Real Estate & Property Law

Lawyer Says Condo’s Proposed PooPrints DNA Program Is ‘Absolutely Ridiculous’

The board overseeing a ritzy Baltimore condo put off a vote Wednesday evening on a plan to collect “doggie DNA” to identify the dog or dogs that are leaving their droppings in the common areas of the building. Scarlett Place condo board members didn’t vote on the idea, and didn’t…

May 20, 2010 4:10 PM CDT

Detroit Debate: Was Removal of High-End Graffiti a Criminal Act or Art Rescue?

The owner of a derelict commercial building in Detroit apparently isn’t complaining. But the community is fiercely debating whether the removal of a high-end work of graffiti art—or vandalism, as some see the piece—was laudable art conservation or a second criminal act, reports the Detroit Free Press. Depending on your…

May 19, 2010 10:46 PM CDT

Reed Smith Raids Pepper Hamilton for 7-Lawyer Real Estate Group

A former co-chair of the real estate practice group at Pepper Hamilton has led a seven-lawyer group to rival Reed Smith, starting work today at the Pittsburgh-based international firm’s headquarters office. Besides Dusty Elias Kirk, who was also a member of Pepper Hamilton’s executive committee, the group includes partners Sharon…

May 17, 2010 7:18 PM CDT

2 Lawyers Among 17 Charged in $3M Mortgage Rescue Fraud

Two New York lawyers are among 17 defendants charged in a mortgage rescue fraud case announced today by the Queens District Attorney’s Office. Contacted by distressed owners seeking to save their homes from foreclosure, the defendants allegedly responded by stripping $3 million in equity from 26 properties, leaving the owners…

May 13, 2010 9:23 PM CDT

Remember the $60, 8-Word E-Mail? Client Shares Hard-Learned Legal Cost-Control Tips

News of a law firm that charged nearly $6,000, including $60 for an eight-word e-mail, for a review of an office sublease, got a lot of reader response. Now client Jennifer Walzer is providing more details about the matter, as well as her newfound knowledge about how to control legal…

May 13, 2010 5:59 PM CDT

Condo Developers Sue NY AG, Say Stroock Typo Doesn’t Require Return of $16M

Developers of a New York condo project claim in a federal lawsuit that New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo violated their due process rights when he ordered them to return $16 million in down payments held in escrow. Buyers hoping to rescind their contracts are citing an apparent typo in…

May 12, 2010 12:34 PM CDT

‘Eye in Sky’ Helps County Target Structures Put Up Without Building Permits

With the help of aerial photographs, a Washington state community is zeroing in on thousands of potentially dangerous structures put up without building permits. But the “eye in sky” program in Pierce County is controversial: Some say that the buildings at issue–mostly garages and sheds–are less of a problem than…

May 4, 2010 11:37 PM CDT

Orrick Nixes Potential Merger With UK’s 600-Lawyer SJ Berwin

Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe has called a halt to a potential merger with a well-known London-based law firm. Amidst news of the now-completed Hogan Lovells marriage, “a host” of United States law firms have been looking to expand in London, reports the London Times. But Orrick and SJ Berwin won’t…

May 4, 2010 5:10 PM CDT

‘River of Oil’ from Gulf Spill Hits La. Shore, Could Dwarf Exxon Valdez Damage

Updated: The blowout of an oil well being dug by a British Petroleum rig in the Gulf of Mexico has resulted in a massive spill that could dwarf the environmental damage done in 1989 when the Exxon Valdez ran aground in Alaska. The “river of oil” that began washing onto…

Apr 30, 2010 12:17 AM CDT

Fla. AG Probes Large Foreclosure Law Firm re Possible ‘False & Misleading’ Mortgage Docs

The attorney general’s office in Florida is investigating a law firm with a high-volume foreclosure practice to determine whether it was in involved in “fabricating and/or presenting false and misleading documents in foreclosure cases,” reports the Wall Street Journal (sub. req.). A spokeswoman for the Tampa-based firm Florida Default Law…

Apr 29, 2010 10:59 PM CDT

‘Tip of Iceberg’: Inspector Never Tested 200 Properties for Lead & Asbestos

A guilty plea yesterday in Manhattan federal court by a 68-year-old safety inspector who reportedly never looked at more than 200 properties he certified to be free of asbestos and/or lead contamination is only “the tip of the iceberg,” an unidentified “official” tells the New York Times. Authorities are now…

Apr 27, 2010 10:46 PM CDT

Ouch! Bill for Office Lease Review Nears $6K, Including $60 for an 8-Word E-Mail

Wanting to protect herself, Jennifer Walzer got a lawyer to review a sublease for the new offices for her business. The budget, as she understood it, was $2,500. The actual bill eventually added up to almost $6,000, although the firm agreed to knock $500 off after a discussion that she…

Apr 26, 2010 11:41 PM CDT

After Gizmodo Posts iPhone Pix, Cops Seize Editor’s Home Computers

Updated: An editor for a gadgets site that posted photographs of a lost iPhone prototype last week returned to his home in Fremont, Calif., on Friday night to find authorities searching it. Deputies from the San Mateo County Sheriff’s office also searched Gizmodo editor Jason Chen before seizing multiple computers…

Apr 26, 2010 10:17 PM CDT

Poker-Playing Sole Practitioner Is Charged in Alleged Mortgage Scam

A New York lawyer who placed second in the U.S. Poker Championship in 2005 has been charged in an alleged mortgage scam. Sole practitioner Ralph Pecorale of Long Island is accused, along with six other defendants, of grand larceny and conspiracy, reports the New York Law Journal in an article…

Apr 21, 2010 8:33 PM CDT

Supreme Court Tells Debt-Collection Law Firm that Ignorance of Law Is No Excuse

Law firms that misinform a debtor facing foreclosure about his or her legal obligations aren’t shielded from liability for the legal error, the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled. In a 7-2 opinion (PDF) by Justice Sonia Sotomayor, the Supreme Court said the “bona fide error defense” doesn’t protect debt collectors…

Apr 21, 2010 4:52 PM CDT