Residential
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March 27, 2024
Extreme Heat Presents Extreme Threat To Real Estate
Extreme heat and the growing body of risks created by climate change are becoming prominent factors in real estate deals, according to Urban Land Institute urban resilience vice president Lindsay Brugger.
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March 26, 2024
Meridian Capital Taps Former Top Regulator As New CEO
Meridian Capital Group announced Tuesday that it has appointed top banking executive and former financial regulator Brian Brooks as its CEO and chairman amid a breakdown in the firm's relationship with Freddie Mac.
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March 26, 2024
Pilot HOA Tells Justices Rail Easement Clouds Airstrip Access
An Alaska homeowners association made up largely of pilots has asked the U.S. Supreme Court to review a Ninth Circuit ruling granting a railroad full control of an easement jutting into an airstrip used by residents of a surrounding subdivision.
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March 26, 2024
Essex Buys Out West Coast Apartment JV Partner For $505M
Essex Property Trust Inc. announced that it will purchase a joint venture partner's stake in an apartment property portfolio that includes four properties along the West Coast for $505 million, according to a statement from the company.
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March 26, 2024
Rosenberg & Estis Guides $477M NYCHA Renovation Deal
Rosenberg & Estis PC represented a developer for its more than $477 million renovation contract for the New York City Housing Authority's Saint Nicholas Houses in Harlem, the firm told Law360 on Tuesday.
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March 26, 2024
Ohio Justices Cool To Curbing Board's Tax Appeal Rights
Two Ohio Supreme Court justices sounded skeptical Tuesday of an apartment complex's argument that a law barring political subdivisions from appealing certain valuation rulings applied to complaints that were pending when the restriction took effect.
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March 26, 2024
Brookfield Sets Terms For Bay Area's Biggest Housing Plan
The San Francisco Bay Area's biggest proposed housing development took a step forward as Brookfield Properties and city officials struck a deal on the framework of a plan to develop a new neighborhood in Concord, California, over a 40-year period at the site of a former U.S. Navy base.
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March 26, 2024
Deal Holdout HomeServices Can't Undo Sellers' Class Cert.
A Missouri federal judge refused Tuesday to grant class decertification sought by HomeServices of America, the lone holdout still fighting a jury verdict that pushed the National Association of Realtors into a settlement overhauling rules that have effectively restricted how brokers buy and sell homes and how they're paid.
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March 26, 2024
NC Justices Find BofA Mortgage Fraud Suit Filed Too Late
The North Carolina Supreme Court has ruled that homeowners accusing Bank of America NA of fraud in a mortgage modification program filed their claims too late, finding they knew or should have known about the alleged fraud when their homes were foreclosed upon — four to seven years before they sued.
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March 26, 2024
Hurdles Ahead For Calif. Mental Health Bond After Narrow Win
An ambitious ballot measure meant to address California's homelessness crisis may open up new business opportunities for healthcare providers, ease overcrowding in emergency rooms and inspire other states to follow suit. But it will likely bring less-welcome results as well.
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March 25, 2024
LoanDepot Settles Appraisal Bias Suit After Scholar's Death
Mortgage company loanDepot has agreed to make policy changes and pay an undisclosed amount to resolve a Black couple's lawsuit claiming their Baltimore home was undervalued because of their race, just a couple of weeks after plaintiff Shani Mott, a scholar at Johns Hopkins University, died of cancer.
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March 25, 2024
Conn. Justice Chides Legislature In Landlord Lien Case
Bemoaning what he perceived as an unclear statute and its unilluminating legislative history, Connecticut Supreme Court Justice Steven D. Ecker on Monday lamented having to make a significant policy decision about whether a city or a landlord should be financially liable for tenants displaced after fire damaged a large apartment.
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March 25, 2024
Full 10th Circ. Stands By Revival Of Valero Pipeline Leak Suit
The full Tenth Circuit refused to budge from a panel's February decision that partly revived an Oklahoma cattle ranch's lawsuit seeking to hold Valero Energy Corp. liable for a pipeline leak that allegedly contaminated the ranch property.
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March 25, 2024
HUD Says Not Enough Housing For Trafficking Survivors
The housing needs of human trafficking survivors facing homelessness or home instability aren't being met by housing programs across the country because many of them usually aren't "scaled to meet the need," according to a U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development report.
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March 25, 2024
3rd Circ. Says NJ City Can't Stop Sale Of Failed Project's Sites
The Third Circuit tossed a New Jersey city's challenge of a bankruptcy court ruling that allowed the two local properties of a failed affordable housing project to be sold to a third party, according to an unpublished opinion Monday.
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March 25, 2024
NJ Law Paves An Aggressive Affordable-Housing Path
New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy signed a bill that will overhaul the state's affordable housing framework, signaling state priorities with an aggressive approach that has already garnered pushback from municipalities.
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March 25, 2024
Jury Hands Mortgage Co. $73K Win In Trade Secrets Fight
An Ohio federal jury has found that Revolution Mortgage owes just over $73,700 to competitor Equity Resources in a case where Equity accused its rival of misappropriation of trade secrets.
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March 25, 2024
'Infested Slum' Suit Warrants Class Cert., Conn. Justices Told
Former tenants of a Hartford apartment complex are urging the Connecticut Supreme Court to let them pursue class claims that the complex turned into a "mold and cockroach infested slum," arguing in a hearing Monday that a lower court focused too heavily on the differences between the conditions of each unit.
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March 25, 2024
DeSantis OKs Bill Easing Teardown Of Old Coastal Buildings
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has signed a bill limiting local control over the takedown and replacement of coastline structures that are out of step with building codes, after changes to the measure exempted some historic waterfront districts.
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March 25, 2024
High Court Won't Weigh In On ND Mineral Rights Takings Suit
The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declined to wade into a fight over oil and gas mineral rights underneath a North Dakota lake, rejecting former rights owners' argument that states' sovereign immunity does not protect them from takings claims in federal court.
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March 25, 2024
Law360 2024 Real Estate Authority Editorial Board
Law360 is pleased to announce the formation of its 2024 Real Estate Authority Editorial Board, which includes leading industry experts, to provide feedback and shape coverage goals.
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March 22, 2024
OCC Fines Sterling Bank's Ex-COO $150K For Lax Oversight
The former president of Michigan-based Sterling Bancorp Inc. has been ordered to pay $150,000 by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency for allegedly failing to properly oversee the bank's Advantage Loan Program, which presented "high risks for fraud, money laundering, and lending misconduct."
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March 22, 2024
Feds Delay Community Lending Assessment Change To 2026
Federal banking regulators have pushed back a looming implementation date for part of their revamped community lending rules, delaying the roll-out of certain changes in a move that is raising fresh criticism of the rulemaking amid an industry-backed legal challenge.
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March 22, 2024
US Bank Ends $3.5B RMBS Trusts Suits Against BofA, Others
U.S. Bank on Friday notified a New York federal judge it permanently discontinued two lawsuits against First Franklin Financial, Merrill Lynch Mortgage and Bank of America relating to substandard loans in residential mortgage-backed securities trusts worth $3.5 billion, two years after the parties reached a conditional settlement.
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March 22, 2024
Real Estate Co. Says Ch. 7 Trustee Ginned Up Conn. AG Probe
A company that buys houses from financially distressed individuals and rents the homes back to their former owners filed a scathing adversary proceeding against a Chapter 7 trustee's avoidance action, claiming the trustee ginned up a "baseless" state government probe and is harming several estates she claims to be protecting.
Expert Analysis
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Federal Judge's Amici Invitation Is A Good Idea, With Caveats
An Arkansas federal judge’s recent order — inviting amicus briefs in every civil case before him — has merit, but its implementation may raise practical questions about the role of junior attorneys, economic considerations and other issues, says Lawrence Ebner at the Atlantic Legal Foundation.
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Fox Ex-Producer Case Is A Lesson In Joint Representation
A former Fox News producer's allegations that the network's lawyers pressured her to give misleading testimony in Fox's defamation battle with Dominion Voting Systems should remind lawyers representing a nonparty witness that the rules of joint representation apply, says Jared Marx at HWG.
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As The Metaverse Expands, Bankruptcy Questions Arise
Restructuring and bankruptcy happen in the metaverse, too — and the uncertain and evolving rules of digital ownership could have surprising effects on who gets paid, with increasing tension between platforms and users, say Kizzy Jarashow and James Lathrop at Goodwin.
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Stanford Law Protest Highlights Rise Of Incivility In Discourse
The recent Stanford Law School incident, where students disrupted a speech by U.S. Circuit Judge Kyle Duncan, should be a reminder to teach law students how to be effective advocates without endangering physical and mental health, says Nancy Rapoport at the University of Nevada.
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Dispute Prevention Strategies To Halt Strife Before It Starts
With geopolitical turbulence presenting increased risks of business disputes amid court backlogs and ballooning costs, companies should consider building mechanisms for dispute prevention into newly established partnerships to constructively resolve conflicts before they do costly damage, say Ellen Waldman and Allen Waxman at the International Institute for Conflict Prevention and Resolution.
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Key Takeaways In Ex-NY Lt. Gov.'s Tossed Bribery Charges
In dismissing bribery charges against former New York Lt. Gov. Brian Benjamin, a Manhattan federal court stringently defined an explicit quid pro quo — the latest in a string of federal rulings that have narrowed the use of federal public corruption laws to pursue state-level officials, say attorneys at Arnold & Porter.
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High Court Bankruptcy Ruling Is A Warning To Joint Obligors
The U.S. Supreme Court’s recent ruling in Bartenwerfer v. Buckley opens the door to increased litigation surrounding the dischargeability of joint debts, and although it highlights the heightened risks to debtors posed as members of a partnership, its reach may exceed beyond liability for a partner's fraud, say Andrew Buxbaum and Deborah Kovsky-Apap at Troutman Pepper.
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Practical Skills Young Attorneys Must Master To Be Happier
For young lawyers, finding happiness on the job — with its competitive nature and high expectations for billable hours — is complicated, but three skills can help them gain confidence, reduce stress and demonstrate their professional value in ways they never imagined, says career counselor Susan Smith Blakely.
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Establishing A Record Of Good Faith In Mediation
Viacom v. U.S. Specialty Insurance, and other recent cases, highlight the developing criteria for determining good faith participation in mediation, as well as several practical tips to establish such a record, says Richard Mason at MasonADR.
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Honchariw Case May Greatly Affect Default Loans In Calif.
Because a California state appeals court held in Honchariw v. FJM that default interest is unlawful when a lender assesses it against the full outstanding principal balance on a partially matured loan, lenders should prepare for borrowers to increasingly rely on the case when challenging default interest, say attorneys at Duane Morris.
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5 Takeaways From Recent CFPB, FTC Equal Credit Push
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and Federal Trade Commission overlap in regulating a wide range of banks and nonbanks, and the recent concerted effort from both agencies to address discrimination in financial services should remind organizations to reexamine their anti-discrimination and Equal Credit Opportunity Act compliance, say attorneys at Wiley.
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ABA Opinion Should Help Clarify Which Ethics Rules Apply
A recent American Bar Association opinion provides key guidance on interpreting ABA Model Rule 8.5's notoriously complex choice-of-law analysis — and should help lawyers authorized to practice in multiple jurisdictions determine which jurisdiction's ethics rules govern their conduct, say attorneys at HWG.
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Where Illinois And Federal Law Differ On Community Finance
As state regulators finalize the implementing regulations in the Illinois Community Reinvestment Act, attorneys at Vedder Price break down the law's material provisions, compare them to those in the federal counterpart and outline what banks in the state can expect.