Residential
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January 14, 2025
Experts See Long Road To LA Rebuild Despite CEQA Freeze
With the wildfires continuing in Los Angeles, Mayor Karen Bass and California Gov. Gavin Newsom moved to suspend environmental and other permitting rules in an early step to ease the regulatory burden once rebuilding starts from the disaster, expected to be one of the costliest in U.S. history.
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January 14, 2025
Ackman Slams Sullivan In $1.5B Howard Hughes Buyout Offer
Pershing Square Holdings founder Bill Ackman has leaked a $1.5 billion proposal on social media that calls for merging his hedge fund and real estate developer Howard Hughes Holdings, and appeared to blame Sullivan & Cromwell LLP in a post for the informal release before he walked back that comment.
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January 14, 2025
Resort Developer Asks To Wind Up Chinese Co. In Bahamas
The developer of the Baha Mar resort in the Bahamas filed a petition Tuesday to liquidate a Chinese-owned construction firm that was hit with a $1.6 billion judgment last year by a New York court over its fraud tied to the construction of the resort project.
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January 14, 2025
Retroactive Foreclosure Rule Bars Suit, Mich. County Says
A Michigan county has urged a federal judge to toss a proposed class action alleging that it kept surplus proceeds from tax-foreclosed home sales, saying the homeowner bringing the claims hasn't yet used the state's process for securing the proceeds.
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January 14, 2025
DOI Greenlights Calif. Tribe's $700M Casino, Housing Project
A California tribe is set to build a $700 million project near the San Francisco Bay area that is proposed to include a casino and resort, two dozen homes and a biological preserve, following years of litigation and controversy surrounding the endeavor.
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January 14, 2025
Mo. House Bill Seeks Deduction For Property Tax Payments
Missouri would allow taxpayers to claim an income tax deduction for property tax payments under a bill introduced in the state House of Representatives.
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January 14, 2025
Buchanan Ingersoll Grows In Fla. With Nason Yeager RE Atty
Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney PC has strengthened its real estate capabilities in Tampa, Florida, with the addition of a Nason Yeager Gerson Harris & Fumero PA attorney.
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January 13, 2025
On Cross, Madigan Says He Merely Helped Job-Seekers
Former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan distanced himself Monday from political allies who prosecutors say bribed him for jobs and other benefits, saying his recommendations were just that, and that he thought he was effective in shutting down a former alderman's quid pro quo suggestion.
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January 13, 2025
SoCal Edison Hit With Flurry Of Suits Over Eaton Fire
Southern California Edison was hit with multiple lawsuits by Altadena fire victims in California state court Monday, accusing the investor-owned public utility of negligently managing power-line equipment that on Jan. 7 purportedly sparked the Eaton Fire, which has already damaged over 7,000 structures and killed at least 16 individuals.
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January 13, 2025
Manufactured Housing Groups Seek Early Win Against DOE
Two manufactured-housing trade groups pushed for an early win in Texas federal court in their suit against the U.S. Department of Energy over an energy conservation rule for manufactured housing that the groups claimed failed to hit "a rational balance between energy conservation and affordable housing."
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January 13, 2025
Ind. Senate Bill Seeks To Cap Local Property Tax Hikes
Indiana would not allow a political subdivision to increase its property tax levy if there is not an increase in the subdivision's assessed value under a bill introduced Monday in the state Senate.
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January 13, 2025
NYC Real Estate Week In Review
Greenberg Traurig LLP and DLA Piper are among the law firms that handled the largest real estate deals to hit New York City public records last week, a period that saw a number of transactions that signed and closed near the year-end deadline become public.
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January 13, 2025
Ky. House Bill Seeks Referendum Toward Axing Property Tax
Kentucky would put forward a referendum asking voters to give lawmakers the power to eliminate the state's property tax by exempting all property classes from tax under a bill introduced in the state House of Representatives.
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January 13, 2025
4 Firms Guide $445M Deal To Renovate Harlem Public Housing
The New York City Housing Authority wrapped up $445 million in financing that will go toward renovating the public housing authority's Manhattanville Houses residential complex in transactions worked on by Sidley Austin, Ballard Spahr, Nixon Peabody and Buchalter PC.
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January 13, 2025
Kramer Levin Elevates Partner To Land-Use Co-chair
New York City law firm Kramer Levin Naftalis & Frankel LLP has promoted James P. Power to co-chair of its land use department. The leadership update comes at a time of dramatic changes to land use in New York City, and Power said he expects there to be a lot of development activity.
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January 13, 2025
Justices Want Solicitor General To Weigh Alaska Land Feud
The U.S. Supreme Court asked the solicitor general Monday to weigh in on a review petition filed by an Alaskan property owner embroiled in a land feud with his neighbor.
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January 13, 2025
BMO Unit To Pay SEC $40M Over Bond Desk Supervision
BMO Capital Markets has agreed to pay $40 million to end a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission investigation into the broker-dealer's supervision of its mortgage-back bonds salespeople, with the SEC saying Monday that the brokerage firm failed to stop employees from providing inaccurate information about the bonds.
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January 13, 2025
Justices Won't Hear Bid To Quash Antitrust Probe Of Realtors
The Supreme Court refused on Monday to review the National Association of Realtors' bid to block a reopened U.S. Department of Justice antitrust investigation of the trade group's rules.
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January 10, 2025
DOJ Sues Airbnb After Host Denied Rental To Mom With Kids
The U.S. Department of Justice on Friday accused Airbnb of violating the Fair Housing Act over allegations that one of the company's hosts refused to rent an apartment in Alabama to a mother because she had three school-aged children.
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January 10, 2025
NJ Justices Say Private Lienholders Can Be State Actors
The Garden State's highest court has ruled that a previous version of the New Jersey Tax Sale Law is unconstitutional, pointing to U.S. Supreme Court precedent in concluding that private lienholders are not entitled to surplus equity in property that exceeds the debt owed.
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January 10, 2025
NC Co. Sues State, Duke Energy Over Lake Bed Compensation
A North Carolina company is suing the state and Duke Energy Carolinas LLC in North Carolina federal court for compensation, after a state high court took away its lake bed parcel following a land dispute with the energy company and other parties.
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January 10, 2025
Fair Housing Group Accuses Landlord Of Disability Bias
An Ohio-based fair housing organization filed a federal suit against a rental owner and operator in a suburb of Dayton, Ohio, on Friday, alleging a fair housing tester posing as a renter had been told they would have to pay an additional fee for a service animal.
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January 10, 2025
Ga. Solar Farm Damages Fight Settles Ahead Of April Trial
A Georgia couple has reached a settlement with the owners and developers of a neighboring solar farm and their contractor just two months after a judge ordered that a second trial was needed to determine damages in the multimillion-dollar case.
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January 10, 2025
Property Plays: Palladius, Tishman Speyer, Stockdale
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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January 10, 2025
LA Fire Insured Damages Could Top $20B, JP Morgan Says
Insured losses from wildfires still blazing through Los Angeles could exceed $20 billion, J.P. Morgan analysts said in client notes, a steep increase from the more than $12 billion California insurers incurred from the next costliest spate of wildfires in 2018.
Expert Sees Land Use, Building Codes As Key To LA Rebuild
Kimiko Barrett, senior wildfire policy analyst at nonpartisan research organization Headwaters Economics, told Law360 Real Estate Authority that because California has been a leader in crafting wildfire policy, the state's decision-makers are now venturing into new territory to assess the successes and failures of those innovative measures.
Newsom Waives Permits, Enviro Rules To Rebuild LA Faster
California Gov. Gavin Newsom in an executive order Sunday suspended state environmental rules and permitting in coastal areas, a move intended to help rebuild from wildfires causing extensive destruction in Los Angeles.
REITs Warned To Eye Regulatory Response To LA Fires
Investment bank Piper Sandler Cos. is warning of regulatory fallout from the still-blazing Los Angeles fires that may harm real estate investment trusts, adding it expects to see REITs voluntarily take steps to ameliorate pressure on renters.
Expert Analysis
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What's Ahead As Transparency Act Comes To A Crossroads
Synthesizing the contrasting federal district and appellate court rulings on the Corporate Transparency Act’s validity reveals several main areas of debate that will likely remain at issue as challenges to the law continue winding through the courts, say attorneys at Farella Braun.
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Ohio Banking Brief: All The Notable Legal Updates In Q4
Ohio's banking and financial services sector saw several significant developments in the fourth quarter of 2024, including a landmark Uniform Commercial Code ruling, adjustments to the state's Homebuyer Plus Program and the launch of the state's first women-led bank, says attorney Alex Durst.
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In The CFPB Playbook: A Sprint To The Finish Line
The fourth quarter of 2024 was an impressive demonstration of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's ability to regulate, enforce and supervise, even on borrowed time following the election results, and we should expect the current bureau to run nonstop until Jan. 20, say attorneys at Covington.
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The 6 Most Significant FCRA Litigation Developments Of 2024
From a key sovereign immunity decision at the U.S. Supreme Court to a ruling on creditworthiness out of the Seventh Circuit, several important Fair Credit Reporting Act cases wound their way through the courts in 2024, each offering takeaways for both plaintiffs and defendants, say attorneys at Shipkevich.
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10 Noteworthy CFPB Developments From 2024
In a banner year for consumer finance regulation, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau made significant strides in its efforts to rein in Big Tech and nonbank financial firms, including via rules regarding open banking, credit card late fees, and buy now, pay later products, say attorneys at Wiley.
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The Story Of 2024's Biggest Bank Regs, And Their Fate In 2025
U.S. federal bank regulators were very active in 2024 with initiatives ranging from antitrust and capital to proposals regarding controlling shareholders and incentive-based compensation, but many regulations face an uncertain future under the new administration, say attorneys at Latham.
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Conducting A 'Reasonably Expected Market Area' Analysis
Regardless of whether the incoming administration scales back on redlining examinations and investigations, lenders should take steps to understand how regulators define "reasonably expected market areas," and how to conduct analyses of such areas, say attorneys at Mitchell Sandler.
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Adapting Force Majeure To A Predictably Unpredictable World
As the climate and political landscapes get more complicated, force majeure provisions will likely be triggered increasingly often, demanding an evolving understanding of when events and their impacts are truly unforeseeable, say attorneys at Nossaman.
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Impact Of Corporate Transparency Act Ambiguity On Banks
Even though banks generally needn't file beneficial ownership information reports, financial institutions must continue to monitor the status of the Corporate Transparency Act and understand its requirements in case the nationwide injunction that was issued against the CTA earlier this month is overturned, say attorneys at Armstrong Teasdale.
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Strategies For Home Equity Investment Providers In 2025
The home equity investment product market is thriving even amid consumer concerns, regulatory scrutiny and conflicting court decisions, setting the stage for a promising but challenging environment for providers in 2025, say attorneys at Sheppard Mullin.
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What Interest Rate Cuts Mean For Housing Markets
The Federal Reserve's recent reduction of interest rates may provide limited immediate relief for real estate sectors, but offers potential opportunities for commercial real estate investors and construction firms, which now face an environment ripe for new projects, say attorneys at Cozen O'Connor.
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California Supreme Court's Year In Review
Attorneys at Horvitz & Levy highlight notable decisions on major questions from the California Supreme Court's last term, including voter initiatives, hostile work environment and the economic loss rule.
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How CFIUS' Updated Framework Affects Global Investors
The recent change to the monitoring and enforcement regulations governing the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States will broaden administrative practices around nonnotified transaction investigations, increase the scope of information demands from the committee and accelerate its ability to impose mitigation on parties, say attorneys at Simpson Thacher.