Residential

  • January 09, 2025

    Calif. Insurance Chief Blocks Policy Cancellation In Fire Zones

    Insurance companies can't cancel or refuse to renew homeowners coverage for policyholders in the immediate vicinity of the Los Angeles wildfires for one year, the California Department of Insurance announced as fires continue to ravage Southern California.

  • January 09, 2025

    McGuireWoods Adds Commercial Litigator Amid Hiring Spree

    A commercial litigator specializing in complex construction disputes has moved his practice to McGuireWoods LLP's Washington, D.C., office after more than 19 years at Jones Day, amid a flurry of new partner hires at the firm, it announced Jan. 9.

  • January 09, 2025

    Hochul Floats Curbing Tax Breaks For PE Home Investments

    New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said Thursday that she is seeking to curtail certain tax breaks for private equity firms that invest in certain residential properties, saying the policy would make more of the state's housing stock available to individual homebuyers.

  • January 08, 2025

    Whistleblower Attys Get $8.7M In Academy Mortgage FCA Suit

    Counsel representing a whistleblower will receive $8.7 million in fees and expenses — less than requested — for their role in reaching a $38.5 million deal with Academy Mortgage in a suit accusing the company of submitting false claims, according to a newly public order.

  • January 08, 2025

    Mortgage Firm Reaches $1.8M Redlining Settlement With Feds

    A Florida-based mortgage company has agreed to pay $1.75 million to resolve U.S. Department of Justice lending discrimination allegations, making it the third nondepository institution to strike such a deal, the government has announced.

  • January 08, 2025

    Convicted Ex-Nomura Trader To Settle SEC's RMBS Action

    Ex-Nomura Securities International Inc. trader Michael Gramins, who was convicted in 2017 of scheming to trick mortgage bond buyers, has reached a tentative agreement with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to settle follow-on civil claims, according to an agency filing on Wednesday.

  • January 08, 2025

    Bronx Multifamily Project Cashes In $218M Freddie Mac Loan

    Affiliates of The Domain Cos. have secured a $218 million loan for a mixed-use, mixed-income multifamily project in the Bronx borough of New York City, with financing provided by Freddie Mac via JLL Real Estate Capital.

  • January 08, 2025

    HUD Announces $12B In Disaster Assistance Grants

    The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development said it will provide $12 billion in grants to help communities in two dozen states and territories recover from hurricanes Helene and Milton last year and wildfires on the Hawaiian island of Maui in 2023.

  • January 08, 2025

    3 Firms Lead Brookfield's $321M Harlem Apartment Complex Sale

    Brookfield Properties sold a West Harlem, New York, apartment complex for $321 million in a deal guided by Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton LLP, Sidley Austin LLP and Fried Frank Harris Shriver & Jacobson LLP.

  • January 08, 2025

    Madigan Denies Extorting Developers For Law Firm Business

    Ex-Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan testified Wednesday that he never wanted a Chicago alderman to leverage his chairmanship of a powerful city council committee to steer business to Madigan's law firm, saying he merely asked for introductions to developers and felt "surprise and concern" when the alderman referenced a quid pro quo deal.

  • January 08, 2025

    AmeriFirst Heads Back To Ch. 11 Mediation With Creditors

    Bankrupt mortgage service provider AmeriFirst Financial Inc. is heading back into mediation with unsecured creditors after a Delaware judge said Wednesday that a resolution is needed in the stagnant Chapter 11 proceedings.

  • January 08, 2025

    Landlords Liable For Brokers' Bias, NY Court Confirms

    A New York appellate court confirmed that landlords are on the hook if their broker violates source of income discrimination law, finding that any other interpretation would allow property owners to skirt the city's Human Rights Law.

  • January 08, 2025

    Calif. Woman Can't Reduce Tax From Property Sale, OTA Says

    A Californian failed to prove she was eligible for a reduction in the tax liability assessed on capital gains that resulted from a property sale, the state Office of Tax Appeals ruled. 

  • January 08, 2025

    REITs Should Expect More Shareholder Activism In '25

    Public real estate companies should expect more shareholder activist campaigns in 2025, with investors targeting real estate investment trusts with poor corporate governance practices and placing a greater focus on mergers and acquisitions, according to an Olshan Frome Wolosky LLP attorney.

  • January 08, 2025

    Mortgage Cos. Fined $20M Over Cybersecurity Breach

    Bayview Asset Management LLC and three affiliates on Wednesday agreed to pay a $20 million fine and improve their cybersecurity programs to settle allegations from 53 state financial regulators that the mortgage companies had deficient cybersecurity practices and didn't fully cooperate with regulators after a 2021 data breach.

  • January 08, 2025

    Divisive Mass. Housing Law Can Stand With Administrative Fix

    Massachusetts' top appellate court on Wednesday upheld a controversial law requiring towns in Greater Boston to add housing density near mass transit facilities, but found that the state must take additional procedural steps before the law can go into effect.

  • January 08, 2025

    Florida Real Estate Projects To Watch In 2025

    Florida real estate has weathered the economic headwinds of the past few years and has no shortage of notable projects in the pipeline across multiple markets.

  • January 08, 2025

    NYC Development Projects To Watch In 2025

    New York City real estate development is still squeezed by interest rates and office vacancies, but attorneys for developers are hopeful that public policy and pricing discovery will continue to spur deals.

  • January 08, 2025

    The Enviro Policies Real Estate Attys Are Eyeing In 2025

    On the precipice of four years of expected deregulation, agency challenge, and a weakening of incentives and credits, real estate attorneys and their clients are in a wait-and-see phase to determine how environmental policy shifts will — or should — alter their work.

  • January 08, 2025

    Housing Policy To Watch In 2025

    New approaches to corporate ownership of single-family homes, shifting priorities on public housing, possible solutions to continuing cost issues and emerging tax credit tweaks are among housing policies that attorneys say they have their eyes on heading into 2025.

  • January 07, 2025

    Dallas County Settles With Developer In Denied Permit Row

    A Dallas developer and Dallas County buried the hatchet in a suit over the county's denial of a permit application for 11 residential lots in a subdivision, telling a Texas federal judge they had reached a settlement agreement in a Tuesday joint stipulation of voluntary dismissal.

  • January 07, 2025

    Mortgage Servicer Makes Borrowers To 'Pay-To-Pay,' Suit Says

    Residential mortgage servicer Select Portfolio Servicing Inc. must face a customer's proposed class action alleging it breaks North Carolina state laws with $15 fees it charges borrowers who make monthly payments over the phone.

  • January 07, 2025

    Mont. Bill Floats Mine, Data Center Property Tax Changes

    Montana would lower the property tax rate imposed on metal mines, certain agricultural land and railroads but raise the rate on data center property as part of a bill introduced in the state Senate.

  • January 07, 2025

    Mont. Bill Calls For Property Tax Appraisals Every 2 Years

    Montana would require all real property to be reappraised every two years for tax purposes as part of a bill introduced in the state House of Representatives.

  • January 07, 2025

    CMBS Deals, Distress Rates Saw 2024 Highs

    Kroll Bond Ratings Agency reported Tuesday that $104.1 billion worth of commercial mortgage-backed securities were issued in 2024, more than doubling issuance rates seen in 2023, even as distress rates driven by office sector performance rose simultaneously.

Expert Analysis

  • Harsh 11th Circ. Rebuke Should Inspire Changes At CFPB

    Author Photo

    The Eleventh Circuit's recent Consumer Financial Protection Bureau v. Brown decision, which found the CFPB's conduct had been egregious in a debt collection enforcement action, should encourage some reflection at the bureau regarding its level of attention to the reasonable due process concerns of regulated institutions, says Eric Mogilnicki at Covington.

  • 3 Alternatives To CRE Collateralized Loan Obligations

    Author Photo

    With current commercial real estate market conditions pushing issuers away from collateralized loan obligations, several Freddie Mac offerings should be considered as alternative exit strategies for mortgage loans secured by multifamily properties, say attorneys at Mayer Brown.

  • Fla. Banking Brief: All The Notable Compliance Updates In Q2

    Author Photo

    Florida financial institutions must now navigate minimum interest rates for attorney trust accounts, restrictions on property sales to prohibited foreigners, and a ban on weighing environmental, social and governance factors to determine a customer's creditworthiness — changes that will add to banks' compliance pressures, says Patricia Hernandez at Avila Rodriguez.

  • NY Court Sends Mixed Signals On Contested Foreclosure Law

    Author Photo

    Although New York's Appellate Division, Second Department, has avoided addressing the constitutionality and retroactive application of the Foreclosure Abuse Prevention Act, its conflicting pattern of applying FAPA to existing cases is creating confusion regarding the future of the law, say Christopher Gorman and John Muldoon at Abrams Fensterman and litigation support analyst Robert Marx.

  • Expect CFPB Scrutiny On AI In Lending

    Author Photo

    As the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau prioritizes regulatory oversight of the financial services industry's use of automated systems and artificial technology, it will need to balance regulation and innovation, and companies should prepare to mitigate any potential for bias or unfair, deceptive or abusive acts and practices, say attorneys at Goodwin.

  • Texas Construction Statute Of Repose Leaves Open Questions

    Author Photo

    Texas' new significantly shorter statute of repose barring certain suits against construction contractors contains some ambiguous wording that will likely raise questions to be decided by courts, says Mason Hester at Munsch Hardt.

  • In The CFPB Playbook: Abuse Policy, PACE, Payment Apps

    Author Photo

    From defining "abusive" conduct to implementing green energy financing to policing payment apps, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau was busy last quarter. Akerman's Nora Rigby discusses all this and more in the first installment of bureau activity recaps by former CFPB personnel.

  • How To Avoid Flopping When Flipping Fla. Real Estate

    Author Photo

    As land prices rise, Florida real estate developers are increasingly contracting to flip property to other purchasers for a profit, and they should carefully consider the unique risks and issues associated with the different forms that the process can take, says Gary Kaleita at Lowndes.

  • States Must Fight Predatory Real Estate Listing Agreements

    Author Photo

    As momentum against long-term real estate listing agreements continues to grow, states should take action to render existing agreements unenforceable and discourage future unfair and deceptive trade practices in real estate, says Elizabeth Blosser at the American Land Title Association.

  • Steps To Success For Senior Associates

    Excerpt from Practical Guidance
    Author Photo

    Adriana Paris at Rissman Barrett discusses the increased responsibilities and opportunities that becoming a senior associate brings and what attorneys in this role should prioritize to flourish in this stressful but rewarding next level in their careers.

  • Ohio Tax Talk: Building On Federal Affordable Housing Credit

    Author Photo

    Ohio's soon-to-be-implemented low-income housing tax credit could significantly affect the state's affordable housing landscape and influence tax-credit deal financing for these projects, though Senate changes may have dampened the new credit's immense potential, say Raghav Agnihotri and Rachael Chamberlain at Frost Brown.

  • LA's High-Value Real Estate Transfer Tax Should Be Scrapped

    Author Photo

    Los Angeles’ recently implemented high-value property transfer tax has chilled the real estate market, is failing to meet revenue expectations and raises significant constitutional concerns, making it a flawed piece of legislation that should be invalidated, says attorney Paul Weinberg.

  • Foreign Investment In Real Estate Is Getting More Complicated

    Author Photo

    Increasing federal scrutiny and a proliferation of new state laws targeting foreign investment in real estate may complicate or prevent transactions even by U.S. companies or funds that have shareholders or limited partners from China and other countries of concern, say attorneys at Akin.