News and Views
January 26, 2010
Commenters on the San Francisco Chronicle's online version, SFGate, who are notorious for offensive remarks, have given rise to the debate on whether renters have as much stake in a community as homeowners.
January 25, 2010
Tishman Speyer and BlackRock Realty announced they will turn Stuyvesant Town and Peter Cooper Village over to creditors. CalPERS stands to lose all of $500 million it invested in this predatory equity scheme.
January 25, 2010
As Santa Monica's mayor and longest-serving council member, Genser fought for the preservation of Santa Monica's neighborhoods, the protection of tenant rights, and was instrumental in creating affordable housing.
January 25, 2010
Last week, the California Court of Appeals upheld a $1.2 million judgment against San Francisco landlord, Edward Litke, in a wrongful eviction case.
January 25, 2010
Attorney Dave Crow explains a San Franciscan rent-controlled tenant's rights regarding statutory relocation payments.
January 23, 2010
Low income renters can apply for emergency assistance from the federal government to cover energy costs.
January 22, 2010
East Palo Alto officials and the city's biggest landlord, a court-appointed receiver that took over for Page Mill Properties, will begin negotiations next week in hopes of settling more than a dozen lawsuits between the two parties.
January 20, 2010
According to a lawsuit filed in Boston, Bank of America/Countrywide foreclosed on a home for which they were not a lender. They evicted the tenant, changed the locks, and removed the belongings of the owner and the tenant.
January 20, 2010
Driven largely by unemployment and lower incomes, apartment rents in Santa Clara County tumbled 11.5 percent in the fourth quarter compared with a year earlier.
January 19, 2010
Back in November, the U.S. Department of Justice announced it's biggest ever settlement in a rental housing discrimination case. NBA team owner and LA mega-landlord Donald Sterling was forced to pay $2.73 million to settle allegations of race-based housing discrimination. (Sterling has been sued multiple times for discrimination and early this month a group of tenants from one of his buildings announced a suit claiming he was responsible for the building burning down.)
January 18, 2010
This story profiles a married couple who, despite paying a monthly rent that could cover a mortgage payment, have "decided that the value and freedoms they gain by renting far outweigh the benefits of owning."
January 18, 2010
A San Francisco tenant lawyer explains what tenant buyouts are, when a tenant can expect them, and how to respond to a buyout offer.
January 17, 2010
LA Lakers coach Phil Jackson refers to NBA team owner and Los Angeles mega-landlord's history or troubles. A history that includes allegations by the U.S. Department of Justice of willful and intentional race-based housing discrimination.
January 15, 2010
Garrance Burke reports in an Associated Press article that under the terms of a settlement announced Wednesday by the National Fair Housing Alliance, the Stockton-based A.G. Spanos Companies will be required to retrofit 82 apartment buildings in 14 states to ease access for the disabled.
In what is likely one of the largest settlements "of its kind":
January 13, 2010
San Francisco landlords will not be able to impose owner move-in evictions on families with children during the school year, if a new proposal by Supervisor Eric Mar passes the Board of Supervisors as expected.
January 13, 2010
A court battle has forced San Francisco to alter how it will make developers pay for affordable rental units in new buildings. Under proposed legislation, developers would no longer have the option of providing affordable-housing units in San Francisco’s residential rental projects. Instead, it would require developers to pay a fee to The City
January 13, 2010
Thousands of renters with disabilities are poised to get extreme home makeovers thanks to a major settlement ending a federal lawsuit against a development company run by the sons of GOP donor and San Diego Chargers owner Alex Spanos.
January 13, 2010
The Board of Supervisors extended eviction protections Tuesday to San Francisco tenants who don't live in units that fall under rent control, but Mayor Gavin Newsom promises veto.