the American Pipe tolling doctrine stops applying to modified classes, and more.
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Expect CFPB To Enforce Warning Against 'Coercive' Fine Print
The recent Consumer Financial Protection Bureau warning against unenforceable terms "deceptively" slipped into the fine print of contracts will likely be challenged in court, but until then, companies should expect the agency to treat its guidance as law and must carefully scrutinize their consumer contracts, say attorneys at Ballard Spahr.
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How NJ Worker Status Ruling Benefits Real Estate Industry
In Kennedy v. Weichert, the New Jersey Supreme Court recently said a real estate agent’s employment contract would supersede the usual ABC test analysis to determine his classification as an independent contractor, preserving operational flexibility for the industry — and potentially others, say Jason Finkelstein and Dalila Haden at Cole Schotz.
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After Chevron: Impact On CFPB May Be Limited
The U.S. Supreme Court's decision in Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo is likely to have a limited impact on the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's regulatory activities, and for those who value due process, consistency and predictability in consumer financial services regulation, this may be a good thing, says John Coleman at Orrick.
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7th Circ Joins Trend Of No CGL Coverage For Structural Flaws
The Seventh Circuit, which recently held potential structural instability did not count as property damage under a construction company's commercial general liability policy, joins a growing consensus that faulty work does not implicate coverage without tangible and present damage to the project, say Sarah Abrams at Baleen Specialty, and Elan Kandel and James Talbert at Bailey Cavalieri.
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In The CFPB Playbook: Making Good On Bold Promises
The U.S. Supreme Court's decision upholding the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's funding structure in the second quarter cleared the way for the bureau to resume a number of high-priority initiatives, and it appears poised to charge ahead in working toward its aggressive preelection agenda, say Andrew Arculin and Paula Vigo Marqués at Blank Rome.
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FBI Raid Signals Growing Criminal Enforcement Of Algorithms
The U.S. Department of Justice Antitrust Division's increased willingness to pursue the use of algorithmic pricing as a potential criminal violation means that companies need to understand the software solutions they employ and stay abreast of antitrust best practices when contracting with providers, say attorneys at Rule Garza.
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State Licensing Pitfalls Mortgage Servicers Must Beware
A recent enforcement action from the Washington Department of Financial Institutions demonstrates how subtle distinctions in state mortgage servicer licensing laws may come as a surprise to some companies, even if they never directly receive payments or interact with borrowers, says Clayton Swears at Hudson Cook.
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Keys To Strong Parking, Storage Contracts For NYC Buildings
Drafting and enforcing unambiguous parking and storage unit license agreements are essential tasks for co-op and condo boards in New York City, with recent cases highlighting how prudent terms can minimize potential headaches, say Matthew Eiben and Adam Lindenbaum at Rosenberg & Estis.
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Solving Puzzles Makes Me A Better Lawyer
Tackling daily puzzles — like Wordle, KenKen and Connections — has bolstered my intellectual property litigation practice by helping me to exercise different mental skills, acknowledge minor but important details, and build and reinforce good habits, says Roy Wepner at Kaplan Breyer.
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Realtor Settlement May Create New Antitrust Pitfalls
Following a recent antitrust settlement between the National Association of Realtors and home sellers, practices are set to change and the increased competition may benefit both brokers and homebuyers, but the loss of the customary method of buyer broker compensation could lead to new antitrust concerns, says Colin Ahler at Snell & Wilmer.