Real Estate & Property Law

Mortgage Meltdown Results in ‘Tranche Warfare’

A default on debt tied to Boston’s John Hancock Tower highlights the kind of legal fights that will likely break out among investors who have varying rights to repayment after property foreclosures. When mortgages are pooled and securitized, the investors purchase bonds that are grouped by payment priority known as…

Jan 21, 2009 1:52 PM CST

New ‘Supergraphic’ Signs Test Calif. Laws

Tenants have complained about blighted views, possible fire safety issues and, in at least one apparent contract-based claim, an adverse effect on their business. But, at least for now, so-called supergraphic signs stretching in curtain-like fashion over multiple stories of a number of Los Angeles commercial buildings apparently aren’t coming…

Jan 21, 2009 12:27 AM CST

Homeowner ‘Cramdown’ Legislation Opposed By Obama

If they go bankrupt, real estate investors who don’t live in the homes they purchase can ask a judge to reduce the principal balances on their mortgage loans. But homeowners don’t have the same “cramdown” right concerning their primary residence, under recent bankruptcy reform legislation. Unless the lender voluntarily agrees…

Jan 20, 2009 8:46 PM CST

Law Firm Insurer Will Pay $6.2M to Settle Document Prep Suit

An insurance company for a Nevada law firm has agreed to pay $6.2 million to settle litigation claiming that by preparing financial documents, attorney David Garcia and his law firm helped an Oregon-based real estate company bilk investors of some $18 million. Although a lawyer for Hale Lane Peek Dennison…

Jan 20, 2009 6:36 PM CST

Big Lender OKs Plan to Let Bankruptcy Judges Reduce Mortgage Balances

In a move that is expected to expedite proposed federal legislation permitting bankruptcy judges to reduce the principal balance on troubled mortgages on owner-occupied properties, a major bank is supporting a plan by Democratic lawmakers to enact such a law. Citigroup’s support for the legislation is expected to persuade other…

Jan 8, 2009 11:43 PM CST

Pay Servicers, Enact Safe Harbor Law to Stop Foreclosures, Columbia Profs Say

There are two primary steps that the feds should take to help end the mortgage foreclosure crisis, Columbia University law and business professors say in a written report (PDF) released yesterday. First, the government should pay financial institutions to modify mortgages, to give servicers a financial incentive to work with…

Jan 8, 2009 7:15 PM CST

Pa. Judge in Ethics Case Over Landlord Activities

A Philadelphia judge is facing a misconduct charge based on his alleged use of his judicial office resources during his sideline real estate activities. Willis Berry, who was a candidate for the state supreme court several years ago, is accused in a complaint filed today by the Judicial Conduct Board…

Jan 6, 2009 12:23 AM CST

Rollin’ the Dice on Parkdale Road

Though the credit meltdown may have seemed a sudden development to some, critics had been warning that massive mortgage-backed securities were doomed to fail, perhaps from their inception. Financial institutions gambled billions on millions of mortgages like this one, profiled from federal court records. View a larger size of the…

Jan 1, 2009 11:50 AM CST

‘I need to advise them to fall behind on their payments, and that’s ludicrous to me.’

Arnettia Wright, sole practitioner, Wright Law Group

Jan 1, 2009 10:20 AM CST

Extra 3 Feet on Freeway Ramp Costs Texas County $525,000

A new ramp linking a portion of Interstate 10 to a parking facility around Houston is 28 feet high. Unfortunately, a visibility easement purchased from Harris County in 2001 by a billboard owner sets a 25-foot height limit for any structures built on neighboring property. After losing a court case…

Dec 12, 2008 5:20 PM CST

Ohio Lawyer and University Trustee Indicted Over Real Estate Deal

A partner in an Akron, Ohio, law firm who is also a trustee of the University of Akron has been charged in a misdemeanor ethics case concerning a real estate deal that involved the university and property in which he allegedly had an interest. Jack Morrison Jr., 56, has been…

Dec 10, 2008 7:20 PM CST

Stricter Fla. Mortgage Regulation Still is Lacking, Newspaper Says

Despite a crackdown on individuals in Florida who had a significant role in writing millions of dollars worth of troubled mortgages, some of their colleagues who have been involved in the problem deals continue to ply their trade. Even though a new law bars criminals from being licensed as mortgage…

Dec 10, 2008 6:53 PM CST

Yale Sued by Peru Over Inca Artifacts

Upping the ante in negotiations over the potential return to the Republic of Peru of Inca artifacts obtained by an explorer affiliated with Yale University almost 100 years ago, the country has now sued the renowned educational institution in federal court. Although general counsel Dorothy Robinson says Yale is eager…

Dec 9, 2008 9:09 PM CST

How Attorney Marc Dreier Allegedly Sold Worthless Forged Paper for $113M

In an era of high-tech fraud, the founder of the Dreier law firm is accused of doing it the old-fashioned way. Using little more than his position and skills as a prominent and seasoned attorney, Marc Dreier allegedly tricked sophisticated investors into paying more than $100 million for worthless forged…

Dec 9, 2008 8:20 PM CST

Unusual LA Suit Seeks Damages From Jailed Gang Leaders

A first-of-its-kind lawsuit filed yesterday by the Los Angeles city attorney’s office against nine imprisoned gang leaders seeks to gain possession of their assets and redistribute the money among other residents of the two crime-laden neighborhoods the defendants allegedly still control from their jail cells. “The suit seeks compensation for…

Dec 9, 2008 5:19 PM CST