Residential
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August 07, 2025
Housing Authority Can't Slip Ex-Worker's Retaliation Lawsuit
A North Carolina federal judge has refused to end a discrimination suit against Charlotte's public housing authority Inlivian, finding that several material disputes remain about whether an ex-worker faced retaliation after whistleblowing.
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August 07, 2025
Judge Says Wis. Tribal Roads Must Stay Open
Four Wisconsin tribal roads at the crux of a yearslong dispute over trespassing allegations must permanently remain open to the public, a federal court judge has ordered, saying there is no doubt that the town of Lac du Flambeau provided maintenance to them for decades despite an expired 50-year easement.
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August 07, 2025
Loan Servicer Inks $2M Deal With Mass. AG Over Foreclosures
A mortgage servicing firm will pay $2 million to settle allegations that it violated Massachusetts consumer protection, debt collection and foreclosure prevention laws while previously operating as a direct loan servicer, the state attorney general's office announced on Thursday.
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August 07, 2025
Texas Senate OKs Lower Voter-Approval Property Tax Rate
Texas would reduce its voter-approval property tax rate, the maximum rate a local government may adopt without voter approval, for large taxing units under a bill passed by the state Senate.
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August 07, 2025
Smoke Taint Evidence Complicates Recovery For Wineries
Recent widespread fires in and around California's wine-producing regions, which produce a vast majority of the nation's wine, have spurred concern from policyholders and public officials over how wineries can seek coverage for smoke tainting their products. Victor Jacobellis, an insurance recovery attorney at Merlin Law Group, spoke to Law360 about the implications of smoke taint as well as a Senate bill that could provide a baseline standard for measuring it.
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August 07, 2025
Trump Greenlights Private Equity, Crypto 401(k) Investing
President Donald Trump signed an executive order Thursday that aims to make it easier for retirement plans to invest in a wider range of assets, including cryptocurrency, private equity and real estate.
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August 07, 2025
Housing Advocates Say Opponents Stole Name For PAC
A housing advocacy nonprofit in the Boston suburb of Newton say that opponents of a zoning measure appropriated its name, "Newton for Everyone," for a political action committee to fund candidates opposing the plan, violating its trademark rights and other laws.
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August 07, 2025
Texas Bill Seeks Two-Thirds Vote To Exceed Max Tax Rate
Texas would require two-thirds approval from voters to allow local taxing entities to increase property taxes beyond a maximum rate permitted by law without a vote under a bill introduced in the state House of Representatives.
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August 07, 2025
NY AG Says Landlord Overcharged City Subsidized Tenants
The New York Attorney General's Office has filed a lawsuit in state court against a New York City landlord who it says overcharged rent-stabilized tenants receiving subsidies and then sued some of the tenants for nonpayment.
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August 07, 2025
Former LVMH Atty Joins Realtors Association's Legal Team
The National Association of Realtors announced Aug. 7 it has appointed as its vice president of litigation and associate general counsel the former vice president of legal affairs and head of litigation at LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton Inc.
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August 07, 2025
NC Biz Court Bulletin: Divorce Dust-Ups And Judicial Rebukes
Litigation in the North Carolina Business Court is heating up this summer with new complaints centered on fears a former state politician's divorce proceedings will impede his companies' operations and accusations that a climate technology company has failed to pay out a former engineer's ownership interest.
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August 06, 2025
Under Pressure, Higher Ed Leans On Real Estate
As institutions of higher education contend with declining enrollment and federal funding cuts, some are finding creative ways to monetize their real estate, which comes with important legal considerations, according to attorneys.
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August 06, 2025
Aimco Agrees To $740M New England Portfolio Sale
Real estate investment trust Apartment Investment and Management Co. will get paid $740 million for selling off a 2,719-unit portfolio of five New England apartment properties to an affiliate of real estate investor and manager Harbor Group International LLC, Aimco announced Wednesday.
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August 06, 2025
Ex-Homeowners Seek OK On Tax Foreclosure Suit Deal
A proposed class of former property owners asked a Michigan federal judge Tuesday to give initial support to a settlement with several counties that would allow the ex-homeowners to receive the surplus profits they allege the county treasurers made selling their tax-delinquent properties.
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August 06, 2025
Wells Fargo Beats Cert. Bid In Mortgage Racial Bias Suit
Mortgage applicants accusing Wells Fargo of discriminating against borrowers from racial minorities by charging them higher interest rates have been denied class certification, with a California federal court ruling they have failed to show sufficient commonality among their claims.
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August 06, 2025
Colo. Justices Asked To Rule On Pro Se Appeal Authority
A plumbing company and two Colorado homeowners asked the state's Supreme Court on Tuesday to clarify that the Colorado Court of Appeals has jurisdiction to prevent litigants from making "frivolous" pro se filings, contrary to a prior ruling from the court.
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August 06, 2025
Big CRE Brokers Report Stubborn Optimism In Q2 Results
With most of commercial real estate's major brokers posting leasing gains and capital markets closings, executives said recently in announcing second-quarter earnings that they expect activity to continue as clients grow jaded to drama from recent trade disputes.
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August 06, 2025
AmeriFirst Financial Floats Global Deal In Ch. 11 Case
Bankrupt mortgage service provider AmeriFirst Financial Inc. proposed a global settlement of disputes in its Chapter 11 case that will break a months-long roadblock to resolution of its bankruptcy proceedings.
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August 06, 2025
NYC Council Approves Manhattan Mixed-Use Rezoning Plan
A rezoning plan that aims to build more than 9,500 homes in midtown Manhattan was approved Wednesday by the New York City Council's Committee on Land Use and a related subcommittee.
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August 06, 2025
Rising Star: DLA Piper's Katherine Jahnke Dale
Katherine Jahnke Dale of DLA Piper has been a key adviser on a transformation of Chicago's Fulton Market neighborhood, along with projects that include a $7 billion redevelopment near the United Center and a purchase agreement for a former steel plant now envisioned as a technology hub, earning her a spot among the real estate law practitioners under age 40 honored by Law360 as Rising Stars.
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August 06, 2025
Inland Empire Calif. Multifamily Complex Sells For $148M
Broker Marcus & Millichap said it has arranged the $148.4 million sale of a 328-unit multifamily property in Southern California's Inland Empire area from its developer to a New York real estate firm.
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August 05, 2025
New Developer To Build $1.5B Resi Towers In Jersey City
A new real estate developer stacked with former Brookfield Properties and Croesus Group executives unveiled the company's inaugural project on Tuesday — a $1.5 billion mixed-use project slated for construction in Jersey City, New Jersey.
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August 05, 2025
FHFA Doubles Freddie, Fannie LIHTC Investment Caps
The Federal Housing Finance Agency will raise Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae's investment caps for Low Income Housing Tax Credit-qualifying properties from $1 billion for each government-sponsored enterprise to $2 billion annually, the agency announced on Tuesday.
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August 05, 2025
Court Trims Most Of Contractors' Suit Against NJ Prosecutors
A New Jersey federal judge has trimmed the majority of claims brought against the Ocean County Prosecutor's Office by two contractors alleging they were illegally targeted in a criminal investigation over a business rivalry with an assistant prosecutor, ruling that the agency is protected by sovereign immunity.
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August 05, 2025
Pa. Bill Seeks 5-Year Reassessment Cycle For Property Taxes
Pennsylvania would establish a schedule that would require counties to reassess property for tax purposes every five years under a bill introduced in the state Senate.
Expert Analysis
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11th Circ. Ruling May Foreshadow Ch. 15 Clashes
The Eleventh Circuit's recent decision in In re: Talal Qais Abdulmunem Al Zawawi has introduced a split from the Second Circuit regarding whether debtors in foreign proceedings must have a domicile, calling attention to the understudied nature of Chapter 15 of the Bankruptcy Code, say attorneys at Cleary.
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A Look At New IRS Rules For Domestically Controlled REITs
The Internal Revenue Services' finalized Treasury Regulations addressing whether real estate investment trusts qualify as domestically controlled adopt the basic structure of previous proposals, but certain new and modified rules may mitigate the regulations' impact, say attorneys at Simpson Thacher.
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What CRA Deadline Means For Biden Admin. Rulemaking
With the 2024 election rapidly approaching, the Biden administration must race to finalize proposed agency actions within the next few weeks, or be exposed to the chance that the following Congress will overturn the rules under the Congressional Review Act, say attorneys at Covington.
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How New Rule Would Change CFIUS Enforcement Powers
Before the May 15 comment deadline, companies may want to weigh in on proposed regulatory changes to enforcement and mitigation tools at the disposal of the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, including broadened subpoena powers, difficult new mitigation timelines and higher maximum penalties, say attorneys at Venable.
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2nd Circ. Eminent Domain Ruling Empowers Municipalities
The Second Circuit's recent decision in Brinkmann v. Town of Southold, finding that a pretextual taking does not violate the Fifth Amendment's takings clause, gives municipalities a powerful tool with which to block unwanted development projects, even in bad faith, say James O'Connor and Benjamin Sugarman at Phillips Lytle.
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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.