Residential

  • November 18, 2024

    Honolulu Property Class Is Constitutional, Court Affirms

    A special Honolulu property class did not violate the state and country's equal protection clause, as a group of consolidated property owners alleged, because the property class served a legitimate policy purpose, the state Intermediate Court of Appeals has affirmed.

  • November 18, 2024

    NYC Real Estate Week In Review

    Simpson Thacher and Paul Weiss are among the law firms that landed work on the largest New York City real estate deals that hit public records, a busy period that saw eight transactions above the $20 million mark become public.

  • November 18, 2024

    After High Court Snubs, What's Next For NY Rent Law Cases?

    After the U.S. Supreme Court declined to review two cases challenging a tenant-friendly amendment to New York's rent regulations, attorneys say any future challenges will need to directly cite landlords' concrete injuries that stem from the state rent laws.

  • November 18, 2024

    NJ Justices To Consider Sanctions Against Town For Suing Attys

    The New Jersey Supreme Court has decided to weigh in on whether state law provides municipalities with immunity from sanctions for frivolous litigation, as it takes up a long-running affordable housing case in Englewood Cliffs.

  • November 18, 2024

    Latham Leads Invitation Homes In $200M Acquisition JV

    Latham & Watkins LLP advised Invitation Homes in forming a joint venture announced Monday to buy $200 million worth of newly constructed homes.

  • November 15, 2024

    Wash. Judge Says Junk Text Suit Must Lose Autodialer Claims

    Consumers who were peppered with hundreds of unwanted text messages from a home improvement platform can move forward with their $400 million lawsuit accusing the company of ignoring the Do Not Call Registry, but will lose their autodialer claims, a Washington federal judge has ruled.

  • November 15, 2024

    Pa. Top Court Snapshot: Silent Partners, Skill Games In Nov.

    The Pennsylvania Supreme Court's November argument schedule will task the justices with determining whether a property owner's absentee partner is an "indispensable party," whether CBD oil is reimbursable under workers' comp, and whether operating legally gray "skill games" should disqualify someone from getting a gaming license.

  • November 15, 2024

    Denver Voters Reject Sales Tax Hike For Affordable Housing

    Denver voters narrowly rejected a ballot measure that would have increased the city's sales and use tax by 0.5 percentage points and dedicated the anticipated $100 million in revenue to the city's affordable housing efforts.

  • November 15, 2024

    Mass. Home's Value Should Be Lowered, Board Rules

    A Massachusetts home in a flood plain should be granted a tax abatement of $860 and have its value lowered based on comparable sales in the area, the state Appellate Tax Board said in an opinion released Friday.

  • November 15, 2024

    Property Plays: Franchise Group, Kushner, Astrodome

    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.

  • November 15, 2024

    Ga. Panel Says Homeowners Must Arbitrate Boundary Spat

    The Georgia Court of Appeals on Friday ordered a property line spat between a construction company and a homeowner sent to arbitration, reversing a trial court's ruling that the issue fell outside the bounds of an arbitration provision within the original sale contract.

  • November 15, 2024

    Mass. Court Refuses To Set Defective Condo's Value At Zero

    The owner of a Massachusetts condominium unit that he claimed was uninhabitable and worth nothing was lawfully denied the valuation abatement he sought, a state appeals court said Friday, upholding a tax board decision.

  • November 15, 2024

    Florida To Aid Condo Hurricane Upgrades With $30M Effort

    Florida state officials launched a pilot program to help condominium associations prepare their properties for hurricanes with free inspections and grants for updates that could lower wind insurance costs.

  • November 15, 2024

    Ex-McElroy Deutsch Exec Says Firm Has No Claim On House

    The former McElroy Deutsch Mulvaney & Carpenter LLP business development director whose husband pled guilty to stealing millions from the firm has argued that the time has come for the court to toss an attempt by the firm to put her house in a constructive trust.

  • November 15, 2024

    NY Real Estate Lender Bravo Names New GC And COO

    New York City-based real estate lender Bravo Property Trust announced Friday it has brought on a new general counsel and chief operating officer with 20 years of experience and a deep network of industry connections, as the company looks to grow.

  • November 15, 2024

    HOA's Insurer Says Pool Chemical Injury Suits Aren't Covered

    A homeowners association's insurer told a Virginia federal court it needn't cover underlying lawsuits alleging a lifeguard employed by the association's contractor allowed hazardous chemicals to spread and hurt pool patrons, arguing that its commercial general liability policy excluded bodily injury as a result of pollutants.

  • November 15, 2024

    KKR Leader Says The Real Estate Downturn Is Ending

    The two-year real estate slump appears to be passing and the investment environment now looks like one of the most attractive that KKR & Co. Inc. has ever seen, a managing director for the private equity shop's real estate group said.

  • November 14, 2024

    LuLaRoe Hit With $164M Verdict In Contract, Fraud Trial

    Troubled multilevel marketing company LuLaRoe has been saddled with a $164 million jury verdict in California state court for breaching its contract with a clothing supplier and fraudulently hiding assets in real estate ownership entities and a race car company to avoid paying up.

  • November 14, 2024

    NY Nursing Homes Ink $45M Deal To End AG's Fraud Suit

    Four New York nursing homes have agreed to a $45 million deal that will end a civil lawsuit brought by the state accusing them of neglecting residents and defrauding Medicare and Medicaid, according to a Friday announcement by New York Attorney General Letitia James.

  • November 14, 2024

    Legal Aid Groups Accuse NYC Of Payment Delays

    The nonprofits that provide legal aid to low-income tenants and immigrants in New York City say that due to city delays, they haven't been able to submit invoices for five months, threatening the groups' ability to pay workers and continue operating.

  • November 14, 2024

    Judge Slams Gov't For Resisting LA Campus Housing Orders

    A California federal judge has told the federal government that it can't "resist accountability," rejecting a bid to stay court-ordered construction of housing for military veterans on a Los Angeles campus.

  • November 14, 2024

    Judge Pondering 3rd-Party Releases In LaVie Ch. 11 Plan

    A Georgia bankruptcy judge on Thursday said he will have to consider arguments on whether third-party claim releases in skilled nursing facility operator LaVie Care Centers' Chapter 11 plan are truly consensual before he allows the restructuring to go forward.

  • November 14, 2024

    DC Council Issues Housing Tax Break Emergency Resolution

    The District of Columbia Council approved an emergency resolution to enact legislation to implement a competitive process for the provision of tax abatements for housing developments while a recently passed measure to permanently authorize that process faces congressional review before it becomes law.

  • November 14, 2024

    Conn. Atty Must Pay $282K Default In Estate's Home Sale Suit

    A Connecticut attorney must pay a $282,000 default judgment for distributing real estate proceeds to at least one "unknown party" and writing a bad check to a trust beneficiary after a $1.2 million home sale, a state trial court judge has ruled.

  • November 14, 2024

    JLL Forecasts End To 'Peak Waiting' For Construction Work

    Commercial broker JLL expects moderating interest rates and building costs that have held mostly flat in 2024 to help lay the foundation for growth in the industry next year after a recent downturn in new project starts.

Expert Analysis

  • Home Canning Makes Me A Better Lawyer

    Author Photo

    Making my own pickles and jams requires seeing a process through from start to finish, as does representing clients from the start of a dispute at the Patent Trial and Appeal Board through any appeals to the Federal Circuit, says attorney Kevin McNish.

  • Rental Price-Fixing Suit Against RealPage Doesn't Add Up

    Author Photo

    Recent government antitrust litigation against RealPage, alleging that the software company's algorithm for setting rental prices amounts to price-fixing, has failed to allege an actual conspiracy, and is an example of regulatory overreach that should be reined in, says Andrew Ketterer at Ketterer & Ketterer.

  • Navigating FEMA Grant Program For Slope Fixes After Storms

    Author Photo

    In the aftermath of Hurricanes Helene and Milton, it is critical for governments, businesses and individuals to understand the legal requirements of the Federal Emergency Management Agency's grant programs to obtain funding for crucial repairs — including restoration of damaged infrastructure caused by landslides and slope failures, says Charles Schexnaildre at Baker Donelson.

  • Colorful Lessons From NYC's Emotional Support Parrot Suit

    Author Photo

    A recently settled lawsuit in New York federal court concerning housing discrimination claims from a resident who had emotional support parrots highlights the importance of housing providers treating accomodation questions seriously even if they may appear unusual or questionable, say attorneys at Seyfarth.

  • Recent Securities Cases Highlight Risks In AI Disclosures

    Author Photo

    Increasing public disclosure about the use and risks of artificial intelligence, and related litigation asserting that such disclosures are false or misleading, suggest that issuers need to exercise great care with respect to how they describe the benefits of AI, say Richard Zelichov and Danny Tobey at DLA Piper.

  • Consider Best Legal Practices For Commissioning Public Art

    Author Photo

    Commissioning public art for real estate projects can provide many benefits to real estate developers and the public, but it's important to understand the unique legal and contracting aspects of the process to ensure that projects are completed on time and on budget, says Sarah Conley Odenkirk at ArtConverge.

  • Playing Diplomacy Makes Us Better Lawyers

    Author Photo

    Similar to the practice of law, the rules of Diplomacy — a strategic board game set in pre-World War I Europe — are neither concise nor without ambiguity, and weekly gameplay with our colleagues has revealed the game's practical applications to our work as attorneys, say Jason Osborn and Ben Bevilacqua at Winston & Strawn.

  • Proposed Mortgage Assistance Rule: Tips For Servicers

    Author Photo

    The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's recent proposal to alter Regulation X mortgage servicing procedures to broadly construe requests for assistance, and stay foreclosure proceedings during loss mitigation review, will, if finalized, require mortgage servicers to make notable procedural changes to comply, says Louis Manetti at Locke Lord.

  • How Multifamily Property Owners Can Plan For The EV Future

    Author Photo

    As the electric vehicle market expands, and federal and state incentives and mandates intended to promote EV use come into effect, owners and operators of multifamily residential properties should be prepared to meet the growing demand for onsite EV charging infrastructure, say Sydney Tucker and Andreas Wokutch at Frost Brown.

  • Fla. Insurer-Breach Cases Split On Unrepaired Property Issue

    Author Photo

    A Florida appellate court's recent decision in Universal v. Qureshi is directly at odds with a 2020 decision from another Florida appellate court, and raises important questions for policyholders and insurers about the proper measure of damages in breach claims involving unrepaired property, say Andrea DeField and Yaniel Abreu at Hunton.

  • Collecting Art Makes Me A Better Lawyer

    Author Photo

    The therapeutic aspects of appreciating and collecting art improve my legal practice by enhancing my observation skills, empathy, creativity and cultural awareness, says attorney Michael McCready.

  • Colorado Banking Brief: All The Notable Legal Updates In Q3

    Author Photo

    In the third quarter of 2024, Colorado's banking and financial services sector faced both regulatory updates and changes to state law due to recent federal court decisions — with consequences for local governments, mortgage lenders, state-chartered trust companies and federally chartered lenders serving Colorado consumers, says Sarah Auchterlonie at Brownstein Hyatt.

  • In The CFPB Playbook: No Lazy, Hazy Days Of Summer

    Author Photo

    The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is headed for a brisk fall season, on the heels of a heated summer, which included the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling that the CFPB funding structure is constitutional, and in advance of the November election, says Eamonn Moran at Holland & Knight.