Residential
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August 30, 2024
Property Plays: Sixth Street, Citadel, 49ers
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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August 30, 2024
Steward Says It Has Deal To Avert Some Hospital Closures
Bankrupt hospital operator Steward Health Care System has a tentative agreement that would eliminate over $6 billion of claims against it, keep the majority of its 31 hospitals operating while saving three from potential closure and set it on a path to confirm a Chapter 11 plan, attorneys told a Texas bankruptcy judge Friday.
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August 30, 2024
Marcus & Millichap Unit Closes $95M Apartment Complex Sale
A subsidiary of brokerage Marcus & Millichap has arranged the $95 million sale of a Simi Valley, California, multifamily property.
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August 30, 2024
Condo Board Coverage Suit Over Maui Wildfire Gets Tossed
A Hawaii federal judge tossed an insurer's suit seeking to avoid representing a condo association and property manager after owners sent a letter blaming the association for illegally having insufficient insurance before the 2023 Maui wildfires decimated Lahaina, concluding matters were best left to Hawaii state court.
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August 30, 2024
Developer Closes $70.2M Wash. Multifamily Property Buy
Real estate developer, investor and operator Security Properties purchased a 159-unit Sammamish, Washington, multifamily property for $70.2 million, the company announced.
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August 30, 2024
PE Firm Bascom Snaps Up Bakersfield Complex For $56.6M
Bascom Group said it has acquired a 249-unit, build-to-rent property in Bakersfield, California, for $56.6 million, in its sixth purchase of 2024.
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August 29, 2024
PNC Asks 4th Circ. To Reconsider HELOC 'Offset' Ban Ruling
PNC Bank has asked the Fourth Circuit to take another look at its ruling that extended the "offset" provision of the Truth in Lending Act, which prevents banks from using funds held in deposit accounts to offset credit card debt without the consumer's consent, to home equity lines of credit.
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August 29, 2024
CFPB Fines NewDay $2.25M Over VA Home Loan Practices
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau levied a $2.25 million fine against NewDay Financial LLC on Thursday for allegedly deceiving active-duty service members and veterans seeking cash-out refinance loans on their home mortgages.
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August 29, 2024
Building Codes Key Part Of Mitigating Insurance Risks
Property and casualty insurers have highlighted resilient building as a way to address burgeoning property risk, but experts told Law360 the government alone cannot be expected to improve insurance outcomes without engagement from state and local jurisdictions and private organizations on issues like building codes and federal grants.
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August 29, 2024
Counterclaims Cut From $12.1M Home Security Contract Suit
The home-security arm of Pennsylvania-based builder Toll Brothers has persuaded a Connecticut state court to trim some of the counterclaims from its litigation with Security Systems Inc., successfully arguing that the buyer of nearly 10,000 customer accounts hasn't shown that damages exceed the $1.5 million "attrition reserve" the company was already holding on to.
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August 29, 2024
Colo. Lawmakers OK Further Property Tax Rate Cuts
The Colorado Legislature approved a bill Thursday that would cut assessment rates and limit local property tax growth as part of an agreement to stop two ballot initiatives critics say would devastate funding for schools and other local services.
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August 29, 2024
Agency Says Homeowner's Appeal Question Is Too Late
An insurance agency pushed North Carolina's Supreme Court to toss a homeowner's appeal on whether the court erred by having heightened pleadings standards for punitive damages against corporations, arguing the deadline for debating the issue had passed.
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August 28, 2024
Top Massachusetts Real Estate News This Summer
Catch up on the hottest real estate news out of Massachusetts so far this summer, from a hotel refinancing and the promises of offshore wind projects to a housing bill and an update on the Boston life sciences market.
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August 28, 2024
Colo. House OKs Additional Property Tax Rate Cuts
The Colorado House approved a legislative package Wednesday aimed at limiting property tax increases by lowering assessment rates and capping local revenue growth, sending the measures to the state Senate.
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August 28, 2024
BofA Hit With Suit Alleging 'Exploitative' Trust Insurance Costs
A trust beneficiary accused Bank of America in Georgia federal court of charging a trust it manages "unnecessarily expensive" insurance coverage for a residential property, arguing the bank breached its duties both as a trustee and a fiduciary.
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August 28, 2024
Ohio Justices To Weigh School Board Tax Appeal Rights
The Ohio Supreme Court agreed Wednesday to hear a school board's claims that a law that limited the rights of school boards to appeal certain property valuation decisions to a state tax board offered them a path to appeal to county courts instead.
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August 28, 2024
Fried Frank Guides $793M Refinance On High Line Condo
Michael Barker, a real estate partner at Fried Frank Harris Shriver Jacobson, worked on a $793 million refinancing for a once-troubled luxury condominium in West Chelsea, Manhattan, according to recent mortgage filings.
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August 28, 2024
Petersen Health Care Delays Hearing On Ch. 11 Exec Bonuses
Bankrupt nursing home operator Petersen Health Care told a Delaware judge Wednesday that it wanted more time to work towards a resolution with creditors and the U.S. Trustee's Office on its proposed executive incentive bonuses.
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August 28, 2024
NFL Concussion Litigation Funder's Case Heading For Trial
A New Jersey federal judge has advanced a case for trial in which a litigation funder accuses a solo practitioner in the NFL concussion case of unfairly shielding assets by buying and transferring himself a house through his firm.
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August 28, 2024
Treasury To Require Reports On All-Cash Real Estate Deals
Anyone who transfers real estate to a legal entity in an all-cash transaction, including attorneys, will be required starting Dec. 1, 2025, to inform the U.S. Treasury Department about that entity's beneficial owners and their identification numbers under a final rule issued Wednesday.
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August 28, 2024
Riemer Braunstein Guides $105M NYC Tower Financing Deal
Rockrose Development Corp. entity 27-34 Jackson LLC has borrowed a combined $105 million in mortgage loans from Wells Fargo for a Queens, New York, residential development project, in a mortgage loan transaction led by Riemer Braunstein LLP, according to official property records.
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August 27, 2024
Wells Fargo Says 'Good Faith' Efforts Ax Investors' Bias Suit
Wells Fargo & Co. urged a California federal judge Tuesday to toss a derivative lawsuit filed by a putative class of shareholders claiming the bank's board of directors failed to address its discriminatory lending and hiring practices, saying there's evidence of "good-faith" efforts to monitor compliance in those areas.
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August 27, 2024
2nd Circ. Urged To Reject Preemption Defense In BofA Row
The Second Circuit should join fellow federal courts in finding that a New York statute requiring all banks to pay at least 2% interest on mortgage-escrow accounts isn't preempted, a former Bank of America mortgage customer has told the appeals court following the U.S. Supreme Court's remand of the matter.
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August 27, 2024
Colo. House Advances Further Cuts To Property Tax Rates
The Colorado House advanced legislation Tuesday to limit property tax growth, a move supporters hope will also stave off a pair of ballot initiatives that critics say would devastate schools and other local services.
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August 27, 2024
Madison Ave. Condo Owners File New Ch. 11
The corporate owner of a luxury Manhattan condominium complex has filed for Chapter 11 in a New York bankruptcy court in what it says is an attempt to resolve the disputed bankruptcy filing of the partnership that owns the corporation.
![New York trade groups had alleged that the natural gas appliances and infrastructure ban is preempted by the Energy Policy Conservation Act, or EPCA, after the Ninth Circuit found as much, causing Berkeley, California, to roll back a similar ban. (AP Photo/Richard Vogel)](https://assets.law360news.com/1874000/1874836/084d6901ce05951f452eef2174c7b6abcc11d86e-berkeley_natural_gas_ban_13095.jpg)
New York Code Council, Officials Duck Natural Gas Ban Suit
A New York federal court dropped the New York Department of State, the New York State Fire Prevention and Building Code Council and several state officials from trade groups' challenge to the state's recent ban on natural gas in new construction.
![The Miami-based Beycome is a licensed brokerage that offers an innovative way of working with clients. Instead of employing agents, the company provides access to an online platform that centralizes the entire home-selling process, allowing users to navigate deals themselves. (iStock)](https://assets.law360news.com/1873000/1873392/c64df9f4ed8b89a3846d082cc84542d2fd2ea290-proptech.jpg)
Beycome Alters Home-Sale Landscape With AI, Other Tech
Years before recent litigation produced a $418 million settlement and revisions to the National Association of Realtors' broker rules, property technology company Beycome was already laying an alternative path to traditional real estate agent commission models to help sellers and buyers reclaim money and control in the transaction process.
![The 100-plus-page DOJ complaint includes comments from unnamed industry participants but does not allege criminal wrongdoing, nor does it name landlords as defendants. (Photo by Kristoffer Tripplaar, Sipa via AP Images)](https://assets.law360news.com/1873000/1873070/93018b55518438939946f1340de611dd58fb5cbf-tx__corporations_in_texas_35627.jpg)
Attorneys Break Down DOJ's RealPage Antitrust Suit
The U.S. Department of Justice's lawsuit alleging RealPage, a commercial real estate services company favored by institutional landlords, helped manipulate the rental market contains several positive developments for landlords named in price-fixing suits brought by tenants.
Expert Analysis
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Portland's Gross Receipts Tax Oversteps City's Authority
Recent measures by Portland, Oregon, that expand the voter-approved scope of the Clean Energy Surcharge on certain retail sales eviscerate the common meaning of the word "retail" and exceed the city's chartered authority to levy tax, say Nikki Dobay at Greenberg Traurig and Jeff Newgard at Peak Policy.
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The Bank Preemption Ripple Effects After Cantero, Flagstar
The importance of federal preemption for financial institutions will only increase as technology-driven innovations evolve, which is why the U.S. Supreme Court's recent decision in Cantero v. Bank of America and vacatur of Kivett v. Flagstar Bank have real modern-day significance for national banks, say attorneys at WilmerHale.
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Being An Opera Singer Made Me A Better Lawyer
My journey from the stage to the courtroom has shown that the skills I honed as an opera singer – punctuality, memorization, creativity and more – have all played a vital role in my success as an attorney, says Gerard D'Emilio at GableGotwals.
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Assessing The Practicality Of Harris' Affordable Housing Plan
Vice President Kamala Harris' proposed "Build the American Dream" plan to tackle housing affordability issues takes solid recommendations into account and may fare better than California's unsuccessful attempt at a similar program, but the scope of the problem is beyond what a three-point plan can solve, says Brooke Miller at Sheppard Mullin.
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RealPage Suit Shows Growing Algorithm, AI Pricing Scrutiny
The U.S. Department of Justice's suit against RealPage for helping fix rental rates, filed last week, demonstrates how the use of algorithmic and artificial intelligence tools to assist with pricing decisions is drawing increasing scrutiny and action across government agencies, and specifically at the Federal Trade Commission and the DOJ, say Andre Geverola and Leah Harrell at Arnold & Porter.
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What To Expect From Evolving Wash. Development Plans
The current round of periodic updates to Washington counties' growth and development plans will need to address new requirements from recent legislation, and will also likely bring changes that should please property owners and developers, says Jami Balint at Seyfarth.
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Playing Golf Makes Me A Better Lawyer
Golf can positively affect your personal and professional life well beyond the final putt, and it’s helped enrich my legal practice by improving my ability to build lasting relationships, study and apply the rules, face adversity with grace, and maintain my mental and physical well-being, says Adam Kelly at Venable.
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Brownfield Questions Surround IRS Tax Credit Bonus
Though the IRS has published guidance regarding the Inflation Reduction Act's 10% adder for tax credits generated by renewable energy projects constructed on brownfield sites, considerable guesswork remains as potential implications seem contrary to IRS intentions, say Megan Caldwell and Jon Micah Goeller at Husch Blackwell.
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Law Firms Should Move From Reactive To Proactive Marketing
Most law firm marketing and business development teams operate in silos, leading to an ad hoc, reactive approach, but shifting to a culture of proactive planning — beginning with comprehensive campaigns — can help firms effectively execute their broader business strategy, says Paul Manuele at PR Manuele Consulting.
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Bank M&A Continues To Lag Amid Regulatory Ambiguity
Bank M&A activity in the first half of 2024 continued to be lower than in prior years, as the industry is recovering from the 2023 bank failures, and regulatory and macroeconomic conditions have not otherwise been prime for deals, say Robert Azarow and Amber Hay at Arnold & Porter.
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How High Court Ruling Is Shaping Homelessness Policies
The U.S. Supreme Court’s June decision in Grants Pass v. Johnson to allow enforcement of local ordinances against overnight camping is already spurring new policies to manage homelessness, but the court's ruling does not grant jurisdictions unfettered power, say Kathryn Kafka and Alex Merritt at Sheppard Mullin.
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Playing Dungeons & Dragons Makes Me A Better Lawyer
Playing Dungeons & Dragons – a tabletop role-playing game – helped pave the way for my legal career by providing me with foundational skills such as persuasion and team building, says Derrick Carman at Robins Kaplan.
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After Chevron: Don't Let Loper Lead To Bank Compliance Lull
Banking organizations are staring down a period of greater uncertainty over the next few years as the banking agencies and industry navigate the post-Chevron world, but banks must continue to have effective compliance programs in place even in the face of this unpredictability, say Lee Meyerson and Amanda Allexon at Simpson Thacher.