The latest installment of our “Home on the Bombing Range” series takes us to Florida at the site of what is now known as the former World War 2 Pinecastle Bombing Range (PBR). Virgilio v. Ryland Group, Inc., 2012 U.S. App. LEXIS 10094 (11th Cir. 5/18/12) is a class action lawsuit brought by purchasers of […]
11th Circuit Affirms No Liability For Developer In Florida Bombing Range Case Read More »
A California state court dismissed a negligence claim brought against an environmental consultant by residents of the infamous Ujima Village low income housing complex for failing to identify health risks associated with a former oil storage facility. The 300-unit Ujima Village complex had been constructed on a portion of the former 122-acre Athens Tank Farm
Consultant Not Liable to Residents of Housing Complex For Not Identifying Vapor Risks Read More »
We have reviewed several cases where sellers have been held liable for failing to adequately disclose environmental conditions in mandated property condition reports even where the property is sold “as is”. Another example is Wise v. Hays, 943 N.E.2d 835 (Ind. Ct. App. 2011), a state appeals court reversed a grant of summary judgment in
In Stalvey v. NVR, Inc., 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 2506 (N.D. Ohio 1/09/12), the plaintiffs entered into an Ohio Purchase Agreement with defendant for the construction and purchase of a house. As part of the Agreement, defendant provided plaintiff with a Topographic Survey & Improvement Plan that did not depict the presence of wetlands on
Court allows Claim To Proceed Against Home Builder For Failing To Disclose Wetlands Read More »
In Ferris v. Location 3 Corp., 804 N.W.2d 822 (Wisc. Ct. App. 2011), the plaintiff Ferris purchased real property located from defendant Location 3 Corporation.3 Sometime after closing, Ferris discovered that the landfill adjacent to his property was also a Superfund4 site. Ferris then filed a complaint against Location 3 and certain employees of firm
Historical environmental compliance is critically important in corporate transactions especially when a business or facility may be subject to a regulatory programs that is evolving or subject to re-interpretation such as the New Source Review program. In such cases, the parties will try to contractually allocate the risks. Despite the fact that these agreements are
Regulatory Re-Interpretation Triggers Contractual Indemnity Read More »
In Carolyn Vickers Inc. v. Unocal Corp., 2011 Cal. App. Unpub. LEXIS 9642 (Ct. App-2nd Dist. 12/19/11), Alan Little Ventures (ALV) purchased a 4.1 acre tract of land in San Luis Obispo in 2005. The land had been subdivided into 17 lots by the sellers, Phyllis and Alex Madonna (the “Madonnas”), and was zoned for
Statute of Limitations Bars Purchaser’s Claim For 1981 Pipeline Spill Read More »
The title of this post sounds like a teaser to a bad joke but unfortunately it refers to the latest round of motions in two sprawling lawsuits involving a defunct planned community that was to be developed on what proved to be a part of a world war 2 bombing practice range. The defendants include
A Lawyer, an Underwriter and an Appraisor-An Update Read More »
Shareholder Representative Services (SRS) recently issued the results of its M&A Deal Terms Study covering 196 private-target acquisition agreements. The deals closed between July 2010 and September 2011. The 2011 study compares results against an earlier study that encompassed deals from July 2007 to July 2010. Some of the interesting findings are: use of escrows
Study Analyzes Trends In Key Terms in M&A Deals Read More »
In the wake of the Great Recession, many foreign investors are buying bulk quantities of condominium units at what they perceive to be distressed prices for projects located in certain gateway cities such as Miami and New York. Frequently, these condominium projects are developed on brownfield sites. In phased transactions where multiple buildings are constructed