The First Department affirms in a complex commercial real estate dispute involving a major New York City property, addressing contractual obligations and partnership issues.
The First Department addresses a commercial real estate dispute between building owners and a hotel joint venture entity.
The Ninth Circuit reversed dismissal of a TCPA class action, holding that unsolicited calls asking homeowners if they want to sell their property qualify as telephone solicitations because the caller’s underlying purpose was to encourage the purchase of real estate brokerage services.
Case City of Weirton and City of Weirton Board of Zoning Appeals v. SWN Production Company, LLC; and SWN Production
Case In the Matter of a Public Safety Officer Death Benefit for Eric William Groebner (Deceased) Court Minnesota Supreme Court
The Rhode Island Supreme Court affirmed summary judgment for a real estate brokerage, holding that the standard of care for screening prospective tenants—including whether a “basic internet search” is required in addition to a credit and criminal background check—is not within the common knowledge of laypeople and therefore requires expert testimony. Because the plaintiff was precluded from offering expert testimony after repeatedly failing to produce his expert for deposition, his negligence claim could not survive summary judgment.
The North Carolina Court of Appeals vacated a trebled-damages award in a Mecklenburg County building-code enforcement suit, holding that a county lacks standing under Dillon’s Rule to recover monetary damages on behalf of private homeowners and that intervenors who never pleaded their own claims cannot collect from the county’s judgment, while remanding the underlying duplex-vs.-townhouse liability issue for re-evaluation under the 2012 and 2018 code editions that governed at the time of construction.
The North Carolina Court of Appeals affirmed a prescriptive easement over a rural pathway that had been used for ingress and egress since the 1950s, holding that the required twenty-year period need not immediately precede the dispute and that an easement already vested by adverse use cannot be destroyed by a later permission grant to a third party.
The Oregon Court of Appeals affirmed the striking of lis pendens notices as invalid encumbrances under ORS 205.460 because the notices falsely identified the object of the suit as enforcing a CC&R lien that did not exist, and held that the $5,000 minimum statutory penalty under ORS 205.470 applies on a per-lot basis when an invalid encumbrance clouds multiple individually titled parcels.
The Wisconsin Court of Appeals upholds the 29-day continuous-occupancy restriction at Blue Harbor Resort in Sheboygan, holding that a clear condominium declaration restriction is enforceable even if buyers regret their investment, and that a governmental body’s vote to waive a restriction has no legal effect without a formal written amendment executed by all required parties.
The Third DCA affirms a default judgment foreclosing a condominium assessment lien, holding that filing non-responsive motions does not substitute for a proper answer and provides no basis for appellate relief.
The Fourth DCA affirms a foreclosure judgment and dismisses a challenge to a Rule 1.540(b) denial for untimeliness, holding that each denial order triggers its own independent 30-day appeal deadline.
The Fourth DCA holds that a quitclaim deed between spouses executed during a divorce that is later dismissed constitutes an interspousal gift—a marital asset subject to equitable distribution in any subsequent dissolution.
The First DCA reversed the denial of a landlord’s motion for default judgment of possession in a residential eviction, addressing the requirements of section 83.60(2) when a tenant’s answer fails to assert payment or deposit rent into the court registry.
The Third DCA reversed a summary judgment ruling that text messages between a tenant and property manager modified lease terms, holding that a court cannot grant summary judgment on a theory of contract modification that was never pled in the complaint.
The Fourth DCA partially reversed a partition order, holding that a co-tenant seeking credit for rent paid at an alternate property must present evidence of the reasonable rental value of the jointly-owned property, not merely evidence of rent paid elsewhere.
The Fourth DCA reversed a judgment for specific performance and damages in a residential real estate transaction, holding that the buyer breached by failing to close on the contractual time-is-of-the-essence closing date when her financing fell through due to a reduced appraisal.
The Fourth DCA reversed a trial court’s reduction of attorney fees from over $20,000 to $3,412 in a landlord-tenant case, finding the court abused its discretion by reducing hourly rates based solely on an independent review of attorneys’ Bar profiles and by slashing hours without adequate explanation.
The Fourth DCA reversed an equitable distribution scheme that required the former wife to pay a $121,000 equalization payment at $300/month over nearly 34 years, finding it effectively deprived the former husband of his share during his lifetime.
The Fourth DCA affirmed that a city’s code violation liens recorded after a lis pendens was filed were not entitled to foreclosure surplus funds, holding the city was not a ‘subordinate lienholder’ under section 45.032 because its liens were extinguished by the foreclosure sale.
Case James R. Garrett, et al. v. Roanoke City Council, et al. Court Court of Appeals of Virginia Judge Lisa
Case U.S. Bank National Association, Trustee v. Garland Jackson Court Connecticut Appellate Court Judge Moll (Dannel P. Malloy, 2018) Date
Case Wells Fargo Bank, National Association, Trustee v. Barry J. Burns and Christine S. Burns Court Connecticut Appellate Court Judge
Case Sockwell Corners, LLC et al. v. Newton County Court Supreme Court of Georgia Judge PETERSON (Nathan Deal, 2016) Date