Residential
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April 14, 2025
NYC Real Estate Week In Review
Simpson Thacher and Seyfarth Shaw are among the law firms that landed work on the largest New York City real estate transactions that hit public records last week, a period that saw sizable transactions across three boroughs.
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April 14, 2025
Ala. High Court Says Condo Incorrectly Classified
An Alabama condominium unit owned by a limited liability company was put in the wrong property class by a trial court, the state's Supreme Court said, because it was not exclusively used as a dwelling by the LLC.
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April 11, 2025
Greystar Says Colo. Tenants 'Manufactured' Consolidation Bid
Greystar told a Colorado panel Friday that tenants seeking to consolidate four putative class actions alleging the property management company charged deceptive fees "manufactured the multidistrict nature" of the litigation, arguing the suits were filed by the same attorneys who could have picked one venue in the first place.
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April 11, 2025
Seattle Port Says Housing Project 'Poor Fit' In Industrial Core
The Port of Seattle has gone to court to block a rezoning ordinance that allows nearly 1,000 new residential units near the city's sports stadiums, a project the port said threatens to snarl the nearby movement of cargo from a seaport that is a key driver of the region's economy.
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April 11, 2025
Ala. Justices Nix Owner Property Tax Break For LLC
An Alabama condominium was correctly reclassified for property tax purposes because the couple who own the property had transferred ownership to a limited liability company, the state Supreme Court ruled Friday.
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April 11, 2025
Landlords Look To Exit DOJ's RealPage Antitrust Case
The residential building owners accused by federal and state enforcers of violating antitrust law through their use of RealPage's software to set rental prices told a North Carolina federal court it's not against the law for companies to use the same software.
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April 11, 2025
Judge Won't Exit Broker Fee Case Over Donations To Wife
A Missouri federal judge said a real estate firm's bid to boot him from a class action over commission fees may have been driven more by litigation strategy than ethical concerns over campaign contributions made by opposing counsel to his wife, a Kansas City councilwoman.
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April 11, 2025
Mich. Top Court Won't Hear Appeal Of $217M Dam Repair Tax
The Michigan Supreme Court on Friday said it wouldn't hear an appeal from a host of homeowners challenging a $217 million special assessment to fund the repair of dams and restoration of lakes after 2020 floods that devastated mid-Michigan counties.
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April 11, 2025
Developer, Hedge Fund Settle Colo. Housing Project Dispute
A Colorado state judge permanently dismissed a real estate developer's suit alleging a hedge fund owner owed hundreds of thousands of dollars related to a Denver commercial housing project and misused grant funds, after the parties reached a settlement.
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April 11, 2025
Intapp Acquires Real Estate Software Co. TermSheet
Professional services company Intapp Inc. announced on Friday its first acquisition of the year, picking up TermSheet, a provider of software for real estate teams.
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April 10, 2025
Calif. FAIR Plan Denying Wildfire Smoke Coverage, Suit Says
California's "insurer of last resort" has been illegally underpaying or denying smoke damage coverage to homeowners affected by January's Los Angeles-area wildfires, leaving property owners with uninhabitable homes and at risk of serious health issues related to toxin exposure, homeowners alleged in a complaint filed Thursday in California state court.
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April 10, 2025
DeSantis Urges Relief For Condo Owners Amid New Fla. Laws
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis renewed calls for state lawmakers to provide condominium owners relief from financial burdens resulting from new state requirements, while slamming a proposal in the state House of Representatives that he said favors developers seeking to buy out associations.
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April 10, 2025
Parish Must Face Discriminatory Land Use Suit, 5th Circ. Says
A Fifth Circuit panel has revived a lawsuit accusing a Louisiana parish of steering hazardous industrial facilities into Black communities, holding that claims from a church and two resident groups in an area dubbed Cancer Alley were timely and alleged concrete injuries.
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April 10, 2025
Reps Intro Bill To Cap Conservation Easement Protections
Two Republican congresswomen have introduced a bill that would put a 30-year cap on conservation easements entered into by the U.S. Department of the Interior, saying the agreements shouldn't be allowed to hamstring future generations of landowners.
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April 10, 2025
Arbitration Stands In La. Condo's Hurricane Damage Case
A Louisiana federal judge has refused to reconsider his order compelling arbitration of a $4.9 million insurance claim over Hurricane Ida damage to a New Orleans condominium complex in light of new guidance from the state's top court.
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April 10, 2025
Terra, Fortune Team Up For $205M Fla. Village Buy
Developers Terra and Fortune International Group have purchased a former oceanfront resort property in the village of Key Biscayne, Florida, for $205 million, and they plan on developing a 56-unit "ultra-luxury" condominium building there, according to a Thursday announcement.
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April 10, 2025
Del. Justices Urged To Revive Gellert Seitz Malpractice Case
A homebuilder is asking the Delaware Supreme Court to undo Gellert Seitz Busenkell & Brown LLC's win in a legal malpractice case over damages the builder says it suffered due to negligent representation in loan restructuring disputes with a bank.
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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.Â
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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.
Expert Analysis
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Unpacking FinCEN's Proposed Real Estate Transaction Rule
Phil Jelsma and Ulrick Matsunaga at Crosbie Gliner take a close look at the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network's recently proposed rulemaking — which mandates new disclosures for professionals involved in all-cash real estate deals — and discuss best next steps for the broad range of businesses that could be affected.
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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 ĂŰĚŇĘÓƵ 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.