The pandemic has, if nothing else, demonstrated how much more needs to be done in the battle against climate change. Despite the worldwide economic slowdown and travel ban resulting from coronavirus, global carbon dioxide emissions reduced by just 6% (approximately 2.3bn tonnes) in 2020. But both governments and industry are responding to the challenge, however, with a renewed sense of urgency and collaborative spirit ...
We all need our town centres. But more than that, we need our town centres to work better for us. As consumers grow increasingly comfortable with online shopping, the realisation that our towns are over-reliant on retail is being played out at a national level. No longer can we expect empty retail units to be snapped up by new tenants in a matter of weeks ...
Key Points The California Court of Appeal has issued the first published opinion interpreting California Senate Bill 35's (SB 35) new laws that streamline the approval of much-needed housing projects. Under SB 35, qualifying housing projects are eligible for ministerial review, which can reduce entitlement processing times by months if not years. In Ruegg & Ellsworth v. City of Berkeley (Cal. Ct. App., April 20, 2021, No ...
The COVID-19 Pandemic has wreaked havoc on the mortgage servicing industry, putting significant strain on both mortgage servicers and their borrowers ...
If the COVID-19 pandemic affected the value of your property, Ohio Senate Bill 57 (S.B. 57) may offer you (or your triple-net lease tenant) a chance to reduce your Ohio real property taxes not available under prior law. Property tax valuation complaints in Ohio counties can be filed only once in each three-year interim period, and property values are determined as of January 1 of the tax year. Because the COVID-19 pandemic in the U.S ...
Acting under its new Debt Collection Licensing Act licensing administration and enforcement authority granted by SB 908, the DFPI Commissioner issued a public statement on April 9th reminding all future license applicants under the Debt Collection Licensing Act of California’s renter protections associated with COVID-19 rental debt ...
Led by Anna Lowe, this short and sharp session covered recent updates in tax affecting real estate. 1. VAT and the Reverse Charge Applies from 1 March 2021 to supplies of building and construction services where the Construction Industry Scheme would apply ...
One consistent struggle faced by the mortgage servicing industry is the prevalence of conflicting state laws that address payoff statements. One state may permit a servicer to charge a fee for providing a payoff statement while another prohibits such a fee. One state may have specific content requirements that must be included in a payoff statement while another provides the servicer with discretion about the content of the payoff statement ...
The 95% home loan is back and this time it is government backed. The commitment by the Chancellor to propping up the housing market was cemented in the March 2021 budget by the announcement of an extension and tapering off of the Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) holiday and the new 95% mortgage guarantee scheme. This allows banks and building societies to offer loans to borrowers who only have a 5% deposit ...
Following the controversial consultation exercise that ran earlier this year the Permitted Development right authorising conversions from uses falling within Use Class E to residential uses will be added to the statute books this week. What is coming into force is significantly pared down from what was proposed in the consultation exercise and David Mathias sets out some of the headlines below. The Town and Country Planning (General Permitted Development etc ...
The UK will host the UN’s COP26 climate change conference in November 2021, but what is a COP – and what happened at the previous 25 COPs? 15 April 2021 marks 200 days until COP26 is due to start. Taking place in Glasgow from 1-12 November 2021, COP26 is the 26th session of the Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) ...
Key Points The California Department of Housing and Community Development has released new guidelines for implementing the Surplus Land Act, which clarify when leases are subject to the terms of the Act. Pursuant to the new guidelines, leases are not subject to Surplus Land Act when the lease involves "land on which no development or demolition will occur" or leases with "a term that is less than five (5) years (including any extensions, amendments or options) ...
In recent days, the CFPB has taken significant actions that will have a lasting impact on mortgage servicers. First, on April 1, the CFPB issued Bulletin 2021-02, warning servicers that being “unprepared is unacceptable.” This bulletin provides important insight into the CFPB’s supervision and enforcement priorities related to servicers’ handling of the COVID-19 crisis ...
Gennex Media LLC, a customizable product online marketplace, and its sole officer and shareholder Akil Kurji, have agreed to an FTC consent decree resolving allegations the company falsely claimed its Brandnex novelty products were “Made in USA,” “USA MADE,” and “Manufactured Right Here in America!” when, in many instances, they were wholly imported from China ...
In DR Jones Yeovil Ltd v The Stepping Stone Group Ltd [2020] EWHC 2308 (TCC), England’s Technology and Construction Court ruled in favour of a contractor in its claim for unpaid retention under a JCT contract and dismissed the employer’s counterclaim for alleged defects. Certificates of Making Good were never issued and one of the questions before the court was whether that meant there could be no recovery of the balance of retention ...
The appeal in ABC Electrification Ltd v Network Rail Infrastructure Ltd [2020] EWCA Civ 1645, concerned the proper construction of a Target Cost Contract based upon the standard Institute of Civil Engineers Conditions of Contract, Target Cost Version, First Edition (ICE Conditions) and subject to standard amendments commonly used in the rail industry, known as Network Rail 12 (N12 Amendments) ...
In the recent case of Cheng Pan & Anor v Yau Lai Wah, HCA 376/2015, the Court held the Defendant liable for loss and damage caused by water leakage from his property into a neighbouring property, which resulted from the Defendant’s contractors carrying out works to pipes located in the Defendant’s property ...
The National Security and Investment Bill will allow government intervention in transactions raising national security concerns. It will require investors in UK real estate to consider whether the regime applies and factor in any timetabling implications. The Bill is currently being examined in the House of Lords. It will introduce an independent screening regime in the UK where a transaction gives rise to national security concerns ...
Food producers can breathe a sigh of relief, at least temporarily, thanks to efforts by the California Chamber of Commerce resulting in a preliminary injunction barring the State of California and all private plaintiffs from filing any new Proposition 65 lawsuits targeting acrylamide in food and beverage products. On March 31, 2021, Chief United States District Judge for the Eastern District of California, Kimberly J ...
It has been a long road for everyone’s favourite cheese. The protection of halloumi cheese should have never been complicated. The firm cheese which has the unique quality of retaining its shape even when fried or grilled, has its origins in the island of Cyprus where it has been produced for many centuries ...
No one can escape the basic rules of contracting, even the federal government. If the contract is clear and unambiguous, then the four corners of the agreement set the rules for the project and the parties – and there’s not much room for interpretation. The government was recently reminded of this cold, hard truth after it refused to grant a contractor an equitable adjustment of the contract price for purchasing wetland mitigation credits. In Kiewit Infrastructure W. Co. v ...
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, in BGT Holdings LLC v. United States, recently held that the government does not have the discretion to deny a contractor’s request for equitable adjustment (REA) under Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 52.245-1 (Government Property) where the conditions specified in that clause are present and the contractor is able to show financial loss ...
In a December 2020 opinion, the United States Civilian Board of Contract Appeals (the “Board”) reviewed and reversed a Federal Highway Administration (“FHWA”) Contracting Officer’s (“CO”) decision to terminate for default Eagle Peak Rock & Paving, Inc.’s thirty-six million dollar contract (the “Contract”) for work on a project in Yellowstone National Park (the “Project”) ...
At the end of 2020, Congress enacted the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021, partially in response to the COVID-19 pandemic and resulting economic crisis. While funding the federal government and preventing a government shutdown, the CAA also included several amendments to the bankruptcy code providing much-needed rent relief for commercial tenants. The bankruptcy code generally requires a debtor in bankruptcy to timely pay its rental obligations during the bankruptcy case ...
