In this discretionary appeal, the Ohio Supreme Court outlined when and in what circumstances an equitable lien may arise. The Bullet Point: A lien is “‘a hold or claim which one person has upon the property of another as...more
Ohio- Assignee of Contract- Auto Loan, Inc. v. Sisler, 11th Dist. Portage No. 2022-Ohio-3282. In this appeal, the Eleventh Appellate District reversed the trial court’s decision finding that the plaintiff was not an...more
The Federal Court of Australia rules that receivers appointed to a company in liquidation are entitled to pay employee entitlements and fees. In Kirman v RWE Robinson & Sons Pty Ltd (in liq), in the matter of RWE Robinson...more
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit recently addressed “the labyrinthine complexities of ERISA law and practice.” Manuel v. Turner Industries Group, LLC, et al., No. 17-30835 (5th Cir. Oct. 1, 2018). ...more
Under California’s State Housing Law (Health and Safety Code sections 17910-17998.3), if an apartment building owner fails to comply with a notice to repair or abate building standard violations issued by an enforcement...more
REAL PROPERTY UPDATE - - Equitable Lien/Foreclosure: lender entitled to an equitable lien, but not entitled to foreclose on that lien where was no showing of default on mortgage from which the lien arose - Rozanski v....more
The Background: The administrators of an Australian auction house and gallery business applied to the Federal Court of Australia for directions to recover in excess of $1 million in fees and costs incurred with respect to...more
In Weeks v Weeks, Division One of the Arizona Court of Appeals addressed the marital community’s equitable lien against separate property of one spouse. The opinion is a memorandum decision and it is therefore not...more
REAL PROPERTY UPDATE - Foreclosure/Requests for Admission: trial court erred by involuntarily dismissing foreclosure action based solely on lender’s failure to respond to requests for admission because lender’s...more
Editor’s Overview - This month we review the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Montanile v. Board of Trustees of National Elevator Industries Health Benefit Plan where the Supreme Court considered the scope of...more
Editor's Overview - This month's article reviews a few non-ERISA cases before the U.S. Supreme Court, which may, depending on the breadth of the decisions, impact ERISA litigation. First, in Spokeo, Inc. v. Robins, the...more
On January 20, 2016, the United States Supreme Court held that an ERISA plan could not satisfy its reimbursement rights from a participant’s general assets. ERISA plans’ reimbursement rights are now so limited that...more
It’s a common fact pattern. A plan participant is injured and received benefits for treatment of his injuries. The participant then sues a third party for damages based on his injuries. The plan then seeks to recover a...more
On January 20, 2016, the U.S. Supreme Court reversed a decision by the Eleventh Circuit and held that when a ERISA plan participant obtains a third-party settlement subject to a plan’s subrogation provision, and then...more
Marcum v. Marcum (In re Marcum), 508 B.R. 499 (Bankr. M.D. Fla. 2014) – A creditor made two prepetition loans to a chapter 13 debtor for payment of delinquent real estate taxes. The loans were supposed to be secured by...more
REAL PROPERTY UPDATE - Lien Priority: claimant’s judgment lien related back to recording of lis pendens and therefore took priority over competing judgment lien obtained after lis pendens but before entry of claimant’s...more
Foreclosure: trial court abused its discretion in dismissing foreclosure action with prejudice, cancelling substantial debt, and denying lender ability to refile a foreclosure action without making finding of facts as...more
Statute of Limitations/Liens: one year statute of limitations to enforce equitable lien under Fla. Stat. sec. 95.11(5)(b) runs from last furnishing of labor, services, or material for improvement of real property; Fla. Stat....more
On March 30, the U.S. Supreme Court announced it would review Bd. of Trustees of Nat. Elevator Indus. Health Ben. Plan v. Montanile, 593 F. App’x 903 (11th Cir. 2014)....more
REAL PROPERTY UPDATE - Marketable Record Title Act: right-of-way held by Florida Department of Transportation qualifies for right of way exception under MRTA and remainder of property held in fee by Florida Department...more
Where an ERISA plan specifically sets forth in the plan document its rights to reimbursement/subrogation vis-à-vis a plan participant then there is no requirement that recovery be conditioned on the plan being able to trace...more
Executive Summary: Reimbursement claim brought under ERISA sec. 502(a)(3) was akin to “equitable lien by agreement,” and therefore could not be defeated by equitable defenses that contradicted plan terms. ...more