News and Views
December 26, 2009
After two years of maneuvering, including a successful lawsuit, owners of the Stardust Mobile Estates mobile home park in Ventura have won approval to sell its spaces to residents instead of renting them out. Residents are concerned they may not be able to afford to stay.
December 24, 2009
NBA team owner and Los Angeles mega landlord Donald Sterling's attorneys have asked for a court order to keep Hall of Famer Elgin Baylor's legal team from bringing up the very public allegations of housing discrimination Sterling recently faced.
December 24, 2009
A skilled tech professional who once made a six-figure salary, now unable to find employment in California's difficult job market, was behind on rent and his family faced eviction. The Eviction Defense Collaborative was able to assist the family with a loan and direct them to the San Francisco Chronicle's Season of Sharing Fund to keep them in their home.
December 24, 2009
The war between Page Mill Properties and its tenants in East Palo Alto hit two key turning points in September. A judge barred the property management firm from raising rents at its apartment complexes in East Palo Alto and a week later, the company briefly abandoned the East Palo Alto apartments, leaving trash cans overflowing, fire alarms malfunctioning and residents wondering what to do with their rent checks.
December 24, 2009
Despite an increase in vacancy rates and a decrease in average rents, rates are still far out of reach for Southern California's homeless. More than half of Long Beach renters pay more than 30 percent of their wages on housing.
December 23, 2009
Oakland's Urban Strategies Council developed a plan to intervene and help tenants and homeowners in homes facing foreclosure and homelessness by contacting affected students in the Oakland public schools. However school district officials became concerned about using data that could be considered confidential.
December 22, 2009
December 22, 2009
Renters in a Bakersfield apartment had no water service for about two weeks because the landlord had not paid the bill.
December 21, 2009
KCRA-TV in Sacramento covers the story of a tenant who rented a home from a property manager, Homepointe Property Management, that failed to disclose that the property was in foreclosure.
December 18, 2009
In a move that may help tenants in foreclosure situations, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and Citigroup Inc. have announced that they will suspend evictions during the holidays.
December 17, 2009
December 16, 2009
In a move to appease concerned property owners, San Francisco Supervisor John Avalos amended proposed legislation to extend just cause eviction protections to tenants living in units built after 1979.
December 16, 2009
In this week's installment of the "Tenant Troubles" weekly advice column for tenants Dave Crow answers a renter's question about dealing with an apartment ant infestation.
December 16, 2009
Tenants in a predatory equity battle in NYC will see some 4,400 units return to rent stabilization under a settlement with attorneys representing landlords Tishman Speyer/BlackRock. CalPERS invested $500 million in this predatory equity scheme that reports indicate is collapsing.
December 15, 2009
Hank Plante of CBS-5 News in San Francisco covers the story of the devastating impact Page Mill Properties' predatory equity scheme has had on the community of East Palo Alto. This report follows Bobby White's recent article in the Wall Street Journal about increased crime in properties that have been neglected by Page Mill Properties and CEO David Taran.
December 15, 2009
New and substantially remodeled apartments, condos and other "multifamily" projects in San Diego would be required to have individual water meters, under an ordinance to be introduced early next year.
December 14, 2009
Legal clinics offer tenants and others unable to afford or otherwise obtain representation from attorneys, assistance with filing their own paperwork representing themselves in court.
December 14, 2009
A lawsuit brought by developers in the wake of the West Hollywood’s 2007 “urgency” residential building moratorium prevailed in a State Court of Appeals earlier this month.
December 13, 2009
The mayor of San Francisco has said he will veto legislation passed by the Board of Supervisors that expands just cause for eviction protection to rental units built after 1979. In its place he says he will propose a similar ordinance that will apply only to rental units that go into foreclosure.
December 12, 2009
San Francisco Board of Supervisors President David Chiu introduced a resolution “urging” the state legislation to act on behalf of low-income residents, not landlords by amending Costa Hawkins to exempt local affordable-housing ordinances.