Justia Real Estate & Property Law Opinion Summaries

Articles Posted in US Court of Appeals for the First Circuit
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The First Circuit affirmed the judgment of the district court dismissing Appellants' complaint against the Town of Lynnfield, Massachusetts and several of the town's agencies and employees (collectively, Lynnfield) in this dispute over Appellants' spring water business, holding that there was no error or abuse of discretion.Appellants owned and operated the Pocahontas Spring in Lynnfield, Massachusetts, which sat on protected wetlands subject to state and local regulations. When Appellants sought to revive their spring water business and to maintain the Spring for Native Americans as a source of healing water. Appellants brought this complaint alleging that Lynnfield conspired to have neighbors lodge false complaint about Appellants' allegedly unlawful activities at the Spring and Lynnfield would respond to intimidate Appellants and interfere with their business. The First Circuit affirmed the district court's dismissal of the complaint, holding that Appellants' failure adequately to brief their two First Amendment claims proved fatal in this case. View "Gattineri v. Town of Lynnfield, Mass." on Justia Law

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The First Circuit reversed the order of the district court dismissing Plaintiffs' breach of contract claim against Wilmington Savings Fund Society, FSB and otherwise affirmed the district court order dismissing Plaintiffs' complaint against Wilmington Savings and Selene Finance LP, holding that the district court erred in part.Plaintiffs filed a complaint seeking a declaratory judgment that Defendants breached the parties' mortgage contract by selling their property through a non-judicial foreclosure, thus rendering the foreclosure void. Specifically, Plaintiffs alleged that the foreclosure and sale were conducted without providing adequate notice, as required by the mortgage contract. The district court granted Defendants' motion to dismiss. The First Circuit reversed in part, holding (1) Plaintiffs stated a claim that the notice of default failed strictly to comply with the requirements of the mortgage contract, and therefore, dismissal of their claim against Wilmington Savings was improper; and (2) as to the remaining claims, dismissal was proper. View "Aubee v. Selene Finance LP" on Justia Law

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In this dispute over an award of attorneys' fees under 42 U.S.C. 1988, the First Circuit identified only one defect in the award, thus vacating the existing fee award in the amount of $20,243 and remanding to the district court to enter a modified fee award in the amount of $18,218, holding that the district court abused its discretion in part.The underlying case revolved around a parcel of real property in Puerto Rico formerly owned by Plaintiff. Defendants, including the Puerto Rico Highway and Transportation Authority, moved for summary judgment for Plaintiff's failure to seek just compensation in the Puerto Rico courts before raising a federal takings claim. The district court granted the motion. As to attorney's fees, the district court found that the federal takings claim was frivolous and awarded payment of fees in the amount of $20,243. The First Circuit vacated the award, holding that the time expended in connection with a non-frivolous supplemental tort claim should have been deducted from the fee award. View "Efron v. Mora Development Corp." on Justia Law

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The First Circuit affirmed in part and reversed in part the order of the United States District Court for the District of Rhode Island granting summary judgment in favor of Chicago Title Insurance Company (CTIC) and dismissing this suit brought under Rhode Island law by IDC Properties Inc., holding that summary judgment in some respects was erroneously entered.In this real property dispute, Plaintiffs filed suit against IDC in Rhode Island state court, alleging violations of the Rhode Island Condominium Act. The state court granted partial summary judgment to Plaintiffs, which judgment extended to all counts relevant to this appeal. After the state Supreme Court affirmed, IDC submitted a claim to CTIC, its title insurer, seeking coverage under the relevant policy for the loss of IDC's title and interest in the real property as a result of the previous litigation. CTIC denied coverage. IDC then brought this action. The district court granted summary judgment for CTIC. The First Circuit reversed in part, holding that the district court (1) erred in granting summary judgment with respect to two of the three units at issue; but (2) did not err in granting CTIC's motion in limine to exclude IDC's original expert report insofar as it succeeded in overturning the district court's grant of summary judgment. View "IDC Properties, Inc. v. Chicago Title Insurance Co." on Justia Law

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The First Circuit affirmed the judgment of the district court entering summary judgment in favor of Defendant Thomas Wakefield and dismissing Plaintiff Pleasantdale Condominiums LLC's claims alleging nondisclosure of material information under a Maine statute, holding that Defendant was entitled to summary judgment as a matter of law.After it purchased an apartment complex Plaintiff sued Defendant, the seller, alleging claims for fraud and negligent misrepresentation. Both counts were based on the alleged violation of Me. Rev. Stat. Ann. tit. 33, 173(5). The district court concluded that Defendant was entitled to summary judgment on both counts. The First Circuit affirmed, holding that Defendant was entitled to summary judgment as a matter of law on Plaintiff's claim for fraud in the nature of active concealment. View "Pleasantdale Condominiums, LLC v. Wakefield" on Justia Law

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The First Circuit vacated the district court's grant of summary judgment in this mortgage dispute, holding that the district court abused its discretion in denying Appellants' motion to defer the adjudication of a pending motion for summary judgment and proceeding to grant summary judgment.At is on appeal in this dispute that stretched over more than a decade and implicated several lawsuits was whether the district court abused its discretion in denying Appellants' motion for discovery under Fed. R. Civ. P. 56(d) and then granting summary judgment against them. The First Circuit answered the question in the affirmative, holding that the district court abused its discretion in denying Appellants' Rule 56(d) motion in its totality. The Court remanded this case for further proceedings. View "Emigrant Residential LLC v. Pinti" on Justia Law

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The First Circuit affirmed the decision of the district court granting summary judgment in favor of Acadia Insurance Company in this action brought by Railroad Avenue Properties, LLC for breach contract to recover additional insurance proceeds for property damage sustained from a fire at one of Railroad's commercial buildings, holding that there was no error.Although Acadia insured the building at issue and paid Railroad for damages arising out of the fire Railroad claimed that it was entitled to additional payment under the terms the insurance policy in the form of a depreciation holdback and code upgrade coverage. The district court granted summary judgment for Acadia. The First Circuit affirmed, holding that Railroad was not entitled to relief on any of its allegations of error. View "Railroad Avenue Properties, LLC v. Acadia Insurance Co." on Justia Law

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In this climate-change case, the First Circuit once more affirmed the order of the federal district court allowing Rhode Island's motion to return to state court its state court complaint against oil and gas companies for damages caused by fossil fuels, holding that Rhode Island's complaint did not give rise to federal removal jurisdiction.Rhode Island originally brought this complaint in state court, alleging state-law causes of action for, inter alia, public nuisance. After the energy companies removed the case to federal district court Rhode Island moved for the case to be remanded to state court. The district court granted the motion and ordered the case remanded to state court. The First Circuit affirmed the remand order. On certiorari, the Supreme Court instructed that the First Circuit give further consideration in light of recent caselaw. The First Circuit received supplemental briefs and then affirmed once more the judge's remand order, holding that removal based on federal-question jurisdiction and on other jurisdictional and removal statutes was not proper. View "State of Rhode Island v. Shell Oil Products Co., LLC" on Justia Law

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The First Circuit affirmed the decision of the United States District Court for the District of Puerto Rico dismissing without prejudice this collection and foreclosure action that VS PR, a limited liability corporation, brought against several defendants, holding that the district court did not err in denying Defendants' motion to dismiss for lack of jurisdiction.In a motion to dismiss for lack of jurisdiction, Defendants argued that VS PR had not established that complete diversity between the parties existed as required by 28 U.S.C. 1332(a)(1). The district court denied the motion to dismiss without prejudice. VS PR later filed a motion to dismiss the complaint voluntarily pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P. 41(a)(2). The district court granted the motion for voluntary dismissal and dismissed the action without prejudice. The First Circuit affirmed, holding that Rule 41(a) requires that an action must be dismissed with prejudice following a voluntary dismissal pursuant to a court order only when the court order so provides. View "VS PR, LLC v. ORC Miramar Corp." on Justia Law

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In this action brought for the nonpayment of a promissory note the First Circuit affirmed the rulings of the district court entering summary judgment against SBK Holdings USA, Inc. and denying SBK's motion to set aside the judgment, holding that there was no error.Unibank for Savings sued Edgar and Elina Sargsyan and 999 Private Jet, LLC based on their nonpayment of a promissory note secured by a Gulfstream aircraft. The district court granted Unibank's unopposed motion for a preliminary injunction authorizing it to repossess the aircraft. SBK subsequently moved to intervene, asserting an alleged superior security interest in the aircraft. The district court allowed the intervention. The district court entered summary judgment against SBK and denied its subsequent motion to set aside the judgment. The First Circuit affirmed, holding that Unibank held a perfected security interest in the aircraft, while SKB did not. View "UniBank for Savings v. SBK Holdings USA, Inc." on Justia Law