Residential
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November 21, 2024
PierFerd Adds Fla. Transactions Partner From Taylor English
Pierson Ferdinand LLP just got a bit larger with the addition of a partner in Miami from Taylor English Duma LLP, bringing expertise in real estate, banking and financial services that is expected to bolster the firm's ongoing growth.
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November 20, 2024
2nd Circ. Doubts Error In Tenant Screener's FHA Suit Win
A Second Circuit panel appeared skeptical Wednesday that a Connecticut federal judge used the wrong analysis to find that a tenant screener's criminal history reporting practices do not violate the Fair Housing Act, grilling counsel for the federal government about the lower court's process.
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November 20, 2024
Split Ohio Supreme Court OKs Power Co.'s Herbicide Use
The Ohio Supreme Court on Wednesday reversed an early win for landowners in a case against Ohio Edison Co. that had sought to stop the company from using herbicide on their property to clear space for power lines.
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November 20, 2024
Manhattan Landlords Fight Rent Regulation Clawback
In what may be their last chance to escape rent stabilization, a group of Manhattan landlords argued before a panel of New York Court of Appeals judges Wednesday that a state agency unfairly clawed back their right to deregulate their apartments.
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November 20, 2024
NJ Court Must Revisit Assessor's Workplace Retaliation Claim
A New Jersey trial court must revisit a municipal tax assessor's workplace retaliation claim as the case used by the court in its decision doesn't exempt assessors from the state's employee protection law, an appellate panel ruled Wednesday.
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November 20, 2024
Extell To Tear Down Madison Ave. Office For Mixed-Use Tower
Extell Development plans to demolish an office building on Manhattan's Madison Avenue and erect a mixed-use tower with apartments on the site, according to New York City records filed this week.
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November 20, 2024
UK Biz Owes Taxes On £200M Sale Of Lease, Court Affirms
A U.K. property company owes tax on its intragroup purchase of a lease for a 50-story apartment tower in central London for £200 million ($253 million) despite its tax advisers' promise of a tax-free step-up in basis, the Upper Tribunal said Wednesday.
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November 20, 2024
Boston Mayor Touts Property Tax Relief Bill Before Panel
Massachusetts lawmakers should allow Boston to adjust its property tax calculations to stabilize the share borne by residences, mitigating an impending tax hike, and boost a business personal property tax exemption, Boston's mayor told a legislative panel Wednesday.
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November 20, 2024
DACA Recipient Fights To Keep NJ Apartment Bias Suit Alive
A Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals recipient urged a New Jersey federal court not to toss her suit alleging a landlord wrongly refused her housing application, saying she was rejected because she didn't turn over documentation that is unavailable to DACA recipients.
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November 20, 2024
McCarter Partner, Former Miami Official On AI In Land Use
From planning for mega storms to streamlining zoning approvals, artificial intelligence tools are bringing efficiency and new modeling capabilities to local governments.
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November 20, 2024
MVP: Latham's Michelle Kelban
Michelle Kelban, co-chair of Latham & Watkins LLP's real estate group, helmed a $2 billion construction financing for Cain International and guided Ares Management's blockbuster purchase of GCP International, earning her a spot as one of the 2024 Law360 Real Estate MVPs.
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November 19, 2024
Online Lenders, Contractor Face Service Members' Fraud Suit
California-based contractor Multitaskr Construction Inc. and several online lending companies were hit with a consumer lawsuit in California federal court alleging they conspired to originate lucrative fraudulent loans for home improvement projects that were never completed.
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November 19, 2024
DOJ Hits Pennsylvania With Bias Suit Over Building Code
A Pennsylvania building code with an automatic sprinkler requirement for community homes for autistic people or those with intellectually disabilities is discriminatory, as it doesn't apply to "similarly sized" homes for people who aren't disabled, the federal government alleged Tuesday.
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November 19, 2024
Condo Says Insurer Underpaid By $19M After Hurricane Ian
A Florida condo association said its insurer underpaid it by nearly $19 million after Hurricane Ian destroyed its property in 2022, according to a suit that was removed to federal court.
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November 19, 2024
'Survivor' Winner Needs To Pay $3.3M Tax Bill, Judge Advises
The winner of the "Survivor" television series who evaded taxes on his $1 million in prize money and served time in prison should pay $3.3 million of his civil liabilities, including fraud penalties, a federal magistrate judge said.
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November 19, 2024
Tarter Krinsky Adds CRE Transaction Atty
An attorney with experience across the spectrum of commercial real estate transactions has joined Tarter Krinsky & Drogin LLP's real estate practice from Riley Riper Hollin & Colagreco PC, the firm announced.
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November 19, 2024
Fannie, Freddie To Buy $146B In 2025 Multifamily Loans
The Federal Housing Finance Agency raised the multifamily loan purchase caps for government-sponsored enterprises Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to $73 billion each — totaling $146 billion in 2025 — the agency announced.
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November 18, 2024
Brokerage Startup Defends Suit Over NAR Listing Rules
A residential brokerage startup defended its antitrust lawsuit from dismissal motions filed by the National Association of Realtors and multiple brokerages, arguing in Utah federal court that it has standing to bring its suit "as an excluded competitor" and that it's not required to make specific claims about the roles of the defendants in the alleged antitrust conspiracy.
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November 18, 2024
HUD Ducks Homeowner's Insurance Overpayment Suit
A Florida federal judge dismissed a homeowner's proposed class action alleging the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development failed to refund mortgage insurance premium overpayments, finding the suit seeks sweeping relief that exceeds the court's power.
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November 18, 2024
Treasury Finalizes Tougher Foreign Investment Law Penalties
The Treasury Department on Monday finalized a rule sharpening its enforcement authority to stop or demand additional information regarding foreign-investment deals that the U.S. deems potential threats to national security.
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November 18, 2024
Trump Co. Seeks Coverage Of Wage Theft, Discrimination Suit
The Trump Corp. asked a New York federal court to force an insurer to defend it in a more than $500,000 wage theft and age discrimination dispute brought by a former employee of a company-managed luxury condo in Manhattan.
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November 18, 2024
Wash. Court Asked To Eye Renewal Docs In Fire Damage Row
A Washington couple and two Progressive units urged a federal court to issue a pretrial ruling on whether the couple is entitled to up to $750,000 for a fire they said "destroyed" their home, after Progressive denied coverage for failure to pay the homeowner policy's premium.
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November 18, 2024
Justices Urged To Review Landlords' COVID Eviction Ban Suit
A group of trade associations and a nonprofit urged the U.S. Supreme Court on Monday to grant a review petition filed by landlords claiming they lost $100 million as a result of Los Angeles' COVID-19 eviction moratorium, which ended in January.
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November 18, 2024
Honolulu Property Class Is Constitutional, Court Affirms
A special Honolulu property class did not violate the state and country's equal protection clause, as a group of consolidated property owners alleged, because the property class served a legitimate policy purpose, the state Intermediate Court of Appeals has affirmed.
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November 18, 2024
NYC Real Estate Week In Review
Simpson Thacher and Paul Weiss are among the law firms that landed work on the largest New York City real estate deals that hit public records, a busy period that saw eight transactions above the $20 million mark become public.
Expert Analysis
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SEC Should Be Allowed To Equip Investors With Climate Info
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's new rule to require more climate-related disclosures will provide investors with much-needed clarity, despite opponents' attempts to challenge the rule with misused legal arguments, say Sarah Goetz at Democracy Forward and Cynthia Hanawalt at Columbia University’s Sabin Center for Climate Change.
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8 Fla. Statutes That Construction Cos. Should Prepare For
In this article, Jason Lambert at Hill Ward discusses a number of recent bills out of the Florida Legislature targeting construction companies in the Sunshine State that have been sent to the governor for signature, at least some of which will have broad impacts that affected companies should prepare for ahead of the July 1 effective date.
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Time To Fix NYC's Broken Property Assessment System
A New York appellate court's decision to revive Tax Equity Now New York v. City of New York may force the city to revamp its outdated and unfair real estate tax assessment system, which could be fixed with a couple of simple changes, says Seth Feldman at Romer Debbas.
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Understanding The IRC's Excessive Refund Claim Penalty
Taxpayers considering protective refund claims pending resolution of major questions in tax cases like Moore v. U.S., which is pending before the U.S. Supreme Court, should understand how doing so may also leave them vulnerable to an excessive refund claim penalty under Internal Revenue Code Section 6676, say attorneys at McDermott.
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Bankruptcy Ruling Shifts Lease Rejection Claim Calculation
A New York federal court’s recent ruling in In re: Cortlandt provides guidance on how to calculate a landlord's damages claim when a bankruptcy debtor rejects a lease, changing from an approach that considers the remaining rent due under the lease to one that considers the remaining time, say Bethany Simmons and Noah Weingarten at Loeb & Loeb.
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Do Not Overstate Fla. Condo Termination Ruling's Impact
A close look at the unique language at issue in Avila v. Biscayne, in which a Florida appellate court deemed a condo termination to be invalid, shows that the case is unlikely to significantly affect other potential terminations, say Barry Lapides and Edward Baker at Berger Singerman.
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Takeaways From FDIC's Spring Supervisory Highlights
The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.'s spring 2024 consumer compliance supervisory report found that relatively few institutions had significant consumer compliance issues last year, but the common thread among those that did were inadequacies or failures in disclosures to consumers, says Matthew Hanaghan at Nutter.
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What Calif. Eviction Ruling Means For Defaulting Borrowers
A California appellate court's recent decision in Homeward Opportunities v. Taptelis found that a defaulting borrower could not delay foreclosure with an improperly served notice of pendency of action, but leaves open a possibility for borrowers to delay eviction proceedings merely by filing lawsuits, say Anne Beehler and Krystal Anderson at Holland & Knight.
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How 3D Printing And Prefab Are Changing Construction
The growing popularity of trends like 3D printing technology and prefabrication in the construction industry have positive ramifications ranging from reducing risks at project sites to streamlining construction schedules, say Josephine Bahn and Jeffery Mullen at Cozen O'Connor.
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Wave Of Final Rules Reflects Race Against CRA Deadline
The flurry of final rules now leaping off the Federal Register press — some of which will affect entire industries and millions of Americans — shows President Joe Biden's determination to protect his regulatory legacy from reversal by the next Congress, given the impending statutory look-back period under the Congressional Review Act, say attorneys at Jenner & Block.
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A Deep Dive Into High Court's Permit Fee Ruling
David Robinson and Daniel Golub at Holland & Knight explore the U.S. Supreme Court's recent ruling that a local traffic impact fee charged to a California property owner may be a Fifth Amendment taking — and where it leaves localities and real estate developers.
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The Case For Overturning Florida Foreclosure Ruling
A Florida appellate court's recent decision in Desbrunes v. U.S. Bank National Association will potentially put foreclosure cases across the state in jeopardy, and unless it is reconsidered, foreclosing plaintiffs will need to choose between frustrating and uncertain options in the new legal landscape, say Sara Accardi and Paige Knight at Bradley.
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Bracing For The CFPB's War On Mortgage Fees
As the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau homes in on the legality of certain residential mortgage fees, the industry should consult the bureau's steady stream of consumer lending guidance for hints on its priorities, say Nanci Weissgold and Melissa Malpass at Alston & Bird.