New Information from JD Supra REAL ESTATE

Real Estate   Need-to-know insights from leading experts in the field…

Dealing With NIMBYs in Local Land Use and Environmental Approval   A developer or property owner may have a permit application for a project that meets the criteria for the applicable regulations, and might receive approval from local government or environmental staff. At that point, the applicant thinks he or she... By: Burr & Forman     Easements: Roads Traveled, Less Traveled, and Not Traveled   Why would anyone buy property without access to a public road? Because it seemed like a good idea at the time, I guess. And often it is, until things change, “things” often being new and unfriendly ownership of the surrounding property.... By: Gray Reed & McGraw, P.C.     Foreclosing on FHA-Insured Mortgage in Violation of HUD Regulations Could Constitute Breach of Contract   Eleventh Circuit Rules that Failure to Comply with HUD Regulations in Foreclosing on FHA-Insured Mortgage – Including the Requirement of Having a Face-to-Face Meeting With the Debtor – Can Constitute a Breach of Contract. In Bates v. JPMorgan... By: Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP     Nevada Supreme Court Holds Foreclosure Of A Homeowners Association’s Assessment Lien Extinguishes A First Mortgage   On September 18, the Nevada Supreme Court decided that a homeowners association may foreclose its assessment lien non-judicially and that the foreclosure extinguishes a first mortgage. SFR Investments Pool v. US Bank (130 Nev. Adv. Opinion 75,... By: BuckleySandler LLP     U.S. Supreme Court Grants Cert. (again) in FHA Disparate Impact Case   On October 2, the U.S. Supreme Court granted certiorari in Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs, et al. v. The Inclusive Communities Project, Inc., No. 13-1371, a case in which the Fifth Circuit became the first federal Circuit Court of... By: BuckleySandler LLP     Lenders Beware: the Nevada Supreme Court Holds That Foreclosures of Homeowners’ Association Liens May Extinguish First Priority Deeds of Trust   Nevada has adopted the Uniform Common Interest Ownership Act of 1982 (the “Act”) which governs homeowners’ associations (“HOA”). One particular provision of that Act, enacted by Nevada in 1991 and later amended, and codified as NRS 116.3116 (the... By: Snell & Wilmer     HUD’s Office of Public Housing Investments issues deadlines for year end closings   Last week, Susan Wilson, HUD’s Director of the Office of Urban Revitalization, issued a memo announcing due dates for closing mixed-finance transactions with the Office of Public Housing Investments (OPHI). Generally, any 24 CFR 905, subpart F... By: Ballard Spahr LLP     Can I Paint My House Bright Pink?   Long before municipal zoning by-laws existed, restrictive covenants were used as an effective community planning tool. If Susan owned a large parcel of land and sold a piece to Jason, Susan may have required that Jason promise not to use the land for... By: Lerners LLP     Strong Arm Powers: What Can Be Done With An Avoided Lien?   DeGiacomo v. Traverse (In re Traverse), 753 F.3d 19 (1st Cir. 2014) – A chapter 7 trustee sought to avoid an unrecorded first mortgage and to preserve the lien for the benefit of the bankruptcy estate. In response, the debtor sought confirmation... By: Pepper Hamilton LLP     Condo Developers Getting Relief From Washington   In an uncharacteristic bipartisan style, the House of Representatives of the U.S. Congress passed H.R. 2600 on September 26, 2013, and almost a year later, on September 19, 2014, the Senate followed by enacting S.2101.... By: Bilzin Sumberg - New Miami     CFPB Updates Reverse Mortgage Guide   On September 24, the CFPB published an updated reverse mortgage guide on its blog to account for HUD’s recent changes to reverse mortgage programs. The blog post highlights new limits to lump sum, first-year payouts under reverse mortgages, as well... By: BuckleySandler LLP     Court Block’s Developers Ploy to Avoid Additional Payments   We are often asked when representing a client in defense of a claim whether the client could avoid the liability asserted by the claimant by potentially buying the cause of action out from under the claimant.... By: Bilzin Sumberg - New Miami     Homebuilding Outlook for The Remainder of 2014   Recent data indicates that the future will bring an increase in single-family building. The Census Bureaus and HUD released numbers last week showing that the annual pace of housing starts were down to 956,000, which is 14.4% below the July starts.... By: Bilzin Sumberg - Homebuilders     Mortgage Performance Improvement Continues   On September 25, the OCC reported that the performance of first-lien mortgages serviced by large national and federal savings banks improved from a year earlier.... By: Orrick - Structured Finance Group     After the Bank Forecloses, Must It Actually Sell Your House?   The Wisconsin Supreme Court will answer this question in Bank of New York v. Carson, No. 2013AP544. It heard argument in this case last Tuesday. The case began more than 3 1/2 years ago when a widow—physically and financially unable to care for... By: Foley & Lardner LLP     Third Time's the Charm? Supreme Court Agrees Again To Hear FHA Disparate Impact Case   Yesterday, the U.S. Supreme Court agreed for the third time in recent history to decide whether disparate impact claims are cognizable under the Fair Housing Act (FHA). The Supreme Court granted the Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs'... By: Ballard Spahr LLP     New exemption under ILSA for condo units: relief for developers, key points to note   President Barack Obama has signed into law an amendment to the Interstate Land Sales Full Disclosure Act of 1968 (ILSA). The new law, signed by the President on September 30, expands registration exemptions under ILSA to specifically include... By: DLA Piper     Homeowners’ Insurance: The Devil Resides In The Details   Reading and understanding all of the language in a homeowners’ insurance policy are not formalities to be skipped over while searching for the signature line. As with any contract, the fine print can have real and lasting consequences, and its... By: Archer Norris PLC     New York State Court Rules That Darwin Has Duty to Defend but AIG Does Not, for Same Risk, Based on Differing Policy Language   New York state court Judge Shirley Werner Kornreich recently ruled that American International Group, Inc. (“AIG”) didn’t have to pay certain defense costs for various suits brought against QBE Holdings, Inc. and its affiliates (collectively, “QBE”),... By: Proskauer - Insurance Recovery & Counseling     Only 28 Days Left to Submit Comments Regarding the CFPB’s Proposed Modifications to Home Mortgage Disclosure (Regulation C)   The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (“CFPB”) has published for public comment, a proposed rule amending Regulation C to implement amendments to the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA). The HMDA requires certain financial institutions to collect... By: Foley & Lardner LLP     CFPB Issues First Enforcement Action for Servicing Rules Violations   The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau recently announced a consent order with Flagstar Bank, F.S.B., alleging unfair acts and practices under the Consumer Financial Protection Act (CFPA) and violations of the CFPB's Mortgage Servicing Rules. The... By: Ballard Spahr LLP     The CFPB Weighs in on Marketing Services Agreements   The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (“CFPB”) has, for the first time, publicly expressed views on marketing services agreements (“MSAs”) under Section 8 of the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (“RESPA”). After months of rumors regarding the... By: K&L Gates LLP     FFIEC and CFPB Announce Updates To Web-Based HMDA Database And Tools   On September 22, the FFIEC announced an update to its online database for analyzing HMDA data and the CFPB announced updates to the agency’s corresponding HMDA tools. Originally launched in September 2013, the tool focuses on the number of mortgage... By: BuckleySandler LLP     U.S. Supreme Court grants certiorari (again) in FHA disparate impact case   Could the third time be the charm? Today, the U.S. Supreme Court granted the petition for certiorari filed in May 2014 by the Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs (Texas DHCA) in Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs v. The... By: Ballard Spahr LLP     FHFA proposed rule on Enterprise housing goals is open for comments   Issued earlier this month, a proposed rule from the Federal Housing Finance Agency considers updates to the Agency’s Enterprise housing goals. The rule applies to mortgages purchased by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac for housing affordable to low-income... By: Ballard Spahr LLP     CFPB manufactured housing white paper may presage future regulation   The CFPB has issued a white paper on the manufactured housing market, including how manufactured housing is financed and the types of consumers who purchase or rent such housing. In the paper’s introduction, the CFPB explains that although... By: Ballard Spahr LLP     CFPB settles RESPA charges for marketing services agreements allegedly tied to referrals   The CFPB has announced that it has entered into a consent order with a Michigan title insurance agency to settle charges that the agency violated the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (RESPA) by paying fees to various companies under marketing... By: Ballard Spahr LLP     Affordable Housing Alert: California’s Property Tax Welfare Exemption Law Amended   Effective Jan. 1, 2015, low income housing projects face a modified legal regime when qualifying for property tax exemptions in California.... By: Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, LLP     CFPB as HUD: Another Section 8 Consent Order Displays CFPB’s RESPA Approach   In a recent Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (“RESPA”) enforcement action, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (“CFPB”) negotiated a consent order with Lighthouse Title, Inc. (“Lighthouse”) for alleged violations of RESPA’s prohibition... By: Morrison & Foerster LLP     Ginnie Mae Publishes Position Paper Describing Response To Changes In Mortgage Lending Market   This month, Ginnie Mae published a position paper titled “An Era of Transformation,” which describes changes in the mortgage lending market that stem from the 2007-08 financial crisis, and explains how Ginnie Mae intends to react to those changes.... By: BuckleySandler LLP     Does Your Notice of Default and Right to Cure Letter Comply with Maine Law?   The Maine Law Court’s recent decision Bank of America, N.A. v. Greenleaf, 96 A.3d 700 (Me. 2014) has drawn significant attention to the issue of a mortgagee’s standing to foreclose a mortgage it holds by assignment from Mortgage Electronic... By: Pierce Atwood LLP     Overhaul of the Building and Construction Industry Payments Act 2004 (Qld): How the Changes Will Impact You   Introduction - The amendments to the Building and Construction Industry Payments Act 2004 (Qld) (BCIP Act) were passed on 11 September 2014 and received assent on 26 September 2014. The changes contained in the Building and Construction Industry... By: K&L Gates LLP     SID is Coming, But Who Will Be Ready to Greet Him?   Congress directed the CFPB to enact a rule that would combine mandatory mortgage-related Truth in Lending Act (TILA) and Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (RESPA) consumer disclosures into one “single integrated disclosure” (SID).... By: Morrison & Foerster LLP     Creditors Beware: Married Couples Claiming Homestead Protection on Two Residences May Avoid a Forced Sale   Florida’s homestead exemption protects a married couple’s primary residence from forced sale to satisfy a judgment lien, but what happens when spouses retain two properties as their individual primary residences, claiming homestead protection on... By: Rogers Towers - Florida Banking Law     Boyz In the Agrihood: Planned Communities Trade Golf Courses for Working Farms   I don't play golf. I like golf, I'll go out and hit around with friends or colleagues, but I don't "play golf". To me, playing golf means 18 holes on a weekend, maybe 36, and perhaps a round or two during the week. No, I don't play golf.... By: Womble Carlyle Sandridge & Rice, LLP     Reinsurer Not Allowed To Intervene In Action Involving Cedent’s Risk   The United States District Court for the Southern District of New York denied a reinsurer’s motion to intervene in an interpleader action in which Battenkill Insurance Company argued it had an 85% interest in the funds at stake in an action involving... By: Carlton Fields Jorden Burt     Florida: Note and Mortgage Still Enforceable After Dismissal of Foreclosure Action   Unsuccessful mortgage foreclosure actions have resulted in a new wave of "quiet title" lawsuits brought by borrowers attempting to have their notes and mortgages deemed void and unenforceable. However, the federal district and state appellate courts... By: Carlton Fields Jorden Burt