Fairfield Connecticut Building Expert Directory

S&P Suspended and Fined $80 Million in SEC, State Mortgage Bond Cases

January 21, 2015 — Keri Geiger and Matt Robinson – Bloomberg
Standard & Poor’s (MHFI) agreed to be suspended from rating the biggest part of the commercial-mortgage bond market and pay almost $80 million to state and federal authorities over claims it bent criteria to win business. S&P misled investors about the methodology it used in 2011 to rate eight commercial-mortgage backed securities, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission said in a statement today. The company will pay about $58 million to the SEC and an additional $19 million to attorneys general for New York and Massachusetts to settle the matter. Ms. Geiger may be contacted at kgeiger4@bloomberg.net; Mr. Robinson may be contacted at mrobinson55@bloomberg.net Read the court decision
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Reprinted courtesy of Keri Geiger and Matt Robinson, Bloomberg

Former NYC Condo Empire Executive Arrested for Larceny, Tax Fraud

March 11, 2024 — Ava Benny-Morrison - Bloomberg
A former New York executive facing lawsuits over the collapse of real estate empire HFZ Capital Group has been arrested in Miami, charged with grand larceny and tax fraud. Nir Meir, 48, was arrested Monday, a spokesperson for the Miami-Dade Police Department confirmed. Meir was detained on an out-of-state warrant, suggesting his arrest may be the result of an investigation by law enforcement in New York. A spokesperson for the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. Meir’s attorney also didn’t immediately respond to an email. Meir, the former managing principal of HFZ Capital Group, has been battling multiple lawsuits in New York over his involvement in the once-prominent real estate firm. He’s denied wrongdoing. Read the court decision
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Reprinted courtesy of Ava Benny-Morrison, Bloomberg

Contractors: Consult Your Insurance Broker Regarding Your CGL Policy

February 15, 2018 — David Adelstein – Florida Construction Legal Updates

Contractors: do yourself a favor and consult your insurance broker regarding your commercial general liability (CGL) policy. Do this now, especially if you subcontract out work.

CGL policies contain a “your work” exclusion. The CGL policy is written such that it excludes “‘property damage’ to ‘your work’ arising out of it or any part of it and included in the ‘products-completed operations hazard.’” This exclusion will be raised in the post-completion latent construction defect scenario. (There are other exclusions that will be raised to a defect discovered during construction.) Certain policies will contain a subcontractor exception to this “your work” exclusion. You WANT this exception- no doubt about it so that this exclusion does not apply to work performed by your subcontractors. Without this subcontractor exception, truth be told, this “your work” exclusion is a total back-breaker to contractors. It will give your insurer an immediate out for many latent defect property scenarios since excluded from coverage is property damage to your work including work performed by your subcontractors.

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Reprinted courtesy of David Adelstein, Florida Construction Legal Updates
Mr. Adelstein may be contacted at dadelstein@gmail.com

How AI and Machine Learning Are Helping Construction Reduce Risk and Improve Margins

November 28, 2018 — Manu Venugopal - Construction Executive
The construction industry is often characterized as high risk and low margin. According to a McKinsey report, almost 98 percent of projects incur cost overruns or delays. Meanwhile, the construction productivity curve has remained flat when compared to other industries. In the last decade, with the advent of cloud and mobile technologies, industry leaders have been focused on digitizing construction workflows. This has resulted in improved efficiencies, but also has created an explosion of new data sources in the construction industry. Project teams are now capturing and documenting data on mobile devices, site progress is documented via drones and sensors are used to create a connected jobsite. Reprinted courtesy of Manu Venugopal, Construction Executive, a publication of Associated Builders and Contractors. All rights reserved. Read the court decision
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DOD Contractors Receive Reprieve on Implementation of Chinese Telecommunications Ban

September 14, 2020 — Lori Ann Lange & Sabah Petrov - Peckar & Abramson
In our previous alert, we discussed the expansion on the Section 889(a)(1)(B) ban on certain Chinese telecommunications equipment and services to contractors and subcontractors who use the equipment and services in their internal operations. Effective August 13, 2020, federal agencies were prohibited from procuring, obtaining, extending, or renewing a contract with a contractor that uses equipment, systems, or services that use covered telecommunications equipment or services as a substantial or essential component or as critical technology, unless an exception applies or a waiver is granted. Since then we have received feedback from contractors, complaining about the difficulties in determining whether their internal operations use covered telecommunications equipment and services and the need for additional time to become compliant or even obtain enough information to submit a waiver request. Now it seems that Department of Defense (DoD) contractors and subcontractors may be getting a temporary reprieve. The DoD Under Secretary for Acquisition and Sustainment requested a waiver that would allow DoD to continue to execute procurement actions providing supplies, equipment, services, food, clothing, transportation, care, and support necessary to execute the DoD mission. The Director of National Intelligence granted the temporary waiver until September 30, 2020 pending a further review of waiver request. Depending upon the outcome of this additional review, the temporary waiver may be continued beyond September 30, 2020 if it is in the national security interests of the United States. Reprinted courtesy of Lori Ann Lange, Peckar & Abramson and Sabah Petrov, Peckar & Abramson Ms. Lange may be contacted at llange@pecklaw.com Ms. Petrov may be contacted at spetrov@pecklaw.com Read the court decision
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Green Construction Claims: More of the Same

May 10, 2021 — Christopher G. Hill - Construction Law Musings
For this week’s Guest Post Friday, Musings welcomes back Timothy R. Hughes, Esq., LEED AP. Tim (@timrhughes on Twitter) is a Shareholder in the Arlington, Virginia firm of Bean, Kinney & Korman, P.C. In his practice as a business, corporate, and construction law attorney, Tim was the Chair of the Construction Law and Public Contracts Section of the Virginia State Bar. He was recognized by Virginia Lawyer’s Weekly as a 2010 “Leader in the Law” and a member of the Legal Elite for Construction Law for 2010 by Virginia Business Magazine. A regular speaker and writer, Tim is the lead editor of his firm blog, Virginia Real Estate, Land Use and Construction Law. Green construction liability risk has received a lot of discussion over time. My take is that sustainable design and construction projects present the same type of risk profile as other construction projects, with the caveat that there may be “a little more”. A little more risk. A little more lack of predictability. A little more process overlay. Thus, green construction claims really are just “more of the same”. I have watched and participated in the discussion. With regards to the Chesapeake Bay Foundation building, the reality is that any project can face challenges of product specification and performance, green or not. We can see plenty of examples where products have created tremendous risk and liability to the construction industry, the avalanche of EIFS litigation and Chinese drywall standing as just two of the most recent examples. A product failed, but that is nothing truly new. Read the court decision
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Reprinted courtesy of The Law Office of Christopher G. Hill
Mr. Hill may be contacted at chrisghill@constructionlawva.com

Another Municipality Takes Action to Address the Lack of Condominiums Being Built in its Jurisdiction

March 12, 2015 — Heather M. Anderson – Higgins, Hopkins, McLain & Roswell, LLC
Whether you are in the market to downsize or are looking to be a first time home buyer, you have likely noticed that your housing options in Colorado have become extremely limited over the course of the last several years. If you are a contractor and have worked on multi-family projects in the recent past, you know why the housing options are limited in the State of Colorado. In the past two years, there have been studies commissioned and articles published in local periodicals investigating the extreme slowdown seen in the construction of owner-occupied multi-family housing, namely condominiums and townhomes. Those of us involved in and with the construction industry are intimately familiar with the lengthy, complicated, and incredibly expensive construction defect litigation that has plagued multi-family construction in the State of Colorado and brought it to a virtual halt. And now, local municipalities and elected officials are starting to take notice. Most recently, the City of Lone Tree passed Ordinance No. 15-01, to become effective on April 1, 2015. According to the City of Lone Tree, Ordinance No. 15-01 is “aimed at encouraging the development of owner-occupied, multi-family residential projects through the adoption of regulations designed to balance the risk and exposure to builders and developers of such projects, while still protecting homeowners from legitimate construction defect claims.” Read the court decision
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Reprinted courtesy of Heather M. Anderson, Higgins, Hopkins, McLain & Roswell, LLC
Ms. Anderson may be contacted at Anderson@hhmrlaw.com

California Supreme Court Confirms the Right to Repair Act as the Exclusive Remedy for Seeking Relief for Defects in New Residential Construction

February 22, 2018 — Brenda Radmacher – Construction Law Blog

The California Supreme Court recently issued its decision on a critical issue in the residential construction industry – the claims for construction defects that a California homeowner can bring against a builder or seller of new residential properties in California.

Holding

In McMillin Albany v. The Superior Court of Kern County, the Court held that California’s Right to Repair Act (California Civil Code, sections 895, et seq.) (the “Act”) is the exclusive remedy for homeowners claiming defective construction of new residences in California.

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Reprinted courtesy of Brenda Radmacher, Gordon & Rees
Ms. Radmacher may be contacted at bradmacher@grsm.com

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