Residential
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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May 01, 2024
Swiss Firm Empira Eyes Long-Term Growth In US Housing
The head of U.S. investments for Switzerland-based real estate investment firm Empira Group shared insights with Law360 Real Estate Authority on the opportunities the company saw in U.S. housing that have driven its recent arrival and growth on this side of the Atlantic.
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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."
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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.
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April 30, 2024
NY Agencies Hit With Rental Assistance Bias Class Action
New York City Housing Authority tenants on Tuesday filed a proposed class action alleging their landlord and the administrator of COVID emergency rental assistance intentionally discriminated against low-income Black and Hispanic renters by sending them to the back of the rental assistance line.
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April 30, 2024
Conn. Mortgage Co. Settles Data Breach Claims
A mortgage company settled a consolidated data breach class action that accused the company in Connecticut federal court of being liable for a November 2023 data breach that compromised its customers' personal information.
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April 30, 2024
Deal Frees Douglas Elliman From Mo. Broker Fee Class Action
Douglas Elliman has agreed to pay up to $117.5 million to exit a class action in Missouri federal court accusing the broker of causing home sellers to pay inflated commissions under rules set by the National Association of Realtors.
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April 30, 2024
Mich. Judge Admits Error In Cutting Predatory Lending Claims
A Michigan federal judge admitted she was wrong to toss fair housing claims alleging a group of real estate companies ran a bulk home buying program that preyed on Black buyers, reviving the claims and reversing a decision to cut a defendant from the case.
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April 30, 2024
NYC Judge Upholds Hotel Taxes On Apartment Subleases
A company that leased residential apartments in New York City is liable for more than $200,000 in disputed hotel taxes on short-term subleases of the units, an administrative law judge found.
Expert Analysis
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10th Circ. Ruling Could Gut Homeowners' Ch. 13 Safety Net
The Tenth Circuit’s recent ruling in Doll v. Goodman could spell the end of Chapter 13 protection for consumers in a number of states, and if the decision is replicated in other circuits, homeowners across the country could lose their homes for lack of a viable bankruptcy administration, says former U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Catherine Bauer, now at Signature Resolution.
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FTC Proposal Greatly Widens Auto-Renewal Regulation
The Federal Trade Commission's proposed rule on automatic renewal subscriptions would impose significant new obligations on sellers of negative option plans and expand the agency's enforcement powers, likely requiring companies to examine and change their practices, say attorneys at Squire Patton.
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Do Videoconferences Establish Jurisdiction With Defendants?
What it means to have minimum contacts in a foreign jurisdiction is changing as people become more accustomed to meeting via video, and defendants’ participation in videoconferencing may be used as a sword or a shield in courts’ personal jurisdiction analysis, says Patrick Hickey at Moye White.
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Humanism Should Replace Formalism In The Courts
The worrying tendency for judges to say "it's just the law talking, not me" in American decision writing has coincided with an historic decline in respect for the courts, but this trend can be reversed if courts develop understandable legal standards and justify them in human terms, says Connecticut Superior Court Judge Thomas Moukawsher.
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20 Years On, Campbell Holds Lessons On Reining In Ratios
Twenty years ago, the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in State Farm v. Campbell provided critical guidance on the constitutionally permissible ratio of punitive to compensatory damages — and both Campbell and subsequent federal circuit court decisions informed by it offer important pointers for defendants, say attorneys at Dechert.
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Don't Let Client Demands Erode Law Firm Autonomy
As clients increasingly impose requirements for attorney hiring and retention related to diversity and secondment, law firms must remember their ethical duties, as well as broader issues of lawyer development, culture and firm integrity, to maintain their independence while meaningfully responding to social changes, says Deborah Winokur at Cozen O'Connor.
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IRS' Cost Method Update Is Favorable For RE Developers
The Internal Revenue Service's recent update to its alternative cost method will allow real estate developers to accelerate their cost recovery of improvements in certain circumstances and make it easier for practitioners to satisfy the method's tax compliance requirements, says Benjamin Oklan at Weil.
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Federal Judge's Amici Invitation Is A Good Idea, With Caveats
An Arkansas federal judge’s recent order — inviting amicus briefs in every civil case before him — has merit, but its implementation may raise practical questions about the role of junior attorneys, economic considerations and other issues, says Lawrence Ebner at the Atlantic Legal Foundation.
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Fox Ex-Producer Case Is A Lesson In Joint Representation
A former Fox News producer's allegations that the network's lawyers pressured her to give misleading testimony in Fox's defamation battle with Dominion Voting Systems should remind lawyers representing a nonparty witness that the rules of joint representation apply, says Jared Marx at HWG.
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As The Metaverse Expands, Bankruptcy Questions Arise
Restructuring and bankruptcy happen in the metaverse, too — and the uncertain and evolving rules of digital ownership could have surprising effects on who gets paid, with increasing tension between platforms and users, say Kizzy Jarashow and James Lathrop at Goodwin.
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Stanford Law Protest Highlights Rise Of Incivility In Discourse
The recent Stanford Law School incident, where students disrupted a speech by U.S. Circuit Judge Kyle Duncan, should be a reminder to teach law students how to be effective advocates without endangering physical and mental health, says Nancy Rapoport at the University of Nevada.
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Dispute Prevention Strategies To Halt Strife Before It Starts
With geopolitical turbulence presenting increased risks of business disputes amid court backlogs and ballooning costs, companies should consider building mechanisms for dispute prevention into newly established partnerships to constructively resolve conflicts before they do costly damage, say Ellen Waldman and Allen Waxman at the International Institute for Conflict Prevention and Resolution.
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Key Takeaways In Ex-NY Lt. Gov.'s Tossed Bribery Charges
In dismissing bribery charges against former New York Lt. Gov. Brian Benjamin, a Manhattan federal court stringently defined an explicit quid pro quo — the latest in a string of federal rulings that have narrowed the use of federal public corruption laws to pursue state-level officials, say attorneys at Arnold & Porter.