Real Estate & Property Law

Was family’s 8-foot alligator a serial cat killer? Probe seeks info on small pets missing since 1975

It isn’t legal to keep an alligator as a pet in Los Angeles without a permit. But somehow a Van Nuys family managed to do so for decades. Although something of an open secret among those who lived in the neighborhood, Jaxson managed to stay under the radar, as far…

Jan 16, 2015 6:30 AM CST

Lawyer indicted in mortgage-fraud case, accused of using another attorney’s identity on closing docs

A New Jersey real estate lawyer was indicted Wednesday along with 11 co-defendants, accused of participating in a mortgage-fraud scheme that obtained bank loans totalling nearly $1 million to purchase three properties by providing false information to lenders. The claimed scheme involved residential properties purchased at discounted prices in short…

Jan 15, 2015 3:35 PM CST

Former lawyer convicted in condo-eviction slaying gets 45 years

A former Wyoming lawyer convicted last year in Florida of fatally shooting a maintenance man during a 2010 eviction from a South Beach condominium was sentenced Tuesday to 45 years in prison. “Your actions turned what should have been a routine eviction into a tragedy,” Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Marisa Tinkler…

Jan 13, 2015 2:40 PM CST

Landlords see pro-tenant bias in rulings by New York’s top court

Landlords say New York’s top court is focusing on policy rather than a close reading of state law in a string of decisions favoring tenants. Landlords say the New York Court of Appeals has shifted to favor tenants since Chief Judge Jonathan Lippman took office in 2009, the Wall Street…

Dec 31, 2014 5:45 AM CST

‘Tis the season for lawsuits over holiday displays

A Florida city began litigating in February over the expected holiday display extravaganza at the Plantation Acres home of Mark and Kathy Hyatt, who were featured last year in The Great Christmas Light Fight but lost the $50,000 contest to a family in Georgia. Nonetheless, the case is still ongoing…

Dec 19, 2014 4:10 PM CST

In wake of class action filing, Philadelphia DA drops effort to forfeit some homes

Two Philadelphia families whose homes were targeted for forfeiture by the Philadelphia district attorney’s office have won their battle to stay in their homes. After homeowners Christos “Chris” Sourovelis, 52, and Doila Welch, 47, became lead plaintiffs in a class action against the city, the DA’s office decided not to…

Dec 19, 2014 12:30 PM CST

Acclaimed film on ‘Dinosaur 13’ legal battle airs on CNN

An acclaimed documentary about a legal battle related to the ownership of a 67 million-year-old Tyrannosaurus rex skeleton known as Sue aired on CNN on Thursday. Eventually purchased by the Field Museum, the famous set of fossilized T. rex bones was named in honor of Sue Hendrickson, a paleontologist who…

Dec 11, 2014 3:55 PM CST

Disbarred closing attorney scheduled to plead guilty in mortgage-fraud case is found dead

A former Virginia lawyer who was scheduled to plead guilty Wednesday afternoon in a federal mortgage fraud case in Richmond was found dead Wednesday morning in Florida under unexplained circumstances. Walter Hooker left his Boca Grande home on Monday, telling his wife he was going to play golf, and never…

Dec 11, 2014 10:15 AM CST

Judge says investigative files for ‘In Cold Blood’ murders can be published by investigator’s son

In 2012, a Kansas judge ruled that records kept by a man who investigated the murder of four family members portrayed in a famous Truman Capote book could not be published, sold or used as the basis for a book. But Shawnee County District Court Judge Larry Hendricks has since…

Dec 1, 2014 5:20 PM CST

Law firm secretary is accused of forging judge’s signature to delay eviction

A secretary at a Syracuse, New York, law firm has been charged with forging a judge’s signature on a legal document in an attempt to delay eviction from her home. Patricia Nesci, 50, of Cicero, New York, was charged after deputies became suspicious and contacted the judge whose name was…

Nov 25, 2014 10:45 AM CST

Law firm chief convicted in $13M loan-modification scheme, faces up to 70 years

A California attorney at the helm of a law firm accused of defrauding 3,261 homeowners of $13 million through a mortgage modification scheme has been criminally convicted by a federal jury in San Diego. Dean Chandler, who served as president and CEO of 1st American Law Center, was convicted Thursday…

Nov 21, 2014 3:35 PM CST

Fannie Mae pursues borrowers for foreclosure losses in ‘robo-signer redux’

Mortgage finance giant Fannie Mae is pursuing borrowers for its foreclosure losses in Florida, where a new law required the deficiency suits to be filed by July 1 of this year. Fannie Mae is seeking to recover the difference between the amount owed on foreclosed properties and the amount collected…

Nov 18, 2014 5:45 AM CST

Woman whose 4 pit bulls killed neighbor’s dog, in its own yard, sues neighbor for $1M

Last month, four pit bulls owned by Emerald White reportedly went through a boundary fence between two Texas homes and killed her neighbor’s 10-year-old beagle. Now a lawsuit has been filed—by White—against the owner of the beagle because White says she was injured after she herself went onto her neighbor’s…

Nov 17, 2014 4:25 PM CST

Can second mortgages on underwater property be voided in bankruptcy? SCOTUS to decide

The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to decide whether a second mortgage on an underwater house can be voided in bankruptcy. The court accepted two cases from Florida on Monday involving second mortgages issued by Bank of America, report SCOTUSblog, the National Law Journal (sub. req.), Reuters, Courthouse News Service…

Nov 17, 2014 2:23 PM CST

Wind farm sues feds to stop release of bird-death data to Associated Press

Flying eagles looking for prey are much like texting drivers behind the wheel. They don’t notice wind farm turbines in their flight path until it’s too late. However, such birds are under federal protection, and the Associated Press has been asking why wind farms, unlike oil and power companies, haven’t…

Nov 17, 2014 1:00 PM CST