Residential

  • October 22, 2025

    Institutional Real Estate Allocations Drop, Rebound Expected

    Institutional investors planned to put less capital toward real estate strategies in 2025 than what they had earmarked the year prior, marking the first time Hodes Weill & Associates and Cornell University have seen such a decline since they began surveying over a decade ago.

  • October 21, 2025

    Tribe's Home Defects Suit Belongs In Arbitration, Judge Told

    Lennar Corp. on Tuesday told a Florida state judge that the Seminole Tribe's lawsuit alleging construction defects in more than 550 homes built for its members must be arbitrated, arguing that purchase agreements contain provisions that require the warranty claims to be resolved out of court. 

  • October 21, 2025

    Apartments.com Operator CoStar Beats Video Privacy Suit

    A Missouri federal judge tossed a proposed class action alleging the operator of Apartments.com unlawfully shared data about the visitors to the rental website, holding that CoStar Realty isn't covered by the federal Video Privacy Protection Act because it's not a videotape business.

  • October 21, 2025

    9th Circ. Doubts Finance Guru's Stance In Timeshare Exit Suit

    A Ninth Circuit panel signaled on Tuesday that it's unlikely to force arbitration in a proposed class action accusing celebrity financial planner Dave Ramsey of roping his radio show's listeners into a timeshare exit scheme, with two judges emphasizing that Ramsey's argument hinges on a contract that he never signed.

  • October 21, 2025

    Mich. Court Denies Gov't's Foreclosure Suit Atty Fee Bid

    A Michigan appellate panel on Monday determined governments that foreclose on tax-delinquent properties aren't entitled to attorney fees and expenses racked up during litigation over how the surplus proceeds of the property sale are paid out.

  • October 21, 2025

    NYC Mayor Unveils Jewel Streets Affordable Housing Plan

    New York City's mayor announced on Tuesday plans to improve the Jewel Streets area in Brooklyn and Queens by building 1,400 affordable and mixed-income homes, undertaking a rezoning plan that aims to develop an additional 3,600 homes, and investing $146 million to improve local infrastructure.

  • October 21, 2025

    Ex-Housing Worker Defends $2.3M Hostile Workplace Verdict

    A former homeownership coordinator for the public housing authority in Charlotte, North Carolina, has urged a federal judge to let stand her $2.3 million hostile work environment verdict, saying there was more than enough evidence at trial to support the jury's decision.

  • October 21, 2025

    Arkansas Banks Shoulder Heavy Construction Debt Burden

    Several of the nation's most highly leveraged construction lenders are Arkansas banks, as state regulators have greenlighted construction debt levels of more than 10% of total assets at a trio of institutions, according to an investigation by Law360 Real Estate Authority.

  • October 21, 2025

    Belkin Burden Nabs Condo & Co-Op Expert In Hiring Spree

    Belkin Burden Goldman LLP added a condominium and co-op expert to its bench, noting that the new partner has expertise in corporate governance, operations disputes and building management issues.

  • October 21, 2025

    J&J Appeals $25M Loss In Conn. Builder's Asbestos Case

    Johnson & Johnson has appealed its losses in a Connecticut real estate developer's asbestos lawsuit, telling state trial and appellate courts that it plans to challenge denials of multiple bids to reverse a $15 million jury verdict plus an additional $10 million in punitive damages awarded by a judge.

  • October 20, 2025

    NYC Real Estate Week In Review

    Fried Frank, Sheppard Mullin, Gibson Dunn and Morgan Lewis are among the law firms that guided the largest New York City real estate deals that hit public records last week, with two Manhattan trades north of $200 million leading the way.

  • October 20, 2025

    Wells Fargo Borrowers Defend Mortgage Application Fees Suit

    A proposed class of Wells Fargo borrowers is fighting the bank's dismissal bid of their suit, which accuses the bank of wrongfully charging them mortgage application fees and failing to provide proper refunds, arguing in California federal court that Wells Fargo's dismissal motion "mischaracterizes" the named plaintiff's claims.

  • October 20, 2025

    Miami Board Gives Key Approval For $2B Mixed-Use Project

    Rosso Development, Midtown Development and Proper Hospitality, guided by Greenberg Traurig, have secured approval from Miami officials for a $2 billion mixed-use project in the city's Midtown Park neighborhood, setting the stage for construction to begin in 2026.

  • October 20, 2025

    9th Circ. Nixes Class' Appeal For Reverse Mortgage Loan Suit

    The Ninth Circuit tossed an appeal and a related rehearing bid for a proposed class action that accused a company of running an unlawful reverse mortgage loan scheme, ruling that the proposed class of homeowners has agreed with the company to voluntarily drop their appeal.

  • October 20, 2025

    NY Passes Rent Algorithm Ban In Housing Package

    New York Gov. Kathy Hochul has signed a package of bills designed to encourage homeownership and protect renters, including a statewide ban on the use of algorithmic rent-setting software and a partial tax exemption for home sales to low-income households.

  • October 20, 2025

    Justices Won't Review Optional NAR Rule In Zillow Case

    The U.S. Supreme Court refused Monday to review claims that Zillow and the National Association of Realtors blocked competition through an optional association rule that relegated a defunct brokerage platform's listings to a secondary tab on Zillow's site.

  • October 17, 2025

    Texas Appeals Court Clears River Authority Of Flood Claim

    A Texas appeals court found that the San Jacinto River Authority had governmental immunity when it decided to release water from its Lake Conroe reservoir during a hurricane, saying it took a good faith action even though the decision damaged some properties.

  • October 17, 2025

    Feds Say Housing Activist Used Homeless For Medicaid Fraud

    Federal prosecutors in North Carolina have accused a Charlotte housing advocate of using the Medicaid beneficiary numbers of unhoused individuals to orchestrate a multimillion-dollar fraud on the government, court records show.

  • October 17, 2025

    Taxation With Representation: Latham, Kirkland, Wachtell

    In this week's Taxation With Representation, the Artificial Intelligence Infrastructure Partnership, MGX, and BlackRock's Global Infrastructure Partners acquire Aligned Data Centers from Macquarie Asset Management and co-investors; Rayonier Inc. and PotlatchDeltic Corp. merge to create a timber and wood products giant; and a Lone Star Funds affiliate acquires industrial processing equipment provider Hillenbrand Inc.

  • October 16, 2025

    Why Ethics Complaints Against Halligan Face 'Very High Bar'

    Interim U.S. Attorney Lindsey Halligan for the Eastern District of Virginia could face bar disciplinary action or court sanctions if the prosecutions she's pursuing at President Donald Trump's behest are found to be politically motivated or baseless, although proving ethics allegations will be an uphill battle, experts say.

  • October 16, 2025

    Ex-Va. Federal Prosecutor Joins NY AG James' Defense Team

    The former deputy criminal chief for the U.S. Attorney's Office in Norfolk, Virginia, on Oct. 16 joined the team defending New York Attorney General Letitia James in the government's case accusing her of mortgage-related fraud, filed after the president encouraged prosecutors to take action against his "guilty as hell" political opponents.

  • October 16, 2025

    LA Developers Charged In Homeless Housing Fund Fraud

    A pair of real estate developers have been charged in separate fraud cases alleging that they misused millions of dollars meant to build and operate affordable housing for people experiencing homelessness, the U.S. Attorney's Office of the Central District of California announced Oct. 16.

  • October 16, 2025

    Insurers Settle Bid To Arbitrate $7M La. Hurricane Ida Case

    A group of domestic and foreign insurers including underwriters at Lloyd's of London have asked a Louisiana federal judge to dismiss their lawsuit seeking an order to arbitrate a $7 million Hurricane Ida damage claim, saying they have settled the dispute.

  • October 16, 2025

    Latham Guides $1.8B Deal For Spanish Senior Home Operator

    The real estate arm of StepStone Group Inc. and European real estate investment firm Greykite have announced a €1.5 billion ($1.8 billion) deal to acquire and recapitalize Vitalia, Spain's second largest owner-operator of senior care homes.

  • October 16, 2025

    Mass. Board Upholds Tax Value Of Boston Home

    A Boston property owner failed to prove that the city overassessed her four-bedroom, 2,900-square-foot home, the state's Appellate Tax Board said, finding the city's assessment of $724,000 for the 2022 tax year was reasonable.

Expert Analysis

  • In The CFPB Playbook: Regulatory Aims Get High Court Assist

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    Newly emboldened after the U.S. Supreme Court last month found that the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's funding is constitutional, the bureau has likely experienced a psychic boost, allowing its already robust enforcement agenda to continue expanding, say attorneys at Husch Blackwell.

  • What's New In Kentucky's Financial Services Overhaul

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    Kentucky's H.B. 726 will go into effect in July and brings with it some significant restructuring to the Kentucky Financial Services Code, including changes to mortgage loan license fees and repeals of provisions relating to installment term loans and savings associations, say attorneys at Frost Brown.

  • A Comparison Of FDIC, OCC Proposed Merger Approaches

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    Max Bonici and Connor Webb at Venable take a closer look at the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.'s and Office of the Comptroller of the Currency's respective bank merger proposals and highlight certain common themes and important differences, in light of regulators continually rethinking their approaches to bank mergers.

  • Tax Assessment: Recapping Georgia's Legislative Session

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    Jonathan Feldman and Alla Raykin at Eversheds Sutherland examine tax-related changes from Georgia’s General Assembly — such as the governor’s successful push to accelerate income tax cuts — and suggest steps to take before certain tax incentives are challenged in the state's next legislative session.

  • 11th Circ. Ruling May Foreshadow Ch. 15 Clashes

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    The Eleventh Circuit's recent decision in In re: Talal Qais Abdulmunem Al Zawawi has introduced a split from the Second Circuit regarding whether debtors in foreign proceedings must have a domicile, calling attention to the understudied nature of Chapter 15 of the Bankruptcy Code, say attorneys at Cleary.

  • A Look At New IRS Rules For Domestically Controlled REITs

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    The Internal Revenue Services' finalized Treasury Regulations addressing whether real estate investment trusts qualify as domestically controlled adopt the basic structure of previous proposals, but certain new and modified rules may mitigate the regulations' impact, say attorneys at Simpson Thacher.

  • What CRA Deadline Means For Biden Admin. Rulemaking

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    With the 2024 election rapidly approaching, the Biden administration must race to finalize proposed agency actions within the next few weeks, or be exposed to the chance that the following Congress will overturn the rules under the Congressional Review Act, say attorneys at Covington.

  • How New Rule Would Change CFIUS Enforcement Powers

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    Before the May 15 comment deadline, companies may want to weigh in on proposed regulatory changes to enforcement and mitigation tools at the disposal of the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, including broadened subpoena powers, difficult new mitigation timelines and higher maximum penalties, say attorneys at Venable.

  • 2nd Circ. Eminent Domain Ruling Empowers Municipalities

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    The Second Circuit's recent decision in Brinkmann v. Town of Southold, finding that a pretextual taking does not violate the Fifth Amendment's takings clause, gives municipalities a powerful tool with which to block unwanted development projects, even in bad faith, say James O'Connor and Benjamin Sugarman at Phillips Lytle.

  • SEC Should Be Allowed To Equip Investors With Climate Info

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    The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's new rule to require more climate-related disclosures will provide investors with much-needed clarity, despite opponents' attempts to challenge the rule with misused legal arguments, say Sarah Goetz at Democracy Forward and Cynthia Hanawalt at Columbia University’s Sabin Center for Climate Change.

  • 8 Fla. Statutes That Construction Cos. Should Prepare For

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    In this article, Jason Lambert at Hill Ward discusses a number of recent bills out of the Florida Legislature targeting construction companies in the Sunshine State that have been sent to the governor for signature, at least some of which will have broad impacts that affected companies should prepare for ahead of the July 1 effective date.

  • Time To Fix NYC's Broken Property Assessment System

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    A New York appellate court's decision to revive Tax Equity Now New York v. City of New York may force the city to revamp its outdated and unfair real estate tax assessment system, which could be fixed with a couple of simple changes, says Seth Feldman at Romer Debbas.

  • Understanding The IRC's Excessive Refund Claim Penalty

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    Taxpayers considering protective refund claims pending resolution of major questions in tax cases like Moore v. U.S., which is pending before the U.S. Supreme Court, should understand how doing so may also leave them vulnerable to an excessive refund claim penalty under Internal Revenue Code Section 6676, say attorneys at McDermott.