Residential

  • March 07, 2025

    Minn. Bills Seek Sales Tax Break For Home Construction

    Construction materials for single-family and multifamily homes for first-time homebuyers would be exempt from some Minnesota sales and use taxes under legislation introduced in the state Senate.

  • March 07, 2025

    Marcus & Millichap Wraps Up $61M Calif. Project Refi

    Marcus & Millichap's IPA Capital Markets division lined up an 18-month $60.9 million nonrecourse loan that will refinance a 28.9-acre oceanfront redevelopment project in Huntington Beach, California, the brokerage firm announced.

  • March 06, 2025

    Fla. Report Draws Serious Accusations Of Insurer Misconduct

    A Florida analysis showing that carriers in the state were reporting millions in income losses while affiliated companies were earning billions is helping to reveal a long-standing pattern of insurer misconduct, according to consumer advocates.

  • March 06, 2025

    Habitat Unveils $82M Affordable Housing Production Fund

    Habitat for Humanity International announced that its financing arm has established an $82.5 million property acquisition fund to support affordable housing production, guided by Holland & Knight LLP and Paradise Law Group.

  • March 06, 2025

    California City Abandons Battle Over Affordable Housing

    A wealthy Southern California city wants to drop its appeal of a legal nonprofit's suit that was filed over the city's opposition to a mixed-income affordable-housing project, according to a filing in a state appellate court.

  • March 06, 2025

    Wyoming Creates Partial Property Tax Break For Homeowners

    Wyoming established a tax exemption for a portion of homeowners' properties under a bill signed by the governor.

  • March 06, 2025

    Feds Want Foreclosure On NJ Property In $16.2M Tax Fight

    A New Jersey property owned by a man who owes $16.2 million in taxes should be foreclosed on and sold to pay his debt, the U.S. government said Thursday, arguing that a property easement no longer restricts it from a sale.

  • March 06, 2025

    Sekisui Teams Up With Brookfield On Resi Communities

    North America Sekisui House LLC has invested in five of Brookfield Residential's master-planned communities, expanding a partnership that spans 11 states and 13 markets, in a deal guided by Snell & Wilmer and Cleary Gottlieb. 

  • March 06, 2025

    Ga. Attys Fight Bid To 'Hijack' $44M Realtor Settlement

    Attorneys hoping to finalize a $44 million class action settlement in Georgia with four real estate brokerages urged a federal judge Thursday to reject a bid to "hijack" their litigation by the lawyers behind the series of landmark settlements with the National Association of Realtors and various brokerages over their fee inflation practices.

  • March 06, 2025

    Fla. Coverage Bill Could Add Pressure To Struggling Condos

    A Florida bill that would require condominium associations to comply with building safety laws or risk their last-resort insurance option is well-intentioned, but could result in a slew of negative consequences for condo owners, insurance experts say.

  • March 06, 2025

    The Antitrust Litigation Surrounding NAR's Industry Rules

    A year and a half after a Missouri federal jury found that the National Association of Realtors inflated fees for home sellers, the Eighth Circuit is evaluating a series of settlements in wake of the decision while the Justice Department pursues its own antitrust investigation with a court's blessing.

  • March 06, 2025

    La. Tax Break Doesn't Apply To Apartment's Affordable Units

    The owner of a Louisiana apartment complex cannot claim a property tax exemption for the complex's affordable housing units because the units were not dedicated solely to a public purpose, a state appellate court ruled. 

  • March 05, 2025

    Wash. Justices Won't Take Up Pemco's Fire Coverage Appeal

    The Washington Supreme Court won't review a lower court's ruling that Pemco Mutual Insurance Co. must cover a woman's claim for fire damage to her former home after she was assaulted and set ablaze there by her ex-husband.

  • March 05, 2025

    Los Angeles County Sues SoCal Edison Over Eaton Fire

    Los Angeles County joined the many dozens suing Southern California Edison over the devastating Eaton Fire on Wednesday, as the most populous county in the United States alleges in its lawsuit that the utility's faulty equipment caused the destructive blaze.

  • March 05, 2025

    Claimed Church Leader Ruled To Owe $1.3M In Taxes

    A claimed church leader owes $1.3 million in tax debt after he was caught selling tax avoidance schemes, a Washington federal judge ruled Wednesday, rejecting his request for more time to mount a challenge and describing him as uncooperative.

  • March 05, 2025

    Black Colo. Homeowner Joins DOJ's Race Bias Refi Suit

    A Denver homeowner joined the federal government in its suit accusing Rocket Mortgage LLC and other parties in Colorado federal court of deliberately undervaluing her home because she's a Black woman.

  • March 05, 2025

    Construction Co. Not Covered For $11M Verdict, Insurer Says

    A construction company isn't entitled to coverage for an $11 million jury verdict against it in an underlying personal injury suit because the builder's policy excludes coverage for residential construction activities, an insurer told a Texas federal court.

  • March 05, 2025

    Lenders' Atty Reflects On FAPA's Foreclosure Fallout In NY

    After state lawmakers in 2022 passed changes to New York's foreclosure rules, lenders left defending a spike in lawsuits challenging once-established mortgage rights faced another setback with a recent state appeals court ruling upholding the legislation.

  • March 05, 2025

    Willkie Farr Partner Gets $23K Fee In Suit Over Media Tip

    A Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP partner has won the bulk of a $27,420 bid to recoup personal attorney fees after prevailing in a First Amendment feud with his former landlord's lawyer over a media leak, with a judge clipping just $3,550 for lack of a novel legal issue.

  • March 05, 2025

    Real Estate Lawyers On The Move

    Greenberg Traurig and Rosenberg & Estis are among the law firms that have made recent real estate or construction hires.

  • March 05, 2025

    Newmark Lines Up $275M Refi For NYC Multifamily Complex

    Newmark Group Inc. secured a $275 million loan that will refinance an 816-unit, two-tower multifamily complex in New York City's Financial District, the commercial real estate services company announced.

  • March 05, 2025

    Colorado's Last-Resort Insurer Partners With AI Analytics Co.

    Colorado's last-resort insurer has partnered with risk modeling company ZestyAI in an effort to improve insurance access for homeowners through the use of artificial intelligence-powered models for heightened climate risks, the company said Wednesday.

  • March 05, 2025

    Montana Tasks Tax Agency With Review Of Exempt Property

    Montana directed its Department of Revenue to establish a process to review property that is exempt from taxation under a bill signed by the governor.

  • March 05, 2025

    IRS Updates Foreign Housing Expense Limits For 2025

    The Internal Revenue Service released adjustments to the limitation on foreign housing expense deductions and exclusions for 2025 on Wednesday.

  • March 04, 2025

    DC Opposes RealPage Bid For Sanctions In Antitrust Case

    The District of Columbia and its attorneys at Cohen Milstein are opposing a bid for sanctions from RealPage in the district's rental pricing case, contending they have support for allegations about the company not wanting to work with landlords that reject its price recommendations.

Expert Analysis

  • 2nd Circ. Eminent Domain Ruling Empowers Municipalities

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    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.

  • SEC Should Be Allowed To Equip Investors With Climate Info

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    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.

  • 8 Fla. Statutes That Construction Cos. Should Prepare For

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    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.

  • Time To Fix NYC's Broken Property Assessment System

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    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.

  • Understanding The IRC's Excessive Refund Claim Penalty

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    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.

  • Bankruptcy Ruling Shifts Lease Rejection Claim Calculation

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    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.

  • Do Not Overstate Fla. Condo Termination Ruling's Impact

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    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.

  • Takeaways From FDIC's Spring Supervisory Highlights

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    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.

  • What Calif. Eviction Ruling Means For Defaulting Borrowers

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    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.

  • How 3D Printing And Prefab Are Changing Construction

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    The growing popularity of trends like 3D printing technology and prefabrication in the construction industry have positive ramifications ranging from reducing risks at project sites to streamlining construction schedules, say Josephine Bahn and Jeffery Mullen at Cozen O'Connor.

  • Wave Of Final Rules Reflects Race Against CRA Deadline

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    The flurry of final rules now leaping off the Federal Register press — some of which will affect entire industries and millions of Americans — shows President Joe Biden's determination to protect his regulatory legacy from reversal by the next Congress, given the impending statutory look-back period under the Congressional Review Act, say attorneys at Jenner & Block.

  • A Deep Dive Into High Court's Permit Fee Ruling

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    David Robinson and Daniel Golub at Holland & Knight explore the U.S. Supreme Court's recent ruling that a local traffic impact fee charged to a California property owner may be a Fifth Amendment taking — and where it leaves localities and real estate developers.

  • The Case For Overturning Florida Foreclosure Ruling

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    A Florida appellate court's recent decision in Desbrunes v. U.S. Bank National Association will potentially put foreclosure cases across the state in jeopardy, and unless it is reconsidered, foreclosing plaintiffs will need to choose between frustrating and uncertain options in the new legal landscape, say Sara Accardi and Paige Knight at Bradley.