Residential

  • October 17, 2024

    9th Circ. Upholds Wash. City's Anti-Car Camping Law

    A Ninth Circuit panel has rebuffed a veteran's challenge to a Washington city's ordinance that he says displaced residents living in their vehicles, ruling Thursday that the ordinance does not violate his purported right to intrastate travel, which the judges said may not exist to begin with.

  • October 17, 2024

    Pa. Appeals Court Stops Damaged Philly Building's Demolition

    A Pennsylvania appellate court has tossed a lower court order that required the demolition of a seven-story Philadelphia apartment building that had a partial façade collapse in September 2022.

  • October 17, 2024

    Milton Brings High Insured Costs, Familiar Pressures To Fla.

    While Florida avoided a worst case scenario following Hurricane Milton's landfall, insurance experts say that the high cost of the storm will add familiar pressures to a Florida homeowners insurance market that has been battered for years by storms.

  • October 17, 2024

    NJ Atty Disbarred On Charges Of Stealing Over $600K

    A New Jersey attorney accused of stealing over $600,000 from several clients through fraudulent real estate transactions over the last 10 years has been disbarred in New Jersey state and federal court.

  • October 17, 2024

    5th Circ. Tosses Policyholder's Hurricane Coverage Suit

    The Fifth Circuit affirmed the dismissal of a National Flood Insurance Program policyholder's suit seeking coverage for at least $100,000 in hurricane damage to a Mississippi beachfront property, saying it was time-barred and failed to allege any extracontractual duties.

  • October 16, 2024

    NYC Condo Building's Revised Ch. 11 Plan Gets Confirmation

    A New York federal bankruptcy judge has confirmed the owner of a Manhattan condominium complex's revised Chapter 11 plan, signing off on the planned restructuring after initially sending it back for revisions in late September, according to a notice filed Wednesday.

  • October 16, 2024

    Hurricanes Stir Questions On 'Acts Of God' In Contracts

    The predictability of extreme weather events is bringing renewed attention to force majeure clauses in real estate contracts and whether incidents like a pair of devastating hurricanes in Florida can really be classified as unforeseeable "act of God" events.

  • October 16, 2024

    Real Estate Lenders Are Borrowers In Debt Funds' Rise

    Private credit may have stepped in to fill the void when banks pulled back significantly from lending to commercial property owners, but that doesn't mean banks have left the picture.

  • October 16, 2024

    11th Circ. Says No Claim For Taking Until Permit Is Denied

    The Eleventh Circuit ruled Wednesday that Fane Lozman — houseboat owner, activist and thorn in the side of the Riviera Beach, Florida, city government — cannot yet bring his claims for a regulatory taking of his property against the city because he has not applied for a permit or zoning variance.

  • October 16, 2024

    Feds Deny That West Bank Sanctions Hamper Free Speech

    The Biden administration rebuffed claims by a group of U.S. and Israeli citizens that a sanctions program covering extremist actors in the Israeli-occupied West Bank restricts their free speech rights, saying that merely opposing U.S. foreign policy goals isn't a sanctionable offense.

  • October 16, 2024

    NC Panel Won't Reignite Duke Energy Case Over House Fire

    A split panel of the North Carolina Court of Appeals declined to revive a liability suit brought against Duke Energy Corp. and a contractor it hired to install new meters at its customers' homes after one of those contractors allegedly caused a bed to catch fire leading to $130,000 in damage.

  • October 16, 2024

    Dallas Officials OK $54M Townhomes Development Project

    Dallas' City Plan Commission unanimously approved Steinbridge Group's $54 million plans to develop 180 three-bedroom townhomes in the city's Capella Park neighborhood, the real estate development and investment firm announced.

  • October 16, 2024

    Lender To Pay $10M To Settle Birmingham Redlining Claims

    The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and the U.S. Department of Justice said a mortgage lender the agencies accused of redlining in Birmingham, Alabama, will pay nearly $10 million and open a loan office in a majority-Black neighborhood to resolve the claims.

  • October 16, 2024

    Short Supply Continues To Drive Home Price Growth

    Single-family home prices moderated only slightly in the third quarter of 2024, as tight supply continues to constrain the market even as mortgage rates drop, per Fannie Mae's Home Price Index.

  • October 16, 2024

    Barings Offers $134M Refi For NC Apartment Complex

    Barings has provided a five-year, $134 million loan to refinance the debt for a 283-unit, mixed-use North Carolina apartment complex, the real estate investment management company announced.

  • October 16, 2024

    4th Circ. Affirms Judgment In Foreclosure Bid-Rigging Case

    The Fourth Circuit backed a North Carolina federal court and tossed part of an appeal by a real estate company founder and others of a jury verdict that they rigged bids in foreclosure auctions in violation of state and federal antitrust laws.

  • October 15, 2024

    CFPB Funding Shouldn't Stop Texas' Fraud Suit, Judge Says

    A Houston federal magistrate judge has endorsed allowing the state of Texas to proceed with a real estate fraud suit against land developer Colony Ridge, rejecting objections tied in part to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's funding from Federal Reserve "earnings."

  • October 15, 2024

    Realtors Ask High Court To Quash DOJ Antitrust Probe

    The National Association of Realtors has petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court for review of a ruling that would allow the U.S. Department of Justice's Antitrust Division to reopen an investigation into the trade group's rules and policies after an earlier settlement.

  • October 15, 2024

    PE Firm Nets $300M Recapitalization For Brooklyn Tower

    Alpaca Real Estate has obtained $300 million to recapitalize The Axel, a 29-story, 284-unit Class-A residential tower in Brooklyn, New York, the real estate-focused private equity firm announced Tuesday.

  • October 15, 2024

    Mich. Judge Unsure If PE Firm's Loan Broke Usury Law

    The interest rate on a private equity firm's loan to a Detroit house-flipping venture exceeded usury limits, but it was unclear whether the lender knowingly charged an excessive rate, a Michigan state judge ruled after the case returned from a trip to the Michigan Supreme Court. 

  • October 15, 2024

    NYC Real Estate Week In Review

    Gutman Weiss and Price Law Firm are among the firms that guided the largest New York City real estate deals that hit public records last week, with three of the week's five largest deals being Brooklyn matters.

  • October 15, 2024

    Real Estate Fintech Fundraises $184M For 'Fix-And-Flip' Loans

    Backflip funded its residential transition loans by raising $184 million worth of capital that will allow the real estate fintech company to "continue scaling its sought-after loan product offerings to members," the company said Tuesday.

  • October 15, 2024

    Lit Funder-Backed Co. Says NJ Judicial Privacy Law Is Valid

    A New Jersey judicial privacy law is not unconstitutional since it requires that defendants act negligently by knowingly violating the law, a data privacy company said in seeking to prevent the dismissal of dozens of lawsuits, which the company also acknowledged are being funded by third-party litigation funder Parabellum Capital LLC.

  • October 15, 2024

    Blank Rome, Nixon Peabody Guide NYC Section 8 $96M Refi

    Camber Property Group LLC secured a $96.2 million refinancing from Merchants Capital Corp, tied to four Brooklyn, New York, Section 8 multifamily properties, in a deal guided by Blank Rome LLP.

  • October 15, 2024

    Law Firms Diverge As Anti-ESG Pushback Continues

    A continuing onslaught of legislation and litigation opposing corporate environmental, social and governance actions has created a fork in the road for law firms, with some choosing to scale back efforts and others pushing ahead with their internal ESG and diversity, equity and inclusion goals.

Expert Analysis

  • Rental Price-Fixing Suit Against RealPage Doesn't Add Up

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    Recent government antitrust litigation against RealPage, alleging that the software company's algorithm for setting rental prices amounts to price-fixing, has failed to allege an actual conspiracy, and is an example of regulatory overreach that should be reined in, says Andrew Ketterer at Ketterer & Ketterer.

  • Navigating FEMA Grant Program For Slope Fixes After Storms

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    In the aftermath of Hurricanes Helene and Milton, it is critical for governments, businesses and individuals to understand the legal requirements of the Federal Emergency Management Agency's grant programs to obtain funding for crucial repairs — including restoration of damaged infrastructure caused by landslides and slope failures, says Charles Schexnaildre at Baker Donelson.

  • Colorful Lessons From NYC's Emotional Support Parrot Suit

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    A recently settled lawsuit in New York federal court concerning housing discrimination claims from a resident who had emotional support parrots highlights the importance of housing providers treating accomodation questions seriously even if they may appear unusual or questionable, say attorneys at Seyfarth.

  • Recent Securities Cases Highlight Risks In AI Disclosures

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    Increasing public disclosure about the use and risks of artificial intelligence, and related litigation asserting that such disclosures are false or misleading, suggest that issuers need to exercise great care with respect to how they describe the benefits of AI, say Richard Zelichov and Danny Tobey at DLA Piper.

  • Consider Best Legal Practices For Commissioning Public Art

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    Commissioning public art for real estate projects can provide many benefits to real estate developers and the public, but it's important to understand the unique legal and contracting aspects of the process to ensure that projects are completed on time and on budget, says Sarah Conley Odenkirk at ArtConverge.

  • Playing Diplomacy Makes Us Better Lawyers

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    Similar to the practice of law, the rules of Diplomacy — a strategic board game set in pre-World War I Europe — are neither concise nor without ambiguity, and weekly gameplay with our colleagues has revealed the game's practical applications to our work as attorneys, say Jason Osborn and Ben Bevilacqua at Winston & Strawn.

  • Proposed Mortgage Assistance Rule: Tips For Servicers

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    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.

  • How Multifamily Property Owners Can Plan For The EV Future

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    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.

  • Fla. Insurer-Breach Cases Split On Unrepaired Property Issue

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    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.

  • Collecting Art Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    The therapeutic aspects of appreciating and collecting art improve my legal practice by enhancing my observation skills, empathy, creativity and cultural awareness, says attorney Michael McCready.

  • Colorado Banking Brief: All The Notable Legal Updates In Q3

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    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.

  • In The CFPB Playbook: No Lazy, Hazy Days Of Summer

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    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.

  • Basel Endgame Rules: A Change Is Coming

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    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.