Las Vegas remains a deep underwater desert

 
Zillow report provides insight into Las Vegas housing market - www.ktnv.com: The area with the highest percentage of under water homes -- more than 70 percent -- is located in North Las Vegas, specifically the 89030 zip code. That's bordered by Pecos, Cheyenne and Owens.

A $140,000 home a few years ago is now worth only about $40,000. Homeowners are walking away from their property and business owners are concerned.

But, there's some light at the end of the tunnel. Home prices have gone up 30 percent since this time last year, and continue to rise.

Wells Fargo bank foreclosing on Orlando man who paid on time,... | www.wftv.com

Wells Fargo bank foreclosing on Orlando man who paid on time,... | www.wftv.com
Actually, he paid early.  The bank doesn't like that, you see. So they are foreclosing on him.

Loudon County seeks change in real estate law � Knoxville News Sentinel

Loudon County seeks change in real estate law � Knoxville News Sentinel: The proposed changes to the law would exempt county governments from paying property owners association assessments after acquiring the properties in tax-delinquency sales. Under current law, counties are responsible for paying such assessments if they acquire the property.

Making changes to the law has been a controversial process, said state Rep. Jimmy Matlock, R-Lenoir City.

“It has nationwide ramifications. It might turn upside down 150 years of real estate law,” he said.
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The county wants to have it both ways.  It creates a private property taxation scheme by mandating the formation of residential private governments -- homeowner associations -- but then wants to exempt itself from those private assessments.  If Loudon and other counties throughout the United States don't want to be liable for the additional layer of property taxation that they themselves have put in place, then they need to revisit their policies that require private financing and governance of residential developments via mandatory HOAs.

Loudon County seeks change in real estate law » Knoxville News Sentinel

Loudon County seeks change in real estate law » Knoxville News Sentinel
Thanks to Shu Bartholomew for this link.  For decades, municipalities have been imposing CIDs on home buyers in order to reap a tax windfall.  Now the bill is coming due.  Local governments foreclose on home owners for unpaid property taxes, and discover that they have to pony up thousands of dollars in unpaid HOA assessments.  So now they want the law to be changed. This would stick the HOAs with the losses, of course.


Legislators representing Loudon County will go back to the drawing board to work on changes in real estate law that could affect the disposition of tax-delinquent properties across the state. The issue in Loudon came to a head last October when 293 tax-delinquent properties in Tellico Village were removed from public auction because the county would have been liable for hundreds of thousands of dollars in ongoing property owners association fees. The proposed changes to the law would exempt county governments from paying property owners association assessments after acquiring the properties in tax-delinquency sales. Under current law, counties are responsible for paying such assessments if they acquire the property.

'Freedom Room' Is A Model For Tiny Homes Inspired By Prison Inmates' Experiences (PHOTOS)

'Freedom Room' Is A Model For Tiny Homes Inspired By Prison Inmates' Experiences (PHOTOS)

These tiny homes were designed based on the insights of some unusual consultants:

"But the most surprising consultants on the project were inmates from one of Italy’s high-security prisons in Spoleto. According to the team, these citizens are the ideal candidates for weighing in on flexible and adaptable living environments."

No doubt.  Extend this principle and maybe real estate developers could enlist convicts to create HOA and condo association rules.  After all, they are accustomed to living in close proximity to each other, sharing their community's amenities, and accepting limitations on their freedom.  These are all the things the industry says people need to accept in order to live in CIDs, aren't they?

The Weeklies

The Weeklies
"In the Denver suburbs, as in much of the U.S., the Great Recession turned formerly stable families into the new homeless—and left many living in budget hotels...Across the country, suburban poverty rose by more than half in the first decade of the new century. Families now find themselves navigating landscapes that were built around wealth: single-family houses that are sold, not rented; too few apartment buildings; and government agencies hidden at the far edge of the suburban ring, more responsive to trash-pickup complaints than rising hunger rates.  The Ramada families became homeless because they could no longer pay rents and mortgages and found little help to slow their fall."

Alderman meets with bond experts on buying back parking meters - Chicago Sun-Times

Alderman meets with bond experts on buying back parking meters - Chicago Sun-Times
Mayor Emanuel says there is no way this horrible privatization deal, made by former Mayor Daley, can be unwound, but Alderman Reilly claims he has talked with bond experts who say it is possible. The fun part of this is that when Daley stepped down as mayor, he went to work for the law firm that advised the city on the horrible deal.


"City Hall sources said Emanuel’s legal and financial teams explored “every available option, including finding a way out” of the widely-despised parking meter deal. But, former Mayor Richard M. Daley’s decision to drain nearly all of the parking meter proceeds to balance his last few budgets without raising taxes took the re-acquisition option off the table, the sources said."

The Murky Ethics and Uncertain Longevity of Privately Financed Public Parks - Alex Ulam - The Atlantic Cities

The Murky Ethics and Uncertain Longevity of Privately Financed Public Parks - Alex Ulam - The Atlantic Cities
Thanks to UIC Political Science doctoral student Doug Cantor for this link, which should be instructive for all those who think the trend toward privatization of local government functions is likely to be reversed anytime soon.  But as with CID housing, the long term financing of private parks is a question mark:

"But unlike the great public parks built in previous eras, the new generation of flagship parks is almost completely dependent upon massive private support for its survival. Design decisions and the responsibility for maintenance and operations budgets have been outsourced to quasi-governmental organizations and "Friends" groups. The problem? It's unclear whether these kinds of public-private partnerships can be financially self-sustaining without completely selling out. To obtain private financing for parks, cities are selling naming rights, setting aside of sections of parkland for commercial development and allowing periodic closing of parks for fundraisers. Also in the toolkit are special tax districts to provide direct revenue streams for parks and the granting of controversial zoning concessions to private developers in exchange for donations."