Real Estate & Property Law

Ex-RI Bar President Gives Up His Law License

The former president of the Rhode Island Bar Association has given up his law license and shuttered his Pawtucket law office. Richard Pacia is no longer practicing law, his criminal defense lawyer Anthony Traini told the Providence Journal. Pacia stepped down from his post as state bar president last month…

Mar 20, 2009 3:14 PM CDT

Client Loses, Attorney Wins: Jury Awards NY Lawyer $5K Per Hour

A lawyer who represented a tenant in a rent-stabilized apartment in New York City for almost three years initially got nothing for his work. Then, soon after attorney Steven DeCastro was fired by his client, Horace Turnbull, the holdout tenant accepted $1.7 million from his landlord to give up the…

Mar 19, 2009 7:14 PM CDT

5 L.A. Lawyers Leave Sonnenschein for Seyfarth Shaw

A second group has left the Los Angeles office of Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal to practice at Seyfarth Shaw. Headed by Alan Yoshitake, who joins Seyfarth as a partner, the trusts and estates team also includes Mark Hansen and Edward McCaffery, who will be counsel there, and two associates, the…

Mar 16, 2009 9:48 PM CDT

Big Bank Files Mortgage Racketeering Suit Against Individual Borrowers

A major international bank has filed an unusual federal civil racketeering lawsuit in Seattle against a mortgage broker, an escrow agent–and 10 couples. It contends that they conspired to defraud ING Bank of $6 million by falsifying mortgage applications, reports the Seattle Times. However, the couples say that they, too,…

Mar 16, 2009 7:11 PM CDT

NJ Sues Multiple Lawyers in Alleged $18M Mortgage Racketeering Scam

A disbarred lawyer who lives in Montvale, N.J., and his son, as well as four other licensed attorneys have been accused of participating in an $18 million mortgage racketeering scam in a lawsuit filed by the state attorney general. The case concerns a claimed straw-buyer scam allegedly operated through Casey…

Mar 13, 2009 5:53 PM CDT

Lawyer Helps Smithsonian Find Secret Message on Abe Lincoln’s Gold Watch

On the day the Confederates fired on Fort Sumter, in a salvo that began the Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln’s gold pocket watch happened to be in a repair shop in the Washington, D.C., area. So, the watchmaker later told his family—and, in 1906, the New York Times—he wrote a…

Mar 10, 2009 7:42 PM CDT

Dangerous Structure Needs Regulation: The Childhood Tree House

A iconic American childhood activity could be headed for the same fate as the dodo bird if medical researchers get their way. Tree houses are the source of some 2,800 childhood injuries annually and should be regulated, the experts suggest. “There are plenty of serious injuries if you look at…

Mar 10, 2009 12:44 AM CDT

Business Booming for Lawyers Who Help Homeowners Facing Foreclosure

There’s one area of law practice that’s booming right now for attorneys in many areas of the country. With foreclosures at record levels, homeowners need help reaching a resolution with lenders. And while they may not be able to pay a lawyer much, if anything, many attorneys are either taking…

Mar 9, 2009 9:18 PM CDT

House OKs Mortgage ‘Cramdown’ Bill; Tougher Fight Expected in Senate

A controversial bill that would give bankruptcy judges the power to reduce the principal balance on a debtor’s personal residence passed the U.S. House of Representatives tonight but is expected to face a tougher fight in the Senate. Under the “cramdown” legislation, bankruptcy judges could also reduce the interest rate…

Mar 6, 2009 2:02 AM CST

Bankruptcy Filings Up 31% in 2008; Mortgage Foreclosures Hit New High

Bankruptcy and foreclosure litigation are likely to remain hot practice areas as the economy continues its free fall and housing values plummet. Newly released statistics show a 31 percent increase in bankruptcy filings in 2008, compared to the previous calendar year, and mortgage delinquencies are at an all-time high. Mortgage…

Mar 5, 2009 7:59 PM CST

Suit Accuses Greenberg Traurig of Malicious Prosecution

The owner of a Florida dental technician business has sued Greenberg Traurig for malicious prosecution after the state supreme court sided with her in an eviction case. Marina Del Toro claims the law firm, partner Craig Barnett and their landlord client filed suit to evict her company for improper reasons,…

Mar 5, 2009 3:25 PM CST

Fla. City Official: Business Sign Rules Allow US Flag, But Not 1st Amendment

Had a Florida bait and tackle shop covered up an offending fish painting with the U.S. flag, it could have avoided additional tickets under the Clearwater municipal sign ordinance. But covering the exterior wall mural with the text of the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution violated Clearwater’s sign rules…

Mar 5, 2009 1:52 AM CST

The Foreclosure Learning Curve

In these days of crisis, a foreclosure takes place every 13 seconds in the U.S. So, doing the math, that means more than 400 foreclosures were initiated somewhere in the nation during the 90-minute program “Foreclosing on the American Dream” at the midyear meeting.

Mar 2, 2009 2:10 AM CST

Feds Ignored Loan Problems at Failing IndyMac, Treasury Report Says

The federal Office of Thrift Supervision ignored inflated appraisals and lax lending standards that led to the failure of California-based IndyMac Bancorp, according to a report by the U.S. Treasury Department’s inspector general. And that failure cost the taxpayer-funded Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. $10.7 billion, writes the Los Angeles Times.…

Feb 27, 2009 1:42 AM CST

ACLU Backs Florida Bait Shop Ticketed for Displaying US Constitution

Updated: At first, it was a painting of game fish on an exterior wall of a Florida bait and tackle shop that drew adverse attention from sign code enforcement officials of the city of Clearwater, who said it violates a ban on a business displaying a depiction of the product…

Feb 24, 2009 9:31 PM CST