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Archive for December, 2008

Federal Court Endorses Financial Crisis As Basis For Relief From Pre-Existing Contractual Duties; Could Real Estate Contracts Be Affected?

Posted in Beck & Lee Business Trial Lawyers, Cancel Real Estate Purchase Agreement, Condo Cancellation Lawsuit, Condo Hotel Attorney, Florida Condo Contract, Florida Condo Law, Florida Real Estate Lawyer, Global Financial Crisis, Miami Condo Contract Lawyer, Miami Deposit Recovery Lawyer, World Financial Crisis on December 31, 2008 | 1 Comment »

My recent post on Donald Trump’s legal arguments in defense of his failure to pay off a contruction loan on the Chicago Trump Tower project has spawned a number of inquiries.  Many have asked specifically about the theory that the “world financial crisis” could constitute a valid defense to Trump’s performance of a contractual obligation.  Folks [...]

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New Rules Under Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (RESPA) Could Trap Unwary Developers And Lenders

Posted in Beck & Lee Business Trial Lawyers, Condo Hotel Attorney, Condo Hotel Lawyer, Florida Condo Contract, Florida Condo Law, Florida Condo Lawyer, Florida Condominium Contract Attorney, Interstate Land Sales Full Disclosure Act, Lender Liability, Miami Condo Contract Lawyer, RESPA, Real Estate Litigation, Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act, Subprime Crisis Litigation, U.S. Housing Market on December 29, 2008 | Leave a Comment »

Passed into law by the U.S. Congress in 1974, the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (RESPA) was intended to shield homebuyers from the predatory practices of settlement service providers such as lenders, realtors, and title insurers.  Owing to their vulnerable position at the closing table, homebuyers were historically ripe for exploitation by such companies, many [...]

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Appellate Courts Weigh In On Both Sides Of The Interstate Land Sales Full Disclosure Act

Posted in Beck & Lee Business Trial Lawyers, Condo Cancellation Lawsuit, Florida Condo Contract, Florida Condo Law, Florida Condo Lawyer, Florida Condominium Contract Attorney, ILSA, Interstate Land Sales Full Disclosure Act, Miami Condo Contract Lawyer, U.S. Housing Market, tagged , on December 10, 2008 | Leave a Comment »

Yesterday, in a closely watched contract rescission lawsuit brought by buyers under the federal Interstate Land Sales Full Disclosure Act (ILSA), the Eleventh Circuit reversed the lower court’s controversial interpretation of the statute and its award of the deposits back to the buyers.   As I noted previously, Pugliese v. Pukka Development, Inc. made waves when [...]

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Global Financial Crisis As “Force Majeure”: A Trump Card For Donald Trump?

Posted in Beck & Lee Business Trial Lawyers, Credit Crisis, Florida Condo Contract, Florida Condo Law, Florida Condo Lawyer, Florida Condo Market, Global Financial Crisis, Litigation, Miami Condo Contract Lawyer, Miami Deposit Recovery Lawyer, Real Estate Litigation, U.S. Housing Market, World Financial Crisis, tagged , , , on December 3, 2008 | 3 Comments »

Legal doctrines are typically pushed to their logical extremes in times of crisis.  The litigation surrounding Donald Trump’s 92-story condo project in Chicago offers a prime example.
As reported last week in Chicago Business Today, Trump and one of the project’s main lenders, Deutsche Bank, have filed countervailing lawsuits over Trump’s failure to timely pay off [...]

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