Residential
-
April 29, 2024
Peer Street Plan Ruling Gets Delayed After Objector No-Show
Real estate investment platform Peer Street Inc. will have to wait another week for a decision on confirmation of its Chapter 11 plan, after a Delaware bankruptcy judge declined Monday to rule on the relief because an objecting party wasn't present in court.
-
April 29, 2024
Pa. Retirement Home Wants Ed Board Tax Challenge Nixed
The nonprofit owner of a retirement community in a suburb of Pittsburgh has filed a lawsuit against the local school board claiming that the board violated a soon-to-expire payment in lieu of taxes, or PILOT, agreement that was brokered almost 15 years ago.
-
April 29, 2024
Wash. Solar Co. Will Pay $465K To End Noncompete Suit
A Washington state judge has given a preliminary nod to a $465,000 settlement to end litigation accusing a residential solar energy equipment company of forcing workers to sign illegal noncompete clauses as a condition of employment.
-
April 29, 2024
Becker Adds Community Association Pro From Kaye Bender
A community associations attorney from Kaye Bender Rembaum has jumped to Becker & Poliakoff PC to serve as a shareholder in the firm's West Palm Beach, Florida, office, the firm announced Monday.
-
April 29, 2024
Builders Say State Rulemaking At Stake In Mich. PFAS Case
A homebuilders' group has backed industrial giant 3M in urging the state's highest court to preserve a lower court ruling wiping out limits on forever chemicals, with a trade group official saying the decision could affect other state agency rulemaking.
-
April 29, 2024
NYC Real Estate Week In Review
Davis Polk, Greenberg Traurig and Simpson Thacher are among the law firms that handled the largest New York City real estate deals that hit public records last week, a period that saw two buildings trade for north of $100 million and a four-building portfolio also sell for nine figures.
-
April 29, 2024
Supreme Court Declines To Hear 'Unusual' FCRA Case
The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declined to take up PHH Mortgage Corp.'s call for review of a Fourth Circuit decision allowing a Marine Corps veteran to continue his Fair Credit Reporting Act claims that the company harassed him about his ex-wife's debt on a home they once shared.
-
April 26, 2024
Law360 Reveals Titans Of The Plaintiffs Bar
In the past year, plaintiffs have won settlements and judgments for millions and billions of dollars from companies such as Wells Fargo, Goldman Sachs, Facebook and Fox News, with many high-profile cases finally wrapping up after years of fighting. Such cases — involving over-the-top compensation packages, chemical contamination, gender discrimination and data mining — were led by attorneys whose accomplishments earned them recognition as Law360's Titans of the Plaintiffs Bar for 2024.
-
April 26, 2024
How Legos, 'Working Girl' Sealed $10B Sibling Rivalry Win
A father-son attorney team used Legos and an argument borrowed from the 1988 film "Working Girl" to help a Los Angeles jury understand how their client's own brother illegally stole his multibillion-dollar real estate business, leading to a $10 billion verdict for their client and his other brothers, the attorneys told Law360.
-
April 26, 2024
HomeServices Brokerage Reaches Deal With Home Sellers
Berkshire Hathaway-owned brokerage firm HomeServices of America reached a deal Friday to settle claims that it forced a class of home sellers to pay inflated commissions, closely following the approval of a $418 million deal between the class and the National Association of Realtors.
-
April 26, 2024
Wells Fargo Clients Seek Class Cert. In Race Bias Suit
Mortgage applicants accusing Wells Fargo of discriminating against borrowers from racial minorities with higher interest rates, worse terms and more scrutiny than white clients have asked a California federal judge to approve their class.
-
April 26, 2024
Umpqua Bank Seeks Win On Investors' Ponzi Aiding Claims
Oregon-based Umpqua Bank has asked a San Francisco federal judge to toss claims that it aided and abetted a $250 million real estate Ponzi scheme, arguing the investors who brought the suit saw that their funds were put into "legitimate" investments.
-
April 26, 2024
Calif. County Wants Out Of RV Parking Site Challenge
San Luis Obispo County urged a California federal court to toss most of the claims filed by a union of homeless people and recreational vehicle residents who accused the county of wrongfully evicting them from a local parking area.
-
April 26, 2024
Bankrupt NYC Building Owners, Rent-Strikers Settle Claims
The bankrupt owners of several Manhattan apartment buildings asked a New York federal bankruptcy court to approve the settlement of the claims of rent-striking tenants, the tenants' debt and a related adversary proceeding.
-
April 26, 2024
'Nuisance' Atty Neighbor Wins Ch. 11 Eviction Stay
Norman Resnicow, the lawyer and alleged "nuisance neighbor" who lives next to actor Justin Theroux, has won his bid in New York bankruptcy court to hold off his co-op building from evicting him because of his Chapter 11 automatic stay.
-
April 26, 2024
Ga. Residents Want In On $300M Monkey Farm Fight
Four Georgia residents have asked a federal judge to let them intervene in a dispute over the construction of a sprawling primate-rearing farm in Bainbridge, alleging the local development authority that approved a $300 million bond deal for the project is colluding with the farm's backers to advance the project.
-
April 26, 2024
Colo. House OKs Lower Age For Historic Structure Tax Credit
Colorado would reduce the age requirement for the properties eligible for the state's historic structures tax credit, postpone its sunset and make other changes under legislation approved by the state House on Friday.
-
April 26, 2024
Weyerhaeuser Is Optimistic About US Housing Market
Weyerhaeuser remains upbeat about the housing market in 2024 and expects demand for lumber to pick up in the coming months, the lumber real estate investment trust said on its first quarter earnings call Friday.
-
April 26, 2024
Default Risk At Major SF Complex Drives April CMBS Distress
Kroll Bond Rating Agency said Friday that special servicing on a $1.3 billion loan for one of San Francisco's biggest apartment complexes accounted for more than a third of new distress among commercial mortgage-backed securities this month.
-
April 26, 2024
Philly Mayor Creates Property Assessment Task Force
Philadelphia will designate a task force to study and address inequities in the city's residential property tax assessments, the mayor announced Friday.
-
April 25, 2024
PI Ordered To Stay Away From Jury That Issued $10B Verdict
A California judge on Thursday kept in place an order for a private investigator to cease contacting jurors who delivered a $10 billion verdict in March against his client, telling him, "it doesn't sit well with me" that he's "going and bothering jurors" by visiting them at their homes.
-
April 25, 2024
Real Estate Exec Can't Escape Shareholder's Self-Dealing Suit
A California federal judge ruled that a derivative shareholder suit accusing the president of a real estate management and investment firm of misusing nearly $35 million of company revenue now passes the so-called Zuckerberg test since the plaintiff sufficiently pled that demand on the company's board members would be futile.
-
April 25, 2024
JDS Buys $61M Miami Tower For Dolce & Gabbana Project
An affiliate of JDS Development purchased a Miami office building for $61.2 million, which the developer plans to convert to a Dolce & Gabbana-branded tower with 259 hotel and luxury condominium units, per a Vizzda filing.
-
April 25, 2024
Wash. Appeals Court Rejects Seattle High-Rise Permit Dispute
A Washington state appeals court sided with a developer on Thursday in a challenge to its plan for a 17-story apartment building on Seattle's waterfront, concluding that the project's opponents missed their chance to contest the city's decision not to hold the proposal to certain shoreline regulations.
-
April 25, 2024
Neb. To Require County Tax Roll Corrections Upon Final Order
Nebraska county clerks or assessors will be required to correct tax rolls and property assessments when an administrative body or court gives a final order, under a bill signed by the governor.
Expert Analysis
-
Strict Duty To Indemnify Ruling Bucks Recent Trend
A South Carolina federal court's recent decision that it lacked subject matter jurisdiction to decide an insurer's duty to indemnify prior to the finding of insured liability sharply diverges from the more nuanced or multipronged standards established by multiple circuit courts, says Richard Mason at MasonADR.
-
Ill. Insurance Ruling Helps Developers, Community Orgs. Alike
The Illinois Supreme Court's decision in Acuity v. M/I Homes of Chicago, holding that commercial general liability policy exceptions did not prevent coverage for damage caused by faulty workmanship, will bring more potential insurance coverage for real estate developers and, in turn, larger payouts when community organizations sue them, say Howard Dakoff and Suzanne Karbarz Rovner at Levenfeld Pearlstein.
-
NJ Foreclosure Law Will Have Multifaceted Impact On Lenders
New Jersey's A.B. 5664 introduces significant reforms to foreclosure proceedings in the state, potentially lessening the burden on lenders and servicers to maintain foreclosed properties, but also brings new limitations and time frames, say Christina Livorsi and Wael Amer at Day Pitney.
-
11 Noteworthy CFPB Developments From 2023
Under Rohit Chopra’s leadership, 2023 was an industrious year for the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, with developments including the release of the proposed personal financial data rights rule, publication of proposed rules involving public registries for nonbanks and the bureau's continuous battle against junk fees, all of which are sure to further progress in 2024, say attorneys at Husch Blackwell.
-
Insured Takeaways From 10th Circ. Interrelated Claims Ruling
The Tenth Circuit's recent ruling in American Southwest Mortgage v. Continental Casualty that multiple claims arising from consecutive audit years were interrelated — and thus subject to a per claim limit — creates a concerning precedent for policyholders, so companies should negotiate relevant policy language, says Michael Stockalper at Saxe Doernberger.
-
Baking Bread Makes Me A Better Lawyer
After many years practicing law, and a few years baking bread, I have learned that there are a few keys to success in both endeavors, including the assembly of a nourishing and resilient culture, and the ability to learn from failure and exercise patience, says Rick Robinson at Reed Smith.
-
NY Banking Brief: All The Notable Legal Updates In Q4
New York's banking and financial sector saw a number of notable regulatory and legislative changes in the final quarter of 2023, including guidance on climate risks and heightened cybersecurity protocols issued by the New York State Department of Financial Services, as well as final revisions to virtual currency listings in the state, say attorneys at WilmerHale.
-
Ill. Justices Set New Standard For Analyzing Defect Claims
The Illinois Supreme Court's recent ruling in Acuity v. M/I Homes of Chicago has effectively changed the landscape for how insurers may respond to construction defect claims in the state, so insurers should carefully focus their coverage analysis on whether the business risk exclusions are applicable, say Bevin Carroll and Julie Klein at Kennedys.
-
A Look At Consumer Reporting In 2023, And What's To Come
The legal landscape of consumer reporting is evolving as courts, federal regulators and state legislatures continue to weigh in — and while last year may have seen a slight downtick in the overall volume of Fair Credit Reporting Act litigation, 2024 is set to be a watershed year for this area of the law, say attorneys at Troutman Pepper.
-
How New Fla. Condo Law Will Affect Owners' Finances
As this December is the deadline for condominiums in Florida to be in compliance with legislation passed after the Champlain Towers collapse, condo owners will need to prepare for both the immediate and long-term financial implications, says Greg Main-Baillie at Colliers.
-
The Year Ahead In Foreign Investment And National Security
In 2024, expect the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, already at the forefront of addressing national security threats, to increase monitoring and enforcement related to outbound investment, focus on supply chain resilience in nondefense sectors, and heighten oversight of agricultural transactions, say attorneys at Holland & Knight.
-
A Challenging CRE Environment Holds Opportunities In 2024
As the commercial real estate market faces reduced occupancy levels and rising financing costs, the new landscape will be favorable to those who can leverage capital, strategic vision and expertise to meet challenges like taking on distressed properties and converting office space to residential use, say Nesa Amamoo and Vered Rabia at Skadden.
-
A Former Bankruptcy Judge Talks 2023 High Court Rulings
In 2023, the U.S. Supreme Court issued four bankruptcy law opinions — an extraordinary number — and a close look at these cases signals that changes to the U.S. Bankruptcy Code will have to come from Congress, not the courts, says Phillip Shefferly at the University of Michigan Law School.