Residential
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January 17, 2025
Feds Drop Bribery, Fraud Suit Against Ex-New York Lt. Gov.
Federal prosecutors on Friday dropped a bribery and fraud suit accusing former New York Lt. Gov. Brian Benjamin of using his position to obtain state grant funds in exchange for campaign contributions, noting the death of a New York real estate lawyer who pled guilty as a cooperating witness in 2022.
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January 17, 2025
Miami Beach Condo JV Lands $390M Construction Loan
The joint venture behind Miami Beach luxury condominium project The Perigon announced Friday that it closed on a $390 million construction loan, after beginning construction of the 73-unit development in 2024.
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January 17, 2025
Property Plays: Pretium, The Perigon, Stack Infrastructure
Property Plays is a weekly roundup of the latest loans, leases, sales and projects around the country. Send your tips — all confidential — to realestate@law360.com.
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January 17, 2025
Fla. HOA Says Insurer Failed To Pay Or Appraise $9.5M Claim
A Sunshine State condo association told a Florida federal court Friday that its insurer failed to pay its $9.5 million claim for damages sustained as a result of Hurricane Ian, alleging the insurer didn't meet its policy's terms regarding assigning an appraiser.
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January 17, 2025
NJ Beach Access Dispute Should Go To Trial, Panel Says
A New Jersey appellate court ruled against beachfront property owners embroiled in a dispute over a dune walkover that provided direct access to Normandy Beach, ruling that the validity of one claim should be determined in a trial.
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January 17, 2025
Hawaii Bill Seeks To Make Renter Tax Credit Permanent
Hawaii would make its renters tax credit permanent and change the credit's amounts under a bill introduced in the state House of Representatives.
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January 17, 2025
Hawaii Bill Would End Mortgage Deduction For 2nd Homes
Hawaii would put an end to its state tax deduction for mortgage interest on second homes under a bill introduced in the state Senate.
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January 17, 2025
Hawaii Sen. Bill Seeks To Increase Real Property Exemption
Hawaii would increase its real property exemption beginning in 2026 to combat inflation under a bill introduced in the state Senate.
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January 17, 2025
Kirkland Guides Pretium's $550M Homebuilding Loan Fund
Pretium closed on the investment firm's first homebuilders finance fund after raising $550 million, announcing it expects to originate $5 billion in loans that will back new home construction and renovation with the fund.
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January 17, 2025
Litigators Make Up Half Of Ballard Spahr's Promotion Class
Ballard Spahr LLP unveiled five promotions to partner and seven to of counsel on Wednesday, elevating lawyers for four of its five departments in five cities.
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January 16, 2025
Fire-Safe Rebuilding Key To Reducing LA Insurance Issues
Reducing the potential of fires like those in Los Angeles to disrupt insurance and housing markets will require a significant and sustained effort to lower physical risks in fire-prone communities, and a commitment to rebuilding to stronger standards.
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January 16, 2025
7th Circ. Mulls Preemption Of HUD's Disparate-Impact Rule
A Seventh Circuit judge said Thursday he found it odd that a trade association for insurers was bringing a facial challenge to a U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development rule governing disparate-impact claims under the Fair Housing Act that would effectively require "a 50-state survey to adjudicate."
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January 16, 2025
Trump's HUD Pick Opposes Telework, Backs Opportunity Zones
Eric Scott Turner, President-elect Donald Trump's pick to lead the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, said he would bring the agency's largely remote workforce back to the office and boost a popular incentive for development in testimony before the U.S. Senate Banking Committee on Jan. 16.
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January 16, 2025
Insurer Must Share In Calif. Property Co. Defense, Court Told
An insurer for a property management company said another carrier must contribute to the defense of an underlying suit accusing the company of failing to maintain a mobile home park, telling a California federal court that the reasons for the other insurer's denial are either improper or moot.
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January 16, 2025
PE Exec Nominated To Lead Fannie, Freddie Regulator
President-elect Donald Trump said he will nominate Bill Pulte, the CEO of private equity firm Pulte Capital, to lead the agency regulating Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
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January 16, 2025
NC Biz Court Bulletin: Judge Bids Adieu, TikTok Wants Out
The North Carolina Business Court's former chief judge hung up his robes for the last time as the court entered the new year with a ruling that shapes the fate of beset real estate company MV Realty's consumer fraud trial and arguments by TikTok Inc. that its platform being "too engaging" isn't enough for the state to begin an enforcement action.
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January 16, 2025
Ill. Bill Seeks Refunds Of Excess Property Tax Revenue
Illinois local taxing authorities that exceed the previous year's property tax collection would need to disperse the excess to taxpayers under a bill introduced in the state House of Representatives.
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January 16, 2025
Condo Association Seeks $3.4M In Water Damage Coverage
A Washington state condominium association argued that its insurers owe payouts for an estimated $3.4 million in property damage caused by hidden water intrusion, the association told a federal court.
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January 16, 2025
Paxton-Tied Developer Pleads Guilty In Bank Fraud Case
A real estate developer whose ties to Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton were central to his 2023 impeachment case pled guilty Wednesday to unrelated charges of making false statements to a mortgage lender.
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January 16, 2025
NC Panel Says Civil Parties Can't Reject Jurors Midtrial
A North Carolina state appeals court ruled as a matter of first impression that a lower court was wrong to let a couple exercise their right to reject a juror in the middle of a trial after the jury had already been impaneled.
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January 15, 2025
Suit Looks To Overturn Fla. City's Affordable Housing Denial
A New York developer has hit Hollywood, Florida, with a state court suit accusing the city of improperly interpreting the state's Live Local Act to block the developer's proposed 17-story beachfront project after falling short in efforts to get the affordable housing law changed.
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January 15, 2025
Natural Disasters And Wildfires Reshape CRE Dealmaking
Natural disasters are already reshaping all aspects of commercial real estate dealmaking, attorneys say, and their importance is expected to grow considerably as a result of the ongoing Los Angeles wildfires.
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January 15, 2025
Tenants Want Yardi Rent-Fixing Suits Combined
Renters have urged a federal court in Washington state to consolidate two other cases with their proposed class action, which claims that multifamily building owners schemed to use a real estate management software company's product to inflate rental prices.
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January 15, 2025
NY Gov. Aims To Bar Rent-Fixing Software, As Suits Pile Up
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul proposed a statewide ban on rental price-fixing software in her State of the State Address on Tuesday, zeroing in on algorithmic rent-setting software at the heart of a U.S. Department of Justice antitrust lawsuit.
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January 15, 2025
JV Nets $154M Refi For Fla. Senior Housing Portfolio
A joint venture between opportunistic credit investment firm Monarch Alternative Capital LP and real estate developer and investor Redico refinanced their 817-unit portfolio of six Florida senior housing communities with a $154.5 million mortgage loan originated by Marathon Asset Management, according to an official Wednesday announcement.
Expert Analysis
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11th Circ. Ruling May Foreshadow Ch. 15 Clashes
The Eleventh Circuit's recent decision in In re: Talal Qais Abdulmunem Al Zawawi has introduced a split from the Second Circuit regarding whether debtors in foreign proceedings must have a domicile, calling attention to the understudied nature of Chapter 15 of the Bankruptcy Code, say attorneys at Cleary.
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A Look At New IRS Rules For Domestically Controlled REITs
The Internal Revenue Services' finalized Treasury Regulations addressing whether real estate investment trusts qualify as domestically controlled adopt the basic structure of previous proposals, but certain new and modified rules may mitigate the regulations' impact, say attorneys at Simpson Thacher.
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What CRA Deadline Means For Biden Admin. Rulemaking
With the 2024 election rapidly approaching, the Biden administration must race to finalize proposed agency actions within the next few weeks, or be exposed to the chance that the following Congress will overturn the rules under the Congressional Review Act, say attorneys at Covington.
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How New Rule Would Change CFIUS Enforcement Powers
Before the May 15 comment deadline, companies may want to weigh in on proposed regulatory changes to enforcement and mitigation tools at the disposal of the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, including broadened subpoena powers, difficult new mitigation timelines and higher maximum penalties, say attorneys at Venable.
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2nd Circ. Eminent Domain Ruling Empowers Municipalities
The Second Circuit's recent decision in Brinkmann v. Town of Southold, finding that a pretextual taking does not violate the Fifth Amendment's takings clause, gives municipalities a powerful tool with which to block unwanted development projects, even in bad faith, say James O'Connor and Benjamin Sugarman at Phillips Lytle.
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SEC Should Be Allowed To Equip Investors With Climate Info
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's new rule to require more climate-related disclosures will provide investors with much-needed clarity, despite opponents' attempts to challenge the rule with misused legal arguments, say Sarah Goetz at Democracy Forward and Cynthia Hanawalt at Columbia University’s Sabin Center for Climate Change.
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8 Fla. Statutes That Construction Cos. Should Prepare For
In this article, Jason Lambert at Hill Ward discusses a number of recent bills out of the Florida Legislature targeting construction companies in the Sunshine State that have been sent to the governor for signature, at least some of which will have broad impacts that affected companies should prepare for ahead of the July 1 effective date.
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Time To Fix NYC's Broken Property Assessment System
A New York appellate court's decision to revive Tax Equity Now New York v. City of New York may force the city to revamp its outdated and unfair real estate tax assessment system, which could be fixed with a couple of simple changes, says Seth Feldman at Romer Debbas.
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Understanding The IRC's Excessive Refund Claim Penalty
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.
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Bankruptcy Ruling Shifts Lease Rejection Claim Calculation
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.
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Do Not Overstate Fla. Condo Termination Ruling's Impact
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.
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Takeaways From FDIC's Spring Supervisory Highlights
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.
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What Calif. Eviction Ruling Means For Defaulting Borrowers
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.