- May 30, 2024
CFPB To Probe 'Junk Fees' In Mortgage Closing Costs
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau said Thursday that it will scrutinize how "junk fees" may be making it more expensive to purchase a home, kicking off a broad inquiry that could presage a crackdown on rising mortgage closing costs.
- May 30, 2024
Wash. Tribe Gets Partial Win Against Feds Over Wildfires
A Court of Federal Claims judge partly denied Thursday the U.S. government's bid to toss claims by a tribe in Washington state over massive fires that destroyed forests on reservation land, saying a money-mandating source of law entitles the tribes to compensation.
- May 30, 2024
Only One Landlord Allowed To Duck DC RealPage Suit
One of several landlords that stands accused by the District of Columbia of using property management platform RealPage to fix the price of rentals has managed to convince a D.C. Superior Court judge to kibosh the claims against the real estate investment trust permanently.
- May 30, 2024
Real Estate Investor Beats Niece's Suit Over Fall At LA Home
Real estate investor and philanthropist Stanley Black can't be held liable for injuries suffered by his niece when she tripped and fell on the driveway of his Sunset Boulevard mansion, a California state appeals court has ruled, saying there's no evidence of defects on the driveway she walked on many times before.
- May 30, 2024
Defendant Dropped From Calif. Broker Commissions Case
A California federal judge has dismissed a multiple listing service from a proposed antitrust class action that accused the service and several real estate brokerages of engaging in a conspiracy to artificially inflate buyer broker commissions on home sales.
- May 30, 2024
Curaçao Expropriation Suit Tossed Over Sovereign Immunity
A D.C. federal judge on Thursday tossed an Iranian American women's rights activist's $110 million suit accusing Curaçao's banking regulator of unlawfully seizing her stake in a $700 million investment company, saying the regulator has sovereign immunity and that, in any case, no expropriation had taken place.
- May 30, 2024
Only $100K Owed For NJ Theater's Virus Losses, Judge Says
A Zurich unit owed a theater only $100,000 for its COVID-19-related losses under its policy's communicable disease coverage provision, a New Jersey federal court ruled, rejecting the theater's arguments that each public health order constituted a separate occurrence and that a "blanket" $1.9 million limit was applicable.
- May 30, 2024
Venezuelan Oil Co. Looks To Slip Asset Seizure Suit
An Oklahoma-based oil drilling company insisted Thursday that the D.C. federal court has jurisdiction to decide claims that the company's Venezuelan subsidiary was illegally expropriated without compensation as Venezuela's state-owned oil company looks to slip the long-running suit.
- May 30, 2024
Sorority, Ex-Affiliate End Trademark Suit After Mediation
A sorority and a former affiliate have agreed to scrap a trademark dispute alleging the affiliate continued to use the sorority's name and symbols after their relationship had been severed.
- May 30, 2024
Judge Finds US Owns Fla. Island In Long-Running Dispute
A federal judge ruled that the government owns a vacant island off the harbor of Key West, Florida, in rejecting a developer's long-running claim to title, finding that the U.S. Navy has used the site as a buffer from forces such as hurricanes and private development.
- May 30, 2024
Deals Rumor Mill: Aramco, Double Eagle, WeWork
Saudi Arabia is planning a stock sale of state-backed oil giant Armaco that could exceed $10 billion, Double Eagle hopes to unload a Permian-based oil producer for $6.5 billion, and Adam Neumman has ended his bid to reacquire WeWork. Here, Law360 breaks down these and other notable deal rumors from the past week.
- May 30, 2024
Mass. Foreclosure Law May Be Unconstitutional, Judge Says
A Massachusetts law blocking towns and cities from returning excess funds from foreclosure sales may be an unconstitutional taking, a federal judge has said.
- May 30, 2024
Jersey Shore Motel Loses Condemnation Fight With Town
A New Jersey borough properly used eminent domain to take over a local 50-room motel where it plans to provide parking and electric vehicle charging, a New Jersey appellate panel ruled.
- May 30, 2024
WeWork Gets OK For $4B Chapter 11 Plan
A New Jersey bankruptcy judge on Thursday approved office space provider WeWork's plan to wipe out $4 billion in debt and end its Chapter 11 case after hearing there were no remaining creditor objections.
- May 30, 2024
Conn. Atty Avoids Default In $1.4M Transfer Scam Suit
A Connecticut attorney has won the right to defend herself against accusations she knowingly participated in an email transfer scam that stole more than $1.4 million from a New Jersey-based real estate development company last year.
- May 30, 2024
High Court Calls For 2nd Circ. Redo In BofA Preemption Fight
The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday threw out a Second Circuit decision that freed Bank of America NA from class action litigation brought over a New York escrow interest law, ruling that the circuit court wasn't "nuanced" enough in finding the law preempted for national banks.
- May 29, 2024
Malaysia Plans Suits Over $14.9B Award To Sulu Claimants
Units of Malaysia's national natural gas company are planning to file litigation in Europe against claimants awarded $14.9 billion and their litigation funder following a high-stakes arbitration with the Southeast Asian country over a 19th-century land deal, according to newly filed documents in New York.
- May 29, 2024
Tribe Says Mining Co. Can't Protect 500 Docs In Land Suit
A Native American tribe has asked a Minnesota federal court to ignore a mining company's objections to a magistrate judge's order compelling it to produce nearly 500 documents related to a land exchange dispute, arguing that it failed to establish attorney-client privilege claims.
- May 29, 2024
DACA Holder Accuses Fla. Credit Union Of Discrimination
A man with temporary immigration protections through the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program is accusing Florida's third-largest credit union of unlawfully denying him a home loan based on his immigration status, in a suit filed Wednesday in federal court.
- May 29, 2024
NC State Is Blocking Probe Of PCBs In Building, Court Told
North Carolina State University is trying to exploit the judicial process in order to destroy evidence of building contamination, a cancer-stricken professor told a state appeals court Tuesday in a bid to advance plans for a carcinogen inspection.
- May 29, 2024
More Law Firms Are Relocating, Signing New Leases In 2024
More law firms have relocated or renewed their office leases in the first quarter of 2024 than during the same period over the last four years, continuing a post-pandemic trend that began late last year as more firms made moves, according to a recent report by real-estate services company Savills.
- May 29, 2024
South Baltimore Citizens Call On EPA For Incinerator Relief
Baltimore has turned a blind eye to South Baltimore residents suffering from respiratory diseases and persistently urging the city to transition away from Maryland's largest trash incinerator to zero-waste infrastructure for dealing with refuse, two environmental groups and a residents group say in an administrative complaint Wednesday.
- May 29, 2024
Wash. Panel Ends Quest Diagnostics' COVID Coverage Quest
Quest Diagnostics' insurers don't owe the medical testing lab COVID-19-related business loss coverage, a Washington appeals court said, ruling the company failed to show that the presence of the virus resulted in physical loss or damage to its property.
- May 29, 2024
Nestle Purina Sued Over Foul Odors At Denver Plant
Two Colorado residents hit Nestle Purina PetCare Co. with a proposed class action in federal court Tuesday, saying the company's pet food manufacturing facility emits gag-inducing odors that have disrupted lives and reduced property values.
- May 29, 2024
Law Firm Says Atty Can't Elude Malpractice Claims In RE Case
Chaitman LLP has urged a New Jersey state court to preserve its malpractice claims against a suspended solo attorney, arguing that discovery so far has shown that the attorney was deeply involved in guiding a case that ended in failure for its clients and exposed Chaitman to its own malpractice suit.
