Residential

  • May 02, 2024

    USAA Wrongly Denied Fire Damage Claim, Wash. Couple Says

    A Washington couple accused their homeowners insurer of unreasonably denying their fire damage claim despite their timely response to all of the insurer's claim inquiries and requests, further accusing the insurer of violating Washington's Consumer Protection Act and Insurance Fair Conduct Act.

  • May 02, 2024

    Kushner-Owned Co. Owes $15M For Scrapped Apartment Deal

    A New Jersey appeals panel has ordered a company owned by Kushner Cos. LLC to pay $15 million to real estate sellers in a $186 million deal that fell apart during the COVID-19 pandemic.

  • May 02, 2024

    Split Conn. Supreme Court Says No To 'Ratio' Utility Bills

    In a rare 4-3 opinion, the Connecticut Supreme Court on Thursday ruled that a corporate landlord cannot use a ratio utility billing system to divide monthly costs among units not equipped with precise individual meters, stressing a legislative policy of protecting tenants from fluctuating fees beyond their immediate control.

  • May 02, 2024

    Simpson Thacher Adds Real Estate Partner In NY

    Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP said Thursday that it has hired Aron M. Zuckerman, an attorney with experience advising lenders in financing real estate projects, as a partner in its New York office.

  • May 02, 2024

    GTIS Expands JV With Homebuilder To $6B Worth Of Housing

    GTIS Partners has grown its partnership with homebuilder Hovnanian Enterprises to now build $6 billion worth of homes, including new construction in Florida and New Jersey, the companies announced Thursday.

  • May 02, 2024

    Eckert Seamans Sues For Inclusive Zoning Fight Fees

    Eckert Seamans Cherin & Mellott says a group representing Pittsburgh-area developers still owes nearly $76,000 in legal fees for the firm's work on a federal suit challenging an "inclusive zoning" ordinance, according to a complaint filed in Pennsylvania state court Thursday.

  • May 02, 2024

    Nixon Peabody Adds Two Community Finance Attys In DC

    Nixon Peabody LLP has hired two partners, who will focus their practices on helping nonprofits and other clients understand and obtain tax credits for a range of community development projects, to its community development finance practice in Washington, D.C., the firm announced Thursday.

  • May 01, 2024

    Ex-State Dept. Adviser To Co-Lead Klasko's Investor Visa Team

    A former U.S. Department of State attorney-adviser has left government service to co-lead Klasko Immigration Law Partners' EB-5 regional center and developer practice, the firm recently announced.

  • May 01, 2024

    Judges Say Homeowners' Fight Over Airport Not Grounded Yet

    A Washington couple violated their homeowners' association covenants by running a wing-walking flight school out of their home, but it is unclear if they ran afoul of community rules by using an association-owned airstrip for their business, according to a state appeals court opinion reversing a restriction on the couple's use of the airstrip.

  • May 01, 2024

    Colo. House OKs Tax Credits For Middle-Income Housing

    The Colorado House approved a pilot program Wednesday to provide a tax credit to developers of housing aimed at middle-income residents

  • May 01, 2024

    NY Man Charged With $43M Hospitality Ponzi Scheme

    A Manhattan resident was charged Wednesday with soliciting $43 million in investments through a Ponzi scheme that peddled false claims about his company's business interests in cryptocurrency, Las Vegas sports stadiums and hospitality.

  • May 01, 2024

    Nationstar Beats COVID-Related Loan Aid Suit For Now

    Nationstar Mortgage temporarily dodged a Pennsylvania federal lawsuit alleging the loan servicer wrongly denied COVID-19 loss mitigation assistance for delinquent mortgages, but the proposed class can refile their claims.

  • May 01, 2024

    Family Trust Asks Justices To Review $16.2M Tax Row

    A family trust established by grandparents for their five grandchildren asked the U.S. Supreme Court to review a Third Circuit ruling finding the trust was the nominee of an adult son with $16.2 million in tax liabilities, saying the decision stands to upset estate planning norms.

  • May 01, 2024

    Colo. House OKs Boost To Affordable Housing Tax Credit

    Colorado would increase the funds available for the state's affordable housing tax credits for six years under legislation approved Wednesday by the state House of Representatives.

  • May 01, 2024

    Construction Spending Down In March, Census Bureau Says

    National construction spending was down slightly between February and March, falling 0.2% to just more than $2.083 billion, which is still nearly 9.6% higher than this time last year, the U.S. Census Bureau reported Wednesday.

  • May 01, 2024

    Essex Still Watching Tech Jobs, Housing Court Backlogs

    Essex Property Trust executives said Wednesday that they have their eye on incremental increases in tech sector job growth and decreases in housing court backlogs, two factors that have weighed heavily on the performance of the real estate investment trust's properties.

  • May 01, 2024

    More Withdraw From Conn. Atty Hacked Payment Lawsuits

    A series of withdrawals has cut into a voluminous pile of lawsuits surrounding a real estate attorney's wiring of money to the wrong people in connection with several real estate sales, with First American Title among the parties that filed recent withdrawal notices in the myriad matters.

  • May 01, 2024

    Invitation Homes Sees Growth Ahead, Announces New JV

    Invitation Homes Inc.'s chief executive told investors Wednesday that the company's results for 2024's first quarter give good reasons to be optimistic about the U.S. single-family rentals market for the rest of the year, including a newly inked joint venture.

  • May 01, 2024

    Fried Frank, Levitt & Boccio Guide $97M Cornell Campus Refi

    Cornell University refinanced Hudson Cos.' $97.5 million mortgage tied to a 350-unit sustainable residential tower on the university's New York City technology campus, in a deal guided by Levitt & Boccio LLP and Fried Frank Harris Shriver & Jacobson LLP, per property records.

  • May 01, 2024

    MDC's Top Attorney Resigns After Sekisui House Merger

    Homebuilder MDC Holdings said its general counsel has announced his departure after Japanese firm Sekisui House Ltd. acquired the company in a nearly $5 billion transaction in January.

  • May 01, 2024

    What Attys Are Saying About The PFAS CERCLA Designation

    In the days since the Environmental Protection Agency classified two "forever chemicals" as hazardous, real estate and environmental attorneys have been analyzing how the move applies to their work.

  • May 01, 2024

    Real Estate Authority Is Moving To Thursday

    Beginning May 9, Law360 Real Estate Authority's two weekly newsletters — Commercial and Residential — will be distributed Thursday morning.

  • May 01, 2024

    Kennedy Wilson, Haseko Buy $90M Wash. Multifamily Builds

    Real estate investment company Kennedy Wilson and Japanese construction company Haseko Corp. partnered to purchase a pair of multifamily properties spanning 350 units in Vancouver, Washington, for $90 million, Kennedy Wilson announced.

  • April 30, 2024

    2nd Circ. Revives Commerzbank RMBS Suit Against US Bank

    The Second Circuit on Tuesday revived part of a nearly decade-old Commerzbank AG lawsuit brought against U.S. Bank NA over its role as a trustee on a slew of pre-2008 crisis RMBS trusts, sending some of the German bank's previously dismissed claims back to district court for a "closer inspection."

  • April 30, 2024

    Real Estate Leaders Ask Congress For Less Stick, More Carrot

    The federal government should incentivize home construction and office-to-residential conversions, avoid imposing more capital requirement rules on banks and refrain from treating commercial real estate monolithically, industry leaders testified to members of Congress on Tuesday.

Expert Analysis

  • Understanding The IRC's Excessive Refund Claim Penalty

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    Taxpayers considering protective refund claims pending resolution of major questions in tax cases like Moore v. U.S., which is pending before the U.S. Supreme Court, should understand how doing so may also leave them vulnerable to an excessive refund claim penalty under Internal Revenue Code Section 6676, say attorneys at McDermott.

  • Bankruptcy Ruling Shifts Lease Rejection Claim Calculation

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    A New York federal court’s recent ruling in In re: Cortlandt provides guidance on how to calculate a landlord's damages claim when a bankruptcy debtor rejects a lease, changing from an approach that considers the remaining rent due under the lease to one that considers the remaining time, say Bethany Simmons and Noah Weingarten at Loeb & Loeb.

  • Do Not Overstate Fla. Condo Termination Ruling's Impact

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    A close look at the unique language at issue in Avila v. Biscayne, in which a Florida appellate court deemed a condo termination to be invalid, shows that the case is unlikely to significantly affect other potential terminations, say Barry Lapides and Edward Baker at Berger Singerman.

  • Takeaways From FDIC's Spring Supervisory Highlights

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    The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.'s spring 2024 consumer compliance supervisory report found that relatively few institutions had significant consumer compliance issues last year, but the common thread among those that did were inadequacies or failures in disclosures to consumers, says Matthew Hanaghan at Nutter.

  • Walking With My Dog Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Thanks to my dog Birdie, I've learned that carving out an activity different from the practice of law — like daily outdoor walks that allow you to interact with new people — can contribute to professional success by boosting creativity and mental acuity, as well as expanding your social network, says Sarah Petrie at the Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office.

  • What Calif. Eviction Ruling Means For Defaulting Borrowers

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    A California appellate court's recent decision in Homeward Opportunities v. Taptelis found that a defaulting borrower could not delay foreclosure with an improperly served notice of pendency of action, but leaves open a possibility for borrowers to delay eviction proceedings merely by filing lawsuits, say Anne Beehler and Krystal Anderson at Holland & Knight.

  • How 3D Printing And Prefab Are Changing Construction

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    The growing popularity of trends like 3D printing technology and prefabrication in the construction industry have positive ramifications ranging from reducing risks at project sites to streamlining construction schedules, say Josephine Bahn and Jeffery Mullen at Cozen O'Connor.

  • Wave Of Final Rules Reflects Race Against CRA Deadline

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    The flurry of final rules now leaping off the Federal Register press — some of which will affect entire industries and millions of Americans — shows President Joe Biden's determination to protect his regulatory legacy from reversal by the next Congress, given the impending statutory look-back period under the Congressional Review Act, say attorneys at Jenner & Block.

  • A Deep Dive Into High Court's Permit Fee Ruling

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    David Robinson and Daniel Golub at Holland & Knight explore the U.S. Supreme Court's recent ruling that a local traffic impact fee charged to a California property owner may be a Fifth Amendment taking — and where it leaves localities and real estate developers.

  • The Case For Overturning Florida Foreclosure Ruling

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    A Florida appellate court's recent decision in Desbrunes v. U.S. Bank National Association will potentially put foreclosure cases across the state in jeopardy, and unless it is reconsidered, foreclosing plaintiffs will need to choose between frustrating and uncertain options in the new legal landscape, say Sara Accardi and Paige Knight at Bradley.

  • Bracing For The CFPB's War On Mortgage Fees

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    As the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau homes in on the legality of certain residential mortgage fees, the industry should consult the bureau's steady stream of consumer lending guidance for hints on its priorities, say Nanci Weissgold and Melissa Malpass at Alston & Bird.

  • DOJ Consent Orders Chart Road Map For Lending Compliance

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    Two recent consent orders issued by the U.S. Department of Justice as part of its efforts to fight mortgage lending discrimination highlight issues that pose fair lending compliance risks, and should be carefully studied by banks to avoid enforcement actions, says Memrie Fortenberry at Jones Walker.

  • Reverse Veil-Piercing Ruling Will Help Judgment Creditors

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    A New York federal court’s recent decision in Citibank v. Aralpa Holdings, finding two corporate entities liable for a judgment issued against a Mexican businessman, shows the value of reverse veil piercing as a remedy for judgment creditors to go after sophisticated debtors who squirrel away assets, says Gabe Bluestone at Omni Bridgeway.