Residential
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July 22, 2024
Walker & Dunlop Steers $285.5M Refi For Pa. Student Housing
Walker & Dunlop arranged $285.5 million in refinancing for two Philadelphia student housing properties owned by developer The Goldenberg Group and located on the campus of Temple University, according to a Monday announcement.
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July 22, 2024
2 Firms Rep $1.25B PE Takeover Of Senior Living Co.
Alternative investment firm Stonepeak bought up New Zealand retirement village company Arvida Group Ltd. for $1.25 billion, in an all-cash deal guided by New Zealand-based law firms Bell Gully and Chapman Tripp, according to a Monday announcement.
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July 22, 2024
NYC Real Estate Week In Review
Fried Frank and Greenberg Traurig are among the law firms that landed work on the largest New York City real estate deals to hit public records last week, a busy period that saw 10 transactions above the $20 million mark become public.
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July 22, 2024
Orange County's Shrinking Multifamily Vacancies Taper Off
Second-quarter multifamily housing vacancies in California's Orange County reached a rate of 3.9%, and didn't significantly shift from the first quarter of the year, according to a CBRE report.
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July 19, 2024
Property Plays: Barings, Blackstone, Tishman Speyer
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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July 19, 2024
Credit Rater Presses 4th Circ. To Trash Developers' Libel Suit
Credit rating firm Dun & Bradstreet has asked the Fourth Circuit to scrap a group of apartment development companies' libel lawsuit, telling the court that nothing in a credit score was provably false.
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July 19, 2024
Bank Regulators Ask 5th Circ. To Unfreeze New Lending Rules
Federal banking regulators have urged the Fifth Circuit to rescind a Texas district court's injunction blocking implementation of new community lending rules, arguing in a filing that the district court's finding essentially rewrote the Community Reinvestment Act.
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July 19, 2024
Calif. Justices Revive Row Over State Farm's Claims Handling
California's Supreme Court revived a policyholder's case over State Farm's claims-handling practices, reversing an appeals court decision and agreeing with the state's attorney general that California's statute of limitations on unfair competition actions, not the policy or insurance code, governed the timing of the case.
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July 19, 2024
Pa. Judge Orders Accused RE Fraudster To Pretrial Detention
A Pennsylvania federal judge has ordered an accused real estate fraudster to pretrial detention, finding that his previously undisclosed ties to Panama and the fact that he is charged with using fake identities in furtherance of an alleged scheme make him a flight risk.
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July 19, 2024
Pa. Bill Seeks Tax Exclusion For Affordable Housing Projects
Pennsylvania would exclude affordable housing projects developed through the federal Rental Assistance Demonstration program from the state's realty transfer tax under a bill introduced in the state Senate.
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July 19, 2024
San Francisco Lawmaker Floats Rent Algorithm Software Ban
A San Francisco lawmaker proposed a ban that would prohibit selling or using software that can be used for rent price fixing, and took aim at property management software companies such as RealPage and Yardi for their software allegedly being used for such a purpose.
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July 19, 2024
Property Management Group Pays $304K For OT Violations
A Florida property management group paid nearly $304,000 in back wages, damages and fines for denying 92 workers overtime pay, the U.S. Department of Labor announced.
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July 18, 2024
Conn. Justices Order Redo Of Apartment Tenant's Fee Award
The Connecticut Supreme Court on Thursday gave a landlord another shot at reducing a $3,500 attorney fee award scored by a tenant in an eviction dispute, holding that the lower court failed to consider whether the total was reasonable under the relevant fee shifting statute.
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July 18, 2024
New IRS Easement Settlements Put Tax Pros In A Pickle
The IRS' new settlement program for partnerships that participated in conservation easements that haven't yet ended up in court comes with terms far sweeter than past offers, making it difficult for practitioners to advise clients to take the deal or wait for a better one.
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July 18, 2024
DR Horton Says Business Is Steady Amid Housing Crisis
Homebuilding giant D.R. Horton told shareholders July 18 that its business remained steady in 2024's third quarter despite the current housing affordability crisis.
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July 18, 2024
Las Vegas Developer Says SEC's EB-5 Fraud Suit Falls Short
A Las Vegas developer urged a Nevada federal judge to toss securities regulators' allegations she misappropriated $10 million raised by overseas investors hoping to come to the U.S. to pay down a loan for a project unconnected to their applications, arguing Wednesday the regulators fail to allege a wrongful state of mind.
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July 18, 2024
Blackstone Sees AI Revolution But 'Muted' RE Fundraising
Blackstone Inc., the world's largest commercial real estate owner, underscored its focus on data centers as the need for digital infrastructure increases, even as it contends with lower commitments from investors that are still skittish about real estate.
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July 18, 2024
Judge With Lake Property Exits $217M Dam Repair Tax Suit
A Michigan federal judge said he would step aside in a fight over a $217 million tax assessment to fund dam reconstruction because he's part of the assessment district, though he warned that hundreds of plaintiffs could have their own conflicts.
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July 18, 2024
Property Co. Settles Ex-Manager's Race Bias Suit
A Black former apartment complex manager who accused her ex-employer of putting her in charge of a struggling development because of her race and then firing her for complaining about the situation told a Pennsylvania federal court that her claims had been settled.
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July 17, 2024
Top Florida Real Estate News In 2024 So Far
Catch up on the hottest real estate news out of Florida so far this year, from alleged zoning abuse and bankruptcy to a brewing condo crisis and a seven-figure highway expansion.
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July 17, 2024
Gallagher & Kennedy Welcomes CRE, Telecom Expert
Gallagher & Kennedy PA announced that the company has added a commercial real estate and telecommunications expert from Goehring Rutter & Boehm to the firm's real estate practice group.
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July 17, 2024
Silicon Valley Sees $71M Affordable Housing Complex Sale
Marcus & Millichap announced Wednesday that the commercial real estate brokerage arranged the $71 million sale of a 160-unit affordable housing complex in San Jose, California.
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July 17, 2024
Fried Frank Guides Blackstone HQ Expansion In Manhattan
Blackstone will expand its Midtown Manhattan office headquarters and extend its lease in an agreement guided by Fried Frank, the building's property manager announced Wednesday.
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July 17, 2024
Rocket Mortgage Says Results Refute Investors' Fraud Claims
Rocket Mortgage is arguing that the company didn't mislead its shareholders when Rocket's former CEO claimed the company could grow its lending business in a rising interest rate environment because the firm's actual financial performance ended up proving that prediction true.
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July 17, 2024
Mo. Property Owners' Tax Challenge Time-Barred, Court Says
A group of Missouri property owners can't proceed with their appeal of assessments they claimed were unconstitutional taxes, a state appeals court ruled, finding the challenge was time-barred as an appeal of a special assessment.
Expert Analysis
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Trump NY Fraud Trial Shows Civil, Criminal Case Differences
Former President Donald Trump’s civil fraud trial currently unfolding in New York provides a reminder that civil bench trials can be just as damaging, if not more so, than criminal prosecutions, due to several key elements of civil litigation procedure, says retired attorney David Moskowitz.
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Why NYC Building Owners Shouldn't Ignore Emissions Rule
New rules from the New York City Department of Buildings clarify the previously vague good faith efforts that building owners may make to mitigate penalties for not complying with a major carbon emission law that takes effect in January, and should discourage owners from simply paying the fines instead of decarbonizing, says William McCracken at Moritt Hock.
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What NJ's Green Remediation Guidance Means For Cleanups
Recent guidance from the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection promoting greener approaches to restoring contaminated sites demonstrates the state's commitment to sustainability and environmental justice — but could also entail more complexity, higher costs and longer remediation timelines, say J. Michael Showalter and Bradley Rochlen at ArentFox Schiff.
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A New Path Forward For Surplus Land Owners In Calif.
A new California law signed last month enables some religious institutions and nonprofit colleges to build affordable housing on surplus land, and its requirements — which are more manageable than they may appear — will support long-term benefits including good housing and the survival of worthy institutions, says Stephen Wilson at Withers.
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Inside Bank Regulators' Community Lending Law Overhaul
The federal banking agencies' recently finalized changes to the Community Reinvestment Act not only account for the gradual shift to an environment where lending and deposit-taking are primarily conducted online, but also implement other updates such as diversity initiatives and a new series of lending tests, say attorneys at Norton Rose.
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A Bird's Eye View Of NYC's New Parapet Inspection Law
Building owners in New York City should be ready for the city's new parapet inspection requirements going into effect in January, which will likely necessitate additional construction work for countless buildings not previously subject to formal inspections, says Benjamin Fox Tracy at Braverman Greenspun.
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AI Isn't The Wild West, So Prepare Now For Bias Risks
In addition to President Joe Biden's recent historic executive order on safe, secure and trustworthy artificial intelligence, there are existing federal and state laws prohibiting fraud, defamation and even discrimination, so companies considering using or developing AI should take steps to minimize legal and business risks, says civil rights attorney Farhana Khera.
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AI's Baked-In Bias: What To Watch Out For
The federal AI executive order is a direct acknowledgment of the perils of inherent bias in artificial intelligence systems, and highlights the need for legal professionals to thoroughly vet AI systems, including data and sources, algorithms and AI training methods, and more, say Jonathan Hummel and Jonathan Talcott at Ballard Spahr.
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Calif. Ruling May Open Bankruptcy Trustees To Tort Liability
In Martin v. Gladstone, a recent California appellate court decision, the application of tort concepts to bankruptcy trustees could pose a new concern for trustees and federal receivers when controlling and maintaining commercial property, says Jarrett Osborne-Revis at Buchalter.
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5th Circ. Ruling May Beget Fraud Jury Instruction Appeals
The Fifth Circuit’s recent U.S. v. Greenlaw decision, disapproving disjunctive fraudulent-intent jury instructions, will likely spawn appeals in mail, wire and securities fraud cases, but defendants must show that their deception furthered ends other than taking the victim's property, says Charles Fowler at McKool Smith.
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Considerations For Navigating Mixed-Use Developments
As mixed-use developments continue to rise in popularity, developers considering this approach to urban planning must be aware of key considerations ranging from title and zoning laws to proper engagement with stakeholders, says Mehdi Sinaki at Michelman & Robinson.
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1st Tax Easement Convictions Will Likely Embolden DOJ, IRS
After recent convictions in the first criminal tax fraud trial over allegedly abusive syndicated conservation easements, the IRS and U.S. Department of Justice will likely pursue other promoters for similar alleged conspiracies — though one acquittal may help attorneys better evaluate their clients' exposure, say Bill Curtis and Lauren DeSantis-Then at Polsinelli.
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How CRE Loans Would Shift Under New Bank Capital Rules
Attorneys at MoFo discuss how commercial real estate loans would fare under federal banking agencies' proposed changes to how large banks risk-weight loans, particularly how CRE loans are weighed based on the current standardized framework versus the proposed expanded approach.