Legislation to impose a tax on the creation of mezzanine debt and preferred equity was reintroduced on Jan. 4, 2023, in the last two sessions of the New York state legislature, by the same state senators who proposed it...more
Companion bills in the New York State Legislature, Assembly Bill No. A3139 and Senate Bill No. S3074, if enacted, would subject mezzanine loans and preferred equity investments to the same recording and taxation requirements...more
The development of real estate projects, including hotels and master planned communities in Los Cabos and other places in Mexico, commonly requires financing by banks and other institutional lenders. This article presents an...more
In a recently issued opinion, the Connecticut Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of a recording statute specifically targeted by the Connecticut legislature to impose higher recording fees on residential mortgage...more
States have long imposed fees for recording land records documents, and until recently they have generally done so uniformly, without regard to who the parties to the document might be. The Connecticut Supreme Court has,...more
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit has ruled that Pennsylvania’s recording statute does not require the recording of all conveyances. As a result, the Third Circuit reversed the district court’s refusal to enter...more
Since the mortgage crisis began several years ago, the Mortgage Electronic Registration System (“MERS”) has faced numerous legal attacks relating to foreclosures, assignments and what interest MERS holds in a deed of trust or...more
The U. S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit recently affirmed the district court’s dismissal of a putative class action filed against Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems (MERS), its parent company, and 15 financial...more