More Real Estate Coverage

  • March 31, 2025

    Ex-FDNY Official Gets 20 Months For Safety Review Kickbacks

    A Manhattan federal judge on Monday sentenced a former high-ranking New York City fire department official to 20 months in prison for accepting tens of thousands of dollars in bribes in exchange for expediting building safety checks.

  • March 31, 2025

    NYC Fights Group's Claim Of Biased Property Tax System

    An organization that says New York City's property tax regime discriminates against minorities can't proceed with its claim, the city told the state appellate court, saying that further discovery or trial is needed.

  • March 31, 2025

    Feds' Race Bias Suit Should Target Appraiser, Rocket Says

    Rocket Mortgage LLC has urged a Colorado federal court to dismiss the federal government's race discrimination suit against the mortgage lender, an appraisal management company and an appraiser, arguing it is not responsible for what the appraiser purportedly did.

  • March 28, 2025

    DC Circ. Tosses Green Groups' Challenge To La. Gas Pipelines

    A D.C. Circuit panel on Friday rejected an environmental challenge to a Tellurian subsidiary's $1.5 billion plan to construct parallel, roughly 30-mile gas pipelines in Louisiana, ruling that federal energy regulators reasonably weighed greenhouse gas impacts and market demand in approving the project.

  • March 28, 2025

    5th Circ. OKs Largest US Crude Export Terminal's Expansion

    A Fifth Circuit panel found the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers dotted its i's and crossed its t's before it greenlighted an expansion of the largest crude oil export terminal by volume in North America, finding in a Friday opinion the agency adequately studied the project's effects.

  • March 28, 2025

    US Can Weigh In On Osage Reservation Boundary Dispute

    An Oklahoma federal judge will allow the United States to weigh in on a dispute between the Osage Nation and the state's tax commission over the tribe's reservation boundaries after the federal government said a U.S. Supreme Court ruling at the crux of the litigation is of interest to the government.

  • March 27, 2025

    Lawmakers Reintroduce Bill For Georgia's First National Park

    Four U.S. lawmakers from Georgia have reintroduced a federal act that would establish the Ocmulgee Mounds and surrounding areas as the state's first national park, saying the bipartisan bill's introduction follows years of lobbying by the Muscogee (Creek) Nation.

  • March 27, 2025

    Whistleblowers Seek Bigger Cut Of Tetra Tech Deal With Navy

    Seven whistleblowers told a California federal judge on Thursday they deserve a cut of the total $97 million settlement the government inked over allegations a Tetra Tech unit billed the Navy for radiation remediation that was not done, and not a smaller share covering only the government's False Claims Act claims.

  • March 27, 2025

    Western Leaders Oppose Cuts To Public Land Protections

    More than 300 local Western leaders have urged the Trump administration and Congress to reject the sale of public lands in the latest budget resolution package passed by the U.S. House, saying they must oppose attempts to reduce the size of national monuments.

  • March 27, 2025

    Pa. Coal Co. Gets OK For $23.5M Asset Sale In Ch. 11

    A Pennsylvania bankruptcy judge on Thursday approved the sale of assets of bankrupt Corsa Coal Corp. for $23.5 million, overriding arguments against including litigation claims in the sale and for earmarking proceeds for environmental cleanup.

  • March 26, 2025

    Sotomayor Urges Caution On Nondelegation Doctrine Revamp

    U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor cautioned her colleagues during oral arguments Wednesday against using a challenge to the Federal Communications Commission's administration of a broadband subsidy program as a way to resurrect the long-dormant nondelegation doctrine. Several conservative justices, however, seemed willing to disregard that admonition.

  • March 26, 2025

    Court Can't Hear Everglades Water Dispute, 11th Circ. Says

    Sugar companies challenging the stand-alone use of an Everglades reservoir component that will allegedly reduce water supplies can't raise the dispute in court because the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers hasn't made a final decision on its operation, according to an Eleventh Circuit opinion.

  • March 25, 2025

    NJ Judge Upholds Mansion Tax On Sale Of Doomed House

    A New Jersey company that bought a property for $4.7 million after obtaining approval to demolish an uninhabitable farmhouse on the land and use the property for industrial purposes owes the state's so-called mansion tax on the purchase, the state Tax Court ruled Tuesday.

  • March 25, 2025

    Contractor Drops $1.1M Bond Dispute Against Liberty Mutual

    A Delaware-based plumbing and HVAC company has withdrawn its federal suit claiming that a general contractor and Liberty Mutual improperly withheld $1.1 million in payments for work the company completed on a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers elementary school project.

  • March 24, 2025

    Ore. Tribe Backs Hydro Utility's Eminent Domain Bid At Falls

    The Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians has asked an Oregon federal judge to approve a utility company's attempt to condemn five acres of public land for the operation of a hydroelectric project, saying another tribe believes wrongly that condemnation would eliminate its fishing platform.

  • March 24, 2025

    Investor Says It Was Conned Out Of $42M In Real Estate Deals

    A Las Vegas investment company alleged that four businessmen fleeced it out of more than $42 million by convincing the company to invest in a Washington real estate project that collapsed when the developer was convicted of rape and also luring the firm into another bad deal under false promises.

  • March 21, 2025

    Md. Nonprofit's Property Used As Home Isn't Exempt

    A Maryland property owned by a nonprofit isn't exempt from property tax, because it's used as the founder's home and not mainly for charitable purposes, the state tax court affirmed. 

  • March 20, 2025

    Property Owner Demands Appraisal Of $10.5M Hail Claim

    A Tennessee property owner asked a federal court Thursday to order a Travelers unit to participate in an appraisal of its hail damage claim, alleging the insurer denied coverage even though an "independent evaluation" of the owner's damages estimated that the hail damage exceeded $10.5 million.

  • March 20, 2025

    Conn. AG Sues Builder, Companies For State Park Clear-Cut

    A real estate builder and two of his companies have illegally clear-cut multiple acres of Connecticut state park land, installed fixtures including a basketball court and a guesthouse without permission and blocked public access to the area, according to an enforcement action brought by the state attorney general's office.

  • March 20, 2025

    La. Court Reinstates Cancer Center's Property Tax Appeal

    The Louisiana Tax Commission must hear a refund claim brought by a cancer center that said it mistakenly paid assessed property taxes despite being exempt, a state appeals court ruled, finding the center had a right to appeal the assessment.

  • March 20, 2025

    ND Directs Lawmakers To Consider Tribal Land Tax Study

    North Dakota directed state lawmakers to consider studying issues related to the taxation of land owned by enrolled tribal members who reside on Native American reservations under a bill signed by the governor.

  • March 19, 2025

    Interior Department Transfers 680 Acres To North Dakota Tribe

    The Spirit Lake Nation and the U.S. Department of the Interior are hailing the recently completed transfer of 680 acres back to the North Dakota tribe — land taken by the federal government in a mid-19th-century territory treaty — as a change that will benefit the tribe and that the tribe has pursued for decades.

  • March 19, 2025

    10th Circ. Says 'Corner-Crossing' Hunters Didn't Trespass

    A Tenth Circuit panel has ruled that Wyoming hunters who used an A-frame ladder to cross over private property to access public lands didn't trespass, finding an 1885 American frontier law protects the public's right to "corner-cross" and access public lands that are otherwise enclosed by private property.

  • March 18, 2025

    Tribe Members Complicate Tesoro Pipeline Row, 8th Circ. Told

    Tesoro High Plains Pipeline Co. has urged the Eighth Circuit to deny landowning tribe members' bid to intervene in the company's lawsuit challenging the federal government's right-of-way trespassing claims against it, saying that the United States adequately represents their interests and that they would only complicate the case.

  • March 18, 2025

    Real Estate Duo Closes Boutique To Join Howard & Howard

    A pair of attorneys operating a Chicago-based real estate-focused boutique recently closed the firm's doors and have joined Howard & Howard's office in the Windy City.

Expert Analysis

  • New Constitution In Chile Would Affect Infrastructure Projects

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    If Chile's new draft constitution is approved in next week's referendum, it will significantly alter the state's role in the economy — so investors in infrastructure projects must prepare for the possibility of heighted environmental protections and more state control of natural resources, say Craig Miles and Vanessa Alarcon Duvanel at King & Spalding.

  • Pre-Permit Best Practices For Texas Solar Farm Proposals

    Excerpt from Practical Guidance
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    When entering the pre-permit phase to construct and operate a solar farm in Texas, the developer's legal counsel should carefully establish definitions for key terms, including what constitutes an environmental permit, in order to ensure a smooth and flexible review process, says Larry Pechacek at V&E.

  • New Mass. Law A Step Forward For Offshore Wind

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    Recently enacted legislation in Massachusetts demonstrates the state's commitment not only to its renewable energy and greenhouse gas reduction goals, but specifically to supporting development of offshore wind projects — as well as development of transmission infrastructure to connect those projects to the grid, say attorneys at Day Pitney.

  • HUD Chicago Finding Reflects Biden's Enviro Agenda

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    A recent final finding issued by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development regarding relocation of a Chicago recycling facility illustrates how leveraging nonenvironmental statutes to force change and address environmental justice issues can work in practice, say J. Michael Showalter and Samuel Rasche at ArentFox Schiff.

  • 3 Trends To Watch In US Offshore Wind Development

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    As the offshore wind industry continues to build momentum in the U.S. with billions of dollars in new infrastructure spending and offshore lease sales, developers should keep an eye on emerging solutions to grid connectivity, expansion into new potential lease areas and more, say attorneys at V&E.

  • Inflation Reduction Act Loan Funds Will Aid Energy Innovation

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    By providing an extra $70 billion to the U.S. Department of Energy's Loan Program Office, the Inflation Reduction Act has the potential to significantly increase financing for innovative energy production and storage projects — and to do so in a fiscally responsible manner, say attorneys at Kilpatrick.

  • What 5th Circ. Bankruptcy Ruling Means For FERC Authority

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    The Fifth Circuit’s recent ruling in Gulfport Energy v. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission begs the question as to whether FERC regulations sufficiently protect pipelines from the effects of customer bankruptcies, and highlights the conflict between the commission and bankruptcy courts, say Keturah Brown and Emily Mallen at Sidley.

  • Justices Could Tighten Fraud Statute In Ex-Cuomo Aide Case

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    The U.S. Supreme Court has an opportunity to overturn the conviction of an aide to former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo in Percoco v. U.S., thereby restraining federal prosecutors' use of the honest services fraud statute and confining its application to cases of true public corruption, says Scott Coffina at Montgomery McCracken.

  • A Look At 2 Frameworks For Decarbonizing Heavy Industry

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    Comparing common themes in two recent international frameworks for decarbonizing heavy industry reveals recent progress toward lowering emissions and highlights the key role the industrial sector will play in decarbonization efforts, say attorneys at Shearman.

  • 'Waters Of US' Meaning May Get 'Major Questions' Scrutiny

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    After the U.S. Supreme Court's invocation of the so-called major questions doctrine in its recent decision in West Virginia v. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the court is primed to use this concept to restrict federal wetlands protections under the ambiguous term "waters of the United States," says Peter Alpert at Ropes & Gray.

  • Cos. Should Engage With EPA On PVC Hazard Designation

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    A pending petition to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to classify discarded polyvinyl chloride products as hazardous waste could have wide-ranging and unanticipated effects due to the ubiquity of PVC products — so potentially regulated industries should provide information to the EPA on the economic impact of such a move, say attorneys at Kilpatrick.

  • Lessons From FERC New England Capacity Market Settlement

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    The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission's recent enforcement settlement with Salem Harbor Power Development illustrates the consequences for power market participants if they fail to report accurate information to independent system operators and regional transmission organizations, say attorneys at K&L Gates.

  • Fed. Circ. Ruling May Curb Gov't Contract Procedural Suits

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    The Federal Circuit's recent decision in Zafer Construction v. U.S. contains important takeaways for federal contractors and contracting officials on determining whether a request for equitable adjustment is a timely claim for a final decision, and will hopefully avert costly procedural litigation, say Aron Beezley and Sarah Osborne at Bradley.

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