Trimming Trees in Massachusetts
by After this latest snowstorm in Boston, I had to drag some fallen limbs into my compost pit. I thought this would be a good time …
Category: Real Estate Space Blog Posts
Imported posts from my old Real Estate Space blog
New York and London Office Markets
With the fall-out of the sub-prime loans, there is continuing good news in the commercial markets. London has surpassed Hong Kong to hold the position …
Terror Risk Insurance Act Extended
With a week left before expiration of the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act, President Bush Signs 7 Year Terror Insurance Extension, the Terrorism Risk Insurance Program …
Free Speech at the Mall
The California Supreme Court upheld the rights of protesters inside a shopping mall when it handed out its opinion on Christmas Eve for the case …
The Mezzanine Section is the Nose Bleed Section
The Wall Street Journal has an article in the C Section by Jennifer S. Forsyth and Kemba J. Dunham on real estate mezzanine loans: Real-Estate …
REIT Stocks Continue to Tumble
On Tuesday, the MSCI US REIT Index (RMZ) dropped 5.61% to 914.85, and the SNL US REIT Equity Index plummeted 5.59% to 235.96 with five …
Webcasts from NAREIT Annual Convention
The NAREIT Annual Convention was held in Las Vegas on November 14-16. Webcasts of the presentations are available on the NAREIT website: http://nareit.454creative.net/ Gil Menna …
Charities Using Limited Liability Companies to Hold Real Estate
Charities should not use a limited liability company to hold real estate in Massachusetts. Robert E. Cowden wrote an article about this in the November/December …
Usury in Massachusetts
I ran across two articles on usury and expect we will see more as the debt markets and foreclosures continue to sort themselves out and …
Transactions-Based Index for the Third Quarter
The MIT Center for Real Estate has just released the results from the third quarter of 2007: Transactions-Based Index (TBI) The results from the quarter …
Delay in Implementing New Mortgage Regulations
As Jay Fitzgerald of the Boston Herald reports: Companies may drop home loans The mortgage industry does not like the new mortgage regulations proposed by …
Christmas Tree Farms and Premises Liability
As I have seen the Christmas holiday decorations starting go up already, I thought it appropriate to post about Christmas trees. The case of MacFadyen …
Why Green Building Has Staying Power
National Real Estate Investor has an article by Beth Mattson–Teig: Why Green Building Has Staying Power. I found it interesting that 84% of corporate users …
Corporations Should Not Own Real Estate in Massachusetts
When a corporation sells real estate in Massachusetts there is the always the concern of whether there will be a three year, inchoate lien on …
Looking ahead to 2008
According to the Urban Land Institutes’s Emerging Trends Report it will be A Not So Great 2008, as reported in the National Real Estate Investor. …
Massachusetts Document Recording Standards
Massachusetts is finally jumping on the formatting standard bandwagon. The registries had originally planned to implement the requirement on January 1, 2007. Now the new …
A CMBS and CDO Primer
Parke Chapman wrote a primer in the National Real Estate Investor on CMBS, CDO and the commercial debt markets. Some highlights: Q: What led to …
Guarantee Liability with Mezzanine Loans and Mortgages
With mezzanine financing, there is a potential guarantee liability to the principals of the developer that they may not foresee. The issue arises in a …
Housing Authority Has Stronger Powers to Evict For Criminal Behavior of Tenants
In Boston Housing Authority v. Garcia (SJC-09753) (August 17, 2007), the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court clarified the position after United States Supreme Court’s ruling in …
The Right to Exclude as a Property Right
Jerry L. Anderson (Drake University Law School) has posted Comparative Perspectives on Property Rights: The Right to Exclude on SSRN. I found it fascinating article …