Residential
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July 18, 2025
Mass. Advocates Pitch Doubling Real Estate Transfer Fee
Massachusetts would double its real estate transfer fee to raise an estimated $300 million annually for affordable housing and climate mitigation efforts under legislation pitched to a state legislative panel by housing and environmental advocates.
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July 18, 2025
Zillow Says Compass Can't Get Block On 'Zillow Ban'
Zillow sought to flip the script Thursday on Compass's antitrust allegations targeting new standards limiting home listing eligibility for pre-marketed properties, telling a New York federal judge not to preliminarily block the rules because they're just an effort to use "transparency" to "mitigate the damaging effects of hidden listings."
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July 18, 2025
Snake Spotting Voids OK Of Sprawling Calif. Housing Plan
A federal judge has halted a 314-acre master-planned development in Chico, California, after finding federal officials wrongly concluded in 2020 that the endangered giant garter snake had not been observed on the site despite a sighting of the animal in the area a dozen years prior.
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July 18, 2025
Oregon To Issue Report On Property Tax System
The Oregon legislative revenue officer will issue a report on the state's property tax system and options to modernize it under legislation signed into law by the governor.
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July 18, 2025
Invesco, Bozzuto Launch $330M East Coast Multifamily JV
Real estate investment manager Invesco and developer Bozzuto unveiled a $330 million investment joint venture that will focus on East Coast multifamily properties, the companies announced.
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July 18, 2025
Ohio Board OKs $1M Value Cut For Apartment Complex
The Ohio Board of Tax Appeals on Friday granted an affordable housing apartment complex's request for its value to be reduced by nearly $1 million based on rents charged by comparable properties, saying the state Supreme Court previously had upheld the valuation method.
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July 18, 2025
Student Housing Investor Says Partner Flouted LLC Contract
A Tennessee-based company with a stake in a property manager for a Colorado student housing property has lodged a breach of contract suit against its Denver-based business partner, alleging the partner failed to provide more than $3.6 million to improve and repair the property and wrongfully refused to sell its membership interest after not putting up the funds.
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July 17, 2025
Top Legal Developments That Could Impact LA Fire Aftermath
While the full consequences of a series of devastating wildfires that struck Los Angeles in January are still becoming clear, insurance experts and attorneys have pointed to a series of lawsuits and decisions as having important implications for the city's recovery.
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July 17, 2025
Insurer Says No Coverage For $1.7M Apartment Damage
A property insurer for an apartment complex owner told a Washington federal court it owes no coverage for a "wind-driven rain" claim that the owner said totals more than $1.7 million in repair costs, alleging that the owner's prior insurer already denied coverage for the same claim.
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July 17, 2025
Calif. Accuses Airbnb Of Price-Gouging During Wildfires
California accused Airbnb in a state court lawsuit of price-gouging residents of Los Angeles and Ventura counties as the Palisades and Eaton fires raged and in the weeks that followed, despite warnings from the state's attorney general.
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July 17, 2025
Tarter Krinsky Adds Real Estate Atty To New Texas Office
Tarter Krinsky & Drogin LLP has added a commercial real estate attorney who joined the firm from private practice following several stints of working with the firm on a contractual basis.
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July 17, 2025
Mass Deportations Could Raise Insurance Costs, Profs Say
The Trump administration's mass deportation program could increase costs for insurance carriers and homeowners by reducing the number of undocumented immigrants so critical to the construction industry, business and insurance professors say.
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July 17, 2025
Mortgage Co. Says Military Service Rule Bars Interest Lawsuit
A mortgage loan servicer accused of charging military members interest rates that exceeded a federal statutory cap says the leader of a proposed class action didn't perform qualifying service under the statute he invoked and his Connecticut federal case should probably be dismissed.
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July 17, 2025
Firm Named Lead Counsel For REIT Securities Fraud Class
The Rosen Law Firm PA will serve as lead counsel for a proposed class of Sun Communities investors who claim the real estate investment trust failed to disclose that its CEO received a loan from a board member's relatives.
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July 16, 2025
Wells Fargo Sued Over 'Flippant' Mortgage Fee Refunds
A Wells Fargo mortgage borrower has filed a proposed class action against the bank, alleging the bank made an "inadequate" effort to resolve purported mortgage origination fee errors it has vaguely alerted certain borrowers to.
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July 16, 2025
4th Circ. Upends Gated Community's Win In Fair Housing Row
The owner of several assisted-living group homes for seniors won a second chance Tuesday to press claims that his Maryland gated community is illegally refusing to let him open a new home there, with the Fourth Circuit ruling that a reasonable jury could find violations of the federal Fair Housing Act.
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July 16, 2025
AvalonBay Looks To Exit DC's RealPage Case Again
Real estate investment trust AvalonBay has asked to end the claims against it in the D.C. attorney general's case accusing RealPage of helping more than a dozen building owners inflate rental prices by using its software, after enforcers renewed their claims against the landlord earlier this year.
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July 16, 2025
Senior Placement Co. Wants Out Of False Ad Suit
A company that places senior citizens in retirement homes has asked a Georgia federal judge to toss a proposed class action alleging it falsely advertised free services and steered business away from communities that declined to participate in its "pay-to-play" business model, arguing the claims were just "speculation and conjecture."
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July 16, 2025
Attys Tout 3 Real Estate Investment Wins In Federal Budget
Real estate investors can breathe a collective sigh of relief seeing the final version of the "One, Big, Beautiful Bill Act" that President Donald Trump signed into law this month, as it is largely favorable to the industry and keeps several much-admired tax breaks alive.
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July 16, 2025
Related Nets $46M Loan For NY Residential Development
Related Companies obtained a $46.2 million senior secured loan for its 1,200-acre residential community project in Tuxedo, New York, the lender announced Wednesday.
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July 16, 2025
K&L Gates Hires CRE Finance Atty From Dechert
K&L Gates LLP has brought on an ex-Dechert LLP attorney who specializes in commercial real estate finance as a partner in its Charlotte, North Carolina, office, the firm announced Tuesday.
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July 16, 2025
Wells Fargo Says JPMorgan No Victim In $481M CMBS Suit
Wells Fargo has told a New York federal court that it need only prove that JPMorgan knew a seller falsified financial data underlying a $481 million commercial mortgage-backed securities loan, not that it was aware of any fraud, in a suit seeking to hold the bank liable for the defaulted loan.
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July 16, 2025
Utah Judge Ends Startup's Antitrust Suit Against NAR, Brokerages
A Utah federal judge permanently tossed an antitrust suit lodged by a residential brokerage startup against the National Association of Realtors and multiple brokerages, ruling that the claims were time-barred.
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July 16, 2025
Nixon Peabody Adds Former HUD Managing Attorney
Nixon Peabody LLP bolstered its affordable housing and real estate practice by hiring an attorney who most recently served on the leadership team for the southwest regional office for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
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July 15, 2025
HomeServices, Douglas Elliman Nix Broker Fee Antitrust Suit
HomeServices of America and Douglas Elliman escaped homebuyers' proposed antitrust class action alleging real estate agents conspired to artificially inflate broke service commissions for home sales, after a Florida federal judge ruled the buyers lacked standing since home sellers are the ones who paid those commission fees.
Expert Analysis
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A Comparison Of FDIC, OCC Proposed Merger Approaches
Max Bonici and Connor Webb at Venable take a closer look at the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.'s and Office of the Comptroller of the Currency's respective bank merger proposals and highlight certain common themes and important differences, in light of regulators continually rethinking their approaches to bank mergers.
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Tax Assessment: Recapping Georgia's Legislative Session
Jonathan Feldman and Alla Raykin at Eversheds Sutherland examine tax-related changes from Georgia’s General Assembly — such as the governor’s successful push to accelerate income tax cuts — and suggest steps to take before certain tax incentives are challenged in the state's next legislative session.
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11th Circ. Ruling May Foreshadow Ch. 15 Clashes
The Eleventh Circuit's recent decision in In re: Talal Qais Abdulmunem Al Zawawi has introduced a split from the Second Circuit regarding whether debtors in foreign proceedings must have a domicile, calling attention to the understudied nature of Chapter 15 of the Bankruptcy Code, say attorneys at Cleary.
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A Look At New IRS Rules For Domestically Controlled REITs
The Internal Revenue Services' finalized Treasury Regulations addressing whether real estate investment trusts qualify as domestically controlled adopt the basic structure of previous proposals, but certain new and modified rules may mitigate the regulations' impact, say attorneys at Simpson Thacher.
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What CRA Deadline Means For Biden Admin. Rulemaking
With the 2024 election rapidly approaching, the Biden administration must race to finalize proposed agency actions within the next few weeks, or be exposed to the chance that the following Congress will overturn the rules under the Congressional Review Act, say attorneys at Covington.
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How New Rule Would Change CFIUS Enforcement Powers
Before the May 15 comment deadline, companies may want to weigh in on proposed regulatory changes to enforcement and mitigation tools at the disposal of the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, including broadened subpoena powers, difficult new mitigation timelines and higher maximum penalties, say attorneys at Venable.
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2nd Circ. Eminent Domain Ruling Empowers Municipalities
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.
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SEC Should Be Allowed To Equip Investors With Climate Info
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.
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8 Fla. Statutes That Construction Cos. Should Prepare For
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.
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Time To Fix NYC's Broken Property Assessment System
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.
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Understanding The IRC's Excessive Refund Claim Penalty
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.
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Bankruptcy Ruling Shifts Lease Rejection Claim Calculation
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.
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Do Not Overstate Fla. Condo Termination Ruling's Impact
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.