Real Estate & Property Law

Judge Criticizes Lawyer for Offering a ‘Greatest Hits’ List of Defenses

A Manhattan judge has criticized a lawyer who offered 20 affirmative defenses for a commercial tenant sued over nonpayment of rent. Judge Arthur Engoron ordered the tenant, Gotham Lasik, to pay $46,000 in back rent, the New York Law Journal reports. He went on to criticize Gotham Lasik’s lawyer, Steven…

Jun 13, 2011 12:44 PM CDT

Real Estate Attorney Gets 5 Years in $23M Mortgage Fraud Case

A New York real estate lawyer who allegedly participated in a $23 million mortgage fraud by acting as an attorney for the bank and/or straw buyers involved in the scheme has been sentenced to five years in federal prison. Cheddi Goberdhan, 57, “created and sent false documents to the banks,…

Jun 8, 2011 5:11 PM CDT

Fla. Couple Ready to Seize Bank of America Furniture After Winning Foreclosure Fight

A Florida couple fighting a mistaken foreclosure called 25 law firms before they found a lawyer willing to take their case. Finally Warren and Maureen Nyerges hired Todd Allen, who won their foreclosure fight and obtained a court order for payment of $2,500 in attorney fees, report the Associated Press…

Jun 7, 2011 11:48 AM CDT

Lender OKs Fair Housing Pact, Will Pay $765K, End Mortgage Nixes Due to Maternity Leaves

In a federal fair housing case that represents just a fraction of the discrimination that may be occurring nationwide, a Texas-based lender has agreed to pay $765,000 and stop discriminating against women who are taking maternity leaves. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development announced the settlement yesterday. While…

Jun 2, 2011 8:44 PM CDT

Oracle CEO Settles Suit Against Neighbors over Tree Dispute

Updated: Oracle CEO and billionaire Larry Ellison has settled a civil suit against his neighbors that had been scheduled for trial next week. The dispute centered on the neighbors’ trees that have grown so tall that they are blocking Ellison’s views of San Francisco Bay, the Wall Street Journal reports.…

Jun 1, 2011 10:29 AM CDT

Suspended Attorney Is Criminally Charged, Along with Elderly Client, in Another Foreclosed Home Case

A suspended California lawyer who was criminally charged earlier this month in connection with another client’s foreclosed home is in the news again. This time it’s because Michael Theodore Pines, 59, is charged along with his former client, Hector Zepeda, who is in his 70s, with breaking into the Newport…

May 31, 2011 10:11 PM CDT

Tom Hanks Loses Contractor Dispute Before Arbitration Panel

The actor who starred in a movie about slow-moving contractors and a crumbling house has lost his own real-life battle over home defects. Tom Hanks, who starred in The Money Pit, lost a bid for $3 million in damages before a three-member arbitration panel, report the Associated Press and the…

May 26, 2011 1:23 PM CDT

Ruden McClosky Closes 3 Offices, Says in Email ‘Things are Clearly Moving in the Right Direction’

After lawyer defections, staff layoffs and partner pay holdbacks, Ruden McClosky is now closing three Florida offices. But the downsizing Fort Lauderdale-based firm, which has now shrunk to an attorney roster of 64 from around 200 a decade or so ago, said in an April 27 email that “things are…

May 25, 2011 8:00 PM CDT

Lawyer Who Advised Clients to Break Into Foreclosed Homes Faces Criminal Charges

Updated: A California lawyer who made headlines by advising clients to break into their foreclosed homes to repossess them is now a defendant himself on multiple related criminal charges. Michael T. Pines, 59, who had his law license suspended last month, is accused of stalking and harassing the new owners…

May 23, 2011 4:47 PM CDT

Luxury Manhattan Apartment Won’t Rent to Strauss-Kahn for Home Confinement Stay

Dominique Strauss-Kahn can’t stay at the luxury Upper East Side apartment his wife rented to serve out his house arrest in, the New York Times reports, because the building doesn’t want him. Strauss-Kahn, the former managing director of the International Monetary Fund and accused of sexually assaulting a maid at…

May 20, 2011 6:33 PM CDT

Criticism of the Foreclosure Process Brought Bar Probe of Two Fla. Lawyers

Two Florida lawyers who criticized mass foreclosures found themselves under investigation by the state bar for their comments. The bar dropped one probe and was expected to drop the second after former ABA President Talbot “Sandy” D’Alemberte intervened on the lawyers’ behalf, the Daily Business Review reports. D’Alemberte is also…

May 19, 2011 12:53 PM CDT

Online Travel Companies Must Rework Pricing Formulas to Pay More Hotel Taxes, Ga. Supreme Court Says

Online travel companies that book Atlanta hotel rooms should rework their pricing formula to pay the city more in occupancy taxes, the Georgia Supreme Court found today. Under the existing structure, the Associated Press reported, a travel site that buys a hotel room for $50 and sells it for $100…

May 16, 2011 8:36 PM CDT

Lawyer Suing Alleged Graffiti Taggers Finds Spray-Painted Message on His Office Building

Terry Jackson, an Atlanta lawyer who in April brought a multimillion-dollar action against a group of alleged graffiti taggers, discovered that his own building was hit this weekend with bright green spray paint. The side of his office building now reads: “Defacing (stuff) is fun,” the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported. “This…

May 16, 2011 8:10 PM CDT

Buyers of Trump Condos and Real Estate Classes File Suits Claiming They Were Misled

Donald Trump touts his financial success, but his business practices are being scrutinized in lawsuits over failed condo developments and the developer’s real-estate investment school. More than 300 home buyers who say they bought because of the Trump name sued when three Trump buildings encountered financial problems and were not…

May 13, 2011 3:32 PM CDT

Paralegal, Postal Inspector Face Perjury Charges re Alleged Secret Romance During Lawyer’s Trial

A postal inspector and a paralegal who allegedly had a secret romance while working on opposing sides during a lawyer’s mortgage fraud trial have been charged with perjury and obstruction of justice in federal court in Massachusetts. Joseph M. McGonagle III, 37, and Melanie M. Abbruzzese, 31, are accused of…

May 12, 2011 9:19 PM CDT