The Committee on Foreign Investments in the United States (CFIUS) is an inter-agency committee designed to review foreign investments that raise national security concerns. While you may have seen CFIUS play a role in prior transactions, upcoming expanded regulations will further impact acquisitions of U.S. real estate. How exactly will…
Articles Posted in Real Estate
“The Rent Is Too Damn High.” Will California’s Proposition 10 Help?
In less than two weeks, California voters will decide whether to pass Proposition 10, which would allow cities and counties across the state to expand rent control. Supporters of the measure say it will protect tenants during a time of unprecedented housing affordability problems in California. Opponents argue that the…
Ninth Circuit Affirms District Court’s Ruling Finding Lack of Redressability for Alleged ESA and NHPA Violations
On June 28, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit decided the case of Center for Biological Diversity, et al., v. Export-Import Bank of the U.S., affirming the ruling of the District Court, which granted Export-Import Bank of the United States’ (Ex-Im Bank) summary judgement motion finding that, “as a…
Transition from LIBOR to Risk-Free Rates
Recently, our colleague Trevor Wood published a Client Alert titled LIBOR and the Transition to Risk-Free Rates, discussing the Chief Executive of the UK Financial Conduct Authority’s (FCA) recent announcement that, because of insufficient trading in the underlying markets, the London Interbank Offered Rate (LIBOR) will no longer be supported by the…
With Liberty and Cannabis for All
Legalized cannabis use is rapidly sweeping the nation. Currently, 29 states have legalized some form of cannabis, effectively turning the majority of the United States green. In this post, we will take a closer look at some of these green states and discuss cannabis real estate trends across both state…
Ninth Circuit’s Blow to the Hemp Industry
On April 30, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit issued an unpublished order in Hemp Industries Assoc. v. U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, et al., denying the Hemp Industry Association’s (HIA) petition seeking review of the DEA’s Final Rule establishing a new drug code for marijuana extract that…
Property Available at Tax Sale May Not Be a Bargain if Contaminated
On April 27, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit held, in the case of California Dep’t of Toxic Substances Control v. Westside Delivery, LLC, that a purchaser of land at a California tax sale was not entitled to the third party defense for clean-up costs contemplated by the Comprehensive…
Dot Your I’s and Check Your Deeds Before Celebrating 4/20
The cannabis industry–both recreational and medicinal–is one of constant development, with a litany of obstacles. Even since December of last year when we began our series on the legalization of marijuana and its correlation to the real estate industry, new wrinkles have emerged, which may have an effect on future cannabis…
Legalized Marijuana Resulting in Real Estate High: Is the Golden State a Green Mine?
California rang in 2018 as the largest legal marketplace in the country for recreational marijuana when it implemented the Medicinal and Adult-Use Cannabis Regulatory Safety Act (“MAUCRSA”). As we discussed in Part 1 and Part 2 of this blog series, while California’s real estate industry is budding with recreational marijuana,…
San Francisco Voters Have Dueling Rent Tax Proposals Coming Their Way in June
When it comes to real estate, every large U.S. city is in some ways its own unique ecosystem. Still, a local measure can set a standard that other municipalities take note of and potentially emulate. In their recent client alert on dueling proposals for commercial rent tax measures, colleagues Richard E.…