Laws & Taxes

When Father Dunne’s News Boys’ Home and Protectorate was founded in 1906, it served as a refuge for orphaned or abandoned boys, many whom worked selling newspapers on the streets of St. Louis. For more than a century, the three-story building at 2010 Washington Avenue provided a home for those experiencing homelessness and after renovation in 1970, it became the Harbor Light Center serving persons struggling with chronic substance abuse and various disabilities.

On November 2, the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) issued guidance to clarify that public housing authorities may not use arrest records as a basis to deny admission to housing and to stress that criminal records screening criteria must comply with civil rights laws. The following can be attributed to Marie Claire Tran-Leung, Staff Attorney, Sargent Shriver National Center on Poverty Law

U.S. Senators Johnny Isakson, R-Ga., and David Perdue, R-Ga., have cosponsored two resolutions of disapproval under the Congressional Review Act that would stop the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) from implementing new energy regulations that could raise the cost of living for hardworking taxpayers and turn back the clock on America’s energy independence

Clark County Treasurer Doug Lasher reminds residents that second-installment property taxes are due Monday, Nov. 2, 2015. “If you have not received your 2015 second-installment tax statement or have lost it,

In a letter sent Wednesday, Senate Finance Committee Ranking Member Ron Wyden, D-Ore., urged Treasury Secretary Jack Lew to work with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Department of Justice as they consider levying penalties against Volkswagen Group, writing that tax benefits fraudulently earned by the automaker should be recovered. During the period of time in which Volkswagen illicitly evaded emissions standards with special “defeat devices” installed in their vehicles, the company was the beneficiary of two significant clean energy tax programs: the Alternative Motor Vehicle Credit and the Advanced Energy Manufacturing Credit

Today, on the campus of the new, state-of-the-art Kingston Center of SUNY Ulster, Ulster County Executive Mike Hein delivered the 2016 Executive Budget.  Property taxpayer relief remains a constant in this year’s budget which carries a 1.1% property tax cut for Ulster County residents with no reduction in services or layoffs.

Comprehensive tax reform proposals designed to lower individual and corporate tax rates while removing or limiting many current deductions and credits could significantly raise the levelized cost of energy (LCOE) for wind, solar and gas-fired electricity generation, according to a new staff paper released today by the American Energy Innovation Council (AEIC).

Fried Frank has been recognized across various categories in Vault’s 2016 “Best Law Firms” rankings. The Firm remained #1 in the Best Law Firms for Real Estate Law ranking and was newly ranked in the Best Law Firms for Compensation ranking at #7. Additionally, Fried Frank is newly ranked in the following categories

The Department of Justice filed a statement of interest today arguing that making it a crime for people who are homeless to sleep in public places, when there is insufficient shelter space in a city, unconstitutionally punishes them for being homeless. The statement of interest was filed in federal district court in Idaho in Bell v. City of Boise et al., a case brought by homeless plaintiffs who were convicted under Boise ordinances that criminalize sleeping or camping in public

NAMB - the Association of Mortgage Professionals, is calling on Congress to require the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) to include a new line item clearly stating the hidden cost of G-fees on the soon to be required TRID forms. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac guarantee fees, commonly referred to as G-fees, are not readily detectable by consumers in their mortgage documents since they are incorporated into the underlying rates paid by borrowers.

David H. Stevens, president and CEO of the Mortgage Bankers Association, issued the following statement upon learning that the U.S. Senate's transportation funding bill would extend an increase of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac's guarantee fees in order to fund transportation projects.

On July 8, Senate Finance Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch (R-UT) and Ranking Member Ron Wyden (D-OR) released reports from the five bipartisan working groups the Committee established earlier this year to develop policy options and recommendations for it to consider as part of comprehensive tax reform. The reports focused on individual income, business income, savings and investment, international taxes, and community development and infrastructure.

The Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law (Lawyers’ Committee) applauds today’s release of the U.S. Department of Housing & Urban Development’s (HUD) final “Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing” regulation. The duty to affirmatively further fair housing is an important provision of the 1968 Fair Housing Act designed to promote the primary goal of the Act – residential integration and all of the opportunities such integration brings to communities.

As part of an agreement with the federal government and Gulf Coast states, BP today agreed to pay $18.7 billion to resolve lawsuits over the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill disaster in the Gulf of Mexico

Although signed on May 27, the Clean Water Rule: Definition of “Waters of the United States” (WOTUS) was not officially published in the Federal Register until Monday, June 29. The publication of the rule determined its effective date of August 28, 2015, and opened the door for legal challenges. Immediately following publication, at least 18 state attorneys jointly filed three lawsuits to block the rule. Tuesday, June 30, nine additional states jointly challenged the rule in federal court.

President Barack Obama has signed into law the “Defending Public Safety Employees’ Retirement Act,” which includes legislation to renew Trade Promotion Authority (TPA). Dave Snyder, vice president, international policy at the Property Casualty Insurers Association of America (PCI) issued the following statement

FY 2016 Application Workshop is open to applicants who wish to submit a fiscal year 2016 application for 9% and 4% Low Income Housing Tax Credits, HOME funds or MHDC Fund Balance. We strongly recommend that developers who are interested in submitting a FY 2016 Rental Production Application attend. Registration will be open soon.

Preliminary findings indicate that a Sanitary Sewer Overflow (SSO) at the Broad Creek Wastewater Pumping Station at 10315 Livingston Rd. in Ft. Washington exceeded 10,000 gallons. The overflow occurred on Saturday night in the wake of the heavy rainfall at the pumping station

Just nine families could dodge $25.7 billion in taxes, and perhaps as much as $54.7 billion, if the estate tax were repealed. Half of these families have spent more than a million dollars apiece lobbying Congress to repeal the tax between 2012 and the first quarter of 2015, a new Public Citizen report shows. The U.S. House of Representatives passed a repeal of the estate tax in April.

Independent Community Bankers of America® (ICBA) President and CEO Camden R. Fine released this statement following the National Credit Union Administration (NCUA) board’s release of a proposed rule to relax business-lending rules for tax-exempt credit unions.