Residential

  • July 25, 2024

    Newsom Cites High Court In Ordering Encampments Cleared

    California Gov. Gavin Newsom on Thursday ordered state agencies to start removing homeless encampments on state property while providing outreach services to homeless residents following a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling that gave governments broader authority to ban camping in public.

  • July 25, 2024

    Mr. Cooper Picks Up Flagstar Resi Mortgage Unit For $1.4B

    Flagstar Bank NA announced Thursday that it has inked a $1.4 billion deal to sell its residential mortgage servicing business to nonbank mortgage originator Mr. Cooper, as Flagstar and parent New York Community Bancorp eye a turnaround.

  • July 25, 2024

    Munck Wilson Adds Barnes & Thornburg Litigator In Dallas

    Munck Wilson Mandala LLP is growing its litigation team, announcing Wednesday that it is bringing in a Barnes & Thornburg LLP commercial litigator in its Dallas office.

  • July 25, 2024

    IRS, Zaxby's Co-Founder To Settle $43M Easement Suit

    The Internal Revenue Service agreed to settle a $43 million valuation dispute over a conservation easement donated by the co-founder of the Zaxby's restaurant chain and his wife, prompting a Georgia federal court Thursday to cancel next month's anticipated jury trial.

  • July 25, 2024

    Ore. Court Won't Toss Law Capping Taxable Home Values

    A homeowner's attempt to lower the taxable value of his property was denied by the Oregon Tax Court, which said it did not have the authority to determine whether a law capping annual taxable value increases for some properties was unconstitutional.

  • July 24, 2024

    How Hinckley Allen Took On Rhode Island Beach-Access Law

    A Rhode Island judge this month sided with beachfront property owners, represented by Hinckley Allen & Snyder LLP, ruling that a 2023 law that shifts the public access line landward amounts to a taking.

  • July 24, 2024

    Top Texas Real Estate News In 2024 So Far

    Catch up on the hottest real estate news out of Texas so far this year, from data center construction and roadblocks in a major rail project to a Texas landowner's win in a takings suit and the U.S. Department of Justice's first predatory mortgage suit. 

  • July 24, 2024

    Section 8 Landlords Face Trial In False Claims Act Suit

    Tenants who receive Section 8 housing vouchers are staking out their arguments in a False Claims Act suit as landlords and property managers do the same ahead of the class action's trial next week in California federal court.

  • July 24, 2024

    Real Estate Buyer Says Developer Can't Arbitrate His Claims

    A Miami-based venture capitalist has told a New York federal judge that real estate firm Desarrolladora La Ribera can't simultaneously invoke and reject arbitration clauses in a defamation suit against him and another homebuyer in a luxury Four Seasons-branded development in Los Cabos, Mexico.

  • July 24, 2024

    Connecticut Justices Won't Certify 'Slum' Tenant Class

    A Connecticut state court judge was under no obligation to redefine a proposed class of low-income tenants in order to help them meet the certification requirements in a fraud and unfair trade practices lawsuit against their corporate landlord and property manager, the state Supreme Court hs ruled.

  • July 24, 2024

    NJ Atty Suspended For Using Client Funds From RICO Cases

    The New Jersey Supreme Court this week issued a three-year suspension against an attorney accused of misusing client funds from a racketeering case to buy a new computer system and pay his wife for paralegal services.

  • July 24, 2024

    Ex-McElroy Deutsch Exec Says Ch. 11 Doesn't Pause Claims

    A former McElroy Deutsch executive told a New Jersey state court that just because her husband — former McElroy Deutsch chief financial officer John Dunlea — has filed for bankruptcy does not mean she needs to pause her claims against the firm for discrimination and retaliation.

  • July 24, 2024

    3 Takeaways On CFIUS' Bid To Expand Real Estate Coverage

    Real estate practitioners should not overlook the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States' plan to bring 59 more military sites under its jurisdiction for reviewing land deals, even if the proposal comes as no surprise, attorneys said.

  • July 24, 2024

    State Bank Supervisors' GC On Regulation 'Push And Pull'

    Margaret Liu, general counsel for the Conference of State Bank Supervisors, spoke to Law360 Real Estate Authority about navigating the balance between federal and state financial agencies, sharing information with the Federal Housing Finance Agency and what a recent U.S. Supreme Court decision means for state financial regulators.

  • July 23, 2024

    Real Estate Sector Wrestles With CrowdStrike Outage

    Days after a sprawling information technology outage affecting 8.5 million Windows devices grounded airplanes and halted a number of services, the toll on the real estate industry — especially for the hospitality sector and financial services firms — is still being revealed.

  • July 23, 2024

    Ill. City Says Reparations Opponents Have No Standing

    The city of Evanston, Illinois, has urged a federal judge to toss a proposed class action alleging a 2020 housing reparation program in the city is discriminatory, saying the plaintiffs lack standing since they are not local residents and do not own property in Evanston.

  • July 23, 2024

    KKR Financing REIT Sees The 'Proverbial Light' Ahead

    Executives of KKR & Co.'s financing-focused real estate investment trust struck a hopeful tone about pursuing credit deals in the near future after taking a more guarded approach in the last year, while the company posted fewer losses than it previously forecasted for the second quarter.

  • July 23, 2024

    Mich. Raises Fine For Unreported Property Transfers

    Michigan increased a penalty for property owners who fail to notify an assessor's office of a transfer of ownership under a bill signed Tuesday by Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer.

  • July 23, 2024

    Tax Foreclosure Kickback Suit Too Late, Mich. County Says

    A Wayne County, Michigan, treasurer has argued in Michigan federal court that a putative class action accusing the county and other parties of engaging in a tax foreclosure and kickbacks scheme is time-barred.

  • July 23, 2024

    Biz Groups Form Lobby Effort To Fight FCC Bulk Billing Rules

    Bulk billing agreements are often a boon for people living in apartment buildings and condos, according to a new coalition made up of multifamily housing organizations and a cable trade group, which was formed to push the Federal Communications Commission to reconsider banning such arrangements.

  • July 23, 2024

    Chicago Arena Owners Propose $7B Mixed-Use Project

    The owners of Chicago's United Center, as well as city and community leaders, unveiled a $7 billion investment that aims to build a mixed-use project across more than 55 acres of land near the sports arena, according to a Tuesday announcement.

  • July 23, 2024

    Insurers Must Defend Well Driller In Lead Contamination Suit

    Insurers must defend a drilling company accused of contaminating a rental property's water supply with dangerous levels of lead, a Montana federal court ruled, saying they haven't shown the underlying claims fall outside the policies' insuring agreements or are otherwise excluded from coverage.

  • July 23, 2024

    Miami-Dade County Nabs $40M For Public Housing Upgrades

    Miami-Dade County announced that it received a $39.9 million grant from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, which will support investment in two public housing campuses in Overtown and across the entire neighborhood.

  • July 22, 2024

    EPA Awards $4.3B In Grants For Climate Change Projects

    The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said it's steering $4.3 billion in grant funding to 25 projects that promise to help curb greenhouse gas pollution, advance environmental justice and transition the country to clean power.

  • July 22, 2024

    Pretium Raises $1.5B For Investing In Single-Family Rentals

    Investment firm Pretium raised $1.5 billion for its sixth single-family housing fund, surpassing its fundraising goal with investments from U.S. pension plans, insurers, U.S. wealth managers and others, the firm announced Monday.

Expert Analysis

  • A Look At New IRS Rules For Domestically Controlled REITs

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    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.

  • What CRA Deadline Means For Biden Admin. Rulemaking

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    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.

  • How New Rule Would Change CFIUS Enforcement Powers

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    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.

  • 2nd Circ. Eminent Domain Ruling Empowers Municipalities

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    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.

  • SEC Should Be Allowed To Equip Investors With Climate Info

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    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.

  • 8 Fla. Statutes That Construction Cos. Should Prepare For

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    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.

  • Time To Fix NYC's Broken Property Assessment System

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    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.

  • 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.