The foreclosing lender in Hoang v. California Pacific Bank, 2014 Cal. App. Unpub. LEXIS 5230 (July 23, 2014) made some curious decisions and the result was the bank was ordered to pay damages to the purchaser that exceed the sales price of the property. The irony is that the lender probably complied with the CERCLA […]
Commercial Mortgage-Backed Securities (CMBS) loans have been playing an increasingly important role in commercial real estate financing and account for around 30% of commercial loan originations. Because of the increasing use of CMBS loans, it is important for consultants to understand the different risk tolerances of the players in a CMBS transaction and how environmental
CMBS Environmental Due Diligence Needs to Consider B-Piece Buyers Read More »
The New York City Office of Environmental Remediation (OER) recently announced the creation of the NYC Affordable Housing Cleanup Fund (AHCF) to help remediate and support affordable housing projects in disadvantaged communities. Unlike the OER Brownfield Incentive Grants (BIG) program which are funded from appropriations, OER will be using $1.8MM in EPA Revolving Loan Fund
OER Launches NYC Affordable Housing Cleanup Fund Read More »
The use of reps and warranties insurance (RWI) is becoming an increasingly popular risk allocation tool in corporate transactions. According to trade press reports, the volume of RWI doubled from 2011 to 2012, with the value of the insurance bound last year exceeding $4 billion. RWI covers losses related to breaches or inaccuracies in reps
Rep and Warranty Insurance Becoming More Common in M&A Deals Read More »
The time period for bringing claims for breaches of representations and warranties in corporate transactions (known as “survival” periods) are usually heavily negotiated. General reps and warranties about the condition of the business often have the shortest survival periods (usually 6 months to two years) and often track the length of an escrow period. However,
Delaware Extends Statute of Limitations For Contract Claims to 20 Years Read More »
Labor rulings have in the past served as precedent for eroding traditional corporate law doctrines and expanding liability of corporations. For example, the doctrine known as either Continuity of Enterprise or Substantial Continuity was used in the 1990s to impose successor liability for environmental contamination originated with a line of labor law cases dating back to
McDonald’s Labor Case May Have Environmental Law Implications Read More »
We have previously discussed discussed here and in other forums how the All Appropriate Inquiries (AAI) Rule issued by EPA in 2005 is deeply flawed and has directly contributed to a worsening in the quality of phase 1 reports. This is ironic outcome since the reason EPA was instructed in the 2002 amendments to CERCLA to issue
Major CMBS Lender Requiring EPs to Perform Site Inspections Read More »
The NYC Office of Environmental Remediation just announced that it has a little over $100K to award for petroleum assessments this summer. The source of the grant money is the brownfield revolving loan fund that was awarded by EPA to OER under section 104(k) of CERCLA. The federally-funded grant may be used for phase 1 or
OER Grants Available for Petroleum Assessments But Need to Move Quickly Read More »
In June, the NYC Department of Buildings (DOB) completed uploading into its Buildings Information System (BIS) approximately 200 Restrictive Declarations (RD) that can impose certain environmental obligations relating to hazardous materials. This action means that parties seeking building permits and certificates of occupancy for sites subject to RDs will have to demonstrate they have satisfied
Environmental Restrictions Now Fully Enforceable by NYC DOB Read More »
[Update: At a bill signing ceremony in Buffalo on June 24th, Governor Cuomo was quoted as saying he would sign the BCP extension] On June 20th, the NY State Senate approved legislation that would extend the expiration of the Brownfield Cleanup Program (BCP) to March 31, 2017. The same bill had been passed by the Assembly earlier
NY Legislature Passes Brownfield Extender Bill But Will It Matter? Read More »