Residential

  • August 20, 2026

    Blank Rome Adds 3 Real Estate Attys On East, West Coasts

    Blank Rome LLP announced Thursday that it has gained three real estate attorneys in Los Angeles, New York and Philadelphia.

  • August 19, 2026

    CFPB Pursues Early Win In Hagens Berman Lender Docs Suit

    The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is seeking to beat Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro LLP's suit accusing the agency of illegally withholding information about any investigations into mortgage lender Veterans United, arguing that acknowledging any such probe could thwart the bureau's law enforcement efforts.

  • August 19, 2026

    9th Circ. Sides With PennyMac In Fixed LIBOR Fallback

    The Ninth Circuit on Wednesday rejected a shareholder's claim that PennyMac Mortgage Investment Trust was required to replace discontinued LIBOR with a newer floating rate when calculating preferred-share dividends, holding that the federal LIBOR Act allowed for a contractual fixed fallback rate.

  • August 19, 2026

    Cozen O'Connor Finds Uneven CRE Rebound As Iran Weighs

    Investment volume in U.S. commercial real estate grew nearly 20% annually in the first quarter, but the gains were uneven, driven largely by a recovery in the office and hotel sectors, according to a Cozen O'Connor report, which found upheaval from the Iran conflict and other factors remain headwinds.

  • August 19, 2026

    8th Circ. Backs $1B Broker Commissions Settlement

    The Eighth Circuit decided Wednesday to affirm a more than $1 billion class action settlement that's supposed to resolve antitrust claims against the National Association of Realtors and multiple real estate brokerages, which were accused of running an anticompetitive scheme that involved the brokerages following NAR rules that artificially inflated buyer-broker commissions.

  • August 19, 2026

    Ohio Justices To Weigh Curbs On 3rd-Party Tax Complaints

    An Ohio appeals court's ruling that restrictions on third parties filing complaints about property valuations violate the state constitution's uniform rule requirement is in conflict with another court and will be reviewed, the state's high court said Wednesday.

  • August 19, 2026

    Oklahoma Apartment Owner Pushes For Trustee In YSA Ch. 11

    The owner of an Oklahoma apartment complex asked a bankruptcy judge on Tuesday to appoint a Chapter 11 trustee in the insolvency case of YSA Investments 1 LLC, saying ongoing litigation and questions about the debtor's prepetition conduct would benefit from an independent overseer.

  • August 19, 2026

    IRS Creates Conservation Easement Settlement Office

    The IRS has formed an office dedicated to resolving disputes over charitable deductions for conservation and historic preservation easements, it announced Wednesday, centralizing expertise to address the hundreds of cases that have long overwhelmed the agency.

  • August 19, 2026

    TIGTA Finds Tenants Overlooked In Some Property Seizures

    IRS employees generally followed applicable laws when seizing property for unpaid taxes during a span of 2024 to 2025 but sometimes failed to take steps to ensure that a taxpayer's tenants wouldn't be financially harmed, the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration said.

  • August 19, 2026

    Blank Rome Hospitality Atty Seeing More Tenant-Landlord JVs

    Landlords and tenants at restaurant properties are increasingly looking to joint ventures to share in both the risks and rewards, while restaurants are also increasingly popping up in mixed-use residential projects, one of Blank Rome's hospitality leaders told Law360 Real Estate Authority in a recent interview.

  • August 19, 2026

    Kirkland Guides Machine's $350M Distressed Real Estate Fund

    Machine Investment Group LP, advised by Kirkland & Ellis LLP, has capped its second fund targeting distressed real estate opportunities at $350 million, the investment firm announced Wednesday.

  • August 19, 2026

    Akerman Names Affordable Housing Transactions Chair In NY

    Akerman said Wednesday that a veteran dealmaker has returned to the firm's real estate practice group in New York to lead its affordable housing transactions section.

  • August 18, 2026

    11th Circ. Says Clerk's Notice Fail Sank Fla. Funds Seizure

    The Eleventh Circuit ruled Monday that a Florida county court clerk violated the Fifth and Fourteenth amendments by taking funds deposited in a court registry as part of an eviction proceeding, because the clerk's notice to the owner of the funds was not reasonably calculated to reach him.

  • August 18, 2026

    Cyber Policies Don't Cover Antitrust Claims, Insurers Say

    Insurers urged a Colorado federal court to deny a real estate investment trust's bid for a pretrial win in a dispute over coverage for antitrust claims against landlords accused of using RealPage Inc.'s software for rent price-fixing, saying the allegations don't fall within the scope of cyber coverage.

  • August 18, 2026

    Fla. Judge Wants More Public Info In SEC's PE Fraud Suit

    A Florida federal judge on Tuesday declined to grant the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's request to unseal court-appointed monitor reports of a private equity firm accused of fraud in a $1 billion fund, but said some information wasn't privileged and allowed the government to list what should be public.

  • August 18, 2026

    Property Management Co. Hit With Suit Over Data Breach

    A proposed class of consumers accused property management company Cambridge Management Inc. on Tuesday of failing to protect their personally identifiable information from hackers who breached the company's systems.

  • August 18, 2026

    NYC Tax Rolls Wrongly Published, Council Members Say

    The rollout of New York City's pied-à-terre tax, which affects high-value second homes in the city, was slammed by City Council members and property owners at a committee hearing Tuesday amid an ongoing legal battle over a list of affected properties published by the administration. 

  • August 18, 2026

    CBRE Says Apartment Demand Outpaced New Supply In Q2

    Commercial broker CBRE in a recent report found demand for apartments continued to grow in the second quarter while construction of new multifamily properties continued a slowdown, in a sign of an improving market for property owners.

  • August 18, 2026

    Giant Apartment Owner Formed From Merger Retains 2 GCs

    Vivmark Residential, created by a merger this week to form one of the largest apartment owners in the U.S., announced Tuesday it was keeping both merged companies' general counsel to lead its legal department.

  • August 18, 2026

    Flawed Demand Letter Sinks Mass. Sewer Damage Suit

    Massachusetts' intermediate-level appellate court on Tuesday affirmed a pretrial win for the city of Chelsea in a suit by a building owner whose property was damaged by sewer water, pointing to an insufficient demand letter sent before the case was filed.

  • August 18, 2026

    Fla. Jury Sides With Condo Owner In Marco Beach TM Trial

    A Florida federal jury has sided with a Marco Island condominium owner and his rental businesses in a trademark lawsuit brought by the developer behind the Marco Beach Ocean Resort, finding they did not infringe the resort's name or crest logo or engage in unfair competition.

  • August 18, 2026

    Calif. Says Academy Mortgage Must Pay Data Breach Penalty

    Residential mortgage lender and servicer Academy Mortgage Corp. must pay a penalty for a March 2023 consumer data breach that impacted more than 34,000 Californians, the state's Department of Financial Protection and Innovation announced.

  • August 18, 2026

    Equity To Sell Boston Towers To Satisfy Antitrust Concerns

    Equity Residential has agreed to sell off two high-rise apartment buildings in Boston to avoid state and federal antitrust claims following its $69 billion merger with AvalonBay Communities, according to an agreement with the Massachusetts attorney general.

  • August 17, 2026

    AIG Beats Bid For New Trial Over Fla. Mansion's Irma Claim

    A Florida federal judge on Monday denied a homeowner's bid for a new trial following a jury's verdict that didn't specify damages when it found AIG mishandled a claim for Hurricane Irma-related damage to a $95 million Miami-area waterfront mansion, saying there wasn't sufficient evidence to justify a quantified award.

  • August 17, 2026

    FTC Gets $725M Liquid Nails Deal Blocked

    A New York federal court has sided with the Federal Trade Commission and blocked Loctite maker Henkel's planned $725 million acquisition of fellow construction adhesive brand Liquid Nails, following a bench trial in Manhattan last month.

Expert Analysis

  • Next Steps For Fair Housing Enforcement As HUD Backs Out

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    A soon-to-be-finalized U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development rule, which would hand responsibility for determining disparate impact liability under the Fair Housing Act to the courts, reinforces the Trump administration’s wider rollback of fair lending enforcement, yet there are reasons to expect litigation challenging this change, say attorneys at Spencer Fane.

  • Breaking Down Expense Allocation In Mixed-Use Properties

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    Rapid increases in condominium fees and special assessments, driven by multiple factors such as rising insurance costs and expanded safety requirements, are contributing to increased litigation, so equitable expense allocation in mixed-use properties requires adherence to the governing documents, says Mike Walden at FTI Consulting.

  • Can OCC State Banking Law Preemption Survive The Courts?

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    While two December proposals from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency seek to foreclose pending consumer litigation against national banks related to residential mortgage lending, it's unclear whether this aggressive approach will withstand judicial scrutiny under the U.S. Supreme Court's 2024 rulings in Cantero and Loper Bright, say attorneys at Davis Wright.

  • 3 Key Ohio Financial Services Developments From 2025

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    Ohio's banking and financial services sector saw particularly notable developments in 2025, including a significant Ohio Supreme Court decision on creditor disclosure duties to guarantors in Huntington National Bank v. Schneider, and some major proposed changes to the state's Homebuyer Plus program, says Alex Durst at Durst Kerridge.

  • State Of Insurance: Q4 Notes From Pennsylvania

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    Last quarter in Pennsylvania, a Superior Court ruling underscored the centrality of careful policy drafting and judicial scrutiny of exclusionary language, and another provided practical guidance on the calculation of attorney fees and interest in bad faith cases, while a proposed bill endeavored to cover insurance gaps for homeowners, says Todd Leon at Marshall Dennehey.

  • Key Sectors, Antitrust Risks In Pricing Algorithm Litigation

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    Algorithmic pricing lawsuits have proliferated in rental housing, hotels, health insurance and equipment rental industries, and companies should consider emerging risk factors when implementing business strategies this year, say attorneys at Hunton.

  • NJ Ruling Sheds Light On When 'Stub Rent' Must Be Paid

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    A New Jersey bankruptcy court's recent decision in New Rite Aid affirms that landlords can have "stub rent" treated as an administrative expense and highlights critical considerations for debtors, including the importance of deciding when and where to file for bankruptcy, say attorneys at Cleary.

  • Takeaways From 7th Circ.'s Bank Fraud Conviction Reversal

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    The Seventh Circuit’s recent decision in U.S. v. Robinson, holding that a bank fraud conviction must be grounded in a clear misrepresentation to the financial institution itself, signals that the court will not hesitate to correct substantive errors, even in unpreserved challenges, say attorneys at Quinn Emanuel.

  • How 2025 Executive Orders Are Reshaping Consumer Finance

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    In 2025, President Donald Trump used executive orders to initiate a reversal of policies on fair lending, urge agencies to use enforcement and supervisory tools to police debanking, and reduce consumer financial regulation — and the resulting flurry of deregulatory activity will likely continue in 2026, says Elizabeth Tucci at Goodwin.

  • How Developers Can Harness New Texas Zoning Framework

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    A Texas law introducing a new zoning framework has the potential to unlock meaningful multifamily development opportunities, but developers and their project teams should follow four steps to help identify how affected cities are interpreting and implementing the new law, says Angela Hunt at Munsch Hardt.

  • 2026 State AI Bills That Could Expand Liability, Insurance Risk

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    State bills legislating artificial intelligence that are expected to pass in 2026 will reshape the liability landscape for all companies incorporating AI solutions into their business operations, as any novel private rights of action authorized under AI-related statutes signal expanding exposures, say attorneys at Wiley.

  • 2025's Most Notable State AG Activity By The Numbers

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    State attorneys general were active in 2025, working across party lines to address federal regulatory gaps in artificial intelligence, take action on consumer protection issues, continue antitrust enforcement and announce large settlements on behalf of their citizens, say attorneys at Jenner & Block.

  • Targeted Action, Rule Tweaks Reflect 2025 AML Priority Shifts

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    Though 2025’s anti-money-laundering landscape was characterized not by volume of penalties but by the strategic recalibration of how illicit finance risk is handled, a series of targeted enforcement actions signaled that regulators aren't easing off the accelerator, even as they refine the rules of the road, say attorneys at MoFo.