Residential
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March 27, 2024
Extreme Heat Presents Extreme Threat To Real Estate
Extreme heat and the growing body of risks created by climate change are becoming prominent factors in real estate deals, according to Urban Land Institute urban resilience vice president Lindsay Brugger.
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March 26, 2024
Meridian Capital Taps Former Top Regulator As New CEO
Meridian Capital Group announced Tuesday that it has appointed top banking executive and former financial regulator Brian Brooks as its CEO and chairman amid a breakdown in the firm's relationship with Freddie Mac.
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March 26, 2024
Pilot HOA Tells Justices Rail Easement Clouds Airstrip Access
An Alaska homeowners association made up largely of pilots has asked the U.S. Supreme Court to review a Ninth Circuit ruling granting a railroad full control of an easement jutting into an airstrip used by residents of a surrounding subdivision.
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March 26, 2024
Essex Buys Out West Coast Apartment JV Partner For $505M
Essex Property Trust Inc. announced that it will purchase a joint venture partner's stake in an apartment property portfolio that includes four properties along the West Coast for $505 million, according to a statement from the company.
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March 26, 2024
Rosenberg & Estis Guides $477M NYCHA Renovation Deal
Rosenberg & Estis PC represented a developer for its more than $477 million renovation contract for the New York City Housing Authority's Saint Nicholas Houses in Harlem, the firm told Law360 on Tuesday.
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March 26, 2024
Ohio Justices Cool To Curbing Board's Tax Appeal Rights
Two Ohio Supreme Court justices sounded skeptical Tuesday of an apartment complex's argument that a law barring political subdivisions from appealing certain valuation rulings applied to complaints that were pending when the restriction took effect.
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March 26, 2024
Brookfield Sets Terms For Bay Area's Biggest Housing Plan
The San Francisco Bay Area's biggest proposed housing development took a step forward as Brookfield Properties and city officials struck a deal on the framework of a plan to develop a new neighborhood in Concord, California, over a 40-year period at the site of a former U.S. Navy base.
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March 26, 2024
Deal Holdout HomeServices Can't Undo Sellers' Class Cert.
A Missouri federal judge refused Tuesday to grant class decertification sought by HomeServices of America, the lone holdout still fighting a jury verdict that pushed the National Association of Realtors into a settlement overhauling rules that have effectively restricted how brokers buy and sell homes and how they're paid.
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March 26, 2024
NC Justices Find BofA Mortgage Fraud Suit Filed Too Late
The North Carolina Supreme Court has ruled that homeowners accusing Bank of America NA of fraud in a mortgage modification program filed their claims too late, finding they knew or should have known about the alleged fraud when their homes were foreclosed upon — four to seven years before they sued.
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March 26, 2024
Hurdles Ahead For Calif. Mental Health Bond After Narrow Win
An ambitious ballot measure meant to address California's homelessness crisis may open up new business opportunities for healthcare providers, ease overcrowding in emergency rooms and inspire other states to follow suit. But it will likely bring less-welcome results as well.
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March 25, 2024
LoanDepot Settles Appraisal Bias Suit After Scholar's Death
Mortgage company loanDepot has agreed to make policy changes and pay an undisclosed amount to resolve a Black couple's lawsuit claiming their Baltimore home was undervalued because of their race, just a couple of weeks after plaintiff Shani Mott, a scholar at Johns Hopkins University, died of cancer.
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March 25, 2024
Conn. Justice Chides Legislature In Landlord Lien Case
Bemoaning what he perceived as an unclear statute and its unilluminating legislative history, Connecticut Supreme Court Justice Steven D. Ecker on Monday lamented having to make a significant policy decision about whether a city or a landlord should be financially liable for tenants displaced after fire damaged a large apartment.
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March 25, 2024
Full 10th Circ. Stands By Revival Of Valero Pipeline Leak Suit
The full Tenth Circuit refused to budge from a panel's February decision that partly revived an Oklahoma cattle ranch's lawsuit seeking to hold Valero Energy Corp. liable for a pipeline leak that allegedly contaminated the ranch property.
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March 25, 2024
HUD Says Not Enough Housing For Trafficking Survivors
The housing needs of human trafficking survivors facing homelessness or home instability aren't being met by housing programs across the country because many of them usually aren't "scaled to meet the need," according to a U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development report.
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March 25, 2024
3rd Circ. Says NJ City Can't Stop Sale Of Failed Project's Sites
The Third Circuit tossed a New Jersey city's challenge of a bankruptcy court ruling that allowed the two local properties of a failed affordable housing project to be sold to a third party, according to an unpublished opinion Monday.
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March 25, 2024
NJ Law Paves An Aggressive Affordable-Housing Path
New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy signed a bill that will overhaul the state's affordable housing framework, signaling state priorities with an aggressive approach that has already garnered pushback from municipalities.
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March 25, 2024
Jury Hands Mortgage Co. $73K Win In Trade Secrets Fight
An Ohio federal jury has found that Revolution Mortgage owes just over $73,700 to competitor Equity Resources in a case where Equity accused its rival of misappropriation of trade secrets.
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March 25, 2024
'Infested Slum' Suit Warrants Class Cert., Conn. Justices Told
Former tenants of a Hartford apartment complex are urging the Connecticut Supreme Court to let them pursue class claims that the complex turned into a "mold and cockroach infested slum," arguing in a hearing Monday that a lower court focused too heavily on the differences between the conditions of each unit.
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March 25, 2024
DeSantis OKs Bill Easing Teardown Of Old Coastal Buildings
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has signed a bill limiting local control over the takedown and replacement of coastline structures that are out of step with building codes, after changes to the measure exempted some historic waterfront districts.
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March 25, 2024
High Court Won't Weigh In On ND Mineral Rights Takings Suit
The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declined to wade into a fight over oil and gas mineral rights underneath a North Dakota lake, rejecting former rights owners' argument that states' sovereign immunity does not protect them from takings claims in federal court.
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March 25, 2024
Law360 2024 Real Estate Authority Editorial Board
Law360 is pleased to announce the formation of its 2024 Real Estate Authority Editorial Board, which includes leading industry experts, to provide feedback and shape coverage goals.
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March 22, 2024
OCC Fines Sterling Bank's Ex-COO $150K For Lax Oversight
The former president of Michigan-based Sterling Bancorp Inc. has been ordered to pay $150,000 by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency for allegedly failing to properly oversee the bank's Advantage Loan Program, which presented "high risks for fraud, money laundering, and lending misconduct."
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March 22, 2024
Feds Delay Community Lending Assessment Change To 2026
Federal banking regulators have pushed back a looming implementation date for part of their revamped community lending rules, delaying the roll-out of certain changes in a move that is raising fresh criticism of the rulemaking amid an industry-backed legal challenge.
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March 22, 2024
US Bank Ends $3.5B RMBS Trusts Suits Against BofA, Others
U.S. Bank on Friday notified a New York federal judge it permanently discontinued two lawsuits against First Franklin Financial, Merrill Lynch Mortgage and Bank of America relating to substandard loans in residential mortgage-backed securities trusts worth $3.5 billion, two years after the parties reached a conditional settlement.
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March 22, 2024
Real Estate Co. Says Ch. 7 Trustee Ginned Up Conn. AG Probe
A company that buys houses from financially distressed individuals and rents the homes back to their former owners filed a scathing adversary proceeding against a Chapter 7 trustee's avoidance action, claiming the trustee ginned up a "baseless" state government probe and is harming several estates she claims to be protecting.
Expert Analysis
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Attorneys Should Have An Ethical Duty To Advance DEI
National and state bar associations are encouraging attorneys to apply diversity, equity and inclusion practices in the legal profession and beyond, and these associations should take it one step further by formally recognizing ethical duties for attorneys to promote DEI, which could better the legal profession and society, says Elena Mitchell at Moore & Van Allen.
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Data-Driven Insights Are Key To Attracting Today's Clients
As law firm growth slows and competition for clients increases, modern firms must rely on robust data analytics to develop the sector-based expertise and industry insights that clients increasingly prioritize in relationships with counsel, says Lavinia Calvert at Intapp.
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EV Chargers Can Bring Benefits For Calif. Property Owners
California property developers and owners face growing pressure to provide electric vehicle charging infrastructure — but this can be a unique opportunity to add value to real estate assets, and can be accomplished in multiple ways, say Riley Cutner-Orrantia and Eurie Hwang at Crosbie Gliner.
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Brownfield Renewables Guidance Leaves Site Eligibility Murky
Recent IRS guidance sheds some light on the Inflation Reduction Act's incentives for renewable energy development on contaminated sites — but the eligibility of certain sites for brownfield status remains uncertain, say Megan Caldwell and Jon Micah Goeller at Husch Blackwell.
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Pending Legislation Holds Promise For SF Buildings
Recently introduced state and local legislation could make it easier for office-to-residential conversion projects in San Francisco to secure approval and funding sources, although financial incentives similar to those implemented by other states may be necessary to ensure the feasibility of such projects, say Caroline Chase and Nick DuBroff at Allen Matkins.
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A Breakdown Of Freddie Mac's New Servicer Custody Rules
Freddie Mac's new custodial account requirements are mostly straightforward, but even full compliance with those obligations can't eliminate the risk of unexpected bank failures, so servicers should review the ratings of their depositories and create procedures for evaluating them, says Eric Edwardson at Mayer Brown.
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Ghosting In BigLaw: Why Better Feedback Habits Are Needed
Not giving assignments or constructive criticism to junior associates can significantly affect their performance and hours, potentially leading them to leave the firm, but partners can prevent this by asking the right questions and creating a culture of feedback, says Rachel Patterson at Orrick.
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Law Needs A Balance Between Humanism And Formalism
A recent Law360 guest article rightly questions the pretextual pseudo-originalism that permits ideology to masquerade as judicial philosophy, but the cure would kill the patient because directness, simplicity and humanness are achievable without renouncing form or sacrificing stare decisis, says Vanessa Kubota at the Arizona Court of Appeals.
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Short Message Data Challenges In E-Discovery
As short message platforms increasingly dominate work environments, lawyers face multiple programs, different communication styles and emoji in e-discovery, so they must consider new strategies to adapt their processes, says Cristin Traylor at Relativity.
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Ambiguity In 'Buy America' Implementation May Slow Projects
The White House Office of Management and Budget's most recent guidance, which builds on a complex patchwork of Buy America restrictions that vary by federal agency, would perpetuate government contractors' uncertainty regarding product and material classification and could delay infrastructure projects, say attorneys at Miles & Stockbridge.
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Thomas Report Is Final Straw — High Court Needs Ethics Code
As a recent report on Justice Clarence Thomas' ongoing conflicts of interest makes evident, Supreme Court justices should be subject to an enforceable and binding code of ethics — like all other federal judges — to maintain the credibility of the institution, says Erica Salmon Byrne at Ethisphere.
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La. Suit Could Set New Enviro Justice Litigation Paradigm
Inclusive Louisiana v. St. James Parish, a lawsuit filed recently in Louisiana federal court that makes wide-ranging and novel constitutional and statutory claims of environmental racism based on centuries of local history, could become a new template for environmental justice litigation against governments and businesses, say attorneys at King & Spalding.
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Lawyer Discernment Is Critical In The World Of AI
In light of growing practical concerns about risks and challenges posed by artificial intelligence, lawyers' experience with the skill of discernment will position them to help address new ethical and moral dilemmas and ensure that AI is developed and deployed in a way that benefits society as a whole, says Jennifer Gibbs at Zelle.