<b><i>Part One of a Two-Part Article</b></i><p>The Tax Act is the most sweeping change to the U.S. federal income tax laws since 1986. This and future articles discuss the individual tax and business tax provisions that affect real estate investment and investors in real estate.
Vacancy Increase Counts in Determining Rent Deregulation Threshold<br>LINC Program Violates Urstadt Law<br>Fraud Justifies Rent Overcharge Award<br>Fair Housing Act Claim Not Barred By Statute of Limitations
The U.S. Small Business Administration updated its standard operating procedures to prohibit providing loans to both marijuana- and hemp-related businesses and businesses deriving any gross revenue from sales to marijuana-related businesses (MRBs) including those providing lighting, hydroponic equipment or testing services.
Contract Satisfies Statute of Frauds<br>Contract Vendee Failed to Perform<br>Questions of Fact Preclude Dismissal of Constructive Trust Claim<br>Questions of Fact About Scope of Mortgage
When entering into or acquiring leases for locations, a retail or restaurant business must consider broader business concerns in negotiating the leases' assignment provisions. Those provisions can inadvertently create major obstacles in the ultimate conveyance or financing of the business.
<b><i>Sets Standard that Potentially Relieves Municipalities from Liability for Denying Religious Uses</b></i><p>The broad and somewhat vague definition of religious exercise in The Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act (RLUIPA) has invited much litigation over what constitutes a substantial burden and even what constitutes religious exercise.
“Baseball arbitration” refers to the process used in Major League Baseball in which if an eligible player's representative and the club ownership cannot reach a compensation agreement through negotiation, each party enters a final submission and during a formal hearing each side — player and management — presents its case and then the designated panel of arbitrators chooses one of the salary bids with no other result being allowed. This method has become increasingly popular even beyond the sport of baseball.
Insiders (and others) in the private equity business are accustomed to seeing a good deal of discussion ' academic and trade ' on the question of the appropriate methods of valuing private equity positions and securities which are otherwise illiquid. An interesting recent decision in the Southern District has been brought to our attention. The case is <i>In Re Allied Capital Corp.</i>, CCH Fed. SEC L. Rep. 92411 (US DC, S.D.N.Y., Apr. 25, 2003). Judge Lynch's decision is well written, the Judge reviewing a motion to dismiss by a business development company, Allied Capital, against a strike suit claiming that Allied's method of valuing its portfolio failed adequately to account for i) conditions at the companies themselves and ii) market conditions. The complaint appears to be, as is often the case, slap dash, content to point out that Allied revalued some of its positions, marking them down for a variety of reasons, and the stock price went down - all this, in the view of plaintiff's counsel, amounting to violations of Rule 10b-5.
The DOJ's Criminal Division issued three declinations since the issuance of the revised CEP a year ago. Review of these cases gives insight into DOJ's implementation of the new policy in practice.
There is no efficient market for the sale of bankruptcy assets. Inefficient markets yield a transactional drag, potentially dampening the ability of debtors and trustees to maximize value for creditors. This article identifies ways in which investors may more easily discover bankruptcy asset sales.
With trillions of dollars to keep watch over, the last thing we need is the distraction of costly litigation brought on by patent assertion entities (PAEs or "patent trolls"), companies that don't make any products but instead seek royalties by asserting their patents against those who do make products.
