Borrower’s Fraud & Conspiracy Claims Dismissed

Plaintiff entitled to $19M in additional tax credits for property – $19,000,000 Verdict

By Virginia Lawyers Weekly
Published: May 17, 2013
Tags: Albemarle County Circuit Court, Million-Dollar Verdicts, Real Estate, Taxation

This case stems from the conservation tax credit program codified under Virginia law at Code § 58.1-512. Under that program, when a grantor donates land for conservation purposes, the Department of Taxation is to issue tax credits in an amount equal to 40 percent of the land’s fair market value. Virginia is one of relatively [...]

Developers, state sparred over conservation tax credits

By Peter Vieth
Published: May 17, 2013
Tags: Albemarle County Circuit Court, Million-Dollar Verdicts, Real Estate, Taxation

A court battle over the value of a patch of Albemarle County land has shed light on the often-secret and high dollar business of conservation tax credits and may be a guidepost for using expert appraisal witnesses. While other investors suffered huge losses when the real estate bubble burst in 2008, a Charlottesville developer and [...]

Broker Seeks Commission on Shopping Center Sale

By Deborah Elkins
Published: May 14, 2013
Tags: Fairfax County Circuit Court, Judge Jonathan C. Thacher, Real Estate, Virginia Circuit Courts

In plaintiff broker’s suit for commission for the sale of Winchester Station shopping center, defendant had a buyer’s brokerage agreement of no definite duration and a confidentiality agreement for one year, prior to the property being listed, and the Fairfax Circuit Court denies summary judgment to defendant buyer because there are disputed facts concerning the [...]

No Drywall Damages for Mortgage Payments

By Deborah Elkins
Published: May 10, 2013
Tags: Judge Mary Jane Hall, Norfolk Circuit Court, Real Estate, Virginia Circuit Courts

A Norfolk Circuit Court grants defendants’ motion in limine to exclude evidence of mortgage payments on homes that were unlivable as a result of the presence of Chinese drywall, as mortgage payments are not a proper measure of loss of use damages. Defendant claims this element of damages was not disclosed in discovery responses provide [...]

Objections to Condemnation Petition Fail

By Deborah Elkins
Published: May 3, 2013
Tags: Fairfax County Circuit Court, Judge R. Terrence Ney, Real Estate, Virginia Circuit Courts

A Fairfax Circuit Court denies VDOT’s motion to strike a property owner’s objections to VDOT’s petition in condemnation for a partial taking of a parcel in Chantilly for the widening of Route 50. The owner of the property, Dulles Properties, objects to the amount of compensation offered by the Virginia Department of Transportation, in that [...]

Refusal Right Not Triggered by Transfer

By Deborah Elkins
Published: May 3, 2013
Tags: Fairfax Circuit Court, Judge R. Terrence Ney, Real Estate, Virginia Circuit Courts

A restaurant tenant cannot claim its Right of First Refusal has been breached by a transfer of the property from a living trust that took the property upon the owner’s death, to her son, who was the trustee and sole beneficiary of the trust; the Fairfax Circuit Court says the Right of First Refusal was [...]

No Redress for Claimed Foreclosure Damages

By Deborah Elkins
Published: May 3, 2013
Tags: Judge Robert E. Payne, Real Estate, U.S. District Court - Eastern District

Property owners who lost their property to foreclosure have not met the case-or-controversy requirement for the Richmond U.S. District Court to exercise jurisdiction over their claims for a loss of equity in the property, rents on the property, inconvenience and damage to their credit record, and the court dismisses their claim alleging the “bogus” appointment [...]

Virginia lawyers find trouble in Maryland

By Peter Vieth
Published: May 1, 2013
Tags: Bankruptcy, Federal Courts, Lawyer Discipline, Real Estate, Virginia State Bar

A trio of Virginia-licensed lawyers recently found themselves facing criminal or disciplinary action in this state after first running afoul of authorities in Maryland. A lawyer who pleaded guilty in Maryland to taking part in a small business loan fraud scheme said to involve more than $100 million in losses now has admitted to misappropriating [...]

Quiet Title Action Dismissed by Court

By Deborah Elkins
Published: April 24, 2013
Tags: Judge Norman K. Moon, Real Estate, U.S. District Court - Western District

A Charlottesville U.S. District Court dismisses plaintiff homeowners’ suit to quiet title which alleges the assignment of their deed of trust to defendant bank, as trustee for a loan trust, was invalid. In this case, plaintiffs allege basically the same facts they alleged in Blick I (Blick v. JP Morgan Chase Bank NA, No. 3:12cv00001, [...]