The Alabama Supreme Court’s recent ruling in Coan v. Championship Property, LLC has significant implications for mortgage lenders, servicers, and foreclosure sale purchasers. The decision settles a contested issue: May trial courts require borrowers to make escrow-style payments pending a final judgment in a foreclosure or eviction dispute? Although the full extent of the ruling

CDC Issues Eviction Moratorium, but Will It Survive Legal Challenge?The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) recently issued a sweeping moratorium on most evictions through the end of 2020 as a means to stop the spread of COVID-19, which will go into effect on September 4, 2020. According to government estimates, the order will cover up to 40 million renters nationwide. This unprecedented exercise of

HUD Proposed Rule Demands More Disparate and More Impact to Establish Disparate Impact LiabilityThe United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) released a sweeping proposed rule on August 1 seeking to amend HUD’s interpretation of the Fair Housing Act’s disparate impact standard. According to HUD, the proposed rule is designed to better reflect the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2015 ruling in Texas Department of Housing and Community

DOJ Continues Fair Housing Act Enforcement ActionsThe United States Department of Justice (DOJ) recently filed a civil action in the United States District Court for the Western District of Tennessee against an apartment development and its property management company alleging violations of sections 3604(a) and 3604(b) of the Fair Housing Act (FHA). Specifically, the complaint challenges the management company’s policy of

Federal Appeals Court Holds that Landlord May Be Liable for Deliberate Indifference to Tenant-on-Tenant DiscriminationThe United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit recently addressed a matter of first impression regarding landlord liability under the Fair Housing Act (FHA): whether a landlord may be liable under the FHA for failing to address tenant-on-tenant discrimination. The court answered with a resounding “yes,” holding that the FHA creates liability

Post-Foreclosure Sale Tenant Protections Proposed in FloridaFlorida Senate Bill 524 and House Bill 779 would provide certain protections to tenants after the foreclosure sale of residential property.  The bills, both of which were introduced on March 3, 2015, would add back certain tenant protections that previously existed under the federal Protecting Tenants at Foreclosure Act (PTFA), which sunset on December 31,