Issue No. 219, April 14, 2021


EVENTS
Look For NEW Events Posted Since The Last Issue!
INDUSTRY
FinCEN Launches Regulatory Process for New Beneficial Ownership Reporting Requirement
The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) today issued an Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPRM) to solicit public comment on a wide range of questions related to the implementation of the beneficial ownership information reporting provisions of the Corporate Transparency Act (CTA).

Grandma Challenges Real Estate Giant in Early Test of New California Law
Foreman had hoped she would be able to buy the house and continue living there thanks to a new state law, signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom last fall, that is designed to prevent pandemic profiteering — and give tenants like her a path to homeownership.

Electronic Signatures in NJ, NY, PA & FL: What You Need To Know
The COVID-19 pandemic rocked businesses with its required social distancing protocols and work from home mandates. However, one silver lining to the unforeseen chaos generated by the pandemic is the benefit of being able to execute most documents from the safety of home.

Download The Road Ahead Post Pandemic special report
This special report examines the ways in which the bureau is likely to be more active than in recent years — especially regarding fair lending and fair servicing.

LEGAL
Water Law 101: Part 3, surface water administration terms and definitions
This is the third in a six-part series of articles covering basic water law in the United States, predominately in the western part of the country, and how it affects this finite resource. Water law can be traced back to Roman times and also has roots in English common law.

A Koch Brother Among Us
In return for receiving the BLM parcel that divided Bear Ranch, Koch would have given 911 acres to the National Park Service adjacent to Blue Mesa Reservoir; he would have purchased and donated 80 acres of private land to Dinosaur National Monument; and he would have done some other things to improve access to public lands.

SCOTUS Hears Pivotal Property Rights Case
The dispute stems from a California regulation (enacted pursuant to the Agriculture Labor Relations Act) providing union organizers a right to access agricultural employers’ private property to meet with employees and solicit members.

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New York Court Denies Summary Judgment in Action to Enforce a Restrictive Covenant
The New York Supreme Court, Kings County, recently denied a property owner’s motion for summary judgment, holding that there were issues of fact as to whether a restrictive covenant applied to the property at issue.


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Dajia Vs Mirae--The Anbang Adventure
How and why the sale of the $6 billion Anbang hotel portfolio didn’t close, and lessons for deal lawyers from the Dajia vs Mirae case.

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Santa Barbara Liable for Taking Private Property When its Permit Denial Made Clear no Development Would be Allowed
In a case that exists only because of the choices a city made in both application decision-making and litigation, the Second District Court of Appeal held, in Felkay v. City of Santa Barbara, __ Cal.App.5th __ (2021), that multiple applications are not required where the permit denial makes clear that no development of the property would be allowed under any circumstance.

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WORLD
Land Surveyors, Dockominiums: Understanding Dockominiums for Internal Revenue Generation in the Caribbean
In the December 2020 issue of Point of Beginning magazine, a column by land surveyor Kristopher M. Kline, PLS, discussed recent developments relating to the law of waters; Dockominiums ranking as some of the strangest.

A Pending Registration Queue at the Alberta Land Titles Office - How will it work?
The implementation of the PRQ may also enable parties to avoid obtaining gap title insurance coverage, resulting in further time and cost savings on closing.

How Authoritarians Turn Rural Areas Into Their Strongholds
Authoritarian regimes, though, unless they face pressure from foreign powers or seek to stave off some existential threat, hand out property without also distributing secure property rights, forcing land beneficiaries into a relationship of perpetual dependence.

TECHNOLOGY
Maine Enacts NAIC-Inspired Cybersecurity Law
Maine has become the latest state to adopt a version of the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) model cybersecurity law.

PEOPLE IN THE NEWS
LA County Seeks To Return Bruce’s Beach Property Which Was Seized From Black Family
A stretch of beachfront property in Manhattan Beach that was wrongfully seized from a Black family about 91-years-ago could soon be returned to them.

SoCal siblings charged in $6M home listings scam
A Southern California brother and sister were charged with running a $6 million scam in which they marketed homes that weren’t for sale, then collected multiple down payments on the same properties. Victims in some cases were strung along for years, authorities said.

OTHER TRENDING NEWS
THE POLO GROUNDS, THE LOST BALLPARK OF NEW YORK’S FIRST BASEBALL TEAM
During their 75 years in New York, the Giants won 17 National League (NL) league championships and eight world championships, three before the advent of the modern World Series in 1903.

Crate escape: Search for Irishmen who airmailed Brian Robson home
Brian, from Cardiff, was 19 years old when his two friends helped nail him into a crate so that he could mail himself from Melbourne to London.

The Indestructible Townhouse
When it comes to architectural survivors amid Manhattan’s eternal churn of destruction and redevelopment, it is hard to top the 211-year-old, four-story brick landmark at 67 Greenwich Street in the financial district. 

ATL Bracket Time: One Zoom Fail To Rule Them All
We’ve had quite a journey through this bracket challenge. In the end, we only had two upsets throughout the entire tournament, which is a credit to my brilliant seeding, thank you very much. But all good things must come to an end, and now we’re ready to crown the most epic Zoom fail of the legal pandemic according to our readers.

Marianne Mathieu, NTP
Vice President/National Agency Accounts
Fidelity National Financial
(347) 987-0677