Real Estate

  • March 22, 2024

    Prostitutes, Wiretaps, Payoffs: Key LA RICO Witness Tells All

    A witness in former Los Angeles deputy mayor Ray Chan's racketeering trial testified Friday about trying to boost his high-end cabinetry business by procuring prostitutes for a city council member, paying more than $150,000 in bribes and attempting to give a city official $10,000 at Chan's behest.

  • March 22, 2024

    Feds Delay Community Lending Assessment Change To 2026

    Federal banking regulators have pushed back a looming implementation date for part of their revamped community lending rules, delaying the roll-out of certain changes in a move that is raising fresh criticism of the rulemaking amid an industry-backed legal challenge.  

  • March 22, 2024

    US Bank Ends $3.5B RMBS Trusts Suits Against BofA, Others

    U.S. Bank on Friday notified a New York federal judge it permanently discontinued two lawsuits against First Franklin Financial, Merrill Lynch Mortgage and Bank of America relating to substandard loans in residential mortgage-backed securities trusts worth $3.5 billion, two years after the parties reached a conditional settlement.

  • March 22, 2024

    Real Estate Co. Says Ch. 7 Trustee Ginned Up Conn. AG Probe

    A company that buys houses from financially distressed individuals and rents the homes back to their former owners filed a scathing adversary proceeding against a Chapter 7 trustee's avoidance action, claiming the trustee ginned up a "baseless" state government probe and is harming several estates she claims to be protecting.

  • March 22, 2024

    Real Estate Authority: NAR, Climate, Data Center Dollars

    Law360 Real Estate Authority covers the most important real estate deals, litigation, policies and trends. Catch up on this week's key developments by state — as well as on how the National Association of Realtors could shift broker fees, what the country's patchwork of climate action plans means for real estate, and why private equity is hot on data centers.

  • March 22, 2024

    Airbnb Sued Over Conn. Woman's Fatal Burns In Jamaica

    Airbnb has taken to Connecticut federal court to defend against claims that it is financially responsible for an explosion at a Jamaican rental property that caused first-degree burns over 56% of a renter's body, eventually leading to the woman's death in the U.S. two months later.

  • March 22, 2024

    Special District Members Seek To Block Disney Depo Request

    Members of the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District asked a state court to block Disney's attempt to depose them in its suit trying to revoke two land use agreements the company signed with the predecessor district board over the property surrounding Walt Disney World.

  • March 22, 2024

    Judge Signals OK For $15M DIP Loan To Petersen Health Care

    During a break in a hearing Friday afternoon in Delaware bankruptcy court, senior-living company Petersen Health Care reached an interim deal with its debtor-in-possession lender and its prepetition lenders to let it access $15 million of its proposed $45 million DIP loan.

  • March 22, 2024

    Legal Tech Execs Can't Arbitrate ESOP Valuation Fight 

    A legal technology company's executives and related entities can't arbitrate a proposed class action alleging they undervalued the company's shares when shutting down its employee stock ownership plan, thereby costing participants $35.4 million, a Georgia federal judge ruled, finding the plan's arbitration clauses blocked remedies allowed by federal benefits law.

  • March 22, 2024

    Home Sellers Hope $58M Compass Deal Helps Spur Others

    Compass Inc. announced Friday that it would pay home sellers $57.5 million in the first settlement since the National Association of Realtors reached its own deal this month to pay $418 million and overhaul rules that have effectively restricted how brokers buy and sell homes and how they're paid.

  • March 22, 2024

    Ind. Factory Adds To Historic $112M Bad Faith Coverage Win

    A flooded factory building that was awarded $112 million in a historic bad faith win added to its victory Friday when an Indiana federal court denied its insurers' requests for a new trial and granted the factory more than $7 million in costs and interest.

  • March 22, 2024

    Fla. Judge Allows Sale Of Ex-MLBer's House In Fraud Suit

    A Florida state court judge on Friday allowed the sale of a house owned by ex-Boston Red Sox outfielder Rusney Castillo to go forward over the objection of a sports managing company, which accused the baseball player of fraudulent transfer in order to avoid a $3 million judgment against him.

  • March 22, 2024

    5th Circ. Asked For Do-Over In Hurricane Coverage Feud

    The owners of a New Orleans apartment complex urged the Fifth Circuit to rethink ordering them to arbitrate Hurricane Ida damage claims under New York law, arguing New York's choice-of-law clause would ordinarily be unenforceable under Louisiana law if it weren't couched within the arbitration provision.

  • March 22, 2024

    Ohio Board Upholds $2.2M Hotel Value Cut Due To COVID

    The Ohio Board of Tax Appeals upheld a local tax board's decision to lower the value of a hotel property by $2.2 million, saying in an order Friday that the hotel proved COVID-19 led to a reduction in value.

  • March 22, 2024

    Colo. Water District Illegally Doubled Tax Rate, Panel Says

    A water conservancy district violated the Colorado Constitution when it doubled its property tax rate without voter approval, a state appeals court ruled, reversing a lower court's decision against a proposed class of property owners.

  • March 22, 2024

    NYC Landlord Jailed For 'Notoriously Negligent' Conditions

    One of New York City's "most notoriously negligent landlords" will spend up to 60 days in Riker's Island jail after he ignored the conditions of two apartment buildings in Manhattan's Washington Heights neighborhood, the city's Department of Housing Preservation and Devleopment has announced.

  • March 22, 2024

    Lewis Brisbois Accused Of Filing 'Sham' Suits To Avert Fault

    A group of 185 Chinese investors have accused Lewis Brisbois Bisgaard & Smith LLP attorneys of filing numerous lawsuits — and collecting $3.8 million in legal fees — to cover for failing to read "draconian" contract terms that led the investors to lose their $92.5 million stake in a $2.5 billion Los Angeles mixed-use development.

  • March 21, 2024

    LA City Official Ran Secret Consulting Firm, RICO Jury Told

    Former Los Angeles Deputy Mayor Raymond Chan secretly ran an outside real estate consulting firm for years while still employed at City Hall and covertly worked to help get his client's planned $700 million hotel renovation approved, his former business partner testified Thursday at Chan's federal racketeering trial.

  • March 21, 2024

    6th Circ. Probes Outside Firm's Outreach To Class Members

    A Sixth Circuit judge suggested Thursday that there may be free-speech issues with an order barring outside attorneys from sending solicitation letters to potential class members poised to benefit from a pending settlement over Michigan counties' tax foreclosure practices.  

  • March 21, 2024

    Navy Federal Wants Racial Lending Discrimination Suit Axed

    Navy Federal Credit Union on Thursday urged a Virginia federal court to toss a consolidated proposed class action accusing it of racial lending discrimination following a CNN report last year, arguing the plaintiffs have not shown that they were qualified for the loans they applied for, or that the credit union considered race when denying their applications.

  • March 21, 2024

    Developer Says Partner Mishandled Funds In Denver Project

    A real estate developer and a related online platform have accused a hedge fund in Colorado state court of misusing grant money and owing fees for a Denver commercial housing project.

  • March 21, 2024

    El Paso Says US Can't Weigh In On Tribal Land Suit

    El Paso, Texas, is fighting the federal government's bid to back the Ysleta del Sur Pueblo in its land ownership suit, arguing that the government is trying to force a school district to exchange land with the tribe for a promise it won't file aboriginal rights' claims in the area.

  • March 21, 2024

    Calif. Panel Revives Diner's COVID Sanitization Coverage Bid

    A California state appeals court revived a diner's bid for property insurance coverage of COVID-19 losses after it determined the restaurant credibly alleged direct physical losses and that the policy's language covering losses attributable to a virus applied to COVID-19 sanitization efforts.

  • March 21, 2024

    Canadian Supplement Co. Seeks US Bankruptcy Recognition

    A nutritional supplement supplier based in Montreal told a Delaware bankruptcy judge Thursday it needs the U.S. court to recognize its Canadian insolvency proceedings, reasoning that an eviction threat may cut off access to assets in California the debtor needs for its sale plans.

  • March 21, 2024

    8th Circ. Backs Attys' Win In COVID Hotel Eviction Challenge

    Two government attorneys did not violate the U.S. Constitution when they gave the green light to a Minnesota police department to forcibly remove a resident from a Super 8 motel in June 2020 amid a COVID-19 era eviction ban, the Eighth Circuit ruled in a precedential opinion Thursday, citing a "dearth of precedent."

Expert Analysis

  • Assessing The Future Of Colorado's Economic Loss Rule

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    The Colorado Supreme Court's decision to review a state appellate court's ruling in Mid-Century Insurance Co. v. HIVE Construction will significantly influence the future of Colorado's economic loss rule, with high stakes for the cost of doing business in the state, says David Holman at Crisham & Holman.

  • Series

    Coaching High School Wrestling Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Coaching my son’s high school wrestling team has been great fun, but it’s also demonstrated how a legal career can benefit from certain experiences, such as embracing the unknown, studying the rules and engaging with new people, says Richard Davis at Maynard Nexsen.

  • How Recent Laws Affect Foreign Purchase Of US Real Estate

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    Early diligence is imperative for U.S. real estate transactions involving foreign actors, including analysis of federal and state foreign investment laws implicated by the transaction, depending on the property's nature and location, the parties' citizenship, and the transaction's structure, say Massimo D’Angelo and Anthony Rapa at Blank Rome.

  • Opinion

    New La. Gas Pipeline Projects Must Respect Rules And Rights

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    As pipeline developers rush to join in Louisiana's Haynesville Shale gas boom, established operators like Energy Transfer are justified in demanding that newer entrants respect safety rules, regulatory requirements and property rights when proposing routes that would cross existing pipelines, says Joshua Campbell at Campbell Law.

  • SG's Office Is Case Study To Help Close Legal Gender Gap

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    As women continue to be underrepresented in the upper echelons of the legal profession, law firms could learn from the example set by the Office of the Solicitor General, where culture and workplace policies have helped foster greater gender equality, say attorneys at Ocean Tomo.

  • Reducing Carbon Footprint Requires A Tricky Path For CRE

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    As real estate owners find themselves caught between rapidly evolving environmental, social and governance initiatives and complicated societal debate, they will need to carefully establish formal plans to remain both competitive and compliant, say Michael Kuhn and Mahira Khan at Jackson Walker.

  • New CMS Rule Will Change Nursing Facility Disclosures

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    A new rule from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services significantly expands disclosure requirements for nursing facilities backed by private equity companies or real estate investment trusts, likely foreshadowing increased oversight that could include more targeted audits, say Janice Davis and Christopher Ronne at Morgan Lewis.

  • What New Calif. Strike Force Means For White Collar Crimes

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    The recently announced Central District of California strike force targeting complex corporate and securities fraud — following the Northern District of California's model — combines experienced prosecutorial leadership and partnerships with federal agencies like the IRS and FBI, and could result in an uptick in the number of cases and speed of proceedings, say attorneys at MoFo.

  • What Shareholder Approval Rule Changes Mean For Cos.

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    The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission recently approved proposed rule changes to shareholder requirements by the New York Stock Exchange, an approval that will benefit listed companies in many ways, including by making it easier to raise capital from passive investors, say attorneys at Baker Botts.

  • Reimagining Law Firm Culture To Break The Cycle Of Burnout

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    While attorney burnout remains a perennial issue in the legal profession, shifting post-pandemic expectations mean that law firms must adapt their office cultures to retain talent, say Kevin Henderson and Eric Pacifici at SMB Law Group.

  • Zimbabwe Ruling Bolsters UK's Draw As Arbitration Enforcer

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    An English court's recent decision in Border Timbers v. Zimbabwe, finding that state immunity was irrelevant to registering an arbitration award, emphasizes the U.K.'s reputation as a creditor-friendly destination for award enforcement, say Jon Felce and Tulsi Bhatia at Cooke Young.

  • Series

    ESG Around The World: Brazil

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    Environmental, social and governance issues have increasingly translated into new legislation in Brazil since 2020, and in the wake of these recently enacted regulations, we are likely to see a growing number of legal disputes in the largest South American country related to ESG issues such as greenwashing if companies are not prepared to adequately adapt and comply, say attorneys at Mattos Filho.

  • Series

    Competing In Dressage Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    My lifelong participation in the sport of dressage — often called ballet on horses — has proven that several skills developed through training and competition are transferable to legal work, especially the ability to harness focus, persistence and versatility when negotiating a deal, says Stephanie Coco at V&E.

  • High Court Case Could Reshape Local Development Fees

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    If last month's oral arguments are any indication of how the U.S. Supreme Court will rule in Sheetz v. County of El Dorado, it's unlikely the justices will hold that the essential nexus and rough proportionality tests under the cases of Nollan, Dolan and Koontz apply to legislative exactions, but a sweeping decision would still be the natural progression in the line of cases giving property owners takings claims, says Phillip Babich at Reed Smith.

  • Opinion

    White Collar Plea Deals Are Rarely 'Knowing' And 'Voluntary'

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    Because prosecutors are not required to disclose exculpatory evidence during plea negotiations, white collar defendants often enter into plea deals that don’t meet the U.S. Supreme Court’s “knowing” and “voluntary” standard for trials — but individual courts and solutions judges could rectify the issue, says Sara Kropf at Kropf Moseley.

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