Residential
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March 17, 2025
Calif. Panel Sides With Tribe In Hotel Construction Fight
A California appeals panel has sided with a Native American tribe in its decision to reverse a lower court ruling and invalidate the city of Clearlake's approval of a hotel project on what was tribal land, finding that the city failed to comply with a state environmental law.
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March 17, 2025
Ginnie Mae Says Texas Bank Can't Undo Ruling On Lien
Ginnie Mae and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development have urged a Texas federal court to grant them summary judgment in a Texas bank's lawsuit, which alleges the government wrongfully extinguished the bank's first-priority lien for nearly $30 million of collateral, saying the court already upheld the authority to terminate the lien.
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March 17, 2025
HUD, DOI To Identify Federal Land For Affordable Housing
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and the U.S. Department of the Interior will work together on identifying federal land that could be used as the sites of affordable housing, according to a joint announcement.
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March 17, 2025
Paul Hastings Guides Artemis From Founding To Takeover
When Paul Hastings partner Joshua H. Sternoff was initially pitched on repping Debbie Harmon and Penny Pritzker in creating the first women-owned real estate investment business, he thought it was a bet worth taking. About 16 years and several fundraising cycles later, Sternoff and others at Paul Hastings steered Artemis Real Estate Partners through what might be its biggest move yet.
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March 17, 2025
4th Circ. Tosses HOA Closing Fees Suit
The Fourth Circuit tossed a North Carolina property owner's proposed class action alleging that a property management company unlawfully charged excessive closing fees when she sold two properties.
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March 17, 2025
Belkin Burden Hires Tax Exemption, Zoning Experts
Belkin Burden & Goldman LLP announced Monday it has added five new attorneys from Seiden & Schein PC who will form the firm's new tax exemptions and zoning incentives department.
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March 17, 2025
High Value Dubious In $23M Easement Dispute, 11th Circ. Told
A partnership that claimed a $23 million tax deduction for a conservation easement donation failed to consider the lack of market demand for a potential quarry it used to justify the land's high value, the U.S. government told the Eleventh Circuit.
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March 17, 2025
NYC Real Estate Week In Review
DLA Piper and Klestadt Winters are among the law firms that landed work on the top New York City real estate deals to hit public records last week, with a pair of Manhattan trades topping the list.
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March 14, 2025
Fannie, Freddie Can't Avoid $612M Investor Win, Judge Rules
A D.C. federal judge on Friday upheld a $612.4 million jury verdict against the Federal Housing Finance Agency, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, ruling that the jury was provided with "ample evidence" that reasonably led to its conclusion that FHFA improperly amended stock purchase agreements related to the companies.
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March 14, 2025
4th Circ. Dubious Of Private Island's Win In Fair Housing Fight
The Fourth Circuit on Friday seemed poised to upend a lower court ruling siding with a gated community in a discriminatory housing suit brought by the developer of a proposed assisted living facility, with one judge lamenting a lack of analysis on whether the facility's accommodation request was necessary and reasonable.
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March 14, 2025
Calif. Insurance Chief OKs State Farm Rates Pending Hearing
The California Department of Insurance on Friday provisionally approved State Farm's request for an emergency rate hike following the Los Angeles fires, including a nearly 22% increase for homeowners, saying final approval will be contingent on the insurer justifying its request at a hearing.
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March 14, 2025
Property Plays: Buffalo, Swerdlow Group, Tampa Bay Rays
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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March 14, 2025
Demand Tightens Florida Land Market In '24, Broker Finds
Large-acreage land transactions and institutional investors drove much of the activity in Florida's land market in 2024, with agricultural land transforming into residential, solar or other development as the state's population grows.
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March 14, 2025
3 Firms Rep Franklin BSP Realty Trust's $425M NewPoint Buy
Hogan Lovells, Reed Smith and Paul Weiss guided Franklin BSP Realty Trust's $425 million acquisition of commercial real estate finance company NewPoint Holdings JV LLC, boosting the REIT's multifamily loan offerings.
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March 14, 2025
PulteGroup GC Rakes In $3M After '23 Dip
Atlanta-based U.S. homebuilder PulteGroup paid its general counsel more than $3 million in total compensation in 2024, marking a 13% increase from his 2023 total compensation as the company raked in a record $17 billion in home sale revenues last year, according to a recent securities filing.
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March 14, 2025
Mont. Ranch Claims Ranger Retaliation In Easement Dispute
A Montana landowner told a federal judge that a U.S. Forest Service official launched a retaliatory criminal investigation after the managers of a ranch complained about public parking on an access road near the Custer Gallatin National Forest.
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March 14, 2025
Ark. Bill Aims To Ban Certain Separate Property Assessments
Arkansas would not allow accessory dwelling units to be assessed separately from a principal residence through a constitutional amendment proposed by a bill introduced in the state House of Representatives.
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March 14, 2025
Taxation With Representation: Davis Polk, Paul Weiss
In this week's Taxation With Representation, Mallinckrodt PLC and Endo Inc. combine, Rocket Cos. buys Redfin, and Endo divests its international pharmaceuticals business to Knight Therapeutics Inc.
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March 14, 2025
Brooklyn Man Gets 45 Months For 'Seinfeld'-Themed Fraud
A Brooklyn federal judge sentenced a podcaster and purported cryptocurrency guru to 45 months in prison after he pled guilty to scamming investors out of more than $2 million using fictitious businesses, including one apparently named after "Seinfeld" character George Costanza's fake prospective employer Vandelay Industries.
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March 14, 2025
Washington Dept. OKs Property Conversion Tax Break Regs
Washington state's Department of Revenue adopted regulations to clarify eligibility requirements for a retail sales and use tax break for the conversion of commercial property to affordable housing authorized by a 2024 law, according to a rulemaking order.
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March 13, 2025
Fla. Condo Says Insurers Unfairly Handled Hurricane Claim
A Pensacola Beach condominium complex told a Florida federal court that it is entitled to recover attorney fees and other costs associated with what it alleged was its insurers' failures to fairly handle its claim for Hurricane Sally damage.
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March 13, 2025
Sister Sues To Enforce $28M Spanish Family Arb. Award
A sister has sued two brothers in Miami-Dade County state civil court to enforce an approximately $28 million arbitral award over assets and property in Florida, Spain and the Dominican Republic, saying they tried to cut her out of a family agreement signed by their mother.
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March 13, 2025
Housing Advocacy Groups Sue Over HUD Grant Cuts
A coalition of advocacy organizations filed a proposed class action in Massachusetts federal court Thursday against the Trump administration over the termination of dozens of grants to programs targeting housing discrimination.
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March 13, 2025
NYC Developers Already Putting City Of Yes Tweaks To Use
New York City's City of Yes for Housing Opportunity is already reshaping development following its December passage, allowing one developer to nearly double the height of a multifamily project in the Bronx, panelists at New York Build said Thursday.
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March 13, 2025
State Farm Hit With Hail Damage Coverage Suit
A married couple accused State Farm Fire and Casualty Co. in Ohio federal court of wrongfully denying coverage after their home was damaged by wind and a hailstorm.
Expert Analysis
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Proposed Mortgage Assistance Rule: Tips For Servicers
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's recent proposal to alter Regulation X mortgage servicing procedures to broadly construe requests for assistance, and stay foreclosure proceedings during loss mitigation review, will, if finalized, require mortgage servicers to make notable procedural changes to comply, says Louis Manetti at Locke Lord.
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How Multifamily Property Owners Can Plan For The EV Future
As the electric vehicle market expands, and federal and state incentives and mandates intended to promote EV use come into effect, owners and operators of multifamily residential properties should be prepared to meet the growing demand for onsite EV charging infrastructure, say Sydney Tucker and Andreas Wokutch at Frost Brown.
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Fla. Insurer-Breach Cases Split On Unrepaired Property Issue
A Florida appellate court's recent decision in Universal v. Qureshi is directly at odds with a 2020 decision from another Florida appellate court, and raises important questions for policyholders and insurers about the proper measure of damages in breach claims involving unrepaired property, say Andrea DeField and Yaniel Abreu at Hunton.
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Colorado Banking Brief: All The Notable Legal Updates In Q3
In the third quarter of 2024, Colorado's banking and financial services sector faced both regulatory updates and changes to state law due to recent federal court decisions — with consequences for local governments, mortgage lenders, state-chartered trust companies and federally chartered lenders serving Colorado consumers, says Sarah Auchterlonie at Brownstein Hyatt.
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In The CFPB Playbook: No Lazy, Hazy Days Of Summer
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is headed for a brisk fall season, on the heels of a heated summer, which included the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling that the CFPB funding structure is constitutional, and in advance of the November election, says Eamonn Moran at Holland & Knight.
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Basel Endgame Rules: A Change Is Coming
The Federal Reserve Board's recently announced recalibration of the Basel endgame proposal begins a critical chapter in the evolution of not only the safety and soundness of U.S. banks, but also of banks' abilities to lend and support American businesses and consumers, say attorneys at Davis Wright.
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Reassessing Lease Provisions To Account For ESG Initiatives
As companies seek to build ESG considerations into their businesses, it's crucial to understand how such initiatives can quickly become significant enough to compel reassessment of lease agreement provisions, and how best to modify leases accordingly, say Julian Freeman and Gabe Pitassi at Cox Castle.
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Avoid Getting Burned By Agencies' Solar Financing Spotlight
Recently coordinated reports and advisories from the U.S. Department of the Treasury, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and the Federal Trade Commission maximize the spotlight on the consumer solar financing market and highlight pitfalls for lenders to avoid in this burgeoning field, says Mercedes Tunstall at Cadwalader.
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Assessing Algorithmic Versus Generative AI Pricing Tools
A comparison of traditional algorithmic pricing models and those powered by generative artificial intelligence can help regulators and practitioners weigh the pros and cons of relying on large language models to price products or services, say Maxime Cohen at McGill University, and Tim Spittle and Jimmy Royer at Analysis Group.
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Navigating A Potpourri Of Possible Transparency Act Pitfalls
Despite the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network's continued release of guidance for complying with the Corporate Transparency Act, its interpretation remains in flux, making it important for companies to understand potentially problematic areas of ambiguity in the practical application of the law, say attorneys at Sidley.
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DOJ Must Overcome Hurdles In RealPage Antitrust Case
The U.S. Department of Justice's recent claims that RealPage's pricing software violates the Sherman Act mark a creative, and apparently contradictory, shift in the agency's approach to algorithmic price-fixing that will face several key challenges, say attorneys at Clifford Chance.
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What To Know About CFPB Stance On Confidentiality Terms
A recent circular from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau represents a growing effort across government agencies to address overbroad confidentiality agreements, and gives employers insight into the bureau's perspective on the issue as it relates to the Consumer Financial Protection Act, say Holly Williamson and Elizabeth King at Hunton.
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What's Next For Federal Preemption In Financial Services
The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency's review of its preemption interpretations and growing pressure from state regulators signal potential changes ahead for preemption in U.S. financial services, and the path forward will likely involve a reevaluation of the entire framework, say attorneys at Clark Hill.