Residential
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March 31, 2025
Paul Weiss Guiding Rocket On $9.4B Mr. Cooper Buy
Online mortgage giant Rocket said Monday it has agreed to acquire rival Mr. Cooper Group in an all-stock transaction valued at $9.4 billion, with Paul Weiss advising Rocket and Wachtell Lipton and Bradley Arant representing Mr. Cooper.
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March 28, 2025
Ga. Housing Authority, Former Worker End Retaliation Claims
Both parties asked a Georgia federal court Friday to toss a former executive director's claims that she was fired by the Housing Authority of Fulton County, Georgia, after reporting her experiences of sexual harassment, saying they had reached a settlement.
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March 28, 2025
Judge Blocks Bid To 'Hijack' $44M Ga. Realtor Settlement
A Georgia federal judge on Friday rejected a bid by the plaintiffs who brought a series of landmark fee inflation claims against the National Association of Realtors and major brokerages to intervene in a similar Peach State action, putting their bid to block an alleged lowball settlement on ice.
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March 28, 2025
Property Plays: GSA, JP Morgan REIT, Related
Property Plays is a weekly roundup of the latest loans, leases, sales and projects around the country. Send your tips — all confidential — to realestate@law360.com.
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March 28, 2025
Judge Ends $400M Air Force Base PFAS Contamination Case
A Court of Federal Claims judge has dismissed a $400 million lawsuit from New Mexico landowners alleging that PFAS runoff from a nearby U.S. Air Force base contaminated their land, saying they hadn't shown any taking by the government.
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March 28, 2025
Bank Regulators Will Seek To Rescind Biden-Era CRA Rules
Federal banking regulators said Friday that they plan to roll back Biden-era rules intended to increase bank lending in underserved areas, a pivot that comes after they had previously defended the rules amid a banking industry legal challenge.
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March 27, 2025
Quarles & Brady Snag Land Banking Expert
Quarles & Brady LLP announced Thursday that the firm added a partner to its real estate practice group, who joins Quarles & Brady from an in-house role at a residential real estate capital provider.
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March 27, 2025
US Ranked Low At Fighting Real Estate Money Laundering
The U.S. is the third-worst country when it comes to fighting money laundering in real estate because of a lack of regulations, according to a report ranking the national markets of 24 countries.
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March 27, 2025
Lawmakers Sue NYC Mayor Over Zoning Plan
A group that includes New York state lawmakers and New York City lawmakers alleged in state court that the approval of NYC Mayor Eric Adams' City of Yes for Housing Opportunity zoning reform plan violated state and city environmental quality review regulations.
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March 27, 2025
DOJ's Antitrust Unit Targeting Anticompetitive Regulations
The U.S. Department of Justice launched a task force on Thursday aimed at eliminating state and federal laws and regulations that are hindering competition, with an initial focus on key sectors including housing, food and transportation.
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March 26, 2025
NY Court Of Appeals Ices Free Rent Cases, Redefines Fraud
A unanimous decision this month by New York's highest court scrambled landlord attorneys' strategy in pending rent overcharge cases, but also handed their clients a win on whether rent concessions expose landlords to overcharge claims.
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March 26, 2025
Sotomayor Urges Caution On Nondelegation Doctrine Revamp
U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor cautioned her colleagues during oral arguments Wednesday against using a challenge to the Federal Communications Commission's administration of a broadband subsidy program as a way to resurrect the long-dormant nondelegation doctrine. Several conservative justices, however, seemed willing to disregard that admonition.
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March 26, 2025
NYC Property Cos. Hit With Security Deposits Class Action
A proposed class of residential tenants accused a property manager and a property owner in New York federal court on Wednesday of violating state law by not placing their security deposits in accounts that would accrue interest and paying security deposits without accrued interest after the tenants moved out.
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March 26, 2025
JP Morgan REIT Buys Sunbelt Housing Projects For $67M
J.P. Morgan Real Estate Income Trust Inc. has bought two residential communities in Wilmington, North Carolina, and Atlanta for a combined $67 million as part of a larger strategy of investing in workforce housing, the company said Wednesday.
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March 26, 2025
Student Housing Dispositions Declined In 2024, Colliers Says
Dispositions of student housing properties mostly decreased among varying types of funds in 2024, according to a Colliers report.
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March 26, 2025
New FinCEN Rule Is 'Game Changer' For Real Estate Investors
The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network's stopgap rule removing beneficial ownership reporting requirements for U.S. companies significantly lightens the regulatory burden for investors, especially those in the real estate sector, attorneys told Law360 Real Estate Authority.
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March 26, 2025
Greystar Scores Partial Win In Eviction Fee Lawsuit
A Massachusetts federal judge has trimmed some claims from a proposed class action accusing a Greystar entity and a Boston residential building owner of unlawfully charging tenants legal fees related to eviction proceedings.
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March 26, 2025
Resi Buildings Next Up In $500M New Jersey Office Revamp
The Connell Co. unveiled plans on Wednesday for a luxury residential component of a 185-acre, mixed-use campus in Berkeley Heights, New Jersey, the latest phase in the owner's $500 million overhaul of an outdated office park.
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March 25, 2025
Home Sellers Oppose DOJ Statement In Mass. Listing Deal
Home sellers that agreed to a $3.95 million settlement with a multiple listing service over its broker commission rules are defending the deal from the U.S. Department of Justice's attacks, telling the Massachusetts federal judge weighing approval that the government has yet to suggest terms it would find acceptable.
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March 25, 2025
Insurers Must Face Heating Oil Buyers' $35M Coverage Suit
Customers who allege they suffered $35 million in damage after purchasing substandard heating oil can continue to seek coverage of underlying litigation, with a Massachusetts federal judge saying Tuesday their case contained enough controversy to deny insurers summary judgment.
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March 25, 2025
Hamilton Lane Buys Major Stake In $74M Multifamily Portfolio
Hamilton Lane Partners purchased an 85% stake in a $74 million portfolio of multifamily properties located in New York City's SoHo and West Village neighborhoods, the investment manager announced Tuesday.
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March 25, 2025
State Farm Beats Suit Alleging Property Loss Undervaluation
A Pennsylvania federal judge on Tuesday tossed a proposed class action brought by homeowners accusing State Farm of limiting compensation by improperly employing a "new construction" setting in software when calculating property damage, finding their policy did not require the insurer to use a specific computation method for loss calculations.
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March 25, 2025
NJ Judge Upholds Mansion Tax On Sale Of Doomed House
A New Jersey company that bought a property for $4.7 million after obtaining approval to demolish an uninhabitable farmhouse on the land and use the property for industrial purposes owes the state's so-called mansion tax on the purchase, the state Tax Court ruled Tuesday.
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March 25, 2025
Judge Orders HUD To Reinstate $30M In Housing Grants
A Massachusetts federal judge temporarily revived $30 million in housing anti-discrimination grants slashed by the Trump administration, explaining that his hands are essentially tied by a First Circuit ruling in a separate case reinstating teacher training grants.
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March 25, 2025
Colo. Atty Gave $2M Mineral Rights To Other Client, Suit Says
The special district for a Colorado residential community has sued its former lawyer and firms White Bear Ankele Tanaka & Waldron PC and Spencer Fane LLP for malpractice, claiming the attorney failed to secure its mineral rights, instead executing a deal that favored one of Spencer Fane's other clients.
Expert Analysis
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4 Business-Building Strategies For Introvert Attorneys
Excerpt from Practical Guidance
Introverted lawyers can build client bases to rival their extroverted peers’ by adapting time-tested strategies for business development that can work for any personality — such as claiming a niche, networking for maximum impact, drawing on existing contacts and more, says Ronald Levine at Herrick Feinstein.
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New AI Lending Tech Could Exacerbate Old Bias Risks
As credit and mortgage lending businesses increasingly utilize artificial intelligence technology to help make decisions, they must be aware of the legal risks that may arise under familiar anti-discrimination laws, say Kali Bracey and Grace Wallack at Jenner & Block.
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AI Road Ahead Is Promising For Cautious Fintechs
Financial institutions should understand the conceptions and misconceptions about artificial intelligence likely to influence regulators, and proactively study potential adverse impacts and establish use case strategies and other guardrails for deploying AI, say attorneys at Jones Day.
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Why All Eyes Are On Florida's Affordable Housing Reform
Florida's Live Local Act, which took effect last month, promotes much-needed affordable housing developments with a mix of zoning preemption provisions and tax benefits that may attract interest from developers across the nation, say attorneys at Nelson Mullins.
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What Came Of Texas Legislature's Long-Promised Tax Relief
Following promises of historic tax relief made possible by a record budget surplus, the Texas legislative session as a whole was one in which taxpayers that are large businesses could have done somewhat better, but the new legislation is clearly still a positive, say attorneys at Baker Botts.
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Looking Behind The Curtain Of Residential Transition Loans
As residential transition loans and securitizations of such loans grow increasingly popular, real estate stakeholders should take care to understand both the unique features and potential challenges offered by this novel asset class, say attorneys at Mayer Brown.
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Hedging Variable Interest Rates In A Volatile Market
Variable rate loans, which were an advantageous borrowing method prior to the recent Federal Reserve rate hikes and subsequent volatility, are now the difference between borrowers remaining current on their obligations and defaulting due to the sharply increasing debt service requirements of their loans, say attorneys at Cassin & Cassin.
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CRA Plays Role In DOJ Fight Against Redlining
The U.S. Department of Justice’s recent consent order with ESSA Bank & Trust is a reminder that although the Community Reinvestment Act lacks a civil enforcement provision, financial institutions' CRA compliance efforts may have ramifications under various anti-discrimination statutes, say Collin Grier and Levi Swank at Goodwin.
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Colo. Eviction Case Could Transform Tenant Rights
The Colorado Supreme Court recently granted certiorari in a case that could open the door for tenants to assert allegations of discrimination and retaliation during eviction proceedings, and dramatically prolong the state's process, says Jacob Hollars at Spencer Fane.
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Harsh 11th Circ. Rebuke Should Inspire Changes At CFPB
The Eleventh Circuit's recent Consumer Financial Protection Bureau v. Brown decision, which found the CFPB's conduct had been egregious in a debt collection enforcement action, should encourage some reflection at the bureau regarding its level of attention to the reasonable due process concerns of regulated institutions, says Eric Mogilnicki at Covington.
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3 Alternatives To CRE Collateralized Loan Obligations
With current commercial real estate market conditions pushing issuers away from collateralized loan obligations, several Freddie Mac offerings should be considered as alternative exit strategies for mortgage loans secured by multifamily properties, say attorneys at Mayer Brown.
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Fla. Banking Brief: All The Notable Compliance Updates In Q2
Florida financial institutions must now navigate minimum interest rates for attorney trust accounts, restrictions on property sales to prohibited foreigners, and a ban on weighing environmental, social and governance factors to determine a customer's creditworthiness — changes that will add to banks' compliance pressures, says Patricia Hernandez at Avila Rodriguez.
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NY Court Sends Mixed Signals On Contested Foreclosure Law
Although New York's Appellate Division, Second Department, has avoided addressing the constitutionality and retroactive application of the Foreclosure Abuse Prevention Act, its conflicting pattern of applying FAPA to existing cases is creating confusion regarding the future of the law, say Christopher Gorman and John Muldoon at Abrams Fensterman and litigation support analyst Robert Marx.