Real Estate & Property Law

Homeowners Ass’n Loses Parking Case, Must Pay Owner’s $187K Legal Bill

A battle over whether a Florida homeowner could park his pickup in his own driveway racked up over $187,000 in legal bills for the unswerving owner by the time the Eagles Homeowners Association appealed a Hillsborough Circuit Court ruling in his favor. And now the association has not only lost…

Jul 28, 2010 5:18 PM CDT

Armed Condo Ass’n Rep is Criminally Charged After Entering Unit to Check for Water Leak

Condominium association issues can prove dangerous, and the troubled economy and real estate market have further stressed sometimes-troubled relationships between owners. Meanwhile, inexperienced owners serving as managers can create further turmoil. At least one of these factors apparently may have come into play yesterday when a 64-year-old representative of a…

Jul 22, 2010 11:10 PM CDT

Trial Set in Land-Swindle Case Involving Lawyers as Defendants, Judge as Alleged Conspirator

A trial is set for December in a Texas land-swindle case that includes two lawyers among the defendants and accuses a local judge of helping them fleece owners of millions in property and mineral rights. Attorneys Brian Russ, Jr. and James McCullough are among 18 defendants originally named in the…

Jul 22, 2010 6:03 PM CDT

Suit Says Law Firm ‘Opinion Mill’ Aided Attorney Marc Dreier’s $700M Fraud

Two subsidiaries of the Fortress Investment Group LLC hedge fund say they lost $50 million by relying on “false legal opinion letters” that helped now ex-attorney and convicted swindler Marc Drier orchestrate a $700 million swindle. They have sued Ruskin Moscou Faltischek of Uniondale, N.Y., in state court seeking to…

Jul 20, 2010 8:08 PM CDT

Maternity Leaves are Derailing Otherwise A-OK Mortgage Applications

By law, at least as the real estate industry understands the rules, a mortgage lender can’t ask a woman if she’s pregnant. But it can inquire whether her income is about to change, and if that change is for a three-month maternity leave a growing number of lenders will refuse…

Jul 19, 2010 11:42 PM CDT

Goldman Sachs to Pay Record $550M to Settle SEC Suit re Claimed Mortgage-Related Fraud

Accused of misleading investors when it foresaw the mortgage meltdown and offered toxic mortgage-related securities that hedged against it, Goldman Sachs has agreed, without admitting liability, to a record payment of $550 million. The banking titan was sued by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in April. Of the $550…

Jul 15, 2010 9:08 PM CDT

‘Goldfinger’ Raid Conducted on Law Firm in Possible Tax Case Against James Bond Star Sean Connery

Authorities have conducted a raid, under the code name Goldfinger, on a Spanish law firm as part of an ongoing tax probe of Sean Connery and his wife. The famous James Bond star is being investigated in two apparently unrelated real estate matters, reports Agence France-Presse. The Goldfinger raid addresses…

Jul 15, 2010 8:14 PM CDT

7 Cops, 2 Lawyers & 1 FBI Agent Charged in Claimed $16M Mortgage Fraud

Seven current or former police officers, two real estate closing attorneys and an agent for the FBI are among the defendants federally charged in a claimed South Florida mortgage fraud that allegedly involved false information provided to lenders to obtain $16.5 million in loans. Six of the officers are from…

Jul 14, 2010 2:52 PM CDT

Judge Sanctions Lawyer, Realtor for ‘Frivolous Claims Supported by Wild Speculation’

A judge has ordered a Virginia lawyer and his client to pay a $272,000 sanction for filing “a combination of frivolous claims supported by wild speculation.” Judge Jonathan Thacher imposed the sanction on Alexandria, Va., lawyer Forrest Walpole and his client, saying they pursued litigation “after any legitimate prospect of…

Jul 14, 2010 1:34 PM CDT

Despite $600K Oversight Role, Law Firm Missed Dual Hats Worn by Attorney-Developer

As plans progressed to build a new $200 million family court building in Philadelphia, the chief justice of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court brought in a lawyer who had formerly served as the chief of staff to the state’s governor to oversee the deal. John Estey was chosen specifically because of…

Jul 12, 2010 11:07 PM CDT

As Jury Deliberates in 45-Count Case, Ex-Attorney Takes Plea Deal

As a Florida jury continued its second day of deliberations in a 45-count racketeering and theft case after a two-month trial, a now-disbarred attorney struck a deal with prosecutors. Ira Hatch, 62, will plead guilty to one count of racketeering concerning $4 million in allegedly misappropriated client funds, and the…

Jul 12, 2010 7:03 PM CDT

Mortgage Default Rates Highest Among the Rich

Wealthy homeowners are more likely to default on mortgage payments than suburban middle and working classes. More than one in seven homeowners with loans in excess of a million dollars is seriously delinquent, reports the New York Times. In contrast, about one in 12 mortgage holders below the million-dollar mark…

Jul 9, 2010 3:34 PM CDT

Judge Reads 100-Page Instructions to Jury Trying Ex-Attorney Accused of $4M Client Theft

A Florida judge began reading 100 pages of instructions at 9 a.m. today to the jury trying a now-disbarred real estate attorney in a case involving the alleged misappropriation of some $4 million in client funds. It was expected that Senior Judge James Midelis might conclude around 3 p.m., after…

Jul 8, 2010 8:44 PM CDT

Woman, 91, Can Keep Exhumed Bodies at Home If She Builds a Crypt, DA Says

Faced with an unusual situation, a Pennsylvania prosecutor is offering an unusual solution. Jean Stevens, 91, who apparently persuaded an unidentified individual to exhume the bodies of two close relatives so she could talk with them as they lay on sofas at her home in rural Wyalusing Township, can get…

Jul 6, 2010 10:52 PM CDT

Edifice Complex

Even in recession, restoring old buildings takes a knack for taxes

Jul 1, 2010 8:30 AM CDT