Real Estate

  • June 11, 2024

    Ga. Justices Say 1-Year Lawsuit Window Stands In Death Case

    The Supreme Court of Georgia won't hold liable a home inspector sued by the family of a man who was killed when his home's retaining wall collapsed, ruling Tuesday that the inspector's one-year statute of limitations doesn't violate a state ban on hold harmless provisions in construction contracts.

  • June 11, 2024

    DOE Urges DC Circ. To Extinguish Furnace Rule Fight

    The U.S. Department of Energy on Monday defended its tighter energy efficiency standards for furnaces and water heaters, telling the D.C. Circuit that arguments that the new regulations unlawfully force a costly switch to new appliances are meritless.

  • June 11, 2024

    Colo. Eviction Law Firm Hit With Suit Over Fee Mark-Ups

    A Colorado law firm that specializes in representing landlords in evictions was hit Tuesday with another federal lawsuit alleging the firm violated debt collection laws with the billing of tenants for attorney fees before eviction proceedings are resolved.

  • June 11, 2024

    Feds Want 10 Years For Ex-Chicago Alderman Burke

    Federal prosecutors asked an Illinois federal judge Monday to send former Chicago Alderman Ed Burke to prison for 10 years for "brazenly and boldly" using his official position to steer tax business to his law firm, while Burke requested a sentence of probation, bolstered by letters of support from prominent attorneys and retired judges.

  • June 11, 2024

    Vt. Short-Term Rental Tax Proposal Vetoed

    A Vermont bill that would have imposed a 3% surcharge on short-term rentals was vetoed by the governor.

  • June 11, 2024

    Pepsi Bottling Partner Hit With Pollutant Lawsuit In Mass.

    A Massachusetts environmental advocacy group has followed through on plans to sue a bottler of Pepsi products over alleged violations of the Clean Water Act, but a lawyer for the Conservation Law Foundation says the organization is "optimistic" it will be able to resolve the issue.

  • June 10, 2024

    Home Flooding Was Unavoidable, Agency Tells Appeals Court

    A Texas river management agency has told a state appeals court that a group of Houston residents' properties would have flooded regardless of its actions to mitigate Hurricane Harvey's effects, urging the appellate court to overturn a trial court order denying its bid for release from the residents' suit.

  • June 10, 2024

    Judge Sides With Tenants In Legionnaires' Coverage Dispute

    A Kentucky federal court declined to exercise jurisdiction in an insurer's attempt to secure a ruling that coverage isn't available to its landlord-insureds in a $4.5 million underlying state court action in which a tenant alleged that the landlords' negligence caused her to contract Legionnaires' disease.

  • June 10, 2024

    Mass. House Omits Local-Option Tax From $6B Housing Bill

    A proposal by Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey to allow local-option transfer fees on high-value real estate sales was left out of a housing package worth more than $6 billion passed by the state House of Representatives. 

  • June 10, 2024

    Conn. Hospital Broke $4.25M Property Sale Deal, Buyer Says

    A Connecticut hospital has been accused in state court of breaking its $4.25 million property sale contract after the sale was called off following the hospital's merger with Northwell Healthcare Inc.

  • June 10, 2024

    Kan. Court Rejects Valuation Based On Overturned Precedent

    The Kansas Board of Tax Appeals incorrectly relied on overturned precedent when it lowered a Home Depot's property value by almost $2 million, the Kansas Appeals Court ruled.

  • June 10, 2024

    Amid FBI Probe, Troubled Law Firm Gets Fees Win At 5th Circ.

    An embattled Texas law firm has won another shot to secure fees for its work on hurricane-related cases in Louisiana, the Fifth Circuit ruled, one day after the FBI revealed it was investigating the firm over its client solicitation practices.

  • June 10, 2024

    Justices Call For Do-Over In 9th Circ. Bank Preemption Case

    The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday tossed a Ninth Circuit decision rejecting federal preemption of a California state interest-on-escrow law for Flagstar Bank, ordering a do-over in the case following the high court's recent ruling on preemption standards in a similar case involving Bank of America.

  • June 07, 2024

    Tetra Tech Says Gov't On 'Fishing Expedition' In FCA Suit

    Tetra Tech and a subsidiary accused the federal government and a housing developer of a "fishing expedition" after they sought access to electronic media long after discovery closed in cases accusing the subsidiary of fraud under Navy environmental contracts. 

  • June 07, 2024

    Real Estate Authority: EPA's Brownfield Funding Surge

    Catch up on this week's key developments by state from Law360 Real Estate Authority — including a new data series on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's brownfield grant program.

  • June 07, 2024

    LIHTC Developer Asks 11th Circ. To Undo Investor Takeover

    A developer told the Eleventh Circuit on Friday it is a victim of a scheme by investors using a lower court ruling to complete a takeover of two Tampa, Florida, senior housing complexes developed with federal low-income housing tax credits.

  • June 07, 2024

    11th Circ. Urged To Undo Exclusion Of $80M Asset Valuation

    A trustee for creditors of ATIF Inc. told the Eleventh Circuit on Friday that a trial judge erred in excluding an expert's $80 million valuation of the bankrupt title insurance underwriter's 2015 transfer of assets to Old Republic National Title Insurance Co.

  • June 07, 2024

    Lumbee Tribe Family Says Bias Sunk Home Rental Application

    A family of Lumbee Native American tribe members has alleged that a national real estate rental company violated the Fair Housing Act's anti-discrimination provisions by denying their housing application based on the father's single criminal conviction without giving him a chance to appeal.

  • June 07, 2024

    DOE Reveals National Definition Of Zero-Emissions Building

    The U.S. Department of Energy unveiled a federal definition for determining whether a residential or commercial building qualifies as a zero-emissions building as part of an ongoing effort to slash greenhouse gas emissions across the traditionally heavily emitting sector.

  • June 07, 2024

    Texas Top Court Denies Roofer's Challenge To Adjuster Laws

    The Supreme Court of Texas tossed on Friday a roofing company's challenge to the state's public adjuster licensing laws, saying that requiring a license or preventing certain conduct didn't violate the roofer's free speech rights.

  • June 07, 2024

    Bank Says Alzheimer's Center Owes $17M On Defaulted Loan

    An Alzheimer's care center owes Bank of Oklahoma nearly $17 million after it became the last of four memory care facilities to default on a $27.5 million loan that was used to refinance their mortgage debt, according to a complaint filed in Georgia federal court.

  • June 07, 2024

    'Deceit On Deceit': 7th Circ. OKs Atty's Asset-Hiding Sentence

    The Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a Chicago-area lawyer's three-year sentence for hiding over $350,000 in her brother's bankruptcy, finding two sentence enhancements were properly applied since she "layered deceit upon deceit" to try to conceal assets and cover her tracks.

  • June 07, 2024

    Miami Official Can't Shake Zoning Abuse Claims

    A Miami commissioner can't escape allegations that he and other city officials conspired to sabotage local businesses with zoning and safety laws after a pair of business owners backed the commissioner's opponent in a 2017 election, a Florida federal judge ruled.

  • June 07, 2024

    6th Circ. Finds Ethical Lapses Justify Bar On Firm's Outreach

    The Sixth Circuit said Thursday a Michigan federal judge shouldn't have faulted a law firm for attacking a proposed tax foreclosure class-action settlement in solicitation letters, but nevertheless upheld the judge's order barring contact with certain class members because of the firm's actual ethical lapses.

  • June 07, 2024

    Judge Agrees To DQ Houston Firm In Fight Over MMA Law

    A Texas bankruptcy judge sided with troubled Houston firm MMA Law and agreed this week that another Houston firm, Okin Adams Bartlett Curry LLP, had received confidential information from MMA Law and should be disqualified from representing its creditors.

Expert Analysis

  • Lean Into The 'Great Restoration' To Retain Legal Talent

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    As the “great resignation,” in which employees voluntarily left their jobs in droves, has largely dissipated, legal employers should now work toward the idea of a “great restoration,” adopting strategies to effectively hire, onboard and retain top legal talent, says Molly McGrath at Hiring & Empowering Solutions.

  • 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.

  • Opinion

    The FTC And DOJ Should Backtrack On RealPage

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    The antitrust agencies ought to reverse course on their enforcement actions against RealPage, which are based on a faulty legal premise, risk further property shortages and threaten the use of algorithms that are central to the U.S. economy, says Thomas Stratmann at George Mason University.

  • Series

    Fishing Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Atop the list of ways fishing makes me a better lawyer is the relief it offers from the chronic stress of a demanding caseload, but it has also improved my listening skills and patience, and has served as an exceptional setting for building earnest relationships, says Steven DeGeorge​​​​​​​ at Robinson Bradshaw.

  • A Healthier Legal Industry Starts With Emotional Intelligence

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    The legal profession has long been plagued by high rates of mental health issues, in part due to attorneys’ early training and broader societal stereotypes — but developing one’s emotional intelligence is one way to foster positive change, collectively and individually, says attorney Esperanza Franco.

  • To Make Your Legal Writing Clear, Emulate A Master Chef

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    To deliver clear and effective written advocacy, lawyers should follow the model of a fine dining chef — seasoning a foundation of pure facts with punchy descriptors, spicing it up with analogies, refining the recipe and trimming the fat — thus catering to a sophisticated audience of decision-makers, says Reuben Guttman at Guttman Buschner.

  • Circuit Judge Writes An Opinion, AI Helps: What Now?

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    Last week's Eleventh Circuit opinion in Snell v. United Specialty Insurance, notable for a concurrence outlining the use of artificial intelligence to evaluate a term's common meaning, is hopefully the first step toward developing a coherent basis for the judiciary's generative AI use, says David Zaslowsky at Baker McKenzie.

  • Ohio Tax Talk: The Legislative Push For Property Tax Relief

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    As Ohio legislators attempt to alleviate the increasing property tax burden, four recent bills that could significantly affect homeowners propose to eliminate replacement property tax levies, freeze property taxes for longtime homeowners, adjust homestead exemptions annually for inflation, and temporarily expand the homestead exemption, say Raghav Agnihotri and Rachael Chamberlain at Frost Brown.

  • Series

    In The CFPB Playbook: Regulatory Aims Get High Court Assist

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    Newly emboldened after the U.S. Supreme Court last month found that the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's funding is constitutional, the bureau has likely experienced a psychic boost, allowing its already robust enforcement agenda to continue expanding, say attorneys at Husch Blackwell.

  • Perspectives

    Trauma-Informed Legal Approaches For Pro Bono Attorneys

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    As National Trauma Awareness Month ends, pro bono attorneys should nevertheless continue to acknowledge the mental and physical effects of trauma, allowing them to better represent clients, and protect themselves from compassion fatigue and burnout, say Katherine Cronin at Stinson and Katharine Manning at Blackbird.

  • Tips For Advising CRE Owners Affected By Houston Storms

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    As Houston residents begin the arduous process of recovery after this month's devastating storms, attorneys should guide commercial real estate owners and managers toward immediate action under their insurance coverage to facilitate restoration and a return to normalcy, says Justin Ratley at Munsch Hardt.

  • 4 Arbitration Takeaways From High Court Coinbase Ruling

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    The U.S. Supreme Court's May 23 decision in Coinbase v. Suski, which provides clarity to parties faced with successive contracts containing conflicting dispute resolution provisions, has four practical impacts for contracting parties to consider, say Charles Schoenwetter and Eric Olson at Bowman and Brooke.

  • Series

    Playing Music Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    My deep and passionate involvement in playing, writing and producing music equipped me with skills — like creativity, improvisation and problem-solving — that contribute to the success of my legal career, says attorney Kenneth Greene.

  • What's New In Kentucky's Financial Services Overhaul

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    Kentucky's H.B. 726 will go into effect in July and brings with it some significant restructuring to the Kentucky Financial Services Code, including changes to mortgage loan license fees and repeals of provisions relating to installment term loans and savings associations, say attorneys at Frost Brown.

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