Residential
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February 28, 2023
Feds Settle Lead Paint Suit With NY Construction Co.
The U.S. Department of Justice has settled its suit that accused a New York construction company in New York federal court of violating federal lead paint regulations while renovating Manhattan apartment buildings, the DOJ announced Tuesday.
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February 28, 2023
How NY Is Joining The Housing Supply Boosters
New York may be trailing behind its peer states in pledging to increase its supply of housing, but the lag has allowed the state to assess a menu of zoning and land use strategies tested elsewhere, according to Noah Kazis, an assistant professor at University of Michigan Law School.
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February 28, 2023
Real Estate Board Exempt From Antitrust Suit, Judge Says
A Louisiana federal court has thrown out a Pittsburgh-based real estate company's antitrust suit against the state's appraisal board, ruling that the case is moot because of a 2021 deal with the Federal Trade Commission that bars the board from setting appraisers' fees.
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February 27, 2023
NC Atty Fights Conviction Over Alleged Sex Crime Threats
A real estate attorney wants the North Carolina Court of Appeals to undo his criminal conviction for threatening to commit sex crimes against the family members, including a child, of a local real estate agent, saying he never made the threats and a lower court judge improperly interfered with his right to a jury trial.
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February 27, 2023
CFPB Bans Mortgage Lender For Violating Earlier Order
A California mortgage lender was permanently banned Monday from the industry by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau for allegedly repeatedly violating a 2015 agency order prohibiting it from sending advertisements to military families that made it seem like the company was affiliated with the federal government.
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February 27, 2023
Zillow Wants Out Of $1.9M Photo Copyright Damage Award
A Ninth Circuit judge on Monday called out attorneys for spending too much time parsing each word in a previous court opinion in a copyright dispute over the use of real estate photographs on Zillow's website and said they were sidestepping the "$100 million question": Are the infringed photos part of a compilation subject to a single statutory damages award?
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February 27, 2023
Veris Residential Names 2 New Board Directors
New Jersey-based real estate investment trust Veris Residential has tapped two industry leaders to join its board of directors, and one of its members is retiring, the company said Monday.
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February 27, 2023
Congo Says Trump Condo Can't Be Seized In $1B Fight
The Republic of Congo continues to protest efforts by a construction company to seize a Trump Tower condo to enforce nearly $1 billion in arbitral awards, telling a New York federal judge that its former contractor wrongly claims the country and its president embezzled funds to buy the property.
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February 27, 2023
Mo. Home Value Appeal Nixed For Ignoring Appraisal Methods
A Missouri homeowner was unable to successfully contest his property's $1.2 million assessment because he failed to use accepted appraisal methods when analyzing comparable properties, the Missouri State Tax Commission determined.
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February 27, 2023
Pittsburgh Developer Says Oakland Owners Reneged On Sale
Developer Walnut Capital is suing several Pittsburgh property owners for breach of contract, saying they failed to sell properties as promised for the development of a neighborhood that was delayed by zoning changes.
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February 27, 2023
Landlord Says Insurer Owes $5M For Lost Rental Income
The property owner of a Nebraska senior living facility wants Affiliated FM Insurance Co. to cover more than $5 million in lost rental income after a fire broke out a day before it was added to the facility's policy.
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February 27, 2023
HUD Provides $5.6B In Grants For 1,200 Communities
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development has awarded 1,200 communities with 2,400 grants worth $5.6 billion, which is expected to fund programs for areas such as homeless services, community development and affordable housing, HUD announced Monday.
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February 27, 2023
Mass. Gov. Pitches Capital Gains Rate Cut In $742M Tax Plan
Massachusetts would cut its tax rate on short-term capital gains by more than half under a $742 million plan pitched Monday by Democratic Gov. Maura Healey.
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February 27, 2023
NY Assembly Bill Floats Tax Break For Home Down Payments
New York would grant homebuyers a personal income tax credit for any down payment made on a residence under a bill introduced in the state Assembly.
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February 27, 2023
Shutts & Bowen Launches Land Use Practice In Florida
Florida's Shutts & Bowen LLP launched a new land use practice group to serve real estate developers and investors in land use, zoning and local government matters, the firm announced Monday.
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February 27, 2023
Neb. Justices Say They Can't Rule In Inheritance Tax Appeal
The Nebraska Supreme Court doesn't have the jurisdiction to rule on an appeal challenging the inheritance tax obligation of a trust whose majority of value came from a property willed to an unrelated individual.
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February 27, 2023
Insurer's Faulty-Construction Coverage Suit Ruled Premature
A Texas federal judge tossed Cincinnati Insurance Co.'s suit over its indemnity obligations to a contractor accused of performing faulty construction work, saying the action was premature because the underlying suit had yet to be resolved.
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February 27, 2023
Wyo. To Raise Homestead Exemption Amount Fivefold
Wyoming will increase its homestead exemption fivefold under a bill signed into law by the governor.
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February 27, 2023
COVID Order Should've Nixed Landlord's Suit, Court Says
A Connecticut appellate court has reversed a landlord's default judgment win for its eviction proceedings against a tenant due to the state's COVID-19 order that limited evictions.
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February 24, 2023
BofA Urges NC Supreme Court To Toss Mortgagors' Fraud Suit
Bank of America pled its case to the Supreme Court of North Carolina to have a lawsuit dismissed accusing it of fraud in a mortgage modification program, saying the appellate panel that reversed the previously dismissed case ignored more than a century of precedent regarding the statute of limitations in the state.
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February 24, 2023
Ex-LA Official Connected 'Big Whales' To Huizar, Jury Told
A onetime aide to convicted Los Angeles councilman José Huizar testified Friday in former deputy mayor Raymond Chan's federal bribery trial, giving jurors an insider's look at how Chan connected so-called "big whales" — wealthy Chinese developers — with his boss Huizar, "the king of downtown."
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February 24, 2023
Interest On $1B Surfside Deal Will Go To Collapse Victims
Extra money from interest earned on the blockbuster $1 billion settlement after the deadly collapse of the Champlain Towers South condo in Florida will go directly to victims and not a memorial fund, a state judge ruled Friday.
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February 24, 2023
Fla. Condo Owner's $13.8M Irma Insurance Suit Came Too Late
A Florida federal judge dismissed a suit brought by the owner of a high-rise condominium for not filing its complaint over non-coverage of Hurricane Irma damage before the statute of limitations, saying there was no evidence the insurers duped it into filing its suit too late.
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February 24, 2023
Property Plays: Chetrit Group, Hallmark Cos., Twist Nightclub
Chetrit Group has reportedly defaulted on an $85 million loan for a Hudson Yards property in New York, Hallmark Cos. is said to have purchased an apartment complex in Georgia, and Twist is said to have bought its Miami nightclub for $7.6 million.
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February 24, 2023
Youngstown Couple Sue Norfolk Southern Over Derailment
Two Youngstown, Ohio, residents brought a potential class action against Norfolk Southern on Thursday, joining a bevy of lawsuits in the aftermath of the train derailment in East Palestine that caused a spill of hazardous chemicals and a controlled burn that spread smoke as far as 20 miles.
Expert Analysis
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Fla. Evidence Code Update Lowers Burden For Image Use
Florida's recent evidence code change permits judicial notice of images and certain other graphics, a hugely meaningful development for litigants across a wide range of practice areas, though the effect will likely be immediately felt in property insurance cases, say Eve Cann and David Levin at Baker Donelson.
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How New FCC Rule Will Improve Telecom Options For Tenants
A new Federal Communications Commission rule that takes effect Sept. 26 will give American tenants newfound access to competitive telecom services, promote consumer choice and help alleviate the anti-competitive effects of revenue sharing agreements, say John Reardon and Emily Edwards at Kutak Rock.
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Key Adaptations For Law Firms Amid Quiet Quitting Movement
While quiet quitting may not be sustainable at law firms with billable hour requirements, there are specific steps law firms should take to maintain engagement and otherwise respond to the trend's underlying message that associates won't spend all their waking hours at work if they don't feel it's worthwhile, says Meredith Kahan at Whiteford Taylor.
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Creating A Hybrid Work Policy? Be Intentional And Inclusive
The pandemic has changed expectations for the future of work forever, and as more employees demand hybrid working options, law firms must develop policies and models that are intentional, inclusive and iterative to lead the industry into the future, says Manar Morales at the Diversity & Flexibility Alliance.
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How Fintech Cos. May Transform Real Estate Investment
Fintech companies have begun to meet challenges to real estate investment with innovations that will drive new transactions, but they will need to provide traditional investors with more information about individual properties and communities, say Joseph Bizub and David Reiss at Brooklyn Law School, and Justin Peralta at IBM.
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A Law Firm's Guide To Humane Layoffs As Recession Looms
Amid warnings of a global recession, law firms should prepare for the possibility of associate layoffs, aiming for an empathetic approach and avoiding common mistakes that make the emotional impact on departing attorneys worse, say Jarrett Green, a wellness consultant, and Kate Reder Sheikh at Major Lindsey & Africa.
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8 Military Consumer Protection Tips For Finance Cos.
A holistic Servicemembers Civil Relief Act compliance management system is crucial for keeping financial services companies out of hot water, especially after recent federal agency actions sent a stark reminder that they expect institutions to maintain robust controls, says Akeela White at Hinshaw & Culbertson.
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Puerto Rico Bankruptcy Ruling Spells Takings Inconsistency
The First Circuit’s ruling in the Puerto Rico restructuring case that takings claims cannot be impaired in bankruptcy establishes inconsistent treatment of takings claims among appellate courts and raises an important constitutional question, which could lead the matter to the U.S. Supreme Court, say attorneys at Dechert.
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Learning From Trump And Bannon Discovery Strategies
Court-imposed sanctions on both former President Donald Trump and his former aide Steve Bannon for failing to comply with subpoenas illustrate that efforts to bar the door to valid discovery can quickly escalate, so litigants faced with challenging discovery disputes should adopt a pragmatic approach, say Mathea Bulander and Monica McCarroll at Redgrave.
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Judges Who Use Social Media Must Know Their Ethical Limits
While the judiciary is permitted to use electronic social media, judges and judicial candidates should protect themselves from accusations of ethics violations by studying the growing body of ethics opinions and disciplinary cases centering on who judges connect with and how they behave online, says Justice Daniel Crothers at the North Dakota Supreme Court.
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How Calif. Courts Are Ruling On Housing Density Issues
Over the past year, California courts have issued a handful of housing density decisions addressing various efforts to push back against the preemption of local regulations, and important trends are emerging with increasing momentum in favor of state government residential development efforts, says Sean Gaffney at Crosbie Gliner.
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AML Takeaways From Watchdog's Real Estate Guidance
The Financial Action Task Force's recently updated anti-money laundering guidance for the real estate sector, coinciding with related developments from U.S. regulators and legislators, illustrates the continued expansion of risk-based compliance requirements — and the threat of criminal liability — for industry participants, including lawyers, say attorneys at Ballard Spahr.
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Beware Broad Damage Waivers In Construction Contracts
As the booming construction industry shifts some of project owners' bargaining power to contractors, owners should be on the lookout for certain contract provisions that could broadly waive consequential damages and compromise other potential remedies, says Daniel Miktus at Akerman.