Real Estate & Property Law

Did one marijuana joint make legal assistant’s home a ‘drug-related nuisance’? This AG thought so

An assistant at a law firm faced eviction after the Washington, D.C., attorney general wrote her landlord and said the home was a “drug-related nuisance”—an allegation stemming from the seizure of three suspicious cigarettes from her home. Rajuawn Middleton moved out of the home, the Washington Post reports. She is…

Aug 30, 2016 10:00 AM CDT

Does Airbnb have a legal responsibility to end bias by its hosts?

How can Airbnb voluntarily act to end discrimination? Ask civil rights warrior Kristen Clarke about her New York Times op-ed at our 10 Questions Live Google Hangout at 2 p.m. ET today. Click here to register.

Aug 25, 2016 7:00 AM CDT

Lawyer quits Palo Alto planning board over housing costs; monthly rent in shared house was $6,200

A California lawyer is airing her reasons for quitting a Palo Alto government board: She can’t afford to live there. In a letter posted online, lawyer Kate Downing says the home she rents with her husband—and another couple—is $6,200 a month, report the Recorder (sub. req.) and the San Jose…

Aug 22, 2016 8:00 AM CDT

HUD’s sale of delinquent mortgages to private investors violates fair housing laws, suit says

A lawsuit filed against the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development says that delinquent federally insured mortgages are being sold to private investors who provide fewer protections than the federal government. Most of the mortgages that are sold to the investors are from predominantly black neighborhoods, and the lack…

Aug 17, 2016 9:45 AM CDT

Homebuyers’ suit over threatening letters from ‘the Watcher’ is allowed to proceed

A New Jersey judge has refused to dismiss a lawsuit claiming the sellers of a $1.3 million home should have warned about a disturbing letter from a person who claimed to be watching the home. Judge Camille Kenny of Elizabeth, New Jersey, tossed emotional distress claims and other counts, but…

Aug 12, 2016 1:44 PM CDT

Judge imposes $1.8M in penalties for misleading law firm charges in more than 2,000 foreclosures

A Denver judge is imposing $1.8 million in penalties for two law firms’ false and misleading charges on title insurance in 2,291 foreclosures. Judge Shelley Gilman found that lawyer Robert Hopp, his law firms and title companies violated Colorado debt-collection and consumer protection laws, report the Denver Post, the Denver…

Aug 8, 2016 9:30 AM CDT

Hillary Clinton’s VP pick once litigated fair-housing cases and won a record $100M verdict

Hillary Clinton’s vice presidential pick, Sen. Tim Kaine of Virginia, is a Harvard law graduate who once worked at small law firms litigating civil-rights and fair-housing cases. The Virginia senator’s biggest financial win of his legal career was a $100 million jury verdict against Nationwide Insurance, report Law.com and Mother…

Jul 25, 2016 12:42 PM CDT

Pokemon Go spurs lawyers to stop and consider legal issues

Pokemon characters are on the loose, and it’s your job to catch and collect them. That’s the premise of the new Pokemon Go app, which uses your phone’s GPS and clock to detect where you are and make Pokemon characters appear on your phone screens, Vox explains. The Pokemon characters…

Jul 13, 2016 8:00 AM CDT

Can city sue mortgage lenders over alleged fair-housing violations? Supreme Court to decide

The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday agreed to decide whether the city of Miami can sue banks over alleged predatory lending that targeted blacks and Hispanics. The issue in the two consolidated cases is whether the city qualifies as an “aggrieved person” permitted to sue to enforce the Fair Housing…

Jul 1, 2016 7:40 AM CDT

Small civil-rights law firm wins reversal of $282K sanction

A small civil-rights law firm in Minnesota has won reversal of a $281,900 sanction imposed by a federal judge who found its claims in a Native American land rights case to be “completely frivolous.” The St. Louis-based 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals sided with Minneapolis attorney Erick Kaardal and…

Jun 28, 2016 11:45 AM CDT

Chicago poised to adopt regulation of Airbnb and similar home-rental listing sites

A proposed Chicago ordinance regulating Airbnb and similar online home rental websites will no longer require the site to police those who violate listing rules. Instead, it will be up to city inspectors and those with complaints to make their voices heard, with the help of a $60-per-unit fee paid…

Jun 14, 2016 2:40 PM CDT

FTC sues 2 law firms over claimed mortgage-rescue scheme that cost clients $15M in 2014

The Federal Trade Commission has sued two Southern California law firms, seeking to freeze their assets and appoint a receiver. It says Brookstone Law and Advantis Law raked in $15 million in 2014 by charging clients upfront fees for work such as “legal analysis” and promises of mass joinder in…

Jun 10, 2016 12:30 PM CDT

9th Circuit OKs legal fees in failed suit over school bus converted to look like Spanish galleon

A school bus converted to a replica 16th-century Spanish galleon and used to transport attendees, hold weddings and provide a stage for poetry readings at events like Nevada’s Burning Man festival wasn’t a protected artwork under a federal statute. That’s what a federal district court judge decided on summary judgment…

Jun 9, 2016 3:40 PM CDT

Do veggies get equal protection? Couple cites Constitution, seeks to uproot front-garden ban

A South Florida couple forced to dig up the organic vegetable garden they had in their front yard for 17 years, due to threats of $50-a-day fines by Miami Shores, is now pursuing a constitutional case over a front-garden ban. Tom Carroll and Hermine Ricketts contend that a recent zoning…

Jun 9, 2016 3:15 PM CDT

San Francisco mulls fining, prosecuting home-share sites like Airbnb for listing unregistered units

In 2015, a law took effect in San Francisco that requires those who make short-term rentals available on sharing sites such as Airbnb, HomeAway and VRBO to register with local government. But only around 1,400 of an estimated 7,000 or more owners who rent rooms and entire homes to travelers…

Jun 3, 2016 11:53 AM CDT