Residential

  • April 09, 2024

    NYC Developers Blame Tax Break Loss For Apartment Slump

    The foundation application filings for multifamily housing in New York City declined significantly in March, which signifies a decline that began after the city's 421-A tax break expired in June 2022, the NYC developer trade group Real Estate Board of New York stated.

  • April 09, 2024

    Real Brokerage $9.2M Settlement Is Latest In Agent Fee Suit

    The Real Brokerage Inc. will pay $9.2 million in a settlement to exit a class action in Missouri federal court over broker fees that prompted other big brokerages to change how they charge agent fees.

  • April 09, 2024

    Property Owners' Bias Claims Belong In Court, NC Justices Told

    Three property owners urged the North Carolina Supreme Court on Tuesday to revive their claims that the city of Kinston targeted a Black community for house demolitions, contending that they shouldn't have to argue with City Council members before being able to sue.

  • April 09, 2024

    Ex-LA Deputy Mayor Says Jury's Chats Warrant Mistrial

    Former Los Angeles deputy mayor Raymond Chan is calling for a mistrial following his bribery conviction, telling a federal judge the jury foreperson and two other panel members discussed the case outside the jury room, reaching a premature verdict that likely swayed other jurors.

  • April 09, 2024

    Pittsburgh Schools Sue To Force Countywide Reassessment

    The school district serving the city of Pittsburgh has filed a lawsuit in state court to compel Allegheny County to conduct a countywide reassessment of real estate values, arguing that taxation starting from a 12-year-old base level is putting homeowners in some neighborhoods at an unfair and unconstitutional disadvantage.

  • April 09, 2024

    Detroit, Chicago Have Riskiest Multifamily Loans, KBRA Says

    The cities of Detroit, Chicago, and Denver have the riskiest securitized multifamily loans among the largest metropolitan statistical areas, according to a report from Kroll Bond Rating Agency.

  • April 09, 2024

    NJ Justices To Hear If Philly Archdiocese Subject To NJ Court

    The New Jersey Supreme Court will determine whether the Archdiocese of Philadelphia is subject to Garden State courts in a lawsuit alleging a former priest sexually abused a teenager at the former priest's Jersey Shore house decades ago.

  • April 09, 2024

    Embattled Houston Law Firm Files Ch. 11

    Insurance law firm MMA Law Firm on Tuesday filed for Chapter 11 protection in a Texas bankruptcy court, weeks after a federal judge declined to toss a suit seeking class damages over the Houston firm's allegedly illegal efforts to solicit clients in hurricane-related property damage cases.

  • April 08, 2024

    AIG Acted In Bad Faith In Hurricane Dispute, Homeowners Say

    Owners of a $95 million oceanfront mansion near Miami told jurors Monday that AIG should be punished for acting in bad faith in handling a claim for damage from Hurricane Irma, saying the company repeatedly prioritized maximizing profits at the expense of customer service.

  • April 09, 2024

    Tech Poised For Key Role In Real Estate Recovery

    As the clouds recede from two years of economic headwinds, an anticipated real estate upturn could benefit from enormous advances taking place in technological innovation, according to the many key players who attended the 2024 Real Estate Technology Conference in New York.

  • April 08, 2024

    Investment Duo Nabs Houston Multifamily Buildings For $60M

    Ascendant Capital Partners and Culver Investment Partners have announced that they have acquired a trio of properties in Houston, Texas, for approximately $60 million.

  • April 08, 2024

    NYC Real Estate Week In Review

    Kane Kessler and Nixon Peabody are among the law firms that handled the largest New York City deals that hit public records last week, a slow period that saw only three deeds at or north of $20 million hit records.

  • April 08, 2024

    Seyfarth Shaw Guides Slate's $150M NYC Construction Loan

    Scale Lending inked a $150 million construction loan for Beitel Group's 450-unit multifamily project underway in New York City, according to a statement from the lender Monday.

  • April 08, 2024

    Oil Co. Sues LA Homeless Vets To Keep VA Site Drill Rights

    Oil company Bridgeland Resources LLC defended its agreements to drill on U.S. Veterans Administration land in Los Angeles in an intervenor complaint in California federal court against a group of homeless, disabled veterans arguing the arrangement is illegal because the site lacks housing.

  • April 08, 2024

    EPA Announces Cleanup Plan For Brooklyn Superfund Site

    The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is monitoring three Brooklyn, New York, homes for contamination from toxic chemicals as the agency surveys a 190-acre area as part of a plan to address historic pollution from oil refineries along Newton Creek in Greenpoint.

  • April 08, 2024

    Atty Can't Slip Willkie Partner's Suit Over NY Post Story

    A Connecticut federal judge has declined to toss a Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP partner's abuse of process case against a Constitution State attorney who allegedly orchestrated an unflattering New York Post article as retaliation for an underlying disqualification bid, ruling that the suit is not blocked by litigation privilege.

  • April 08, 2024

    Simpson Reps Blackstone On $10B AIR Communities Buy

    Blackstone has agreed to purchase Apartment Income REIT Corp. in a take-private transaction valued at approximately $10 billion, with Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP and Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom LLP serving as legal counsel, respectively, the firms said Monday. 

  • April 05, 2024

    LA Agrees To Pay $1M For Delay In Homeless Camp Reduction

    The city of Los Angeles has consented to getting rid of nearly 10,000 homeless camps in the city over four years and paying $1 million in sanctions for failing to abide by its settlement agreement with a local coalition that sued Los Angeles over how it has handled its homelessness crisis.

  • April 05, 2024

    DC Circ. Says DOJ Can Reopen Realtor Antitrust Probe

    The D.C. Circuit said on Friday that the U.S. Department of Justice can reopen an antitrust investigation into the National Association of Realtors, despite an earlier agency settlement over the association's rules.

  • April 05, 2024

    Shelter Network Fights Public Camping Ban At High Court

    A network of more than 200 women's and family shelters told the U.S. Supreme Court that an Oregon city's prohibition on camping in public spaces subjects involuntarily homeless women and children — who are often put in that position due to gender-based violence — to further potential harm.

  • April 05, 2024

    Cos. Say Fair Housing Groups Can't 'Manufacture' Injury

    Property management company AION Management LLC and multiple property owners urged a Delaware federal court to dismiss a disability bias suit filed by the federal government, arguing that the government's opposition to their dismissal motion "relies on mischaracterizations" of case law and federal law.

  • April 05, 2024

    Pa. Supreme Court Snapshot: COVID Coverage Starts Spring

    The Pennsylvania Supreme Court's April lineup will prepare the justices to deliver highly anticipated guidance on whether business losses stemming COVID-19 pandemic orders should be covered by insurance and if Pittsburgh can compel rental-property owners to register and undergo training.

  • April 05, 2024

    Conn. Fraudulent Property Transfer Suit Against Atty Resolved

    A New York doctor and the real estate attorney and developer he accused of transferring his Fairfield, Connecticut, property to benefit a scammer have resolved a federal lawsuit, agreeing to quiet the title and dismiss all other causes of action, following the reported settlement of a separate state court action.

  • April 05, 2024

    NC High Court Snapshot: Law Firm Battles Defamation Suit

    The Supreme Court of North Carolina has a stacked calendar heading into spring arguments, from an appeal over Black-owned properties targeted for demolition to a law firm's attempt at dodging defamation claims over allegations of voter fraud.

  • April 05, 2024

    Redwood Trust REIT CLO Earned $2.7M In 2023

    Mill Valley, California-based real estate investment trust Redwood Trust paid Chief Legal Officer Andrew P. Stone $2.7 million in total compensation in 2023, according to a regulatory filing from the housing investor.

Expert Analysis

  • As The Metaverse Expands, Bankruptcy Questions Arise

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    Restructuring and bankruptcy happen in the metaverse, too — and the uncertain and evolving rules of digital ownership could have surprising effects on who gets paid, with increasing tension between platforms and users, say Kizzy Jarashow and James Lathrop at Goodwin.

  • Stanford Law Protest Highlights Rise Of Incivility In Discourse

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    The recent Stanford Law School incident, where students disrupted a speech by U.S. Circuit Judge Kyle Duncan, should be a reminder to teach law students how to be effective advocates without endangering physical and mental health, says Nancy Rapoport at the University of Nevada.

  • Dispute Prevention Strategies To Halt Strife Before It Starts

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    With geopolitical turbulence presenting increased risks of business disputes amid court backlogs and ballooning costs, companies should consider building mechanisms for dispute prevention into newly established partnerships to constructively resolve conflicts before they do costly damage, say Ellen Waldman and Allen Waxman at the International Institute for Conflict Prevention and Resolution.

  • Key Takeaways In Ex-NY Lt. Gov.'s Tossed Bribery Charges

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    In dismissing bribery charges against former New York Lt. Gov. Brian Benjamin, a Manhattan federal court stringently defined an explicit quid pro quo — the latest in a string of federal rulings that have narrowed the use of federal public corruption laws to pursue state-level officials, say attorneys at Arnold & Porter.

  • High Court Bankruptcy Ruling Is A Warning To Joint Obligors

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    The U.S. Supreme Court’s recent ruling in Bartenwerfer v. Buckley opens the door to increased litigation surrounding the dischargeability of joint debts, and although it highlights the heightened risks to debtors posed as members of a partnership, its reach may exceed beyond liability for a partner's fraud, say Andrew Buxbaum and Deborah Kovsky-Apap at Troutman Pepper.

  • Practical Skills Young Attorneys Must Master To Be Happier

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    For young lawyers, finding happiness on the job — with its competitive nature and high expectations for billable hours — is complicated, but three skills can help them gain confidence, reduce stress and demonstrate their professional value in ways they never imagined, says career counselor Susan Smith Blakely.

  • Establishing A Record Of Good Faith In Mediation

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    Viacom v. U.S. Specialty Insurance, and other recent cases, highlight the developing criteria for determining good faith participation in mediation, as well as several practical tips to establish such a record, says Richard Mason at MasonADR.

  • Honchariw Case May Greatly Affect Default Loans In Calif.

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    Because a California state appeals court held in Honchariw v. FJM that default interest is unlawful when a lender assesses it against the full outstanding principal balance on a partially matured loan, lenders should prepare for borrowers to increasingly rely on the case when challenging default interest, say attorneys at Duane Morris.

  • 5 Takeaways From Recent CFPB, FTC Equal Credit Push

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    The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and Federal Trade Commission overlap in regulating a wide range of banks and nonbanks, and the recent concerted effort from both agencies to address discrimination in financial services should remind organizations to reexamine their anti-discrimination and Equal Credit Opportunity Act compliance, say attorneys at Wiley.

  • ABA Opinion Should Help Clarify Which Ethics Rules Apply

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    A recent American Bar Association opinion provides key guidance on interpreting ABA Model Rule 8.5's notoriously complex choice-of-law analysis — and should help lawyers authorized to practice in multiple jurisdictions determine which jurisdiction's ethics rules govern their conduct, say attorneys at HWG.

  • Where Illinois And Federal Law Differ On Community Finance

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    As state regulators finalize the implementing regulations in the Illinois Community Reinvestment Act, attorneys at Vedder Price break down the law's material provisions, compare them to those in the federal counterpart and outline what banks in the state can expect.

  • 4 Ways To Reboot Your Firm's Stalled Diversity Program

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    Law firms that have failed to see real progress despite years of diversity initiatives can move forward by committing to tackle four often-taboo obstacles that hinder diversity, equity and inclusion efforts, says Steph Maher at Jaffe.

  • DOJ's Google Sanctions Motion Shows Risks Of Auto-Deletion

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    The U.S. Department of Justice recently hit Google with a sanctions motion over its alleged failure to preserve relevant instant-messaging communications, a predicament that should be a wake-up call for counsel concerning the danger associated with automatic-deletion features and how it's been handled by the courts, say Oscar Shine and Emma Ashe at Selendy Gay.