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Date

Dec

6
2007

Mozilo misses out on award

By Matt Carter, Thursday, December 6, 2007.
MarketWatch's Herb Greenberg has picked Sears Holdings Chairman Eddie Lampert as the winner of his "Worst CEO of the Year" award, even though Countrywide Financial Corp.'s Angelo Mozilo was "the most obvious choice" to many of his readers, he says....  more...

Bair abridged

By Matt Carter, Thursday, December 6, 2007.
FDIC chairman Sheila Bair -- who was the first member of the Bush administration to push for a rate freeze, back in October -- didn't get much mic time at today's Treasury Department press conference announcing an agreement with lenders...  more...

Immigration: A big deal for builders

By Glenn Roberts, Jr., Thursday, December 6, 2007.
The National Association of Home Builders is a co-sponsor in a day-long seminar planned Friday titled, "State and Local Immigration Laws: An Open Dialogue." "Business leaders, state officials, and immigration experts will examine the current legislative proposals on immigration at...  more...

HOPE NOW for 1.2 million or 145,000?

By Matt Carter, Thursday, December 6, 2007.
The curtain has been lifted on the details of the rate freeze plan (see Inman News story), and despite its limitations (only subprime ARM loans on owner-occupied homes originated between Jan. 1 2005 and July 31 2007 are eligible for...  more...

Administration, lenders defend rate freeze plan Premium Content

By Matt Carter, Thursday, December 6, 2007.

A plan to refinance or freeze the interest rates on up to 1.2 million subprime adjustable-rate mortgages for five years is not a "silver bullet" solution for all homeowners, but will help reduce the impact of the housing downturn on the economy and communities affected by foreclosures, Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said Thursday.  more...

Foreclosure relief plan draws mixed industry response Premium Content

By Glenn Roberts Jr., Thursday, December 6, 2007.

A plan to freeze interest rates for a segment of homeowners who face the prospect of foreclosure is either political grandstanding, a delaying tactic, a finger attempting to plug a bursting dam, or the right cure for an ailing market, depending on who you talk to in the real estate brokerage community.

Real estate agents and brokers are definitely talking about the Bush administration's effort to bring together mortgage-market players in a program to assist some distressed subprime borrowers to refinance into safer loans and avoid resetting rates that would lead to more defaults.

 more...

Foreclosures, foreclosure starts hit record highs Premium Content

By Matt Carter, Thursday, December 6, 2007.

The rate of foreclosure starts and the percentage of loans in foreclosure hit record highs during the third quarter, suggesting 1.5 million homes will enter the foreclosure process in 2007, the Mortgage Bankers Association reported today.

Subprime adjustable-rate mortgages (ARM) saw the sharpest increase in the rate of foreclosure starts, and continue to account for a disproportionate share of bad loans.  more...

Toll Brothers reports $82 million net loss in Q4 Premium Content

By Inman News, Thursday, December 6, 2007.

Luxury home builder Toll Brothers Inc. (NYSE:TOL) today reported a quarterly net loss of $81.8 million, or 52 cents per share, for the quarter ended Oct. 31.

It was the company's first quarterly loss in 21 years, though the loss was less than the 77 cents per share expected by Wall Street analysts, according to Thomson Financial Network data. Toll Brothers' stock was trading at $22.03 per share as of 11:41 a.m.  more...

LA apartment building changes hands

By Inman News, Thursday, December 6, 2007.

A 26-unit apartment building in Los Angeles has changed hands in a deal valued at $4.3 million.

Charles Dunn Co., a partner of GVA Worldwide, negotiated the sale and purchase of the building, which is located at 1631 Rodney Dr.

An independent buyer, 23-25 Hughes LLC, purchased the 21,342-square-foot, fully occupied building from Renaissance Commercial. The building, known as Rodney Courts, was sold at a cost of $165,538 per unit.

Charles Dunn Company is a Los Angeles-based full-service brokerage company.

Mack-Cali inks two lease agreements

By Inman News, Thursday, December 6, 2007.

Mack-Cali Realty Corp. announced this week that it has leased 89,710 square feet to Xand Corp. at Mid-Westchester Executive Park in Hawthorne, N.Y.

The transactions consist of:

--A three-year, 46,078-square-foot lease extension for the entire office/flex building at 11 Skyline Drive, extending the term to 10 years and nine months; and

--A new 10-year, nine-month lease agreement for 43,632 square feet at 17 Skyline Drive.  more...

STAG Capital acquires Delaware properties

By Inman News, Thursday, December 6, 2007.

STAG Capital Partners has purchased two flex/office properties in Newark, Del.

The value of the transaction was undisclosed.

The buildings include a total of 52,665 square feet and are located at 111 and 113 Pencador Drive in the Pencadar Corporate Center.

The properties are fully occupied by three tenants, including Strategic Diagnostics, Abundant Life Christian Center and Easter Seals.

Robert E. Yoshimura of The Flynn Co.  more...

Overnight real estate rates reverse course

By Inman News, Thursday, December 6, 2007.

Long-term mortgage interest rates ticked up Wednesday, and the benchmark 10-year Treasury bond yield increased to 3.96 percent.

The 30-year fixed-rate average increased to 5.61 percent, and the 15-year fixed rate edged up to 5.18 percent. The 1-year adjustable rate increased to 5.48 percent.

The 30-year Treasury bond yield was also up at 4.44 percent.

Rates and bonds are current as of 7:15 p.m. Eastern Standard Time.

Mortgage rate figures are according to Bankrate.com, which publishes nightly averages based on its survey of 4,000 banks in 50 states.  more...

UCLA economist predicts U.S. will avoid the 'R' word Premium Content

By Glenn Roberts Jr., Thursday, December 6, 2007.

While the "R" word -- recession -- has been tossed about frequently in economic discussions, a quarterly economic forecast maintains that the word need not be a part of the dialog, at least in the short term.

"Now there are countless prognosticators throwing around recession. That may be the best indicator that a recession is not coming soon," stated Ed Leamer, director of the University of California, Los Angeles, Anderson Forecast.

"Better remember a recession is not measured by the frequency with which the newspapers use the 'R' word.  more...

Sex offender next-door not valid reason to break lease

By Janet Portman, Thursday, December 6, 2007.

Q: We've just learned that a registered sex offender lives in our apartment complex. Nothing has happened yet, but we're very concerned for the safety of our children and would like to move. We've got a year's lease; how can we get out of it? --Cathy and Jim C.

A: There are many situations that justify breaking a lease and moving, such as the landlord's persistent failure to keep the property fit and habitable, by not providing essential services such as heat and hot water, for example.  more...

How to evict house guest who refuses to pay rent

By Robert Griswold, Thursday, December 6, 2007.

Question: At what point does a house guest become a "lodger" requiring official eviction procedures to remove him? I rent a house from my landlord and have extra space so I decided to rent a spare bedroom to an individual because he was in a difficult situation. I feel slighted, as I have opened my home to this person on what was clearly to be a temporary basis, but now he refuses to pay rent. There is no lease or any written agreement. How can I throw him out, now that he refuses to leave? Can I simply change the locks while the guest is gone?  more...