Residential
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April 17, 2025
Colo. FAIR Plan Gives Policyholders Options At A Cost
Colorado launched the country's first new Fair Access to Insurance Requirements, or FAIR, Plan in 40 years to offer residents another tool in an increasingly challenging wildfire, hail and wind market, but experts emphasized that this limited form of coverage is not intended to address affordability concerns.
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April 17, 2025
Colo. Insurance Bills Offer Promise But Uncertain Costs
Colorado lawmakers are contemplating insurance bills that experts say could help improve the state's market by boosting home resilience, but there are still cost concerns and skepticism that other proposals are workable, like a state reinsurance program.
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April 17, 2025
Navajo Man Owed Relocation Benefits, 9th Circ. Rules
The Ninth Circuit has ruled in a published opinion that a Navajo Nation member was wrongly denied relocation benefits after the U.S. government awarded his ancestral land to the Hopi Tribe, saying the federal relocation office relied on flawed findings and arbitrary reasoning when denying his claim.
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April 17, 2025
Wash. Justices Strike Down Spokane's Homeless Camp Law
The Washington Supreme Court said a voter-approved initiative restricting encampments for homeless people in Spokane is unconstitutional, in an opinion Thursday that said the measure exceeds the scope of local initiative power because it impermissibly "tinkers" with a policy the city had previously adopted.
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April 17, 2025
Blackstone Sees 'Speed Bump' In Real Estate Recovery
Officials at investment giant Blackstone told analysts on April 17 that they expected the direct impact of tariffs on its businesses to be limited, although a wider downturn could be more troubling.
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April 17, 2025
CFPB Will Cut Examinations By Half In Broad Retreat: Memo
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau plans to cut back sharply on its policing of nonbank financial firms, slash examinations and pull back on its use of fines as part of a dramatic shift in supervisory and enforcement priorities outlined in a new internal memo.
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April 16, 2025
Philly Housing Agency Seeks Out Of Suit Over Fatal Fire
The Philadelphia Housing Authority on Wednesday urged a Pennsylvania federal court to free it from a lawsuit accusing it of responsibility for a fatal 2022 public housing fire that killed 12 residents, saying administrators of the decedents' estates failed to show that the agency directly caused the fire.
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April 16, 2025
Atty Expects Action But No U-Turn On New Fla. Condo Laws
Miami attorney Joe Hernandez, a specialist in condominium law matters — and a condo owner himself — talked with Law360 about Florida condo associations' compliance with new building safety laws, the state of condo terminations and what steps the Legislature many take in its current session.
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April 16, 2025
Texas Ranch Neighbor Agrees Not To Use 'Mesa Vista' Name
The owner of a property neighboring the late T. Boone Pickens' luxurious Mesa Vista Ranch hunting estate in the Texas Panhandle has agreed to stop using the name after being sued by the ranch's new owner.
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April 16, 2025
Real Estate Lawyers Chart Dealmaking Under Tariffs
As real estate transaction attorneys navigate uncertainty in the market, some deals are being put on ice, while elsewhere, clients are rushing to negotiate protections from price hikes or find opportunistic deals.
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April 16, 2025
CFPB Defends Bid To Undo Redlining Deal
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau reiterated Tuesday its bid in Illinois federal court to refund a Chicago-area mortgage lender's redlining settlement, arguing that consumer advocates fighting to keep the deal in place "attack a strawman" and posit "a parade of horribles that have nothing to do with this case."
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April 16, 2025
Calif. Agency Says Appraisal Co. Discriminated Against Family
The California Civil Rights Department announced it has reached settlements with a Nevada-based appraisal management company and an individual appraiser that allegedly lowballed a Black and Latino family in the Bay Area because of their race.
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April 16, 2025
IRS Publishes 2025 Average Residence Purchase Price Data
The Internal Revenue Service published data Wednesday on the average purchase price for U.S. residences in different areas, which is used to determine whether bond interest can be excluded from gross income.
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April 16, 2025
Disbarred Atty Gets 2½ Years For Investment Scheme
A New Jersey federal judge sentenced a disbarred attorney to 2½ years in prison after he admitted to misleading would-be investors in his financial services company with false promises before using their money for his personal expenses.
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April 15, 2025
Massive Calif. Fire Assessment Pass-Through Sparks Suit
Public interest nonprofit Consumer Watchdog sued California's insurance chief in Los Angeles Superior Court on Monday to stop him from allowing insurance companies to offset hundreds of millions of dollars in assessment costs as surcharges onto policyholders, claiming the decision was made without any public input, in violation of the state's Administrative Procedure Act.
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April 15, 2025
Calif. Residents Sue Feds Over Tribe's Federal Status, Casino
Three Plymouth, California, residents and a civil rights nonprofit have alleged in a suit that the federal government conspired to approve federal recognition, fee-to-trust and gaming applications for the Ione Band of Miwok Indians, questioning the constitutionality of the trust relationship between the U.S. and Indigenous nations.
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April 15, 2025
NY Developers Land $237M Refi For Major Mixed-Use Project
The developers behind a 70-acre mixed-use development in Sleepy Hollow, New York, secured a $237 million refinancing for the project from Hudson Bay Capital, per an announcement from Walker & Dunlop which arranged the financing.
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April 15, 2025
NJ Judicial Privacy Law Is Unconstitutional, 3rd Circ. Told
A group of data brokers told the Third Circuit that the New Jersey judicial privacy measure, Daniel's Law, is facially unconstitutional and that a federal district judge effectively "rewrote" it when he found otherwise.
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April 15, 2025
Trump Tariffs Could Push Rents Up, Redfin Says
President Donald Trump's tariffs on products such as construction materials could lead to fewer apartments being made in the country and a rise in rents, according to a report from real estate brokerage Redfin.
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April 15, 2025
Giordano Halleran Nabs Real Estate Pro For NJ Expansion
Giordano Halleran & Ciesla PC announced that the firm has added a commercial real estate transaction pro as shareholder, who is spearheading the firm's opening of an office in northern New Jersey.
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April 14, 2025
Expedia Defends Cuban Island Bookings In Helms-Burton Trial
The former manager of Expedia's Cuba group took the stand Monday to defend the travel company's actions offering reservations for resorts on an island off the coast of Cuba that a Cuban-American man says was stolen from his family by Fidel Castro's government, telling jurors the company worked to comply with constantly changing regulations related to travel to Cuba.
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April 14, 2025
Greystar Faces Consolidation Of Colo. Tenant 'Junk Fee' Suits
A Colorado multidistrict litigation panel on Monday recommended consolidating four tenant class actions against the property management company Greystar before a single state court, following a hearing where tenants argued that allowing the "junk fee" cases to proceed separately could draw conflicting court decisions.
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April 14, 2025
10th Circ. Revives Takings Suit Over Colo. Property Law
The Tenth Circuit revived a suit filed by Colorado residents who claimed the state unconstitutionally used its unclaimed-property law to take their properties, finding the residents sufficiently claimed the state failed to provide just compensation.
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April 14, 2025
FTC Joins DOJ In Targeting Anticompetitive Regulations
The Federal Trade Commission launched a public inquiry Monday to look into reducing regulations that are hindering competition, following a similar move by the U.S. Department of Justice last month.
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April 14, 2025
Top Court Ruling Dooms Suit Challenging Housing Grant Cuts
A federal judge in Boston on Monday vacated an earlier ruling that had blocked the Trump administration from cutting $30 million in housing anti-discrimination grants, saying a recent U.S. Supreme Court decision in a similar case involving teacher training grants likely strips the court of jurisdiction.
Expert Analysis
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Colorful Lessons From NYC's Emotional Support Parrot Suit
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.
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Recent Securities Cases Highlight Risks In AI Disclosures
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.
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Consider Best Legal Practices For Commissioning Public Art
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.
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Proposed Mortgage Assistance Rule: Tips For Servicers
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.
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How Multifamily Property Owners Can Plan For The EV Future
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.
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Fla. Insurer-Breach Cases Split On Unrepaired Property Issue
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.
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Colorado Banking Brief: All The Notable Legal Updates In Q3
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.
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In The CFPB Playbook: No Lazy, Hazy Days Of Summer
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.
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Basel Endgame Rules: A Change Is Coming
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.
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Reassessing Lease Provisions To Account For ESG Initiatives
As companies seek to build ESG considerations into their businesses, it's crucial to understand how such initiatives can quickly become significant enough to compel reassessment of lease agreement provisions, and how best to modify leases accordingly, say Julian Freeman and Gabe Pitassi at Cox Castle.
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Avoid Getting Burned By Agencies' Solar Financing Spotlight
Recently coordinated reports and advisories from the U.S. Department of the Treasury, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and the Federal Trade Commission maximize the spotlight on the consumer solar financing market and highlight pitfalls for lenders to avoid in this burgeoning field, says Mercedes Tunstall at Cadwalader.
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Assessing Algorithmic Versus Generative AI Pricing Tools
A comparison of traditional algorithmic pricing models and those powered by generative artificial intelligence can help regulators and practitioners weigh the pros and cons of relying on large language models to price products or services, say Maxime Cohen at McGill University, and Tim Spittle and Jimmy Royer at Analysis Group.
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Navigating A Potpourri Of Possible Transparency Act Pitfalls
Despite the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network's continued release of guidance for complying with the Corporate Transparency Act, its interpretation remains in flux, making it important for companies to understand potentially problematic areas of ambiguity in the practical application of the law, say attorneys at Sidley.