Real EstateRSS

  • April 3, 2012

    Morgan Stanley Strikes Foreclosure Deal With The Fed

    Morgan Stanley on Tuesday agreed to implement mortgage servicing reforms and compensate homeowners that were victims of wrongful foreclosures as part of a consent decree with the Federal Reserve over practices at a subsidiary of the investment bank.

  • April 2, 2012

    REIT Seeks To Exclude Developer From $75M Loan Fight

    Real estate investment trust Weingarten Realty Investors told a Texas federal judge Monday that a ruling against Stewart Miller as an individual in a suit seeking to keep developer Miller Sheridan LLC on the hook for a $75 million loan would not prevent the firm from protecting its interests in the future.

  • April 2, 2012

    Marriott Sued For $75M Over Handling Of Boutique Hotel

    Eden Roc LLLP, owner of a Miami boutique hotel, upped the ante in its dispute with Marriott International Inc. on Monday with a new lawsuit that claims the hospitality giant cost it $75 million by failing to market the landmark Eden Roc Renaissance more competitively.

  • April 2, 2012

    Anschutz Moving Forward On $1B NFL Stadium In LA

    Billionaire Philip Anschutz's entertainment company AEG plans to release the environmental impact report for its proposed $1.2 billion football stadium in downtown Los Angeles on Thursday, spokesman Michael Roth said Monday, amid rumors that the project could face trouble on several fronts.

  • April 2, 2012

    2 Owners Shun Brokers To Market NY Buildings Themselves

    A pair of Manhattan commercial property owners are separately self-marketing their buildings for sale rather than enlisting a broker, a rare occurrence in the New York commercial property market, a veteran New York real estate attorney said Monday.

  • April 2, 2012

    Cushman, Credit Suisse Get $24B Resort Investor Suit Pared

    An Idaho federal judge on Friday trimmed a group of property owners’ amended $24 billion putative class action accusing Cushman & Wakefield Inc. and Credit Suisse Group AG of swindling investors in four luxury resort communities in a loan-to-own scheme.

  • April 2, 2012

    Ambac Goes After JPMorgan Over $200M In RMBS Losses

    Bond insurer Ambac Assurance Corp. sued JPMorgan Chase & Co. in New York state court Friday, alleging that Bear Stearns & Co. Inc.'s fraudulent marketing of residential mortgage-backed securities cost the insurer $200 million.

  • April 2, 2012

    DC Circ. Nixes Fannie Mae Shareholders’ Accounting Suits

    The D.C. Circuit on Friday tossed without prejudice two shareholder derivative suits against Fannie Mae directors who allegedly presided over shoddy accounting processes, ruling that a lower court erroneously barred motions to voluntarily dismiss both cases.

  • March 30, 2012

    Polsinelli Shughart Beefs Up Chicago Real Estate Team

    Polsinelli Shughart PC has lured two Chicago real estate specialists from Greenberg Traurig LLP this month, capping off an expansion period for its nationwide real estate practice, the firm said Thursday.

  • March 30, 2012

    Times Square Building Ownership Squabble Thrown Out

    A New York state judge on Thursday dismissed an intrafamily inheritance dispute over the ownership of several properties, including a four-story commercial building at Seventh Avenue and 40th Street, saying that since none of the parties is a New York resident, the claims have no standing there.

  • March 30, 2012

    BofA Units Misled Buyers Over $980M RMBS, Suits Say

    Bank of America Corp. units Countrywide Financial Corp. and Merrill Lynch & Co. were hit with two separate suits Thursday by European lenders accusing them of fraudulently misrepresenting the quality of a total of more than $980 million of residential mortgage-backed securities they had bought.

  • March 30, 2012

    Senate Gives Thumbs Up To $2B DC Waterfront Revamp

    The U.S. Senate approved a bill Friday allowing for the redevelopment of Washington's Southwest Waterfront along the Anacostia River — a $2 billion, 10-year plan that includes the construction of new hotels, restaurants and residential buildings.

  • March 30, 2012

    Highland Reaches Doc Deal On $560M Vegas Resort Suit

    A Texas federal judge on Friday approved a settlement in a suit that sought to compel Highland Capital Management LP to produce documents in a separate, sprawling fraud case involving a $560 million loan to a bankrupt Las Vegas resort venture.

  • March 30, 2012

    SEC Told To Seek Wells Fargo MBS Docs Outside Court

    The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission must meet with Wells Fargo & Co. outside of court to resolve a dispute over document requests in the agency’s mortgage-backed securities probe, a California federal judge said Thursday.

  • March 30, 2012

    Investors Target Deutsche Bank Again Over $250M MBS Loss

    Investors once more sued a Deutsche Bank AG affiliate and HSBC Bank USA NA over mortgage-backed securities, alleging Wednesday in New York state court that they made false statements about the quality of the loans in the securities that cost investors $250 million.

  • March 29, 2012

    SEC Contracting Ripped By OIG After $556M Lease Debacle

    The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's inspector general on Wednesday found the agency had inappropriately awarded several sole-source contracts, in an audit conducted after the SEC awarded a $556 million sole-source lease for office space it didn't need.

  • March 29, 2012

    BofA Triumphs In Suit Over Handling Of $1B In MBS

    A New York state judge on Thursday tossed an investor lawsuit accusing Bank of America Corp. of mishandling $1.1 billion in mortgage-backed securities, ruling the investors had signed over their right to sue the banking giant to the trustee of the trusts that holds the securities.

  • March 29, 2012

    Developers Balk At $74M In Condo Sales For Mogul Swig

    Several real estate developers asked a New York state judge Thursday to block embattled real estate mogul Kent Swig from allegedly using about $74 million in condominium sales in the Sheffield residential tower to pay his personal debts.

  • March 29, 2012

    Sheppard Mullin Lands Real Estate Ace With Energy Focus

    Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton LLP fortified its California real estate and energy practices with the addition of a McKenna Long & Aldridge LLP transactional ace who has a background in private equity, Sheppard Mullin announced Thursday.

  • March 29, 2012

    Thornburg's $35M MBS Underpayment Suit Will Proceed

    A Maryland federal judge said March 23 that the Chapter 11 trustee for Thornburg Mortgage Inc. can proceed with a $35 million suit alleging RBC Capital Markets LLC underpaid when it seized and sold Thornburg-owned mortgage-backed securities.