Residential
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March 07, 2023
Dallas Tenants Say Class Status Should Stay In Slum Fight
A class action must stay intact, a group of Dallas residents told a Texas appellate court panel on Tuesday, arguing that a family of landlords forced them to sign illegal leases denying repairs in over 200 rental homes "that can only generously be described as slums."
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March 07, 2023
Navajo Nation Fights To Keep Tribal Relocation Suit Alive
The Navajo Nation keeps fighting the U.S. government's attempts to dodge the tribe's breach of trust lawsuit claiming the Office of Navajo and Hopi Indian Relocation has refused to move tribal members to areas that provide safe and sanitary housing with sufficient power and water.
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March 07, 2023
Wyden Pushes Renters Tax Credit, Expanded Housing Credit
The low-income housing tax credit would expand and a renters tax credit would be established under legislation introduced Tuesday by Senate Finance Committee Chairman Ron Wyden, D-Ore., with the intent to increase affordable housing supply and expand opportunities for homeownership.
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March 07, 2023
Army Corps Can't Get Out of SC Wetlands Housing Suit
A South Carolina federal judge on Tuesday said the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Army Corps of Engineers must face a lawsuit alleging that they violated the Clean Water Act when they greenlighted a large housing development on wetlands in Charleston, South Carolina.
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March 07, 2023
Houston's Stalled I-45 Project To Resume With Feds' OK
The controversial I-45 expansion project in Houston will move ahead after the federal government and Texas Department of Transportation announced Tuesday they had agreed to a series of actions the state agency will take to allay civil rights concerns that delayed the project for the past two years.
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March 07, 2023
HUD Raises Term Limit For Modified FHA Loans To 40 Years
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development announced Tuesday it will raise the maximum term limit for borrowers who modify their Federal Housing Administration-insured mortgages from 30 years to 40, as part of a new rule set to go into effect in May.
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March 07, 2023
NY Bill Would Create Tax Break For Carbon-Cutting Property
New York state would provide a property tax break for facility-integrated equipment that removes or captures carbon dioxide to reduce emissions produced by buildings in New York City under a bill introduced in the state Senate.
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March 07, 2023
Real Estate Rumors: Michael Mendes, Basis, Northmarq
Michael and Wendy Berry Mendes have reportedly sold a San Francisco residence for $8.9 million, Basis Industrial is said to have paid $30 million for 11 acres in Westchester County, New York, and Northmarq is said to have arranged $25.3 million in financing for a Kentucky bourbon storage facility.
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March 07, 2023
Amazon's HQ2 Delay Is Unique Opportunity For DC Area
Some real estate pros in the nation's capital view Amazon's decision to delay construction of part of its planned second headquarters in Arlington, Virginia, as an opportunity for the region to rethink development and the regulatory processes that underpin it.
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March 07, 2023
Suit Says Assisted Living Co. Didn't Provide Paid-For Services
An Arizona-based assisted living company was hit with a putative class action alleging that the company doesn't consistently provide services, such as bathing assistance, to residential clients in its California facilities.
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March 07, 2023
NC Mortgage Co. Gets Another Shot In Contract Breach Suit
A North Carolina state business court judge narrowed a mortgage company's suit alleging two ex-employees unlawfully used its client information to jumpstart their new competing firms.
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March 07, 2023
New Multifamily Housing Head Wants 'Supply, Supply, Supply'
After a 30-year career that blended urban planning, policymaking, the housing market and law, Sharon Wilson Géno took the helm of the National Multifamily Housing Council last month. In an interview with Law360, Wilson Géno discussed her career path, the challenges and opportunities faced by multifamily housing today, and her top priorities for the organization.
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March 06, 2023
Affordable Housing Tops Slate Of Fla. Real Estate Legislation
Real estate and property issues are likely to come up frequently during the Florida Legislature's annual session that commences Tuesday.
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March 06, 2023
Boom In Multifamily Apartments May Be Brief, CBRE Says
An expected 716,000 new multifamily units delivered in the next two years will be enough to create a brief oversupply, according to a recent report from CBRE, but millions more will be needed over the next decade.
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March 06, 2023
Massachusetts Builder Indicted For Obstructing Grand Jury
Federal prosecutors have indicted the former owner of a now-defunct luxury home construction company in West Springfield, Massachusetts, on claims that he obstructed a grand jury's investigation into his business' cash receipts, according to a statement on Monday.
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March 06, 2023
Landlords Tell Court To Rescind LA Renter Protection Laws
Renter protection ordinances recently enacted by the city of Los Angeles conflict with state law and should be voided, a nonprofit representing area landlords told a California state court.
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March 06, 2023
Ill. Panel Nixes Property Owner's Bid To Cut Value Further
An Illinois appeals court rejected a resident's bid to reduce the assessed value of her property beyond the $20,000 cut approved by the state Property Tax Appeal Board because evidence didn't justify lowering the value further, according to an order filed Monday.
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March 06, 2023
Real Estate Rumors: Urban Green, Cafaro, Sequoia Equities
Urban Green Development has reportedly paid $12 million for nearly 3 acres in Denver, an entity tied to real estate firm Cafaro is said to have dropped $26 million on a Florida mansion, and Sequioa Equities has reportedly paid nearly $123.6 million for a Denver apartment complex.
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March 06, 2023
Oklahoma Voters To Decide Whether To Legalize Pot
Oklahoma may become the 22nd state to legalize recreational marijuana on Tuesday when it holds a special election on a referendum to legalize adult-use cannabis, and tax and regulate its sale.
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March 06, 2023
Nixon Peabody Expands Complex Disputes Practice In NY
Following the February hire of former New York State Bar President Stephen Younger to its complex disputes practice, Nixon Peabody LLP announced another addition, with a former Foley Hoag LLP associate joining the firm as of counsel in New York.
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March 06, 2023
Norfolk Southern To Pay Pa. $7M To Mitigate Derailment Costs
Norfolk Southern has committed more than $7 million to Pennsylvania residents and agencies to defray the costs related to last month's train derailment just over the Ohio border in East Palestine, Gov. Josh Shapiro announced Monday.
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March 06, 2023
Allstate Off The Hook In Undisclosed Leaky Roof Dispute
Allstate was relieved of any coverage or defense obligations to a Washington couple accused of fraudulent inducement and negligence after failing to disclose roof damage during the sale of their house, a federal judge ruled, finding they intentionally failed to inform the buyer of the problem.
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March 06, 2023
Loan Co. Hit With Class Action In Georgia Over Data Breach
Loan company 1st Franklin Financial Corp. was accused in a proposed class action of failing to protect the unencrypted private information of more than 3,000 customers during a November 2022 data breach.
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March 06, 2023
Property Firms Shaftesbury, Capco Complete £5B Merger
Property firms Shaftesbury PLC and Capital & Counties PLC said Monday that they have completed an all-share merger to form a combined group with a central London real estate portfolio valued at £5 billion ($6 billion).
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March 05, 2023
Property Plays: Merck, Fannie, Denver Airport
Day Pitney guided Merck's New Jersey headquarters sale, Citation Club Investors received $400 million from Fannie Mae Multifamily, and Opus Group and Principal Real Estate Investors broke ground on 1.4 million square feet near Denver Airport.
Expert Analysis
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Policyholders Are Not To Blame For Social Inflation
As part of the controversial assertion that insurers are facing an unprecedented increase in claims costs due to so-called social inflation, a recent Law360 guest article argued that policyholders contribute to social inflation and are therefore responsible for remedying it, but these accusations are unsupported by empirical data, says Benjamin Tievsky at Pillsbury.
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State-Led Programs Can Speed Up Brownfield Development
Too often, publicly funded brownfields programs are not optimized to achieve redevelopment in the near term, but policymakers can address this problem by directing additional resources toward state-level brownfields programs that offer thoughtfully designed tax incentives and liability protection, says Gerald Pouncey at Morris Manning.
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Questions To Ask Before Making A Lateral Move As Partner
Law firm partners considering lateral moves should diligently interview prospects — going beyond standard questions about compensation to inquire about culture, associate retention and other areas that can provide a more comprehensive view, says Lauren Wu at VOYLegal.
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My Favorite Law Prof: How I Learned To Argue Open-Mindedly
Queens College President Frank Wu reflects on how Yale Kamisar’s teaching and guidance at the University of Michigan Law School emphasized a capacity to engage with alternative worldviews and the importance of the ability to argue for both sides of a debate.
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ABA's No-Contact Rule Advice Raises Questions For Lawyers
The American Bar Association's ethics committee recently issued two opinions concerning the no-contact rule — one creates an intuitive and practical default for electronic communications, while the other sets a potential trap for pro se lawyers, say Lauren Snyder and Deepika Ravi at HWG.
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Construction Cos. Can Address Social Media In Settlements
Negative social media posts are increasingly factoring into construction disputes, and attorneys must understand what to prioritize when negotiating such issues in settlement agreements, say Gary Strong and Dinora Lopez at Gfeller Laurie.
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4 Key Skills For An Effective Attorney Coaching Conversation
As BigLaw firms are increasingly offering internal coaching as one of many talent strategies to stem ongoing lawyer attrition, Stacey Schwartz at Katten discusses how coaches can help attorneys achieve their goals.
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How Civilian Attorneys Can Help Veterans
With legal aid topping the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs' annual list of unmet needs of veterans facing housing insecurity, nonmilitary volunteer attorneys can provide some of the most effective legal services to military and veteran clients, say Anna Richardson at Veterans Legal Services and Nicholas Hasenfus at Holland & Knight.
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Policyholders Should Also Want To Fight Social Inflation
Effectively combating the ills of social inflation — the upward creep in insurance litigation and expected payouts — requires all stakeholders, not just insurers, to recognize the mutual interests between insurers and the risk pool of insureds, says Bryant Green at Zelle.
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Applying Article III Rulings To Robocall Standing In Florida
Questions surrounding Article III standing for Telephone Consumer Protection Act claims related to robocalls in the Eleventh Circuit, including whether the Southam v. Red Wing Shoe standard will apply to TCPA and Florida Telephone Solicitation Act claims in state court, continue to be a puzzle for Florida lawyers, say Aaron Weiss and Charles Throckmorton at Carlton Fields.
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Recent Fed. Circ. Patent Eligibility Rulings Offer Drafting Tips
A trio of recent owner-favorable patent decisions in the Federal Circuit provide pointers on drafting complaints with sufficient eligibility facts to survive a motion to dismiss, including when to write an analysis of sufficient eligibility, say Kevin Schubert and Scott Hejny at McKool Smith.
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My Favorite Law Prof: How I Learned That Culture Shapes Law
U.S. District Judge Jed Rakoff of the Southern District of New York considers how a class with Jerry Cohen at Harvard Law helped him understand culture and history’s influence on jurisprudence, and how even seemingly settled law can evolve — all while espousing a more humanistic approach to teaching that restored Judge Rakoff's pride in being a lawyer.
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Time For Construction Cos. To Review Recession Mitigation
As rising interest rates and prices change the economics and viability of real estate development and construction, owners and developers should assess whether they have grown sloppy regarding collection and scrutiny of lien waivers, and with certain nuances of contract negotiation, says Eric Singer at Ice Miller.