Residential
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April 10, 2025
Rocket Mortgage Says Feds Can't Scuttle Appraisal Suit
Rocket Mortgage LLC is fighting back against the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's bid to dismiss the mortgage lender's suit, arguing in Colorado federal court that HUD is unlawfully forcing the company to change a residential appraisal that was allegedly discriminatory.
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April 09, 2025
Wave Of Algorithmic Pricing Laws Crashes Over Rental Market
Lawmakers at all levels of government are seeking to ban the use of algorithmic pricing tools in the rental housing market and beyond. As policies multiply, attorneys point to the risk of making significant changes to antitrust law before the legal standard is resolved.
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April 09, 2025
Fla. Investigator Sued Over Tossed Insurance Fraud Cases
A Florida man accused of home insurance fraud and who later had his cases tossed by for lack of evidence has sued the criminal investigator who referred the charges, alleging a false set of facts that were negligently provided to state attorneys led to his malicious prosecution.
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April 09, 2025
Dechert Leaders Talk Commercial Mortgage-Backed Securities
After a few slow years, activity in the commercial mortgage-backed securities market has roared back to life, as investors, lenders and borrowers get comfortable with the new normal and find ways to get deals done, according to Laura Swihart and Stewart McQueen of Dechert LLP.
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April 09, 2025
NJ Will Pay $15M To Settle County's Casino Tax Break Lawsuit
Atlantic County and the state of New Jersey have reached a $15 million settlement over a dispute related to a property tax break program for casinos that the county argued unconstitutionally shifted the tax burden to its municipalities.
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April 09, 2025
LA City Atty Cops To Altering Docs, Urges Sanctions Restraint
The Los Angeles City Attorney's Office has admitted to destroying and modifying evidence tied to homeless residents' lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of encampment sweeps, while telling a California federal court the punitive sanctions those residents seek are too harsh a remedy.
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April 09, 2025
Ill. Real Estate Broker Gets 4 Years For $3M Investment Scam
A Chicago real estate broker has been sentenced to more than four years in prison after pleading guilty last year to allegations he duped clients into investing millions of dollars in properties that did not exist and then used the investors' funds for personal expenses, federal prosecutors announced Wednesday.
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April 09, 2025
Banks Back Private Credit's Rise. Should Borrowers Care?
Banks provide back-financing in most real estate private credit deals and often have a say on what happens when a loan goes bad, but attorneys have different opinions about whether borrowers should be tuned into what's going on with their debt behind the scenes.
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April 09, 2025
2 Firms Advise $100M Securitization After Texas Portfolio Loan
Two firms said Wednesday that they advised a $100 million securitization for Third Coast Bank after the Texas-based lender originated a $200 million loan for the purchase of 11 master-planned communities underway in Houston, Dallas and Austin.
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April 09, 2025
Game On As AppWork Seeks Edge In Multifamily Maintenance
In a crowded field of technology products aiming to improve maintenance operations for multifamily properties, the platform AppWork is looking to stand out with greater focus on the technicians, including through an innovative gamification approach.
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April 09, 2025
Mortgage Co. Can't Toss 401(k) Mismanagement Suit
A North Carolina federal judge refused to toss a proposed class action against Republic Mortgage Insurance Co. from an ex-worker who alleged his 401(k) plan was mismanaged, finding allegations were backed up with enough evidence to proceed to discovery.
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April 09, 2025
Invictus Finalizes $155M Loan For Miami Condos
Invictus Real Estate Partners and Integritas Capital have closed on a $155 million construction loan for a Miami condominium project, according to a Wednesday announcement.
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April 09, 2025
Holders Of Section 8 Vouchers Sue Housing Agency Over Rent
A proposed class of people who receive Section 8 vouchers from the New York City Housing Authority are accusing the agency of unlawfully allowing certain landlords to raise their rents so high that their tenants risk being evicted.
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April 09, 2025
Colo. Landlord Urges Ax Of Neglect, Junk Fee Class Action
A multifamily landlord urged a Colorado federal court to dismiss proposed class action claims alleging it allowed maintenance and safety violations to pile up and charged residents surprise junk fees, alleging differences between tenants doom a class action approach.
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April 08, 2025
Trump's Ƶ Pick Could Be Confirmed By May, Scott Says
Senate Banking Committee Chairman Tim Scott, R-S.C., said Tuesday that a final confirmation vote could be just weeks away for Jonathan McKernan, who is President Donald Trump's nominee to head up the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
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April 08, 2025
Expedia's Cuban Island Bookings Were Illegal, Jurors Told
A Cuban-American man who says he is the rightful heir to an island off the coast of Cuba that was seized by the Communist government told jurors Tuesday that Expedia illegally trafficked in stolen property by offering reservations for resorts on the island through its website.
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April 08, 2025
NY High Court Probes If State Emissions Cap Preempts City's
New York's highest court questioned Tuesday why the state Legislature did not explicitly state that it meant for a 2019 climate law to preempt a law regulating greenhouse gas emissions that New York City passed earlier that year, amid property owners' challenge to the city law.
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April 08, 2025
Cushman Atty Transitions In-House As Kidder Mathews GC
Kidder Mathews announced Monday that it has hired Edward Castro, a 30-year corporate attorney with experience in commercial real estate law, as general counsel advising the company and its 19 West Coast offices.
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April 08, 2025
Contractor's Win In Insurance Fraud Suit Upheld By 6th Circ.
A Sixth Circuit panel affirmed Continental Building Co.'s defeat of a lawsuit that leveled insurance fraud claims at the general contractor, finding a subcontractor failed to trace its losses to Continental's claim that it defaulted on a contract.
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April 08, 2025
9th Circ. Wary Of Judge Becoming 'King' Of Veteran Housing
The Ninth Circuit appeared skeptical Tuesday of a California federal court's decision to establish control over a U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs facility due to inadequate homelessness measures, with one panel member expressing concern the district judge gave himself the overbroad powers of a "king."
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April 08, 2025
100 Fannie Mae Workers Fired Over 'Unethical Conduct'
More than 100 Fannie Mae employees have been let go, the government-sponsored enterprise and the U.S. Federal Housing Finance Agency announced Tuesday, citing "unethical conduct" including fraud as the reason for the terminations.
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April 08, 2025
Battery Park City Authority Hires Ex-CBRE Atty As GC
Former CBRE legal counsel and managing director Elaine Kleinberg has been hired as general counsel for New York state's Battery Park City Authority, the public benefit corporation announced Monday.
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April 08, 2025
No Sanctions For DC In RealPage Antitrust Case
The District of Columbia and its attorneys at Cohen Milstein have escaped a sanctions bid in the district's rental pricing case against RealPage Inc. and local landlords, as one of the building owners also had a motion to dismiss the claims against it denied.
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April 08, 2025
Berkshire Unit Looks To Transfer Commission Fee Claims
Berkshire Hathaway Energy Company is pushing a Missouri federal court to transfer a proposed class action accusing it and other companies of conspiring to artificially inflate buyer-broker commission fees, arguing the claims should be litigated in Iowa federal court instead.
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April 08, 2025
Starwood Pays $800M For 11 Master-Planned Communities
A joint venture between affiliates of Starwood Capital Group and Starwood Land purchased 11 master-planned communities across the Dallas, Houston and Austin, Texas, submarkets for $800 million from Hines, the buyers announced.
Expert Analysis
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Texas Insurance Ruling Could Restore Finality To Appraisal
The Texas Supreme Court's decision in Rodriguez v. Safeco, determining that full payment of an appraisal award precludes recovery of attorney fees, indicates a potential return to an era in which timely payment undoubtedly disposes of all possible policyholder claims, says Karl Schulz at Cozen O'Connor.
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Contractors Need Protection From NJ Homeowner Protections
A recently passed New Jersey law, combined with the state's Consumer Fraud Act, is intended to protect innocent homeowners, but legislative action must be taken to prevent homeowners from abusing the law to avoid paying hardworking contractors, say Gary Strong and Madison Calkins at Gfeller Laurie.
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NY Shouldn't Pair 421-a Restoration And Good Cause Eviction
The good cause eviction system of rent control should not be imposed in New York, nor should its legislation be tied to renewal of the 421-a tax abatement program, which New York City desperately needs, says Alexander Lycoyannis at Holland & Knight.
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Setting The Stage For High Court BofA Escrow Interest Case
Dori Bailey and Curtis Johnson at Bond Schoeneck examine relevant legislation and case law dating back 200 years ahead of oral arguments at the U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday in Cantero v. Bank of America, the outcome of which will determine whether state laws governing mortgage escrow accounts can be enforced against national banks.
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DC's Housing Tax Break Proposal: What's In It, What's Missing
Proposed Washington, D.C., rules implementing the Housing in Downtown Tax Abatement program — for commercial property owners who convert properties into residential housing — thoroughly explain the process for submitting an application, but do not provide sufficient detail regarding the actual dollar value of the abatements, says Daniel Miktus at Akerman.
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Assessing The Future Of Colorado's Economic Loss Rule
The Colorado Supreme Court's decision to review a state appellate court's ruling in Mid-Century Insurance Co. v. HIVE Construction will significantly influence the future of Colorado's economic loss rule, with high stakes for the cost of doing business in the state, says David Holman at Crisham & Holman.
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How Recent Laws Affect Foreign Purchase Of US Real Estate
Early diligence is imperative for U.S. real estate transactions involving foreign actors, including analysis of federal and state foreign investment laws implicated by the transaction, depending on the property's nature and location, the parties' citizenship, and the transaction's structure, say Massimo D’Angelo and Anthony Rapa at Blank Rome.
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What Shareholder Approval Rule Changes Mean For Cos.
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission recently approved proposed rule changes to shareholder requirements by the New York Stock Exchange, an approval that will benefit listed companies in many ways, including by making it easier to raise capital from passive investors, say attorneys at Baker Botts.
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High Court Case Could Reshape Local Development Fees
If last month's oral arguments are any indication of how the U.S. Supreme Court will rule in Sheetz v. County of El Dorado, it's unlikely the justices will hold that the essential nexus and rough proportionality tests under the cases of Nollan, Dolan and Koontz apply to legislative exactions, but a sweeping decision would still be the natural progression in the line of cases giving property owners takings claims, says Phillip Babich at Reed Smith.
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White Collar Plea Deals Are Rarely 'Knowing' And 'Voluntary'
Because prosecutors are not required to disclose exculpatory evidence during plea negotiations, white collar defendants often enter into plea deals that don’t meet the U.S. Supreme Court’s “knowing” and “voluntary” standard for trials — but individual courts and solutions judges could rectify the issue, says Sara Kropf at Kropf Moseley.
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How 2 Ƶ Advisory Opinions Affect Reporting Agencies
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau issued two advisory opinions last month that demonstrate a continued commitment to address inaccuracies in background check reports and consumer file disclosures through broad interpretation of the Fair Credit Reporting Act, expanding on a coordinated federal agency effort, say attorneys at Cooley.
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Algorithmic Pricing Programs Caught In Antitrust Crosshairs
The Justice Department's investigation into software company RealPage follows a host of federal antitrust cases alleging that property owners and casino hotel operators use the same proprietary software programs to fix and maintain pricing, which means algorithmic pricing programs are considered a key price-fixing tool in the digital age, say attorneys at Ballard Spahr.
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A Welcome Turning Of The Page For Residential Real Estate
After one of the most challenging years on record for residential real estate, 2024 will likely be a time of transition to a stabler business climate, as sellers lose some of their excess bargaining power and the pace of sales picks up, says Marty Green at Polunsky Beitel.