Residential

  • April 18, 2025

    HUD Lists Aging DC Headquarters Building For Sale

    The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and Government Services Administration have announced plans to sell HUD's headquarters, saying the property exceeds the department's need for office space.

  • April 18, 2025

    NC High Court Snapshot: Livestock Litigation Takes Limelight

    The North Carolina Supreme Court's April lineup will find the justices delving into a squabble over backyard chickens in a residential neighborhood and a consumer fraud class action with Home Depot in the crosshairs.

  • April 18, 2025

    Fla. Jury Hits Expedia With $30M Helms-Burton Verdict

    A Miami jury on Friday said Expedia and three related entities owe $29.85 million after finding the online booking companies liable for violating the Helms-Burton Act's anti-trafficking provision by offering reservations for resorts on a barrier island seized by Fidel Castro's government.

  • April 18, 2025

    Castlelake, Invictus Partner For $2B Residential Loan Venture

    Global alternative investment manager Castlelake LP announced that it has formed a partnership with alternative credit asset manager Invictus Capital Partners to invest up to $2 billion in newly originated residential mortgages.

  • April 17, 2025

    Judge Warns Rocket Cos. Investor: Seek Cert. At 'Own Peril'

    A Michigan federal judge on Thursday said a pension fund trying to take over as lead plaintiff in a suit against mortgage business Rocket Companies Inc. does not need the court's permission to file a renewed class certification motion, but it "does so at its own peril."

  • April 17, 2025

    Fla. Senate Takes Steps To Bolster Affordable Housing Law

    With time starting to run low in the Florida Legislature's annual regular session, the Senate has taken a notable step toward addressing the state's ongoing affordable housing concerns by passing a bill that would put more weight behind 2023's Live Local Act in response to pushback from local governments.

  • April 17, 2025

    Greystar Says FTC Suit Seeks 'Radical' Expansion Of Power

    Developer and property manager Greystar urged a Colorado federal court to toss a Federal Trade Commission suit alleging it advertised deceptive rental prices, saying the suit requires a novel reading of a decades-old statute that would "radically" expand the agency's power.

  • April 17, 2025

    Cuban Island Owner Wants $36M In Helms-Burton Case

    A Cuban-American man who says he is the rightful heir to an island off the coast of Cuba that was seized by the Communist government asked a Miami jury on Thursday for an award of more than $36 million against Expedia, which the man claims illegally trafficked in the stolen property by offering reservations for resorts on the island through its website.

  • April 17, 2025

    Colo. FAIR Plan Gives Policyholders Options At A Cost

    Colorado launched the country's first new Fair Access to Insurance Requirements, or FAIR, Plan in 40 years to offer residents another tool in an increasingly challenging wildfire, hail and wind market, but experts emphasized that this limited form of coverage is not intended to address affordability concerns.

  • April 17, 2025

    Colo. Insurance Bills Offer Promise But Uncertain Costs

    Colorado lawmakers are contemplating insurance bills that experts say could help improve the state's market by boosting home resilience, but there are still cost concerns and skepticism that other proposals are workable, like a state reinsurance program.

  • April 17, 2025

    Navajo Man Owed Relocation Benefits, 9th Circ. Rules

    The Ninth Circuit has ruled in a published opinion that a Navajo Nation member was wrongly denied relocation benefits after the U.S. government awarded his ancestral land to the Hopi Tribe, saying the federal relocation office relied on flawed findings and arbitrary reasoning when denying his claim.

  • April 17, 2025

    Wash. Justices Strike Down Spokane's Homeless Camp Law

    The Washington Supreme Court said a voter-approved initiative restricting encampments for homeless people in Spokane is unconstitutional, in an opinion Thursday that said the measure exceeds the scope of local initiative power because it impermissibly "tinkers" with a policy the city had previously adopted.

  • April 17, 2025

    Blackstone Sees 'Speed Bump' In Real Estate Recovery

    Officials at investment giant Blackstone told analysts on April 17 that they expected the direct impact of tariffs on its businesses to be limited, although a wider downturn could be more troubling.

  • April 17, 2025

    CFPB Will Cut Examinations By Half In Broad Retreat: Memo

    The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau plans to cut back sharply on its policing of nonbank financial firms, slash examinations and pull back on its use of fines as part of a dramatic shift in supervisory and enforcement priorities outlined in a new internal memo.

  • April 16, 2025

    Philly Housing Agency Seeks Out Of Suit Over Fatal Fire

    The Philadelphia Housing Authority on Wednesday urged a Pennsylvania federal court to free it from a lawsuit accusing it of responsibility for a fatal 2022 public housing fire that killed 12 residents, saying administrators of the decedents' estates failed to show that the agency directly caused the fire.

  • April 16, 2025

    Atty Expects Action But No U-Turn On New Fla. Condo Laws

    Miami attorney Joe Hernandez, a specialist in condominium law matters — and a condo owner himself — talked with Law360 about Florida condo associations' compliance with new building safety laws, the state of condo terminations and what steps the Legislature many take in its current session.

  • April 16, 2025

    Texas Ranch Neighbor Agrees Not To Use 'Mesa Vista' Name

    The owner of a property neighboring the late T. Boone Pickens' luxurious Mesa Vista Ranch hunting estate in the Texas Panhandle has agreed to stop using the name after being sued by the ranch's new owner.

  • April 16, 2025

    Real Estate Lawyers Chart Dealmaking Under Tariffs

    As real estate transaction attorneys navigate uncertainty in the market, some deals are being put on ice, while elsewhere, clients are rushing to negotiate protections from price hikes or find opportunistic deals.

  • April 16, 2025

    CFPB Defends Bid To Undo Redlining Deal

    The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau reiterated Tuesday its bid in Illinois federal court to refund a Chicago-area mortgage lender's redlining settlement, arguing that consumer advocates fighting to keep the deal in place "attack a strawman" and posit "a parade of horribles that have nothing to do with this case."

  • April 16, 2025

    Calif. Agency Says Appraisal Co. Discriminated Against Family

    The California Civil Rights Department announced it has reached settlements with a Nevada-based appraisal management company and an individual appraiser that allegedly lowballed a Black and Latino family in the Bay Area because of their race.

  • April 16, 2025

    IRS Publishes 2025 Average Residence Purchase Price Data

    The Internal Revenue Service published data Wednesday on the average purchase price for U.S. residences in different areas, which is used to determine whether bond interest can be excluded from gross income.

  • April 16, 2025

    Disbarred Atty Gets 2½ Years For Investment Scheme

    A New Jersey federal judge sentenced a disbarred attorney to 2½ years in prison after he admitted to misleading would-be investors in his financial services company with false promises before using their money for his personal expenses.

  • April 15, 2025

    Massive Calif. Fire Assessment Pass-Through Sparks Suit

    Public interest nonprofit Consumer Watchdog sued California's insurance chief in Los Angeles Superior Court on Monday to stop him from allowing insurance companies to offset hundreds of millions of dollars in assessment costs as surcharges onto policyholders, claiming the decision was made without any public input, in violation of the state's Administrative Procedure Act. 

  • April 15, 2025

    Calif. Residents Sue Feds Over Tribe's Federal Status, Casino

    Three Plymouth, California, residents and a civil rights nonprofit have alleged in a suit that the federal government conspired to approve federal recognition, fee-to-trust and gaming applications for the Ione Band of Miwok Indians, questioning the constitutionality of the trust relationship between the U.S. and Indigenous nations.

  • April 15, 2025

    NY Developers Land $237M Refi For Major Mixed-Use Project

    The developers behind a 70-acre mixed-use development in Sleepy Hollow, New York, secured a $237 million refinancing for the project from Hudson Bay Capital, per an announcement from Walker & Dunlop which arranged the financing.

Expert Analysis

  • Navigating FEMA Grant Program For Slope Fixes After Storms

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    In the aftermath of Hurricanes Helene and Milton, it is critical for governments, businesses and individuals to understand the legal requirements of the Federal Emergency Management Agency's grant programs to obtain funding for crucial repairs — including restoration of damaged infrastructure caused by landslides and slope failures, says Charles Schexnaildre at Baker Donelson.

  • Colorful Lessons From NYC's Emotional Support Parrot Suit

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    A recently settled lawsuit in New York federal court concerning housing discrimination claims from a resident who had emotional support parrots highlights the importance of housing providers treating accomodation questions seriously even if they may appear unusual or questionable, say attorneys at Seyfarth.

  • Recent Securities Cases Highlight Risks In AI Disclosures

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    Increasing public disclosure about the use and risks of artificial intelligence, and related litigation asserting that such disclosures are false or misleading, suggest that issuers need to exercise great care with respect to how they describe the benefits of AI, say Richard Zelichov and Danny Tobey at DLA Piper.

  • Consider Best Legal Practices For Commissioning Public Art

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    Commissioning public art for real estate projects can provide many benefits to real estate developers and the public, but it's important to understand the unique legal and contracting aspects of the process to ensure that projects are completed on time and on budget, says Sarah Conley Odenkirk at ArtConverge.

  • Proposed Mortgage Assistance Rule: Tips For Servicers

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    The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's recent proposal to alter Regulation X mortgage servicing procedures to broadly construe requests for assistance, and stay foreclosure proceedings during loss mitigation review, will, if finalized, require mortgage servicers to make notable procedural changes to comply, says Louis Manetti at Locke Lord.

  • How Multifamily Property Owners Can Plan For The EV Future

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    As the electric vehicle market expands, and federal and state incentives and mandates intended to promote EV use come into effect, owners and operators of multifamily residential properties should be prepared to meet the growing demand for onsite EV charging infrastructure, say Sydney Tucker and Andreas Wokutch at Frost Brown.

  • Fla. Insurer-Breach Cases Split On Unrepaired Property Issue

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    A Florida appellate court's recent decision in Universal v. Qureshi is directly at odds with a 2020 decision from another Florida appellate court, and raises important questions for policyholders and insurers about the proper measure of damages in breach claims involving unrepaired property, say Andrea DeField and Yaniel Abreu at Hunton.

  • Colorado Banking Brief: All The Notable Legal Updates In Q3

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    In the third quarter of 2024, Colorado's banking and financial services sector faced both regulatory updates and changes to state law due to recent federal court decisions — with consequences for local governments, mortgage lenders, state-chartered trust companies and federally chartered lenders serving Colorado consumers, says Sarah Auchterlonie at Brownstein Hyatt.

  • In The CFPB Playbook: No Lazy, Hazy Days Of Summer

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    The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is headed for a brisk fall season, on the heels of a heated summer, which included the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling that the CFPB funding structure is constitutional, and in advance of the November election, says Eamonn Moran at Holland & Knight.

  • Basel Endgame Rules: A Change Is Coming

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    The Federal Reserve Board's recently announced recalibration of the Basel endgame proposal begins a critical chapter in the evolution of not only the safety and soundness of U.S. banks, but also of banks' abilities to lend and support American businesses and consumers, say attorneys at Davis Wright.

  • Reassessing Lease Provisions To Account For ESG Initiatives

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    As companies seek to build ESG considerations into their businesses, it's crucial to understand how such initiatives can quickly become significant enough to compel reassessment of lease agreement provisions, and how best to modify leases accordingly, say Julian Freeman and Gabe Pitassi at Cox Castle.

  • Avoid Getting Burned By Agencies' Solar Financing Spotlight

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    Recently coordinated reports and advisories from the U.S. Department of the Treasury, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and the Federal Trade Commission maximize the spotlight on the consumer solar financing market and highlight pitfalls for lenders to avoid in this burgeoning field, says Mercedes Tunstall at Cadwalader.

  • Assessing Algorithmic Versus Generative AI Pricing Tools

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    A comparison of traditional algorithmic pricing models and those powered by generative artificial intelligence can help regulators and practitioners weigh the pros and cons of relying on large language models to price products or services, say Maxime Cohen at McGill University, and Tim Spittle and Jimmy Royer at Analysis Group.