A West Virginia federal district court recently addressed a plaintiff’s claims that her reverse mortgage violated at least two statutes and West Virginia common law. The plaintiff was one of two borrowers on that mortgage and sued the mortgage lender and its servicing affiliate. The servicer moved to dismiss. The court granted the motion in part and denied it in part ...
It is difficult to capture in a sentence the impact the COVID-19 pandemic is having on our health, our families, our fears, the operations of businesses of all sizes, the world’s governments, and our future. Not one segment of people or group of businesses has reported the pandemic is not affecting them. It therefore should not come as a surprise that the reverse mortgage industry is feeling the effects of the pandemic ...
A Texas federal court recently ordered an insurer to reimburse an oil and gas company for costs and expenses incurred while defending against environmental claims. The court found that a duty to defend existed even though the insured failed to immediately notify the insurer of the occurrence, giving rise to the claim as required by the insurance policy, and despite alleged willful miscon- duct that was excluded from coverage under the policy ...
Legislation about retainage has become common place as many states have adopted different limitations, requirements, and schemes. A recent case in Tennessee is a good reminder that you must pay attention to all of the relevant state’s requirements. Failure to do so can be costly. In Snake Steel, Inc. v. Holladay Construction Group, LLC, the Tennessee Supreme Court recently addressed Tennessee's retainage requirements ...
Since February 2022, Russia has adopted a number of regulations that aim to restrict real estate transactions involving persons/entities from certain foreign states. Such transactions require specific governmental approval prior to their conclusion. Further regulation has provided a number of exceptions to the previous prohibitions ...
The government is pushing ahead with the establishment of a Responsible Actors Scheme (RAS) provided for under s.126 and 129 of the Building Safety Act 2022. The Scheme is initially aimed at major housebuilders and other large developers that have developed or refurbished multiple residential buildings that are known to have life-critical fire safety defects ...
The key objective of the Building Safety Act 2022 is to improve building safety across the built environment, with a particular focus on the residential sector. The BSA received Royal Assent in April 2022 and will be implemented in stages ...
Chances are your business has been interrupted by the Coronavirus epidemic, and if you rent space, you are considering how to obtain rent concessions from your landlord. Most likely, your lease will not give you an express right to rent abatement if your use is precluded by a "shelter-in-place" order or other government action ...
It is still possible to regain property expropriated by the state after the Second World War, and in some cases compensation is awarded instead. Real estate in Poland was expropriated by the state on a massive scale. This was done by operation of law or through administrative orders, which in most cases were issued in violation of the law in force at that time ...
Representation and warranty insurance (RWI) has boomed in popularity in the highly-regulated world of healthcare provider deals, and many dealmakers assume it will continue to be available as we ride the current wave of deals seeking to close by year-end 2021. That assumption may be wrong ...
In past years, we have advised clients that as long as no unit in a multi-unit new condominium project is rented before its condominium map is recorded, later sales of units do not fall under the city's condominium conversion ordinance, which does not at this time allow conversion of buildings of more than two units ...
Fundamental changes to the housing law regime in Wales took effect on 1 December 2022 when the Renting Home (Wales) Act 2016 comes into force. New form of rental agreement The Renting Home (Wales) Act 2016 (the “Act”) introduces a new form of rental agreement for residential property in Wales known as an “occupation contract” ...
Determining the correct rate of rent in a 1954 Act renewal can be a sticky subject at the best of times, not least when a rent-free period is thrown into the mix. Section 34 of the Act allows the Court to determine the level of rent due under the new lease, taking into account comparable evidence and applying certain disregards. Whilst s ...
With the announcement of the Law Commission’s planned consultation on Part II of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1954, can changes be made to clarify and condense the statutory framework for renewals? One area ripe for reform is how the level of rent is determined, and in particular, the treatment of rent-free periods where no binding authority appears to exist - leaving a variety of often conflicting County Court decisions ...
RENT UPDATE COEFFICIENT FOR 2023 Law no. 19/2022 was published in Diário da República (Official Journal) on 21 October 2022 and, among other measures, it establishes the rent update coefficient for the calendar year of 2023. During the next year, the annual update coefficient for rents of the several types of leases, both urban and rural, established in article 24 of Law no. 6/2006 of 27 February, which approved the New Urban Lease Regime (NRAU), will not apply ...
Following the latest government announcements, where do landlords and tenants stand in relation to the recovery of rent unpaid during the Coronavirus pandemic? The simple answer is there is a significant degree of uncertainty, and an awful lot of detail around the government’s proposals and that has yet to be resolved ...
Section 5 of the Income Tax Act (Cap. 340) (the “ITA”) has been amended to, among others, include a requirement that all rental agreements be executed and effected in Uganda shillings.Below, we summarise this new legal requirement.What is the Meaning of the New Requirement?All rental agreements executed after the law comes into force must express the rent in Uganda shillings and must be payable in Uganda shillings.Is the Law in Force?Yes, the law took effect on 1 July 2017 ...
The removal of the Crown’s immunity from English planning law will make buying and developing such land much easier, says Shoosmiths’ planning law team. Crown Immunity dated back to the 1960s and included government departments such as the MOD, Her Majesty’s private estates, the Duchies of Lancaster and Cornwall and the Crown Estate Commissioners. In the past the Crown had only to consult with local planning authorities before carrying out development ...
A picture is worth a thousand words, but what about a drone video? To construction firms and the lawyers who represent them, drones, also known as unmanned aerial vehicles (“UAVs”), enable firms to capture large amounts of high-quality information in a quick and efficient manner ...
Let’s be honest, it feels gloomy at the moment. The ramifications of 14 consecutive rate rises are now materialising – creating additional hurdles for those seeking funding and bringing developments forward. Rising borrowing costs will always put pressure on the living sector. However, the UK’s real estate industry is remarkably resilient ...
