The Eleventh Circuit recently reaffirmed the “person aggrieved” doctrine in In re Petricca, 17-10325, 2018 WL 1020046, at *1 (11th Cir. Feb. 22, 2018). The person aggrieved doctrine provides that a person may appeal from a bankruptcy court’s order only if he is a person aggrieved by the order. The doctrine limits the […]
Impact of Tax Reform Act on Parties to Litigation
As a result of the new tax reform act (H.R. 1), signed into law by President Trump on December 22, 2017, a below-the-line deduction[1] for legal fees incurred in litigation is no longer available for tax years 2018 through 2025. Thus, plaintiffs in numerous categories of litigation could end up paying taxes on one […]
Governor Signs Community Association and Condominium Legislation
Following up on my February 16, 2018 post, Florida Governor Rick Scott signed House Bill 617, House Bill 841 and Senate Bill 7087 into law. Senate Bill 7087, which is the comprehensive tax package for the legislative session, authorizes vertical subdivisions of real property, specifically authorizing assessment of a “multiple parcel building” by allocating the […]
Affordable Housing in Florida: The Crisis is Real
One of the biggest barriers to economic stability for households in the United States is the severe shortage of affordable homes. A household is considered severely cost burdened if it spends more than 30% of its income on housing (rent or mortgage payments). Florida is in the midst of an affordable housing crisis with the […]
Interesting Data Points From Southeast Multifamily Forum
The Southeast Multifamily Forum provided information and statistics regarding the state of the multifamily real estate market, investment opportunities, trends. Below are some of the highlights. State of the Market After the election, growth in the multifamily real estate market picked up, not because of who was elected, but because uncertainty dissipated. The Southeast multifamily […]
CFTC Treatment of Cryptocurrencies as Commodities Confirmed by a Federal Court
In its ruling of March 6, 2018 in Commodity Futures Trading Commission v. Patrick K. McDonnell, and Cabbagetech, Corp. d/b/a Coin Drop Markets, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York confirmed in a settlement order the position taken by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (the “CFTC”) that (1) “[v]irtual currencies […]