Residential

  • June 28, 2024

    Condo Seeks Bar On Enforcement Of Corp. Transparency Act

    A Boston condominium association has asked a federal judge to shield it and other Massachusetts condo boards from enforcement of an anti-money laundering measure, saying the requirement to submit personal information to a government database creates an undue and unnecessary burden on volunteer organizations.

  • June 28, 2024

    Colombia Fends Off Real Estate Project Seizure Claim

    Colombia has claimed an "unprecedented" victory in an arbitration initiated by a group of U.S. investors seeking hundreds of millions of dollars after their real estate development project was seized over allegations that the project had connections with illegal activity.

  • June 28, 2024

    NYC Realty Co. Defeats Most Of Building Super's Wage Claims

    A New York realty group secured early wins on all but one of a building superintendent's wage claims, with a New York federal judge ruling Friday the worker had provided scant evidence in support, but the group must face claims related to wage deficits caused by a time clock malfunction.

  • June 28, 2024

    Final Rules Exempt REITs From Stock Buyback Tax

    Real estate investment trusts and regulated investment companies may be able to avoid the stock buyback tax but would still be required to keep records under final regulations on reporting and paying the tax released by Treasury and the IRS Friday.

  • June 28, 2024

    Mass. Senate OKs $5B Housing Bill Without Local-Option Tax

    Massachusetts would authorize about $5 billion in bonding authority to promote housing under legislation passed by the state Senate that leaves out a local-option real estate transfer fee sought by Democratic Gov. Maura Healey.

  • June 28, 2024

    NYC Housing Worker Gets Jail In 1st Sentence Of Bribery Bust

    A Manhattan federal judge hit a retired New York City public housing superintendent with a year in prison Friday for taking $7,500 in bribes, a potentially worrisome signal for 69 others charged in a major anti-corruption sweep.

  • June 28, 2024

    Supreme Court Strikes Down Chevron Deference

    The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday overturned a decades-old precedent that instructed judges about when they could defer to federal agencies' interpretations of law in rulemaking, depriving courts of a commonly used analytic tool and leaving lots of questions about what comes next.

  • June 28, 2024

    Supreme Court Backs Oregon City's Anti-Camping Laws

    The U.S. Supreme Court upheld an Oregon city's anti-camping ordinances Friday against a challenge from homeless residents who allege the laws penalize them for being homeless.

  • June 27, 2024

    Texas Bank Moves For Partial Win In Ginnie Mae Loan Suit

    Texas Capital Bank told a federal judge that it's entitled to tens of millions of dollars in collateral on which it has a first-priority lien that it said Ginnie Mae wrongfully diverted to itself, and that the court has already addressed the issue that warrants partial summary judgment in its favor.

  • June 27, 2024

    Proposed Calif. Insurance Tradeoff Draws Mixed Reactions

    Insurance industry representatives and consumer advocates in California are pitching opposing visions for a proposed regulatory tradeoff at the heart of state officials’ efforts to increase homeowners insurance availability at a time of heightening wildfire risks.

  • June 27, 2024

    Goldman Raises $3.4B For Real Estate Secondaries Fund

    Goldman Sachs Alternatives raised $3.4 billion in capital commitments for its latest real estate secondaries fund, making it the largest such fund to date, per the company.

  • June 27, 2024

    Calif. Agency To Put $20B Affordable Housing Bond On Ballot

    Voters in some California counties will be able to decide during November's general election whether $20 billion is raised and distributed for the construction and preservation of affordable housing in the San Francisco Bay Area, the Bay Area Housing Financing Authority has announced.

  • June 27, 2024

    Ariz. Property Management Co. Hit With Age Bias Suit

    A former employee of a property management company claimed in Arizona federal court that she faced age discrimination on the job from the residents of an Arizona community for older people, and that the company did nothing about it.

  • June 27, 2024

    Susan Sarandon Can Get Home Contractor's Bank Records

    A Massachusetts credit union must give Hollywood star Susan Sarandon some of the personal financial records of a contractor who she says failed to properly oversee construction of her $2 million sustainable home in Vermont, a federal magistrate judge ruled Wednesday.

  • June 27, 2024

    SEC Sues Fla. Loan Website, CEO Over 'Fictitious' Revenue

    A purported online lender and its CEO face U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission allegations that the company's reported revenue for certain periods was "a figment" of the CEO's imagination.

  • June 27, 2024

    Greenberg Traurig Guides $97M NYC Multifamily Loans

    Developer Elie Fouerti has secured a $96.9 million mortgage from Goldman Sachs for a series of properties in Manhattan's East Harlem neighborhood where Fouerti Realty plans to construct a mixed-use development with affordable housing, in a deal guided by Greenberg Traurig LLP.

  • June 26, 2024

    Insurers Look To Tech Solutions To Reduce Water Damage

    Two insurers have announced new emphasis on property technology solutions in recent days as a strategy for reducing the risk from water damage, a major source of claims for property owners and operators that leads to billions of dollars in payouts each year.

  • June 26, 2024

    Window Seal Maker Can't Nix Condo's Faulty Glass Panel Suit

    A Washington federal judge on Tuesday refused to free a window component maker from a lawsuit claiming it helped conceal defects in a Seattle condominium's windows, saying the court had personal jurisdiction because the alleged wrongdoing was characterized as a deliberate act that affected a large number of actual Washington consumers.

  • June 26, 2024

    Colo. County's Short-Term Rental Regs Survive Challenge

    A Colorado federal court has upheld a county's ordinance limiting short-term rentals in residential areas, finding it doesn't violate the 14th Amendment's equal protection clause just because it doesn't apply in areas zoned for resorts.

  • June 26, 2024

    Conn. Firm Settles Suit Against Insurer Over Office Damage

    A Connecticut law firm and a real estate company on Wednesday agreed to drop a federal lawsuit accusing their insurer of failing to fully cover damage from a leak at their New Haven offices, less than two weeks after the insurer notified the court of a pending settlement, court records show.

  • June 26, 2024

    NJ, Pa. Apartment Co. Accused Of Migrant Discrimination

    A Guatemalan immigrant who has received protections under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program accused a real estate development and management company of alienage discrimination on Wednesday after she was informed that the company could not accept her housing applications without a valid permanent resident card or visa.

  • June 26, 2024

    Mack Real Estate Faces $189M NYC Apt. Foreclosure Suits

    Mack Real Estate Group is facing a spate of foreclosure suits covering 37 multifamily buildings in Manhattan's East Harlem neighborhood, which allege the property owner is on the hook for $189 million in Freddie Mac loans.

  • June 26, 2024

    Orbital Witness Offers Property Diligence AI With Confidence

    London-based Orbital Witness has built an AI assistant focused on the laborious task of property due diligence and backed it with what it calls a first-of-its-kind AI insurance.

  • June 26, 2024

    Tenants Say REIT Owes $26M For Illegal Late Fees

    A certified class of about 190,000 tenants urged a California federal court to grant them a final judgment of more than $26.1 million in their class action accusing real estate investment trust Equity Residential of charging them excessive fees for late rent.

  • June 26, 2024

    $10B AIR-Blackstone Deal Set To Close After Investor Nod

    Denver-based Apartment Income REIT Corp.'s shareholders have approved an agreement to sell off the real estate investment trust to private equity giant Blackstone for $10 billion, paving the way for its close within the next several days.

Expert Analysis

  • 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.

  • How 3D Printing And Prefab Are Changing Construction

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    The growing popularity of trends like 3D printing technology and prefabrication in the construction industry have positive ramifications ranging from reducing risks at project sites to streamlining construction schedules, say Josephine Bahn and Jeffery Mullen at Cozen O'Connor.