Residential

  • April 10, 2024

    NC Justices Doubt Homeowner's Attic Fall Suit Can Go To Jury

    The North Carolina Supreme Court appeared likely Wednesday to rule against a homeowner who fell through an attic hole left by a builder, with the justices suggesting her actions may have played a part in her injury.

  • April 10, 2024

    DOJ, La. Nursing Home Owner Settle FHA Loan Fraud Claims

    A Louisiana nursing home owner reached a deal with the U.S. Department of Justice to end a lawsuit accusing him of misusing funds and assets for his Federal Housing Administration-insured facilities before and after Hurricane Ida.

  • April 10, 2024

    McDonald Carano Leader Sees Parties Abusing Force Majeure

    Force majeure provisions in construction contracts, which have been given increased attention since the onset of COVID-19, are now being abused by parties as a way to try to shirk responsibility, a construction leader at McDonald Carano LLP told Law360.

  • April 10, 2024

    KKR, Inovia Lead Rental Platform Guesty To $130M Series F

    Short-term rental platform Guesty said Erdinast Ben Nathan Toledano & Co. advised as it has raised $130 million in its Series F funding round in a bid to grow its reach, with representatives from new investors KKR and Inovia Capital joining the company's board.

  • April 10, 2024

    Real Estate Fund Raising Still Muted With $14B Bagged In Q1

    The biggest funds to close in the first three months of 2024 showed that investors are banking on multifamily, industrial and hospitality assets to net returns as the commercial real estate industry continues to hiccup, while capital raising overall is down compared to prior quarters.

  • April 10, 2024

    Eversheds Sutherland Gains Baker Hughes RE Ace In Houston

    Eversheds Sutherland announced Wednesday that it had added a counsel to its real estate practice in Houston who joined after more than a quarter-century working in-house for energy technology company Baker Hughes.

  • April 10, 2024

    Real Estate M&A Is Down, But Perhaps Not For Long

    Mergers and acquisitions activity in the U.S. real estate industry was quieter than usual in the first quarter of the year, with 14 transactions closing at a combined total of nearly $3 billion, but signs indicate that more deals may be coming down the pipeline.

  • April 10, 2024

    BigLaw Real Estate Varies Widely On Gender Diversity

    In March, Women's History Month, Law360 looked at gender diversity among the real estate groups at 20 large law firms and found that those firms vary widely on that point.

  • April 09, 2024

    Quinn Emanuel, Davidoff Hutcher Sued Over Mansion Sale

    The trustee for a bankrupt entity once owned by HFZ Capital Group has sued Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan LLP and Davidoff Hutcher & Citron, seeking to claw back up to $2 million the firms allegedly fraudulently received from a $45 million Hamptons mansion sale linked to developer Nir Meir.

  • April 09, 2024

    NYC Developers Get $270M In Financing For Brooklyn Project

    The Gotham Organization, Monadnock Development and the Christian Cultural Center obtained $270 million in construction financing for the first phase of their mixed-use Innovative Urban Village project in Brooklyn, New York, according to an announcement.

  • April 09, 2024

    Hawaiian Electric Brass Hit With Suit Over Wildfire Preparation

    A Hawaiian Electric Industries Inc. shareholder has alleged in a derivative suit that the company's executives and directors knew that it was not prepared for last year's deadly Maui wildfire, which caused reputational and financial damage to the company.

  • April 09, 2024

    NYC Developers Blame Tax Break Loss For Apartment Slump

    The foundation application filings for multifamily housing in New York City declined significantly in March, which signifies a decline that began after the city's 421-A tax break expired in June 2022, the NYC developer trade group Real Estate Board of New York stated.

  • April 09, 2024

    Real Brokerage $9.2M Settlement Is Latest In Agent Fee Suit

    The Real Brokerage Inc. will pay $9.2 million in a settlement to exit a class action in Missouri federal court over broker fees that prompted other big brokerages to change how they charge agent fees.

  • April 09, 2024

    Property Owners' Bias Claims Belong In Court, NC Justices Told

    Three property owners urged the North Carolina Supreme Court on Tuesday to revive their claims that the city of Kinston targeted a Black community for house demolitions, contending that they shouldn't have to argue with City Council members before being able to sue.

  • April 09, 2024

    Ex-LA Deputy Mayor Says Jury's Chats Warrant Mistrial

    Former Los Angeles deputy mayor Raymond Chan is calling for a mistrial following his bribery conviction, telling a federal judge the jury foreperson and two other panel members discussed the case outside the jury room, reaching a premature verdict that likely swayed other jurors.

  • April 09, 2024

    Pittsburgh Schools Sue To Force Countywide Reassessment

    The school district serving the city of Pittsburgh has filed a lawsuit in state court to compel Allegheny County to conduct a countywide reassessment of real estate values, arguing that taxation starting from a 12-year-old base level is putting homeowners in some neighborhoods at an unfair and unconstitutional disadvantage.

  • April 09, 2024

    Detroit, Chicago Have Riskiest Multifamily Loans, KBRA Says

    The cities of Detroit, Chicago, and Denver have the riskiest securitized multifamily loans among the largest metropolitan statistical areas, according to a report from Kroll Bond Rating Agency.

  • April 09, 2024

    NJ Justices To Hear If Philly Archdiocese Subject To NJ Court

    The New Jersey Supreme Court will determine whether the Archdiocese of Philadelphia is subject to Garden State courts in a lawsuit alleging a former priest sexually abused a teenager at the former priest's Jersey Shore house decades ago.

  • April 09, 2024

    Embattled Houston Law Firm Files Ch. 11

    Insurance law firm MMA Law Firm on Tuesday filed for Chapter 11 protection in a Texas bankruptcy court, weeks after a federal judge declined to toss a suit seeking class damages over the Houston firm's allegedly illegal efforts to solicit clients in hurricane-related property damage cases.

  • April 08, 2024

    AIG Acted In Bad Faith In Hurricane Dispute, Homeowners Say

    Owners of a $95 million oceanfront mansion near Miami told jurors Monday that AIG should be punished for acting in bad faith in handling a claim for damage from Hurricane Irma, saying the company repeatedly prioritized maximizing profits at the expense of customer service.

  • April 09, 2024

    Tech Poised For Key Role In Real Estate Recovery

    As the clouds recede from two years of economic headwinds, an anticipated real estate upturn could benefit from enormous advances taking place in technological innovation, according to the many key players who attended the 2024 Real Estate Technology Conference in New York.

  • April 08, 2024

    Investment Duo Nabs Houston Multifamily Buildings For $60M

    Ascendant Capital Partners and Culver Investment Partners have announced that they have acquired a trio of properties in Houston, Texas, for approximately $60 million.

  • April 08, 2024

    NYC Real Estate Week In Review

    Kane Kessler and Nixon Peabody are among the law firms that handled the largest New York City deals that hit public records last week, a slow period that saw only three deeds at or north of $20 million hit records.

  • April 08, 2024

    Seyfarth Shaw Guides Slate's $150M NYC Construction Loan

    Scale Lending inked a $150 million construction loan for Beitel Group's 450-unit multifamily project underway in New York City, according to a statement from the lender Monday.

  • April 08, 2024

    Oil Co. Sues LA Homeless Vets To Keep VA Site Drill Rights

    Oil company Bridgeland Resources LLC defended its agreements to drill on U.S. Veterans Administration land in Los Angeles in an intervenor complaint in California federal court against a group of homeless, disabled veterans arguing the arrangement is illegal because the site lacks housing.

Expert Analysis

  • How NY Residential Property Condition Disclosure Is Shifting

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    New York's recent significant amendments to the Property Condition Disclosure Act provide a new focus on the risk and damage from flooding, and the changes will affect the duties and standard of practice for real estate brokers, as well as liability and compliance for sellers and landlords, says Steven Ebert at Cassin & Cassin.

  • Conn. Banking Brief: The Notable Compliance Updates In Q3

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    The most notable legal changes affecting Connecticut financial institutions in the third quarter of 2023 included increased regulatory protections for consumers, an expansion of state financial assistance for underserved communities, and a panoply of tweaks to existing laws, says Brian Rich at Barclay Damon.

  • Mass. Banking Brief: The Notable Compliance Updates In Q3

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    Among the most significant developments in the financial services space in the third quarter of the year, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court handed down a stunning endorsement of the state's fiduciary duty rule, and banking regulators continued their multiyear crackdown on unregistered entities, say attorneys at Mintz.

  • Insurance Rulings Continue Expansion Of Appraisal's Ambit

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    Two recent Illinois insurance cases allowing property damage appraisers to determine causation — Wysoczan v. Cambridge in federal court and Shelter v. Morrow in state appellate court — perpetuate a judicial trend that will result in a slower, more expensive and cumbersome appraisal process that resembles litigation, says Matthew Fortin at BatesCarey.

  • In The CFPB Playbook: The Bureau In The Courts

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    From defending the constitutionality of its funding and the scope of its rulemaking authority in the courts to releasing more nonbinding guidance, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau had a busy summer. Orrick's John Coleman discusses all this and more in the second installment of quarterly bureau activity recaps by former CFPB personnel.

  • Fintech Cos. Should Consider Asset-Based Financing For RE

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    Fintech companies that own or plan to acquire real property may be able to utilize asset-based financings to access more efficient and cost-effective forms of capital beyond traditional venture capital sources, say attorneys at Mayer Brown.

  • What To Consider When Converting Calif. Offices To Housing

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    In light of California legislators' recent efforts to expedite the process for converting offices into residential buildings, developers should evaluate both the societal upsides, and the significant economic and legal hurdles, of such conversions, says Steven Otto at Crosbie Gliner.

  • How New Lawyers Can Leverage Feedback For Growth

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    Embracing constructive criticism as a tool for success can help new lawyers accelerate their professional growth and law firms build a culture of continuous improvement, says Katie Aldrich at Fringe Professional Development.

  • 9 Consumer Finance Issues To Note From CFPB Report

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    A recent report from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau highlights abusive consumer finance tactics that the agency uncovered during supervisory examinations over the last year — among the most significant issues identified: deceptive practices in automotive loan servicing, and consumer reporting and debt collection compliance failures, say attorneys at Troutman Pepper.

  • Twitter Legal Fees Suit Offers Crash Course In Billing Ethics

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    X Corp.'s suit alleging that Wachtell grossly inflated its fees in the final days of Elon Musk’s Twitter acquisition provides a case study in how firms should protect their reputations by hewing to ethical billing practices and the high standards for professional conduct that govern attorney-client relationships, says Lourdes Fuentes at Karta Legal.

  • Transaction Risks In Residential Mortgage M&A Due Diligence

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    As the residential mortgage market continues to consolidate due to interest rate increases and low housing volume, buyers and sellers should pay attention to a number of compliance considerations ranging from fair lending laws to employee classification, say attorneys at Mayer Brown.

  • Ore. Warranty Ruling Complicates Insurance Classification

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    The Oregon Court of Appeals' recent TruNorth v. Department of Consumer and Business Services holding that a service contract — commonly referred to as an extended warranty — covering commercial property is subject to the state's consumer service contract laws raises regulatory questions for contract obligors, sellers and administrators, say attorneys at Locke Lord.

  • ABA's Money-Laundering Resolution Is A Balancing Act

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    While the American Bar Association’s recently passed resolution recognizes a lawyer's duty to discontinue representation that could facilitate money laundering and other fraudulent activity, it preserves, at least for now, the delicate balance of judicial, state-based regulation of the legal profession and the sanctity of the attorney-client relationship, say attorneys at Ballard Spahr.