Photo of Katharine Allen

Katharine Allen

Subscribe to Katharine Allen's Posts

Katharine Allen is a partner in the Real Estate, Energy, Land Use & Environmental Practice Group in the firm’s San Francisco Office.

Contact:Read more about Katharine Allen

On February 7, 2024, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (“FinCEN”) issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (the “Proposed Rule”) designed to combat and deter money laundering in the U.S. residential real estate sector, which has made it difficult for legitimate buyers to acquire real estate due in part to inflated prices resulting from an increase in buyers and the ability of those additional buyers to make “all cash” offers using ill-gained funds in lieu of financing. The public comment period for the Proposed Rule expires on April 8, 2024.[1]Continue Reading FinCEN Proposes New Rule to Deter Money Laundering in the Residential Real Estate Sector

The Federal Trade Commission (the “FTC”) and Department of Justice, Antitrust Division (the “DOJ”) (together the “Agencies”) continue to carry out the Biden Administration’s stated mission to reinvigorate antitrust enforcement to “Promote Competition in the American Economy.”Continue Reading Restrictive Covenants in Real Estate: Next Antitrust Enforcement Target?

In Trisha Lee Lotus et al. v Department of Transportation et al. (1st Dist., Div. 4, 1/30/14 A137315) ___ Cal.App.___ ____, 2014, the court of appeal upheld a claim by the appellants that Caltrans failed to comply with CEQA because its EIR did not consider potential mitigation measures aimed at lessening the impact of the underlying highway construction project on old growth redwoods.  The court held that failing to separately identify and analyze the significance of impacts to root zones of old growth redwood trees before proposing mitigation measures for such impacts subverted the purpose of CEQA by omitting material necessary to informed decision-making and public participation.
Continue Reading CEQA Requires Separate Evaluation Of Mitigation Measures And Alternatives Even Where Mitigation Measures Are Incorporated Into Project Design