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Real Estate
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May 25, 2012
JPMorgan Unit Faces $293M Suit Over MBS Loan Buyback Deal
JPMorgan Chase & Co. and its unit EMC Mortgage LLC were sued Friday for $293 million by a securitization trust that had financed the purchase of residential mortgage loans EMC had sold, claiming EMC violated an agreement to repurchase shoddy loans.
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May 25, 2012
Class Says JPMorgan Made Them Buy Excessive Flood Coverage
A class of homeowners sued JPMorgan Chase & Co. affiliates JPMorgan Chase Bank NA and Chase Insurance Agency Inc. in New York on Thursday, accusing them of forcing homeowners to buy more flood insurance than they needed.
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May 25, 2012
WaMu Noteholders Still Want In On $10B Deutsche Bank Suit
A group of more than two dozen Washington Mutual Bank NA noteholders on Friday asked the D.C. Circuit to review a decision rebuffing them from intervening in a Deutsche Bank AG unit's $10 billion suit over allegedly shoddy mortgages WaMu issued before regulators seized it.
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May 25, 2012
Freddie Mac Can't Duck Suit Over Subprime Exposure
A federal judge on Friday declined to dismiss a proposed securities class action brought by the Ohio Public Employees Retirement System against Freddie Mac over the housing entity's alleged failure to disclose its true subprime exposure, saying the plaintiffs properly stated their claims.
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May 25, 2012
IStar Seeks Sanctions In $134M RE Contract Fight
Real estate investor iStar Financial Inc. asked a Maryland federal judge Thursday to sanction homebuilders U.S. Home Corp. and Lennar Corp. and their attorneys in a dispute over a $134 million land sale, saying their second amended complaint ignores court orders and state law.
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May 25, 2012
2nd Circ. Keeps Alive UN Wall Collapse Suit Against Namibia
The Second Circuit on Friday ruled that the southern African nation of Namibia is not immune from an insurance suit brought by USAA Casualty Insurance Co. for alleged violations of New York City building code that led to third-party property damage.
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May 25, 2012
Weil Reps Lehman On $1.6B Archstone Stake Buy
Bankrupt New York investment banking giant Lehman Bros. Holdings Inc. has acquired the remaining 26.5 percent stake in Colorado-based residential real estate investment trust Archstone from Barclays PLC and Bank of America Corp. for $1.6 billion, Lehman said Friday.
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May 25, 2012
BofA Told To Turn Over Even More Docs To MBIA
A New York state judge ordered Bank of America Corp.'s Countrywide units Thursday to turn over more documents about its internal fraud investigations to monoline insurer MBIA Inc., rejecting Countrywide's gripe that it had already produced 12 million pages of documents.
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May 25, 2012
Would-Be NYC Condo Owners Head To Ch. 11
The owners of more than 30 largely rent-controlled residential properties in Manhattan filed for prenegotiated bankruptcy Thursday after defaulting on a $204 million loan they borrowed in 2007 to convert the buildings into condominiums.
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May 24, 2012
BofA Puts NJ Office Complex Up For Sale
Just weeks after selling off its Charlotte, N.C., trading floor, Bank of America Corp. has started shopping a 12-building, 1.7-million-square-foot New Jersey office park, the latest move in the bank's portfolio reduction campaign, a spokeswoman said Thursday.
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May 24, 2012
Vegas Developer Fights $5M Boies Schiller Fee
A Las Vegas developer argued Thursday that a New York state judge defied public policy in affirming a $5 million fee to Boies Schiller & Flexner LLP, claiming the firm never clarified that chairman David Boies would not personally represent the developer despite his alleged promises he would.
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May 24, 2012
Engel Pays $290M To Buy Back Senior Housing Portfolio
The Engel Burman Group, with the backing of Harrison Street Real Estate Capital LLC, has purchased back for $290 million a senior housing portfolio it sold five years ago to Chartwell Seniors Housing REIT and ING Real Estate Australia Pty., the companies announced Thursday.
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May 24, 2012
NYC Landmarks Commission Puts Off Vote On Tribeca Condo
The New York Landmarks Preservation Commission has delayed a vote on a developer's plans to build a new nine-story luxury condominium in Tribeca, siding with local opinions that the modernist building would literally overshadow its neighbors.
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May 24, 2012
Developers Win Lease For $1B Miami Mixed-Use Project
After being shot down a few months ago, developers Swerdlow Development Co. LLC and Lefrak Organization Inc. on Wednesday night won a lease agreement from the North Miami city council to build more than $1 billion worth of commercial, retail and residential space on a former Superfund site.
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May 24, 2012
High Court Refuses To Expand RESPA In Mortgage Fee Row
The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday declined to broaden the scope of the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act to allow a potential class of mortgage borrowers to recover allegedly unearned closing fees that Quicken Loans Inc. collected but didn't share with another party.
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May 24, 2012
Nossaman Snags Real Estate Partner For LA Office
Nossaman LLP has snapped up a former Silver & Freedman real estate and health care industry attorney with expertise in property transactions for its Los Angeles office, the firm said Thursday.
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May 24, 2012
NY Legislature Acts To Ease Home Partnerships' Tax Fights
Empire State homeowners who hold their property in limited partnerships could contest high property tax bills through a simplified claims system — skipping complicated court fights requiring legal counsel — under a bill that passed New York's Legislature on Wednesday.
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May 24, 2012
Ventas, Kindred Strike Lease Deal Worth At Least $280M
Chicago-based health care real estate investment trust Ventas Inc. has entered into new lease agreements that will allow Kindred Healthcare Inc. to remain the tenant at 10 Ventas-owned hospitals for $28 million a year for 10 years, the REIT said Thursday.
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May 23, 2012
Cox Guides CalSTRS In $800M LCOR, Lehman Real Estate Deal
The California State Teachers' Retirement System has purchased a majority interest in real estate investment, management and development company LCOR Inc. for $800 million, as well as properties owned by its former partner Lehman Brothers, LCOR announced Wednesday.
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May 23, 2012
AIG Claims Pared In $10.5B Countrywide RMBS Suit
A California federal judge on Wednesday tossed American International Group Inc.'s federal claims in its $10.5 billion suit over deteriorated underwriting standards at Bank of America Corp. unit Countrywide Financial Corp., agreeing with BofA that those claims have come too late.
Expert Analysis
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Freeman V. Quicken — A Warning To The CFPB
The U.S. Supreme Court’s unanimous decision in Freeman v. Quicken Loans Inc. marks a defeat for the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau in the interpretation of the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act, making it clear that the industry can — and should — oppose the CFPB’s efforts to add prohibitions to federal laws that Congress did not provide for in those laws, says Christopher Willis of Ballard Spahr LLP.
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Jeopardized By Cherryland: Bankruptcy Remote Financings
If the Michigan Court of Appeals decision in Wells Fargo Bank NA v. Cherryland Mall Limited Partnership is widely followed, an array of unanticipated consequences may arise that could have profound effects on the debt capital markets generally and on single purpose entity borrowers in particular, say attorneys with Fox Rothschild LLP.
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Facing Greater Fraudulent Transfer Liability
A recent Eleventh Circuit decision in the bankruptcy case of homebuilder Tousa Inc. and its affiliates undermines the enforceability of upstream guarantees given by subsidiaries for the benefit of a parent borrower. To protect against its effects, lenders will need to ensure that subsidiary guarantors are solvent or will tangibly benefit from loans to the parent corporations, say Hugh McCullough and Bradley Duncan of Davis Wright Tremaine LLP.
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Best Practices For Corporate Social Responsibility
As with many industries, the legal services industry has adapted to the demand for sustainability practices. An effective Corporate Social Responsibility program will manifest itself in all strategic planning, from best firm employee practices and environmental sustainability to providing legal services, recruiting and retention of employees, business development, marketing and philanthropy, says Howard Dakoff of Levenfeld Pearlstein LLC.
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Seeking Clarity On Credit Bidding
Does a secured creditor have an absolute right to credit bid? With the U.S. Supreme Court recently hearing oral arguments in RadLAX Gateway Hotel LLC v. Amalgamated Bank, there may soon be an answer to this question — one of the hottest debates in bankruptcy law in recent years, say Lisa Herrington and Douglas Gooding of Choate Hall & Stewart LLP.
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Keys To Co-Lending Agreements In Commercial RE
Co-lending arrangements have long been used by commercial real estate lenders looking to spread risk, increase spreads, improve returns, free up capital and gain other advantages from utilizing participations, syndications, A/B loans and other co-lending vehicles. Practioners should keep in mind a few key considerations when crafting current co-lending agreements, says Hilary Metra Gevondyan of DLA Piper.
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The Big, Green Apple: NYC's New Zoning Amendment
The New York City Council has approved a city-wide text amendment to the city's Zoning Resolution. The Zone Green amendment enables both existing and future buildings to take advantage of a multitude of energy saving and/or power generating improvements and is likely to catalyze more environmentally sound designs and energy efficient retrofits throughout New York City, say attorneys with Stroock & Stroock & Lavan LLP.
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Impacts Of New ADA Standards For Accessible Design
The 2010 Americans with Disabilities Act Standards for Accessible Design are now in effect. These standards are viewed by many as very burdensome for real estate owners and developers, says Leigh Poltrock of Pepper Hamilton LLP.
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The Latest FCPA Target: Private Fund Advisers
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's Foreign Corrupt Practices Act case against a former Morgan Stanley executive — the first FCPA case involving a private fund investment adviser — reemphasizes to investment firms the importance of establishing effective anti-corruption internal controls in protecting both the entity and individual personnel from such enforcement, say attorneys with Ropes & Gray LLP.
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REO To Rental: A New Paradigm For The US Housing Sector
The prospect for an extended period of high levels of home loan delinquencies, foreclosure proceedings and real estate owned is causing regulators, mortgage lenders and investors to re-examine traditional approaches to handling REO. This is generating increased interest in an interim strategy of a transition from single family REO to rental uses of such properties, say attorneys with Dechert LLP.