Legislation that would open financial services to marijuana-related businesses operating in states that have legalized marijuana took another small, but important, step Tuesday. The Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Senate...more
The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) has offered much-needed clarity about the manufacture, distribution and sale of hemp and hemp-derived products. The USDA’s recent pronouncement, however, may not be the news...more
6/4/2019
/ Cannabidiol (CBD) oil ,
Cannabis Products ,
Controlled Substances ,
Criminal Convictions ,
Decriminalization of Marijuana ,
Dispensaries ,
Farm Bill ,
Felonies ,
Hemp ,
Interstate Commerce ,
Marijuana Cultivation ,
Marijuana Related Businesses ,
Schedule I Drugs ,
Shipping ,
Transportation Industry ,
USDA
Since more than half of the states in the U.S. have decriminalized marijuana (those varieties of the Cannabis plant with intoxicating properties), the marijuana business has been growing rapidly in this country. Like any...more
[This is the first in a series of client alerts regarding the status of medical marijuana efforts in Alabama.]
Is Alabama poised to join the growing number of states allowing the use of medical marijuana under state law?...more
Centuries after American colonists were required by law to grow hemp, and decades after it was then outlawed by Congress, one of the nation’s oldest and most versatile crops is poised for a resurgence. The 2018 Farm Bill,...more
2/25/2019
/ Agricultural Sector ,
Cannabidiol (CBD) oil ,
Controlled Substances Act ,
Decriminalization of Marijuana ,
Department of Agriculture ,
Farm Bill ,
Food and Drug Administration (FDA) ,
Hemp ,
Investors ,
Marijuana ,
Marijuana Cultivation ,
Marijuana Related Businesses ,
Medical Marijuana ,
Regulatory Oversight ,
Research and Development
On January 17, 2018, Florida’s new governor, Ron DeSantis, delivered news that could supercharge the growth of Florida’s medical-cannabis industry. Governor DeSantis indicated he may drop the State’s appeal from a trial...more
2/5/2019
/ Decriminalization of Marijuana ,
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) ,
Dispensaries ,
Licensing Rules ,
Marijuana ,
Marijuana Cultivation ,
Marijuana Related Businesses ,
Medical Marijuana ,
Smoking Bans ,
State Constitutions ,
Vertical Integration
For years, the “legal” cannabis industry – operating in states that have legalized cannabis under state law despite its long-standing prohibition under federal law – and the financial institutions that serve the industry have...more
Today marks a significant shift in cannabis policy, both domestically and internationally, as Canada becomes the first industrialized nation in the world, and only the second nation overall, to legalize cannabis. This follows...more
Mortgagees of Home Equity Conversion Mortgages (“HECMs,” more commonly known as reverse mortgages) obtained a significant victory in an important federal appellate court, which ruled last month that non-borrowing spouses are...more
10/15/2018
/ Borrowers ,
Contract Terms ,
Estate Planning ,
Foreclosure ,
HECM ,
Homeowners ,
HUD ,
Mortgage Lenders ,
Mortgages ,
Reverse Mortgages ,
Spouses ,
Surviving Spouse
On September 21, 2018, the Department of Housing and Urban Development (“HUD”)’s Office of Inspector General (“OIG”) completed a review of HUD’s partial claims program. In many ways, the title of the OIG audit report, “HUD...more
As attorneys representing the financial services industry well know, the financial crisis of 2007-2008 resulted in a wave of foreclosures across the country as borrowers struggled to make payments on their mortgages.
The...more
Since 1996, when California became the first state to legalize marijuana (at the time, for medicinal purposes only), 28 additional states and the District of Columbia have legalized marijuana to some extent. Public support...more
5/29/2018
/ Banking Sector ,
BSA/AML ,
Cole Memorandum ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Decriminalization of Marijuana ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Dispensaries ,
FDIC ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Services Industry ,
FinCEN ,
Marijuana ,
Marijuana Related Businesses ,
Medical Marijuana ,
Policy Memorandums ,
Regulatory Standards ,
Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs) ,
Trump Administration
Reverse mortgage lenders received a significant victory in Florida’s Third District Court of Appeal last week when the court issued its decision in OneWest Bank, FSB v. Palmero. After previously ruling in Smith v. Reverse...more
4/27/2018
/ Borrowers ,
Foreclosure ,
Judicial Foreclosure Process ,
Mortgage Insurance ,
Mortgage Lenders ,
Mortgage Servicers ,
Mortgages ,
Promissory Notes ,
Reverse Mortgages ,
Spouses ,
Surviving Spouse
Oregon’s legislature continues to add state level regulations to the Home Equity Conversion Mortgage (“HECM,” more commonly known as a reverse mortgage) marketplace. In 2015, the state imposed a series of content and...more
Last year, the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) released a set of proposed rules affecting Home Equity Conversion Mortgages (HECMs) for notice and comment. After receiving 83 comments and responses, the Department of...more
As part of a broader push to update its regulations regarding Home Equity Conversion Mortgages (HECMs, more commonly known as reverse mortgages), the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD published a Supplemental...more
Last week, the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) released for notice and comment a set of proposed rules affecting Home Equity Conversion Mortgages (HECM), more commonly known as reverse mortgages. Below are highlights of...more
On January 12, 2016, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) published its first Mortgagee Letter of the year, in which it again delayed the implementation of the sweeping changes related to Home Equity...more
The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) continues to grapple with how mortgagees and servicers of Home Equity Conversion Mortgages (HECMs), commonly known as reverse mortgages, should proceed where a spouse that...more
For the past year and a half, mortgagees of FHA-insured Home Equity Conversion Mortgages (“HECMs”), commonly referred to as reverse mortgages, have had to grapple with issues related to the foreclosure of homes occupied by...more