The VLW Blog

A William & Mary law professor used legal “mumbo jumbo” to undermine the authority of the Kingsmill Community Services Association, accused the group’s lawyer in a letter delivered by police . The professor fires back, saying the tactic is a “bush-league attempt at intimidation.”
The battle of legal letters has erupted as residents of James City [...]

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A property owners association may be powerless to collect assessments from community landowners to pay for road improvements, but at least it’s not liable for racketeering in the attempt, according to a ruling yesterday from the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
The Dogwood Valley Citizens Association tried to make assessments against property owners in the [...]

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A dissenting sibling in a dispute over the disposition of a family farm must share in the costs of a subdivision plan when the plan helped to increase the value of the property, the Supreme Court of Virginia holds.
As we reported in November , the family of a deceased Loudoun county physician could not agree [...]

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Virginia investors who claim they were defrauded into buying overpriced real estate in coastal Carolina have lost their bid to sue seven banks in their federal mortgage fraud lawsuit.
In a 36-page memorandum order, U.S. District Judge Gerald Bruce Lee last month dismissed the banks from the consolidated action where 127 plaintiffs accuse developers of artificially [...]

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Remember when real estate was a different kind of story?
Bidding wars. Tear-downs. Money all around.
Spring 2007. A woman who wants to sell her mother’s home talks to a real estate agent, who suggests a target price of $729,000 for the Fairfax property.
With a “pocket buyer” already in hand, the agent expects to pocket the [...]

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On the heels of news that a Chesterfield County ex-lawyer will be doing two years in prison for a mortgage rescue scam comes word that a Charlotte-area lawyer now faces the prospect of much more federal prison time.
A jury yesterday convicted Victoria Sprouse in a $15 million mortgage fraud scheme, reports The Charlotte Observer.
According to [...]

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Just as we finish wiping our eyes after our annual viewing of George Bailey’s rescue by the community he served, now comes word that Bedford Falls has been sold.
No, not the fictional Bedford Falls, the setting for Frank Capra’s “It’s A Wonderful Life.”  This Bedford Falls is a 43-unit subdivision in Gloucester County, featuring streets [...]

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In the continuing serial, As the Housing Market Downturns, the latest episode sees yet another Northern Virginia condo buyer try to bail on his contract.
When last we left our unhappy buyers, one group that bought condos in 2005 at purchase prices of a half-million and up got a break in Ahn v. Merrifield Town Ctr. [...]

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Attorneys concerned about getting hit with sanctions because of an inadequate investigation of the facts can take relief from an unpublished order today from the Supreme Court of Virginia.In 8522 Lee Highway at Merrifield LLC v. Sonic-Manhattan Fairfax Inc., Record No. 072107, 8522 Lee Highway filed suit alleging that Sonic was trespassing on its property [...]

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One of Bristol’s most graceful structures is suffering a most ungraceful death.
The 83-year-old Kings Mountain Memorial Hospital on West State Street fell into such disrepair after its closing that the city took the owner to court to force action.  Circuit Judge Larry B. Kirksey held the owner in contempt when the months dragged on with [...]

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