Real Estate & Property Law

Lawyer gets one year in federal prison for his role in $14M mortgage fraud

A Pennsylvania lawyer has been sentenced to one year and one day in federal prison for his role in a $14 million mortgage fraud that stripped homeowners in a suburban Philadelphia county of their equity. Stephen G. Doherty was also ordered to forfeit $202,000 by U.S. District Judge Mary A.…

Mar 5, 2014 8:25 PM CST

Stash of $10 million in buried gold coins offers lesson in property and tax law

A California couple who say they stumbled across $10 million in buried 19th-century gold coins while walking their dogs on their property last year didn’t immediately reveal their stunning find because they wanted to resolve any potential legal issues. But the relevant law concerning the unidentified couple probably boils down…

Mar 4, 2014 11:50 PM CST

Federal judge rules for Chevron in civil-racketeer case, bans collection of $9B enviro award in US

In the latest blow to the plaintiffs and their lawyers in hard-fought litigation against Chevron Corp. over environmental damage in Ecuador, a federal district court judge in New York has issued a blistering ruling in an unusual civil racketeering case. It blocks their ability to collect, here in the U.S.,…

Mar 4, 2014 9:41 PM CST

Driver who posted YouTube video of 24-minute drive around 26-mile NYC loop nixes plea offer

A Canadian man who authorities say admittedly posted a YouTube video documenting a 24-minute drive around a 26-mile loop around Manhattan last year has refused a plea offer that would have required him to accept a 60-day jail term in a misdemeanor reckless driving case. Christopher Adam Tang, 32, also…

Mar 4, 2014 8:40 PM CST

Foreclosure firm goes statistical to improve speed and quality

Matt Hunoval felt bored to his marrow as a big-firm associate in the nation’s No. 2 banking capital, Charlotte, N.C.—doing due diligence, preparing ancillary documents and performing other drudge work for billion-dollar M&A deals. So despite making more money than he figured a fifth-year associate is worth, he left in…

Mar 1, 2014 11:29 AM CST

California city seeks eminent domain to bail out foreclosures

In the Bay Area, foreclosures are a tale of two economies. In San Francisco, real estate company Zillow says home values are down by only single-digit percentages from their peak. The same is true of its wealthiest suburbs. But across the bay in Richmond, home values were down more than…

Mar 1, 2014 10:00 AM CST

Closing attorney gets 7 months, must repay $2.1M in loan-fraud case

A Texas lawyer got seven months in federal prison and was ordered to repay $2.1 million after pleading guilty last year to misprision of a felony in a real estate loan-fraud case. Jerry Goh, 51, was sentenced Monday in Dallas in the Northern District of Texas case. He has until…

Feb 26, 2014 9:35 PM CST

Cleary Gottlieb seeks $3M for Hurricane Sandy damage in suit filed against law firm’s insurer

Hurricane Sandy’s storm surge shut down electric service, heat and telephone service for several days in 2012, and it resulted in a $3 million loss of business to Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton, the New York law firm says in a lawsuit filed against its insurance company. But although the…

Feb 11, 2014 11:20 PM CST

7 lawyers exit Downey Brand to form new firm focusing on energy and land-use

Seven lawyers have exited one of the largest law firms in Sacramento, Calif., to form a new boutique. Known as Mitchell Chadwick, the fledgling firm has former Downey Brand partners Patrick Mitchell and G. Braiden Chadwick at the helm. They focus their practice on land use and oil, gas and…

Feb 4, 2014 4:30 PM CST

A comfortable retirement requires savvy financial housekeeping

For a comfortable retirement: Budget, manage debt and save. “It’s really a triage approach,” says Linda Leitz, chair of the National Association of Personal Financial Advisors. “Otherwise you’re going to have to work to the day you die. Dying at your desk may sound like a good financial plan if…

Feb 1, 2014 8:30 AM CST

NY Giants, Eli Manning, team lawyer face civil RICO suit in claimed sale of fake ‘game-worn’ items

A collector and reseller of sports memorabilia has filed a civil racketeering suit in state court in New Jersey against the New York Giants, star quarterback Eli Manning and the team’s general counsel William J. Heller, Newsday (reg. req.) reports. The suit (PDF) contends they and other defendants, including a…

Jan 30, 2014 8:00 PM CST

Up to 400 pythons found at schoolteacher’s home

Image from Shutterstock. Police executing a search warrant Wednesday at the home of a California elementary school teacher found up to 400 pythons there, some of which were alive. Neighbors’ complaints about a foul odor led to an investigation of the unidentified Santa Ana man by the city’s animal control…

Jan 29, 2014 6:45 PM CST

Survey leads to multiple federal complaints of widespread discrimination against deaf renters

A yearlong national survey showed a “disturbing” amount of discrimination against deaf and hard-of-hearing would-be renters and led to the filing of nine federal fair-housing administrative complaints by advocacy groups and calls for better training of those who deal with individuals with hearing impairments. So-called matched-pair testing by the National…

Jan 27, 2014 7:40 PM CST

Lawyer files $1M claim over ‘commando-style’ raid on his home to seize case files

A lawyer charged last week in an alleged fraudulent adverse-possession scheme has filed a $1 million claim against the state of California over a raid on his home. Sheldon Feigel says armed officers entered his home at 6:30 a.m. on Jan. 15, the Fresno Bee reports. He alleges that he…

Jan 23, 2014 1:35 PM CST

Documentary on legal battle over T. rex bones kicks off Sundance Film Festival

The stunning discovery in 1990 of a largely complete Tyrannosaurus rex skeleton near an Indian reservation in South Dakota led to an epic legal battle as multiple parties argued over ownership of the 65-million-year-old bones. The skeleton of the enormous, long-dead dinosaur, known as Sue, was confiscated by the feds…

Jan 21, 2014 9:48 PM CST