Residential
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October 30, 2024
Miami Rep Keeps Affordable Housing, Condos Top Of Mind
As pressure on Florida real estate in recent years has forced the state legislature to take a more active role, Rep. Vicki Lopez has emerged as a key figure working on several major policy efforts regarding Floridians' homes.
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October 30, 2024
Walker & Dunlop CEO Says GSEs Must 'Get Back To Business'
Government-sponsored enterprises Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac need to get out of conservatorship and regain for-profit motivations so they can innovate and grow, Walker & Dunlop CEO Willy Walker told Law360 Real Estate Authority in an interview.
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October 30, 2024
MVP: Gibson Dunn's Farshad E. Morè
Farshad E. Morè, a partner in Gibson Dunn & Crutcher's Century City office and member of the firm's real estate department, advised longtime client KKR on two record-breaking multifamily and student housing transactions, earning him a spot as one of the 2024 Law360 Real Estate MVPs.
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October 29, 2024
Republic First Bank Discriminated Before It Failed, NJ Says
New Jersey authorities said Tuesday that they have concluded that the former Republic First Bank redlined local communities of color in the state in the years before it failed, findings they have taken up with the bank's receiver, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.
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October 29, 2024
DR Horton Cites Homebuying Slowdown In Q4 Results
Homebuilder D.R. Horton said in announcing fourth-quarter results Tuesday that it expects it will need to keep offering incentives to homebuyers faced with still-high interest rates and low supply, as the company reported a drop in home sales in 2024 compared to a year prior.
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October 29, 2024
Front Office Sports Sued For Using Luxury Real Estate Photos
Private equity-backed media outlet Front Office Sports is accused of unlawfully using luxury real estate photos online without permission, according to a lawsuit filed in New York federal court.
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October 28, 2024
Realtor.com Owner, CoStar Debate CFAA's Limits In Theft Suit
An attorney for Costar urged a California federal judge Monday to reconsider a tentative ruling that would allow Realtor.com's parent company to amend a Computer Fraud and Abuse Act claim alleging its rival unlawfully accessed its computers, saying the company should be limited to arguing it suffered "technological harms."
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October 28, 2024
Helene Aftermath Spurs Climate-Related Eviction Ban Debate
As tenant advocates push for an eviction moratorium in Hurricane Helene-ravaged western North Carolina, their efforts mirror those in a few localities that have implemented their own disaster-related eviction policies and may portend future advocacy on the federal level.
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October 28, 2024
Law Prof Calls Out Atty Fees, Workarounds In NAR Deal
A University at Buffalo Law School professor on Monday urged a federal judge to reject the National Association of Realtors' $1 billion settlement in an antitrust class action, arguing the deal only serves to enrich lawyers in the case while allowing an anticompetitive system to continue.
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October 28, 2024
Fla. Condo Sues Flood Insurer Over Undervalued Storm Claim
A Florida condominium association damaged by a 2022 hurricane has alleged its insurance company failed to provide adequate compensation under the terms of a $13 million policy in accordance with its mandate with the National Flood Insurance Program.
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October 28, 2024
NYC Real Estate Week In Review
Gibson Dunn and Seyfarth Shaw are among the law firms that steered the largest New York City real estate deals that hit public records last week, a list headlined by a pair of Brooklyn deals above the $200 million mark.
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October 28, 2024
Joint Venture Buys New Conn. Apartment Complex For $110M
Marcus & Millichap affiliate IPA Capital Markets said it has secured $110 million in financing to help a joint venture buy two recently completed multifamily properties with a combined 300 units in Bridgeport, Connecticut.
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October 28, 2024
NY Youth Welfare Org Picks Up $4M Bid For 12-Acre Campus
Longtime New York youth mental health services provider St. Christopher's Inc. has received a $4 million bid for its Dobbs Ferry residential campus in a Chapter 11 auction.
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October 28, 2024
Tenn. ALJ Boosts Home's Tax Value By A Third
A Tennessee administrative law judge boosted a home's tax value by more than one-third after siding with a local assessor's office that brought a counterclaim against an appeal by the home's owners, who sought a lower figure.
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October 25, 2024
SEC Wants PE Firm's 'Fishing Expedition' Claims Paused
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has asked a Texas federal judge to pause a real estate-focused private equity fund's suit alleging that the regulator subjected it to an unconstitutional "fishing expedition" outside its regulatory purview.
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October 25, 2024
MoFo Reps Mortgage Servicing Co. In $100M Fundraise
Mortgage servicing platform Valon raised $100 million for its round of Series C funding while being advised by Morrison Foerster LLP, the law firm announced.
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October 25, 2024
Weyerhaeuser Expects To Hit $1B In Timber Deals By 2026
The CEO of lumber company Weyerhaeuser told investors in a call Friday that it expects to close $1 billion worth of "strategic timberland acquisitions" by the end of 2025.
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October 25, 2024
Property Plays: Skyline, Rockefeller Center, Capital One Arena
Property Plays is a weekly roundup of the latest loans, leases, sales and projects around the country. Send your tips — all confidential — to realestate@law360.com.
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October 25, 2024
Hawkins Delafield Career Atty Moves To Nixon Peabody In SF
Nixon Peabody LLP hired a Hawkins Delafield & Wood LLP partner who has spent his entire legal career with that firm working on public finance tax matters and a range of other tax-related matters, the firm has announced.
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October 25, 2024
Philadelphia Advances Latest Rental Algorithm Software Ban
The Philadelphia City Council became the latest local government to back a ban on the use of algorithms to fix rental prices, with cities such as San Francisco, San Jose and Chicago taking action in recent months in response to concerns about the software.
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October 25, 2024
Democratic Lawmakers Press KKR Over $2B Apartment Deal
A group of Democratic senators told KKR & Co. Inc. they are concerned that the private equity giant's recent $2.1 billion acquisition of 18 apartment buildings could lead to rising rents across the country, while the company has said the deal comprises "high-end, newly constructed" buildings that add much-needed housing.
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October 24, 2024
Va. Judge Won't Block Feds' Nonprofit Disclosure Law
A Virginia federal judge on Oct. 24 refused to stop the U.S. Department of the Treasury from enforcing a law that requires nonprofits such as community associations to disclose personal identifying information about their beneficial owners and applicants to a Treasury agency that focuses on stopping financial crimes.
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October 24, 2024
UCLA Strikes Out On Bid To Join Row Over Baseball Facility
A California federal judge rejected The Regents of the University of California's bid to intervene in a class action filed by disabled, homeless military veterans who accused the federal government of misusing a Los Angeles campus that they claim was intended for housing veterans.
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October 24, 2024
Judge Halts Nev. Home Seller Action Amid NAR Settlement Talk
A Nevada federal judge has agreed to extend the pause for a proposed class action from Nevada home sellers against the National Association of Realtors and a collection of multiple listing services, as the defendants come to nationwide settlements with litigants in other cases.
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October 24, 2024
Miami Development Site Draws $35M Stalking Horse Bid
A nearly 16-acre site along Biscayne Boulevard in Miami drew a $35 million stalking horse bid, setting the opening offer for the site ahead of a court-ordered sale in January.
Expert Analysis
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Key Drivers Behind Widespread Adoption Of NAV Financing
While net asset value-based lending has existed for years, NAV lending has only started to move into the mainstream recently — likely due to difficult market conditions faced by sponsors including persistent inflation, high interest rates and a lack of exit opportunities, say Matthew Kerfoot and Jinyoung Joo at Proskauer.
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Beware Unique Compliance Risks In Home Equity Lending
As borrowers increasingly look to junior-lien mortgages and home equity lines of credit instead of first-lien mortgages, regulators will pay increased attention in turn and lenders will have to watch for a number of legal and regulatory pitfalls as they rush to meet this newfound demand, say attorneys at Orrick.
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4 Business-Building Strategies For Introvert Attorneys
Excerpt from Practical Guidance
Introverted lawyers can build client bases to rival their extroverted peers’ by adapting time-tested strategies for business development that can work for any personality — such as claiming a niche, networking for maximum impact, drawing on existing contacts and more, says Ronald Levine at Herrick Feinstein.
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New AI Lending Tech Could Exacerbate Old Bias Risks
As credit and mortgage lending businesses increasingly utilize artificial intelligence technology to help make decisions, they must be aware of the legal risks that may arise under familiar anti-discrimination laws, say Kali Bracey and Grace Wallack at Jenner & Block.
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AI Road Ahead Is Promising For Cautious Fintechs
Financial institutions should understand the conceptions and misconceptions about artificial intelligence likely to influence regulators, and proactively study potential adverse impacts and establish use case strategies and other guardrails for deploying AI, say attorneys at Jones Day.
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Why All Eyes Are On Florida's Affordable Housing Reform
Florida's Live Local Act, which took effect last month, promotes much-needed affordable housing developments with a mix of zoning preemption provisions and tax benefits that may attract interest from developers across the nation, say attorneys at Nelson Mullins.
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What Came Of Texas Legislature's Long-Promised Tax Relief
Following promises of historic tax relief made possible by a record budget surplus, the Texas legislative session as a whole was one in which taxpayers that are large businesses could have done somewhat better, but the new legislation is clearly still a positive, say attorneys at Baker Botts.
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Looking Behind The Curtain Of Residential Transition Loans
As residential transition loans and securitizations of such loans grow increasingly popular, real estate stakeholders should take care to understand both the unique features and potential challenges offered by this novel asset class, say attorneys at Mayer Brown.
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Hedging Variable Interest Rates In A Volatile Market
Variable rate loans, which were an advantageous borrowing method prior to the recent Federal Reserve rate hikes and subsequent volatility, are now the difference between borrowers remaining current on their obligations and defaulting due to the sharply increasing debt service requirements of their loans, say attorneys at Cassin & Cassin.
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CRA Plays Role In DOJ Fight Against Redlining
The U.S. Department of Justice’s recent consent order with ESSA Bank & Trust is a reminder that although the Community Reinvestment Act lacks a civil enforcement provision, financial institutions' CRA compliance efforts may have ramifications under various anti-discrimination statutes, say Collin Grier and Levi Swank at Goodwin.
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Colo. Eviction Case Could Transform Tenant Rights
The Colorado Supreme Court recently granted certiorari in a case that could open the door for tenants to assert allegations of discrimination and retaliation during eviction proceedings, and dramatically prolong the state's process, says Jacob Hollars at Spencer Fane.
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Harsh 11th Circ. Rebuke Should Inspire Changes At CFPB
The Eleventh Circuit's recent Consumer Financial Protection Bureau v. Brown decision, which found the CFPB's conduct had been egregious in a debt collection enforcement action, should encourage some reflection at the bureau regarding its level of attention to the reasonable due process concerns of regulated institutions, says Eric Mogilnicki at Covington.
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3 Alternatives To CRE Collateralized Loan Obligations
With current commercial real estate market conditions pushing issuers away from collateralized loan obligations, several Freddie Mac offerings should be considered as alternative exit strategies for mortgage loans secured by multifamily properties, say attorneys at Mayer Brown.