Real Estate & Property Law

Fla. Real Estate Lawyer Convicted Over Closing Documents

A Florida attorney who worked as a title agent has been convicted by a federal jury in Fort Lauderdale of preparing real estate closing documents that helped another man defraud lenders. Howard Gaines, 57, was convicted last week of two counts of mail fraud and one count of conspiracy to…

Dec 8, 2008 11:48 PM CST

Trump’s Lawyer Calls Bank Suit Over Chicago Hotel Loan ‘Legal Stupidity’

The lead lender on a hotel and condominium tower in Chicago has sued Donald Trump, seeking to enforce a $40 million personal guarantee. The suit by Deutsche Bank Trust Co. was filed in a state court in Manhattan, report Crain’s Chicago Business and the Chicago Tribune. The bank is also…

Dec 1, 2008 1:53 PM CST

NY High Court OKs Lawyers’ Right to Nix Property Contracts

The New York Court of Appeals ruled today that lawyers can disapprove of a client’s real estate contract for any reason within the three-day attorney review period. And the court ruled that it’s not bad faith, even if the lawyer simply nixes the deal because a client wanted to back…

Nov 25, 2008 9:18 PM CST

Celebs Sue Each Other Over Gated Road in Star-Studded Calif. Community

Both the plaintiffs and the defendants are a star-studded list in a lawsuit filed over a gated road between upscale two communities near Beverly Hills. Among the plaintiffs are Samuel Jackson and Earvin “Magic” Johnson, reports the Los Angeles Times. The defendants include Barry Bonds, Reba McEntire, Eddie Murphy, Sylvester…

Nov 20, 2008 7:03 PM CST

3 Charged in N.Y. Lawyer’s Murder

When a 44-year-old real estate lawyer and businessman was found murdered last month in a Long Island, N.Y., parking lot, a friend said he believed the killing wasn’t random. Now authorities are alleging that a business connection of attorney James DiMartino, who was reportedly shot in the head in broad…

Nov 17, 2008 11:51 PM CST

New Divorce Issue: House is Hot Potato

Once upon a time, divorcing couples fought over who got the house. Now they fight over who doesn’t get it. ‘It’s like, ‘You take the house!’ ‘No, You take the house.’ ‘I don’t want it, you take it,’ ” Drew Sheridan, a divorce lawyer in Kendall. Fla., tells the Miami…

Nov 17, 2008 4:44 PM CST

FDIC Breaks With Bush Administration on Foreclosure Policy

In a highly unusual move, the chairman of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation has gone public with a proposed mortgage foreclosure rescue plan that conflicts with the position taken by the U.S. Treasury Department and the White House. The president and the treasury department say a $700 billion financial rescue…

Nov 14, 2008 11:22 PM CST

Practice Tip for Foreclosure Defendants: Make Sure Lender Owns Mortgage

In the midst of a national mortgage foreclosure crisis, those handling the litigation aren’t always as careful as they should be. That, presumably, is how a widow in Lehigh Acres, Fla., came to be served with two entirely different foreclosure suits, each claiming that a different lender owned her mortgage…

Nov 14, 2008 10:23 PM CST

A Wrong Prediction about Construction Litigation Results in Layoffs

A Chicago law firm has laid off four of its 14 associates after hiring seven lawyers earlier this year in anticipation of an increase in construction litigation that never materialized. Stein, Ray & Harris now has 10 associates and 11 partners, name partner Robert Harris told the National Law Journal.…

Nov 11, 2008 2:32 PM CST

Trump Files $3B Suit Against Lenders for Chicago Condo and Hotel Skyscraper

Donald Trump is suing to extend a $640 million construction loan on a condominium and condo hotel project in Chicago that will be the nation’s second-tallest building. Slowing sales of condos and hotel rooms put projected revenue nearly $100 million below the amount needed to pay off a group of…

Nov 10, 2008 5:02 PM CST

Chicago Attorney and Ex-Alderman Ed Vrdolyak Pleads in Kickback Case

A well-known Chicago attorney who is a former longtime city alderman has pleaded guilty to conspiring to commit mail fraud. The case, which involves a claimed kickback paid to put a real estate deal on a fast track, was to have gone to trial this week. “Edward Vrdolyak said he…

Nov 4, 2008 9:07 PM CST

‘Bonnie and Clyde’ of Mortgage Fraud Stole $8.7M, Feds Say

A high school dropout and former house cleaner who became a Las Vegas real estate agent is now accused, with her husband, of being the Bonnie and Clyde of real estate fraud. Eve Mazzarella, 31, and her husband, Steven Grimm, 45, were arrested by federal agents at their home in…

Oct 30, 2008 5:11 PM CDT

National Study Finds Modest Damages are the Norm in State Civil Cases

A new study appears to debunk tales of runaway civil trial damages, at least in most kinds of cases. The first national study of civil trials in state courts has found that civil plaintiffs who received monetary damages in 2005 received a median final award of only $28,000, according to…

Oct 28, 2008 8:30 PM CDT

Funeral Home Eviction Issue: What to Do With the Bodies?

A recent eviction at a business in Pontiac, Mich., posed some unusual issues for officials responsible for emptying the premises. That’s because the business was a funeral home, and among the items that had to be removed were five bodies and the cremated remains of 22 others, reports the Detroit…

Oct 27, 2008 6:12 PM CDT

NY Mortgage Lawyer Killed in Parking Lot Shooting

A Long Island mortgage lawyer who recently began making high-interest loans was shot and killed yesterday in a restaurant parking lot. The 44-year-old James DiMartino, who practiced in Holbrook, N.Y., was shot in the head “in broad daylight,” the New York Post reports. DiMartino’s longtime friend, James Donovan, told the…

Oct 22, 2008 2:13 PM CDT