Residential
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March 10, 2023
CFPB Seeks Small Entity Input On Loan Originator Rules
The U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau announced Friday it is soliciting feedback from small entities on whether a group of rules that set standards and outlawing some practices for mortgage loan originators are still needed as the agency considers its continued economic effects.
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March 10, 2023
SEC Scores Win In $170M Real Estate Ponzi Scheme Suit
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has won its lawsuit against a California man for his part in executing a $170 million Ponzi scheme in which investor money meant for real estate was misappropriated.
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March 10, 2023
Condo Board Accuses Travelers Of Abruptly Pulling Coverage
A Chicago condominium association and its board members accused a Travelers unit of going back on its promise to cover their defense costs in an underlying suit, telling an Illinois federal court that the insurer's actions are part of a broader pattern of troubling behavior in the state.
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March 10, 2023
Atty Says NY Can't Hide Penn Station Project Financials
An attorney urged a New York state court Friday to order the state's economic development arm to turn over a financial analysis of the Penn Station revitalization plan, arguing that conflicting statements made by the entity in related litigation doom its attempts to shield the documents.
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March 10, 2023
Texas Supreme Court Gives Condo's Hail Suit Another Chance
A Dallas condo has another opportunity to secure millions in coverage for one of two hailstorms after the Texas Supreme Court on Friday denied an RSUI unit and its adjuster's request to review an April appeals ruling that remanded the case to trial court.
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March 10, 2023
NY AG Says Eviction Firm Is Playing Games With Discovery
The New York Attorney General's Office urged a state court to create a discovery schedule for its suit accusing a New York City law firm of using underhanded rent collection practices, claiming it has not responded to repeated attempts to hash out a discovery schedule.
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March 10, 2023
Florida Property Manager Hit With Fair Housing Class Action
A group of Jacksonville, Florida residents filed a class action against a company that rents houses for discriminating against African Americans on the basis of prior eviction filings, though many of the filings were likely erroneous.
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March 10, 2023
Condo Developer Can't Fight Fraud Exclusion, Insurer Says
A real estate developer suing for insurance coverage can't prevent a jury from considering a fraud exclusion in its builder's risk policy, the developer's insurer told a Colorado federal court, calling the argument improper and baseless.
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March 10, 2023
SC Bill Seeks Expansion Of Community Development Credit
South Carolina would increase the amount available to fund community development tax credits and would extend the program for six years under a bill introduced in the state House of Representatives.
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March 10, 2023
Kossoff Trustee Looks To Claw Back $1.4M In Escrow Funds
The Chapter 7 trustee for real estate law firm Kossoff PLLC asked a New York bankruptcy judge to recoup $1.4 million that the since-disbarred and incarcerated Mitchell Kossoff allegedly siphoned from firm escrow accounts to pay the rent on his unrelated packaging business.
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March 09, 2023
Family Sues Fla. Airbnb Over Baby's Fentanyl Death
Airbnb Inc. has been slapped with a wrongful death suit in Florida state court claiming a 19-month-old baby ingested a fatal dose of the drug fentanyl while staying with her family at a rental property previously used as a party house.
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March 09, 2023
Calif. City, State Sue Each Other Over Housing Laws
In parallel legal actions in two different courts, the state of California and city of Huntington Beach sued one another Thursday, with the state accusing the city of flouting its housing mandate, and Huntington Beach alleging its constitutional rights are being violated by being compelled to follow "flawed" laws.
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March 09, 2023
Attention Turns To Building Materials In Decarbonizing Efforts
Building construction and operation is one of the top contributors to global carbon emissions — close to 40%, according to the World Economic Forum — and a big part of that is tied to the materials that they are made of, but a variety of efforts are underway seeking to improve this situation.
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March 09, 2023
Chubb Unit Must Face Trimmed $3M Water Damage Suit
A federal judge allowed a New York City woman's $3.3 million water damage case against a Chubb unit to move forward Thursday, trimming a claim for deceptive business practices but refusing to toss claims for breach of contract and bad faith.
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March 09, 2023
California Community Groups Sue To Halt Highway Project
A pair of Central California nonprofits urged a federal court this week to block a highway expansion planned by the Federal Highway Administration and the California Department of Transportation that the groups say would increase traffic and pollution in disadvantaged communities.
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March 09, 2023
Ga. Lawmakers OK $950M In Property Tax Rebates
Georgia homeowners would receive property tax rebates totaling $950 million under a budget package approved by lawmakers and sent to Gov. Brian Kemp.
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March 09, 2023
Mortgage Exec Says Stolen Doc Not Secret, Seeks Quick Win
A mortgage professional asked an Alabama federal judge for a pretrial win in a case in which she is accused of using a love interest to steal a competitor's trade secrets via a training manual, arguing the manual isn't a secret and contained information widely known in the mortgage industry.
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March 09, 2023
Real Estate Co. Asks 4th Circ. To Nix Loss In Bid-Rigging Fight
Avirta LLC is urging the Fourth Circuit to undo a jury decision finding that it participated in a scheme to rig public bids on foreclosed properties and extort homeowners, saying the jury was improperly instructed.
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March 09, 2023
HUD IG Says Voucher Programs Need Better Data Collection
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development needs more stringent data collection for its assessment of the housing choice voucher programs, according to an audit report from HUD's inspector general.
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March 09, 2023
Insurer Says No Coverage For Condo's $10M Plumbing Repair
Houston Casualty Co. asked a California federal judge to find that it doesn't owe coverage to a contractor for what may be more than $10 million in plumbing repairs at a condominium in Los Angeles County.
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March 09, 2023
Real Estate Rumors: Morris, David Porter, Fuller Realty
Morris Communications is said to have listed a Georgia office portfolio sale at $8 million, David Porter is said to have sold a Missouri estate for $13 million, and Fuller Realty has reportedly purchased a San Antonio office complex.
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March 09, 2023
Biden Eyes New Funds For Housing, End Of 1031 Tax Program
With his budget blueprint for the next fiscal year, President Joe Biden pitched Thursday a host of investments to increase low-income Americans' access to affordable housing, while again seeking to eliminate a tax provision that real estate pros frequently take advantage of as part of their transactions.
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March 09, 2023
NY ALJ Says Couple Can't Claim Real Estate Deduction
A New York couple couldn't claim a real estate deduction on their personal income tax returns because the husband did not qualify as a real estate professional, an administrative law judge ruled in a determination released Thursday.
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March 09, 2023
Remodeler Cops To Money Laundering In $5.1M Scam
An Omaha, Nebraska, man pled guilty to money laundering in a more than $5.1 million scheme involving his remodeling and repair company billing clients for work that hadn't started, overbilling other clients for work that was done and sending false insurance invoices, the U.S. Department of Justice announced.
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March 09, 2023
Property Rights Groups Urge No Rehearing of Ind. Trails Case
Five property rights groups say they oppose an en banc hearing at the Federal Circuit for an Indiana rail trail case in which the U.S. government asked the court to revisit when a landowner can exercise a takings claim.
Expert Analysis
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5 Tips For Adding Value To Legal Clients' Experience In 2023
Faced with a potential economic downturn this year, attorneys should look to strengthen client relationships now by focusing on key ways to improve the client experience, starting with a check-in call to discuss client needs and priorities for the coming year, say attorneys at Troutman Pepper.
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Legal Standing For Nature: The Road Not Taken
Fifty years have passed since former U.S. Supreme Court Justice William O. Douglas asked whether natural objects like trees and rivers should have standing — and while the high court has since narrowed access to the courtroom for potential environmental plaintiffs, Douglas' vision is worth revisiting, says Ninth Circuit Judge Margaret McKeown.
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Where ESG And Director Fiduciary Duty Overlap
Despite ideological arguments to the contrary, directors and officers' fiduciary duties do not preclude their consideration of environmental, social and governance principles in corporate decision making, say Luis Fortuño at Steptoe & Johnson and Evan Slavitt at Paper Excellence.
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Preparing For Congressional Oversight Of Chinese Trade
Attorneys at WilmerHale discuss China-related priorities for the new Congress, including likely areas of focus for the new select committee on strategic competition between the U.S. and China, and suggest steps potentially affected businesses can take to prepare for heightened scrutiny.
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What To Expect In Builder's Risk Insurance Claims In 2023
The builder's risk insurance industry is in store for more complex claims this year due to rising interest rates, labor and materials volatility, and externalities complicating project scheduling, say Jane Warring at Zelle and Michael Haugen at J.S. Held.
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US May Soon Have New Weapons In Sanctions Enforcement
As the U.S. government operates at breakneck speed in its sanctions enforcement against Russian oligarchs, multiple legislative and regulatory efforts may give prosecutors new teeth to pursue charges against the facilitators of sanctions evasion, who have largely avoided indictment due to statutory limitations, say attorneys at Perkins Coie.
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10 Environmental And Energy Issues To Watch In 2023
After a year of transformative changes in the environmental and energy space, 2023 promises more big developments — including greenwashing litigation, finalized environmental, social and governance regulations, further scrutiny of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, and an ongoing focus on environmental justice, say attorneys at ArentFox.
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What Will Keep Legal Talent Professionals Up At Night In 2023
Hybrid work environments, high demand for lateral hires and a potential slowdown of the economy defined 2022 in the always-busy marketplace for legal talent, and as BigLaw looks at the year ahead, there are five major sources of concern for the teams charged with securing and retaining that talent, say advisers at Baretz+Brunelle.
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The Most-Read Legal Industry Law360 Guest Articles Of 2022
A range of legal industry topics drew readers' attention in Law360's Expert Analysis section this year, from the "great resignation" to potential expansion of attorney-client privilege.
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What 3 Legal Industry Trends From 2022 Mean For Next Year
Kate Reder Sheikh at Major Lindsey & Africa looks back on the year in legal recruiting, including practice areas that saw the most movement, which regions seemed most ripe for new office openings and who was promoted to partner, and makes some look-ahead predictions for 2023.
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The Future Of Legal Ops: AI Has Important Role To Play
Though the debut of OpenAI's ChatGPT has prompted some fears about negative impact on lawyers, artificial intelligence technology can be a powerful tool for legal operations professionals if used effectively to augment their work, say Justin Ben-Asher and Gwendolyn Renigar at Steptoe, and Elizabeth Matthews at TotalEnergies.
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4 Proactive Strategies For 'Rocket Docket' Discovery In SDNY
With more than half of Southern District of New York judges now allowing four or fewer months for fact discovery, civil litigators in this aspiring "rocket docket" jurisdiction should prioritize case management methods that make the most of this compressed timeline, say Jaclyn Grodin and Nicholas Cutaia at Goulston & Storrs.
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Increasing Law Firm Polarization Will Degrade Rule Of Law
As evidenced in recent instances of law firms separating from attorneys who represented certain industries or espoused certain views, firms and the legal practice itself have grown troublingly polarized and intolerant of dissent, says Rebecca Roiphe at New York Law School.