Residential

  • May 02, 2025

    Mass. Board Upholds Home's Valuation Despite Comparables

    A Massachusetts homeowner cannot have the value of her home lowered after failing to account for the differences between her home and the comparable sales she provided, the state tax appeals board said in a ruling released Friday.

  • May 02, 2025

    Goldberg Weprin, Fried Frank Guide $164M Brooklyn Site Sale

    Developers Charney Cos. and Tavros, advised by Goldberg Weprin Finkel Goldstein LLP, have bought a fully permitted development site in Brooklyn's Gowanus neighborhood from RFR, led by Fried Frank Harris Shriver & Jacobson LLP, for $164 million, the companies said this week.

  • May 02, 2025

    Houston Multifamily Occupancy Stayed High In Q1

    The occupancy rate for Houston multifamily properties stayed at 93.8% in the first quarter of the year, the same as it was last quarter, which is also the highest it's been since 2022, according to a CBRE report.

  • May 02, 2025

    Trump Proposes Massive Cuts To Federal Housing Assistance

    The Trump administration outlined $163 billion in cuts to non-defense government spending next year in a Friday memo from the Office of Management and Budget, including significant cuts to federal rental assistance to shift responsibility for the programs to states.

  • May 02, 2025

    Community Groups Accept Pause In CTA Litigation

    A group of community associations has told the Fourth Circuit they aren't opposed to a government motion to pause litigation over the Corporate Transparency Act, even as they maintained the information disclosure law aimed at small businesses still carries constitutional flaws.

  • May 01, 2025

    Fla. Condo Wins Noise Dispute With Autistic Man's Family

    A Florida appellate panel ruled in favor of a condominium association in a lawsuit over a noise dispute between a family caring for their autistic son and a neighbor, finding no evidence that the family faced discrimination in violation of housing laws.

  • May 01, 2025

    Fla. Appeals Court Puts Condo Damage Suit To Bed

    A Florida state appeals court upheld the dismissal of a condo's Hurricane Irma damage lawsuit against a Florida entity created to handle the claims for insolvent insurers, finding it was time-barred.

  • May 01, 2025

    Public Fire Model Could Boost Calif. Insurance Oversight

    Developing a public wildfire model in California could help provide a transparent benchmark for insurance regulators to better understand fire risk and evaluate rates, but experts warn that challenges remain as the federal government eyes cuts to key climate monitors.

  • May 01, 2025

    8th Insurer Dismissed In Pulte Coverage Row

    Two PulteGroup subsidiaries said Thursday they'll dismiss their property damage coverage claims with prejudice against an insurer over structural issues at a residential development, marking the eighth dismissal of an insurer since the homebuilder first sued a raft of carriers in New Mexico federal court in October 2023.

  • May 01, 2025

    Hawaii Tenant's Tainted Water Eviction Claims Survive Ruling

    A Hawaii federal judge preserved a tenant's claims that he was effectively evicted from his home when a landlord failed to identify or warn of water contamination caused by leaks in 2021 at a U.S. Navy fuel storage facility on Pearl Harbor.

  • May 01, 2025

    Ballard Spahr Adds Real Estate Ace From Hunton In DC

    Ballard Spahr hired ex-Hunton Andrews Kurth LLP attorney Jill S. Parks as a partner for the firm's real estate department and its teams for real estate development and transactions and zoning and land use in its District of Columbia office, the firm announced May 1.

  • May 01, 2025

    Colo. AG Targets MV Realty's 'Unfair' Homeowner Contracts

    The Colorado Attorney General's Office has accused real estate brokerage MV Realty PBC LLC and its Colorado subsidiary of trapping hundreds of local homeowners with "unfair, misleading and deceptive" 40-year brokerage contracts.

  • May 01, 2025

    States Urge 1st Circ. To Reinstate Federal Housing Grants

    A coalition of states urged the First Circuit to reinstate a ruling that had blocked the Trump administration from cutting $30 million in fair housing grants, saying the federal government failed to consider the impact this decision would have on the groups' operations.

  • May 01, 2025

    Real Estate Lawyers On The Move

    Winston & Strawn, Honigman and Stephenson Harwood are among the law firms that have made recent real estate or construction hires.

  • April 30, 2025

    Multifamily, Lodging Push CMBS Delinquencies Higher In April

    Commercial mortgage-backed securities tied to multifamily and lodging drove overall delinquency rates in April back up to heights not seen since early in the COVID-19 pandemic, per an April 30 report from Trepp.

  • April 30, 2025

    Ill. Developer Gets 6 Years For Role In Bank Embezzlement

    A real estate developer has been sentenced to more than six years in prison following his conviction for participating in a multimillion-dollar embezzlement scheme at a now-shuttered bank, federal prosecutors in Chicago announced Wednesday.

  • April 30, 2025

    Ripe For Revitalization, Owners Transform Class B Malls

    Class B malls are the subject of renewed focus as owners and developers add residential, hotel, medical, entertainment, and food and dining uses to properties in an effort to reverse sinking vacancy rates at the decades-old assets.

  • April 30, 2025

    2 Firms Guide Texas Multifamily Portfolio Buy

    Altus Equity Group Inc. said it has partnered up with real estate private equity firm Wellings Capital to acquire a 1,225-unit portfolio of six West Texas apartment communities in a deal guided by Phillips Murrah PC and Beyers Costin Simon.

  • April 30, 2025

    Equity Sees Housing Shortage As Shield Against Uncertainty

    Equity Residential executives on Wednesday said the rental giant in the first quarter saw record-low levels of resident turnover along with higher year-over-year occupancy, and is expecting a lack of U.S. housing supply to insulate from unfolding economic uncertainty.

  • April 30, 2025

    Real Estate Sees Action-Packed First 100 Days Of Trump

    The real estate sector — from which President Donald Trump hails — has not been spared an onslaught of significant policy changes as the new administration marks its first 100 days, including tariffs, a federal office slim-down and an effort to curb diverse hiring programs.

  • April 30, 2025

    Here's What Real Estate Execs Are Saying About Tariffs

    Executives across a wide range of real estate industries recently said President Donald Trump's tariffs would result in cost increases — some providing single-digit expected jumps — and some companies have been stockpiling additional imported supplies ahead of anticipated tariffs.

  • April 30, 2025

    Ohio Top Court Backs Challenged Solar Farm Approval

    Justices at the Ohio Supreme Court affirmed a regulatory board's approval of a 350-megawatt solar farm that some Licking County neighbors opposed — though one justice said the company developing it should have presented information about its potential negative economic impacts.

  • April 30, 2025

    Has Student Housing's Big Moment Just Begun?

    A post-pandemic supply crunch and trends in college enrollment have set the student housing industry up for what might be its strongest decade yet, according to Newmark's top deal broker for the sector.

  • April 29, 2025

    CFPB Aims To Mediate Colony Ridge 'Reverse Redlining' Suit

    The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and a Houston-based real estate developer asked a Texas federal judge Tuesday to pause the bureau's reverse redlining suit so they can engage in mediation to resolve the case.

  • April 29, 2025

    Condo Assoc., Insurer End Nashville Bombing Coverage Row

    Aspen Specialty Insurance Co. and a Nashville condominium association have agreed to end their dispute over coverage for nearly $11 million in damages caused by the 2020 Christmas Day bombing in the city, ending their battle with a joint stipulation of dismissal filed in Tennessee federal court.

Expert Analysis

  • Zoning Reform May Alleviate The Affordable Housing Crisis

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    As America's affordable housing issues continue to worsen, zoning reform efforts can help to provide more affordable homes and mitigate racial and economic segregation, though opposition from residents and in courts could present challenges, say Evan Pritchard and Madeline Williams at Cozen O'Connor.

  • NJ Justices Clarify First-Party Indemnification Availability

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    In Boyle v. Huff, the New Jersey Supreme Court recently held that indemnification can be available in first-party claims, resolving an open question and setting up contracting parties for careful negotiations around indemnity clauses, says Todd Leon at Marshall Dennehey.

  • Fla. HOA Reforms Bring Major Wins For Homeowners

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    A recently signed law brings broad changes for homeowners associations in Florida, alleviating some pressure imposed by overly restrictive rules and potentially setting up litigation surrounding how HOAs enforce their governing documents, says Christopher Miller at Varnum.

  • Addressing Labor Shortages In The Construction Industry

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    As the construction industry's ongoing struggle with finding sufficient skilled workers continues, companies should consider a range of solutions including a commitment to in-house training and creative contracting protocols, say Brenda Radmacher and Allison Etkin at Akerman.

  • A Framework For Investigating Commercial Loan Fraud

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    As commercial loan transactions are increasingly subject to sophisticated fraud schemes, lenders must adopt dynamic strategies to detect, investigate and mitigate these schemes, say attorneys at Baker Donelson.

  • How NY Co-Ops Can Minimize Sale Rejections Based On Price

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    New York co-op sales are regularly rejected for being below undisclosed price minimums, and co-op boards should address this problem by sharing information more transparently and allowing some flexibility for below-market sales, say Pierre Debbas and Seth Feldman at Romer Debbas.

  • Money, Money, Money: Limiting White Collar Wealth Evidence

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    As courts increasingly recognize that allowing unfettered evidence of wealth could prejudice a jury against a defendant, white collar defense counsel should consider several avenues for excluding visual evidence of a lavish lifestyle at trial, says Jonathan Porter at Husch Blackwell.

  • High Court's BofA Ruling Leaves State Preemption Questions

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    A recent U.S. Supreme Court decision in Cantero v. Bank of America sheds light on whether certain state banking regulations apply to federally chartered banks, but a circuit split could still force the Supreme Court to take a more direct position, says Brett Garver at Moritt Hock.

  • How A Bumblebee Got Under Calif. Wildlife Regulator's Bonnet

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    A California bumblebee's listing as an endangered species could lead to a regulatory quagmire as California Department of Fish and Wildlife permits now routinely include survey requirements for the bee, but the regulator has yet to determine what the species needs for conservation, says David Smith at Manatt.

  • The Clock Is Ticking For Fla. Construction Defect Claims

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    Ahead of the fast-approaching July 1 deadline for filing construction defect claims in Florida, Sean Ravenel at Foran Glennon discusses how the state's new statute of repose has changed the timeline, and highlights several related issues that property owners should be aware of.

  • Wiretap Use In Cartel Probes Likely To Remain An Exception

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    Although the U.S. Department of Justice's Antitrust Division has recently signaled interest in wiretaps, the use of this technology to capture evidence of antitrust conspiracies and pursue monopolization as a criminal matter has been rare historically, and is likely to remain so, say Carsten Reichel and Will Conway at DLA Piper.

  • Debate Over CFPB Definition Of Credit Is Just Beginning

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    The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has recently worked to expand the meaning of credit, so anyone operating on the edges of the credit markets, or even those who assumed they were safely outside the scope of this regulatory perimeter, should pay close attention as legal challenges to broad interpretations of the definition unfold, says John Coleman at Orrick.

  • A Closer Look At Feds' Proposed Banker Compensation Rule

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    A recently proposed rule to limit financial institutions' ability to award incentive-based compensation for risk-taking may progress through the rulemaking process slowly due to the sheer number of regulators collaborating on the rule and the number of issues under consideration, say attorneys at Troutman Pepper.