Residential

  • March 01, 2024

    Landlords Say Conn. City Thwarts Housing Citation Appeals

    New Haven, Connecticut, landlords have filed a proposed class action against the city, alleging that it failed to set up a procedure for property owners to appeal housing code and rental license citations, despite references to an appeals process in New Haven laws.

  • March 01, 2024

    Judge Pauses Sale Of Miami Official's Home In $63.5M Case

    A Florida magistrate judge on Friday paused the sale of a Miami city commissioner's house and ordered briefing on whether his homestead exemption claim — which would shield the property from being used to satisfy a $63.5 million judgment — is legitimate.

  • March 01, 2024

    Colo. Real Estate Brokerage Settles Data Breach Class Claims

    A proposed class settled a data breach lawsuit against a Denver-based real estate brokerage and property management company in Colorado federal court.

  • March 01, 2024

    Conn. AG Tells Lawmakers To Ban MV Realty's 'Scam Deals'

    Connecticut's attorney general urged state lawmakers to protect vulnerable homeowners by passing legislation banning a business model used by MV Realty to rack up thousands in junk fees on people who sign their 40-year exclusive listing agreements.

  • March 01, 2024

    3 Firms Seek $80M In Fees From Real Estate Brokerage Deal

    Class counsel for homeowners who say they paid artificially inflated broker commissions when they sold their homes are asking for about $80 million in attorney fees and $12 million in expenses after they settled with major real estate brokerages.

  • March 01, 2024

    Easement Cases To Put IRS-Hired Appraisers Under Scrutiny

    Some partnerships challenging the denial of tax deductions for conservation easement donations are mounting a new attack on the IRS' push to enforce the transactions with claims that the agency's multimillion-dollar contracts with third-party appraisal firms compel them to be biased toward the government. 

  • March 01, 2024

    NYC Real Estate Cos. Must Face Voucher Bias Suit

    A New York state judge refused to let a brokerage and a property manager escape a nonprofit's May 2022 suit accusing more than two dozen real estate companies of discriminating against people who use federal Housing Choice vouchers.

  • March 01, 2024

    Real Estate Lawyers On The Move

    Dorsey & Whitney, Akerman and Cox Castle are among the firms that have made recent construction or real estate hires.

  • March 01, 2024

    Deed Restrictions Pose Roadblock On Path To More Housing

    Deed restrictions are one of the biggest hurdles as cities and states try to create new housing opportunities in low-density neighborhoods. While housing advocates may see a clear public policy reason to work around or eliminate them, homeowners often see things differently.

  • February 29, 2024

    Real Estate Tech Co. Opendoor Beats Investor Suit, For Now

    Real estate marketplace giant Opendoor Technologies Inc. has beaten, for now, a suit accusing it of misleading investors about its artificial-intelligence-powered algorithm and ability to remain profitable, with an Arizona federal judge ruling that many of the challenged statements in the suit are not actually false or misleading.

  • February 29, 2024

    Fed. Circ. Won't Revive Flood Suit Over Cherokee Casino

    A Federal Circuit Court of Appeals panel on Thursday denied an Oklahoma landowner's bid to overturn a lower court's ruling that the federal government isn't liable for flooding damage to her property due to activity at a nearby Cherokee Nation casino, saying that the claim requires proof that the matter is a "direct, natural or probable result" of its actions.

  • February 29, 2024

    HUD Moves To Boost Manufactured Housing, Repair Stock

    The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development announced Thursday that it will make $225 million available for manufactured housing renovation work and expand a manufactured home loan program, among other measures meant to bolster affordable housing stock.

  • February 29, 2024

    Ky. Landlords Can Reject Section 8 Vouchers, New Bill Says

    Kentucky lawmakers have passed a bill that would allow landlords to refuse to rent to Section 8 voucher holders should it be signed into law by the state's Gov. Andy Beshear.

  • February 29, 2024

    Fla. Lawmakers Weigh Demolition Bills For 'Unsafe' Structures

    The Florida House of Representatives is set to consider two bills aiming to make it easier for the state to demolish "nonconforming and unsafe structures" while prohibiting local governments from opposing such demolitions unless there are safety concerns.

  • March 01, 2024

    Inside BigLaw's 'Tremendous' Hunger For Restructuring Attys

    Even as the economy appears poised to pick up steam in 2024, BigLaw firms are still aggressively adding restructuring capabilities, with a number of recent lateral hires reflecting the glut of work still to be found in the practice area.

  • February 28, 2024

    Brothers' 20-Year Calif. Real Estate Battle Ends In $7B Verdict

    A Los Angeles jury has awarded four brothers an estimated $7 billion verdict, finding that a fifth brother breached their contracts and his fiduciary duty to them by wrongly pushing them out of various business partnerships that included thousands of units of apartment buildings and a diamond venture. 

  • February 28, 2024

    Ariz. AG Says RealPage, Landlords Use Algo To Fix Rent Prices

    Arizona's attorney general on Wednesday filed an antitrust suit in state court against RealPage and several landlords over an alleged conspiracy to illegally raise rents for hundreds of thousands of renters by using the software company's algorithms to quell competition.

  • February 28, 2024

    Fla. Judge OKs $43.5M Deutsche Bank Deal In Ch. 15 Case

    A Florida bankruptcy judge on Wednesday approved a $43.5 million settlement between Deutsche Bank AG and liquidators for a group of Caribbean-based companies to resolve claims against the bank for its alleged role in a real estate Ponzi scheme targeting rich South Americans.

  • February 28, 2024

    Wash. Housing Program Funding Stream Survives Challenge

    A Washington appellate court has upheld a document-recording surcharge implemented statewide in 2021, the proceeds of which fund housing and homelessness initiatives, overriding a trade group's arguments that the surcharge is an unconstitutional property tax.

  • February 28, 2024

    CFPB, FTC Urge 11th Circ. To Rule Against 'Pay-To-Pay' Fees

    The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and Federal Trade Commission have backed consumers battling mortgage servicer Ocwen over the legality of so-called convenience fees, urging the Eleventh Circuit to affirm that federal prohibitions apply to the charges.

  • February 28, 2024

    Brokerages Seek Exit From Missouri Commission-Fixing Suit

    Several real estate brokerages pushed to exit a putative antitrust class action in Michigan federal court accusing them and the National Association of Realtors of conspiring to inflate commission fees for buyer-brokers, saying the court lacks personal jurisdiction and that arbitration is required.

  • February 28, 2024

    Homeowners Urge Judge To Toss 'Tactical' MV Realty Ch. 11

    A committee of homeowners who signed agreements with MV Realty told a Florida bankruptcy judge on Tuesday that the company filed for Chapter 11 as a maneuver to dodge a series of state actions seeking to void predatory deals with some 40,000 homeowners in 34 states.

  • February 28, 2024

    Insurance Agency Says It Wasn't Told Of Airbnb Shooting Suits

    A Pennsylvania insurance agency accused of concealing that a Pittsburgh Airbnb property was subject to numerous lawsuits over a mass shooting has claimed that the property owner never revealed the problems when shopping for a new policy, so it wasn't the agency's fault when the new insurer canceled coverage.

  • February 28, 2024

    Real Estate Group Of The Year: Hogan Lovells

    Hogan Lovells oversaw a busy 2023 that included successfully defending real estate investment trust Life Storage from a hostile takeover attempt, advising on billions in transactions in the real estate investment trust space and guiding clients to a direct listing on the New York Stock Exchange, earning the firm a spot among Law360's 2023 Real Estate Groups of the Year.

  • February 27, 2024

    Justices Skeptical Of Workability In BofA Preemption Fight

    The U.S. Supreme Court appeared hesitant Tuesday to side with consumers who say that Bank of America and other national banks can't claim exemption from state laws in court without first proving "significant" interference from them, signaling practical concerns about what reversing a contrary Second Circuit decision could entail.

Expert Analysis

  • In The CFPB Playbook: Abuse Policy, PACE, Payment Apps

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    From defining "abusive" conduct to implementing green energy financing to policing payment apps, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau was busy last quarter. Akerman's Nora Rigby discusses all this and more in the first installment of bureau activity recaps by former CFPB personnel.

  • How To Avoid Flopping When Flipping Fla. Real Estate

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    As land prices rise, Florida real estate developers are increasingly contracting to flip property to other purchasers for a profit, and they should carefully consider the unique risks and issues associated with the different forms that the process can take, says Gary Kaleita at Lowndes.

  • Ghosting In BigLaw: How To Come Back From Lack Of Feedback

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    Junior associates can feel powerless when senior colleagues cut off contact instead of providing useful feedback, but young attorneys can get back on track by focusing on practical professional development and reexamining their career priorities, says Rachel Patterson at Orrick.

  • States Must Fight Predatory Real Estate Listing Agreements

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    As momentum against long-term real estate listing agreements continues to grow, states should take action to render existing agreements unenforceable and discourage future unfair and deceptive trade practices in real estate, says Elizabeth Blosser at the American Land Title Association.

  • Steps To Success For Senior Associates

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    Adriana Paris at Rissman Barrett discusses the increased responsibilities and opportunities that becoming a senior associate brings and what attorneys in this role should prioritize to flourish in this stressful but rewarding next level in their careers.

  • Legal Profession Must Do More For Lawyers With Disabilities

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    At the start of Disability Pride month, Rosalyn Richter at Arnold & Porter looks at why lawyers with disabilities are significantly underrepresented in private practice, asserting that law firms and other employers must do more to conquer the implicit bias that deters attorneys from seeking accommodations.

  • Ohio Tax Talk: Building On Federal Affordable Housing Credit

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    Ohio's soon-to-be-implemented low-income housing tax credit could significantly affect the state's affordable housing landscape and influence tax-credit deal financing for these projects, though Senate changes may have dampened the new credit's immense potential, say Raghav Agnihotri and Rachael Chamberlain at Frost Brown.

  • Appellate Funding Disclosure: No Mandate Is Right Choice

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    The Advisory Committee on Appellate Rules' recent decision, forgoing a mandatory disclosure rule for litigation funding in federal appeals, is prudent, as third-party funding is only involved in a minuscule number of federal cases, and courts have ample authority to obtain funding information if necessary, says Stewart Ackerly at Statera Capital.

  • LA's High-Value Real Estate Transfer Tax Should Be Scrapped

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    Los Angeles’ recently implemented high-value property transfer tax has chilled the real estate market, is failing to meet revenue expectations and raises significant constitutional concerns, making it a flawed piece of legislation that should be invalidated, says attorney Paul Weinberg.

  • How Attys Can Avoid Exposing Their Firms To Cyberattacks

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    Attorneys are the weakest link in their firms' cyberdefenses because hackers often exploit the gap between individuals’ work and personal cybersecurity habits, but there are some steps lawyers can take to reduce the risks they create for their employers, say Mark Hurley and Carmine Cicalese at Digital Privacy & Protection.

  • Foreign Investment In Real Estate Is Getting More Complicated

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    Increasing federal scrutiny and a proliferation of new state laws targeting foreign investment in real estate may complicate or prevent transactions even by U.S. companies or funds that have shareholders or limited partners from China and other countries of concern, say attorneys at Akin.

  • Virginia 'Rocket Docket' Slowdown Is Likely A Blip

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    After being the fastest or second-fastest federal civil trial court for 14 straight years, the Eastern District of Virginia has slid to 18th place, but the rocket docket’s statistical tumble doesn't mean the district no longer maintains a speedy civil docket, says Robert Tata at Hunton.

  • Home Equity Option Contracts Appear Ripe For Rating

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    Given that home equity option contracts share similarities with evolving asset types like litigation funding, and that courts continue to characterize them as real estate option contracts, it seems they are poised to be rated in the near future, say Darius Horton and Holly Spencer Bunting at Mayer Brown.