Bloomberg.com: U.S.

Bloomberg.com: U.S.: Big Las Vegas developments in trouble: "March 15 (Bloomberg) -- Two Las Vegas housing projects have each missed an interest payment in recent weeks on about $765 million of debt and are holding talks with lenders, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing development partner Focus Property Group. The Inspirada and Kyle Canyon Gateway ventures, which include Toll Brothers Inc., KB Home and Lennar Corp., have received default notices, the newspaper said, citing Focus Chief Executive Officer John Ritter. The 2,000-acre Inspirada project was expected to develop as many as 13,500 homes over the next seven years, though only about 162 homes have been sold so far, the Journal cited Ritter as saying. He now expects the project to last between 10 and 15 years because of a severe housing downturn in Las Vegas, the Journal said."
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Being near a failed real estate development is bad news. I say that as one who lives a mile or so from two of them, courtesy of bankrupt Neumann Homes.

San Diego's Caped Crusaders - FOX6 San Diego

San Diego's Caped Crusaders - FOX6 San Diego: "Don’t be alarmed if you see two masked men walking the streets of San Diego over the next few days. Not if they go by the names Mr. Extreme and Shadow Hare. The duo call themselves “Real Life Superheroes.” This week, their mission is to find the suspect accused of attacking people with a skateboard in the Chula Vista area. Mr. Extreme and Shadow Hare patrol during the day and night warning community members to be on alert. “Be careful on the streets,” says Mr. Extreme to a couple walking their dog, as he hands them a home-made wanted flyer, with a composite sketch of the skateboard suspect. “You don't know what this guy is capable of.” Mr. Extreme is the President and Founder of Extreme Justice League, a division of the global “Real Life Superheroes” movement, with a membership of roughly 200 people."
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Maybe in this era of declining real estate values, volunteer superheroes make more sense than private security services. Something to think about if you live in a budget gated community.

L.A. Now : Los Angeles Times : Good fences don't necessarily make good neighbors in Santa Monica

L.A. Now : Los Angeles Times : Good fences don't necessarily make good neighbors in Santa Monica: "In June, after about two years of study, the city of Santa Monica is expected to begin hearing complaints about front-yard hedges and walls that exceed the city's long-standing but mostly ignored 42-inch height limit. The city called a time-out to look at the issue after hedge-height offenders were threatened with $25,000-a-day fines and Bobby Shriver, a nephew of JFK, was elected to the City Council on a pro-hedge platform."
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The People's Republic of Santa Monica is as far from a gated community as you can get, but still they seem to be privatizing their security with sky-high hedges. Maybe they have gated community envy.

Rising Foreclosure Rates Cause HOAs To Fall Into Bankruptcy - News Story - WFTV Orlando

Rising Foreclosure Rates Cause HOAs To Fall Into Bankruptcy - News Story - WFTV Orlando

Fred Pilot sent this link. I have been talking about this for a long time and now it is becoming news.

Home Prices Plunge Across California: Financial News - Yahoo! Finance

Home Prices Plunge Across California: Financial News - Yahoo! Finance: "LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Median home prices plunged in many of California's most populous counties in February, with Southern California leading the slide with an overall drop of 17.9 percent compared to a year earlier, according to new housing data released Thursday. The drops reflect a deepening housing crisis in the state, which saw home values soar during the housing boom then decline sharply in most areas. Median home prices fell this year in 15 major counties, DataQuick Information Systems said."
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I guess at some point people just can't hold onto these homes anymore. Either they have to sell, or they let the bank foreclose and then the bank sells it at a loss rather than keep it. But this is really awful and it seems the slump hasn't bottomed out yet.

Fed takes boldest action since the Depression to rescue US mortgage industry - Telegraph

Fed takes boldest action since the Depression to rescue US mortgage industry - Telegraph: "The US Federal Reserve has taken the boldest action since the 1930s, accepting $200bn of housing debt as collateral to prevent an implosion of the mortgage finance industry and head off a full-blown economic crisis."
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The situation of Fannie Mae could turn out to be the biggest problem in the near future.

ABC News: Bald Eagles: Menace to Alaska Town

ABC News: Bald Eagles: Menace to Alaska Town: "Homer, Alaska, may be the one place on Earth where bald eagles rule, and some humans are beginning to feel endangered.

It is a place where the majestic symbol of America can be found on movie theaters, cars, and light posts; there are dozens at a time on rooftops. They sometimes collide with traffic and are accused of stealing pets out of yards."
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With photo reminiscent of Hitchcock.

abc13.com: Katy homeowner loses fight over landscaping at her home 3/08/08

abc13.com: Katy homeowner loses fight over landscaping at her home 3/08/08: "The homeowner thought the yard was beautiful. However, the homeowner's association disagreed and took drastic measures to resolve the situation. Now it's the homeowner who says her trees and her rights were pruned back too far.

On a blustery morning, Lisagay Wright surveys what's left of a yard she's spent the past 17 years landscaping."
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The Taste Police strike again. What fun it must be to live at the whims of your neighbors.

BBQ-smoker-turned-'Robocop' chases off drug dealers - CNN.com

BBQ-smoker-turned-'Robocop' chases off drug dealers - CNN.com
It's a barbecue smoker mounted on a three-wheeled scooter, and armed with an infrared camera, spotlight, loudspeaker and aluminum water cannon that shoots a stream of icy water about 20 feet.

Operated by remote control, the robot spotlights trespassers on property down the street from his bar, O'Terrill's. Using a walkie-talkie, Terrill belts out through the robot's loudspeaker, "That's private property. You guys need to get out of here."
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So which is better: a developer creating a gated community with a hugely expensive security system, or a guy with a barbecue smoker? I leave it to you.

Condo owners seek more power - Greenwich Time

Condo owners seek more power - Greenwich Time: "A bill pending before the state legislature would create an eight-member Connecticut Community Association Commission within the state Department of Consumer Protection. Appointed by the governor, the group would have the authority to investigate and resolve complaints lodged against condominium associations and their governing boards. The bill has the backing of state Attorney General Richard Blumenthal, who testified in favor of the legislation yesterday before the General Law Committee. Blumenthal said yesterday the rights of condominium owners are 'all too frequently disregarded.'"
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Yet another state is added to the list of places where the state legislature recognizes that owners rights are suffering at the hands of HOA and condo boards. California, Nevada, Arizona, Florida, Texas, Colorado, Virginia, Maryland...and on, and on. Now, Connecticut. Apparently these legislators don't accept the message from the industry that everything is just fine in Privatopia.

PROPERTY FOCUS: Neighbour Vs. neighbour - Business news

PROPERTY FOCUS: Neighbour Vs. neighbour - Business news: "The draft bill of Bulgaria’s Condominium Act is ineffective and has been written in such a way as to serve the interests of the heating, water and electricity utility companies, professor Vladimir Petrov from the Civil Association against Corruption and Illegal Construction said, as quoted by Dnevnik daily."
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Different country, same general idea?

HeraldTribune.com - News - Chinch bugs, Florida law, HOA craziness: "PARRISH -- A homeowner who faces fines for installing a Florida-friendly yard is among a group campaigning to oust the homeowner association board in River Woods. Jim Copas has been in dispute with the board of the subdivision off Old Tampa Road since he and his wife, Cynthia Zanella, ripped out their chinch bug-ridden lawn and laid shell last year. Their yard is certified by Manatee County as a Florida-friendly yard, one that conserves water and needs almost no fertilizers or pesticides. A 2001 state law prohibits homeowner associations from banning Florida-friendly yards. River Woods board members, however, say the couple needed permission to change the landscape and that it could harm property values in the community."
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Another HOA board that is "stuck on stupid"? Maybe there is something about the position of HOA director that brings out the worst in otherwise decent people.

By the way, what is a "chinch bug" and can I rest assured that they don't like Illinois winters?

My Way News - Homeowner Equity Is Lowest Since 1945

My Way News - Homeowner Equity Is Lowest Since 1945: "NEW YORK (AP) - Americans' percentage of equity in their homes fell below 50 percent for the first time on record since 1945, the Federal Reserve said Thursday. Homeowners' portion of equity slipped to downwardly revised 49.6 percent in the second quarter of 2007, the central bank reported in its quarterly U.S. Flow of Funds Accounts, and declined further to 47.9 percent in the fourth quarter - the third straight quarter it was under 50 percent. That marks the first time homeowners' debt on their houses exceeds their equity since the Fed started tracking the data in 1945. The total value of equity also fell for the third straight quarter to $9.65 trillion from a downwardly revised $9.93 trillion in the third quarter."
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This is scary.

Nevada County Local News: Embezzle case: Balch changes her plea to guilty - TheUnion.com: "In front of six elderly victims in court Thursday, the wife of a former Nevada City mayor pleaded guilty to embezzling more than $100,000 from their homeowners association, of which she was treasurer."
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Yet another "isolated incident" that in no way implies there is any larger problem with embezzlement and other misuse of association funds by those entrusted with them. Move along. Nothing to see here.
Thanks to Fred Pilot for the link.

Vultures Ripping Apart Roofs, Chewing Cars - Orlando News Story - WKMG Orlando

Vultures Ripping Apart Roofs, Chewing Cars - Orlando News Story - WKMG Orlando: "City officials said little can be done about the hundreds of black and turkey vultures because they are federally protected under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act."
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You can't even scare them away. You have to stand there and watch while they eat your roof and your car. Maybe the Migratory Bird Treat Act needs an amendment? Just suggesting...

HeraldTribune.com - Real Estate - Real estate and homes news stories about Sarasota, Manatee and Charlotte counties in Florida, from the newspapers of record. - HeraldTribune.com: "If you have a problem with your condominium association, there is a place to try to get relief, or at least an explanation of your rights.

Created by the Florida Legislature in 2004, the Office of the Condominium Ombudsman has become a resource for unit owners, board members, condominium associations and others.

So far, lawmakers have not created a similar office for homeowners associations, but one is being considered."
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Nice photo of Danille Carroll. The last line in the piece quotes her as saying something I said when we were both speaking at Frank Askin's conference in New Jersey: "You are only one election away from having a bad condo board." And that is the Achilles Heel of this entire institution.

wcbstv.com - Queens Building Uses 'Mosquito' To Quiet Teens: "QUEENS (CBS) ― Teenagers who hang out inside one apartment building in Jamaica, Queens are getting an earful these days. A new security device called 'The Mosquito' has been installed in the lobby of a building on 170th St. where there have been chronic problems with noisy teens. The wall-mounted device emits a high-frequency screech that can only be heard by people aged 13 to 25. Most older people cannot hear it."
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You mean to tell me that there is a "high-frequency screech" that is actually worse than the music they pay for? I don't believe it. Soon that screech will be the most-downloaded mp3 file on the planet.

My Way News - Luxury Homes Burn in Apparent Eco-Attack: "WOODINVILLE, Wash. (AP) - Three seven-figure dream homes went up in flames early Monday in a Seattle suburb, apparently set by eco-terrorists who left a sign mocking the builders' claims that the 4,000-plus-square-foot houses were environmentally friendly. The sign - a sheet marked with spray paint - bore the initials ELF, for Earth Liberation Front, a loose collection of radical environmentalists that has claimed responsibility for dozens of attacks since the 1990s."
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I hope they find a nice set of cozy prison cells for these folks. But it may not be so easy to catch them.

Court may consider broadcast decency rules - The Boston Globe: "WASHINGTON - The Supreme Court this week may reopen for the first time in more than 30 years the debate over what qualifies as an 'indecent' broadcast...The issue before the court now is delicately described as the problem of 'fleeting expletives' in over-the-air broadcasts, which are still regulated. Television viewers who watch some of the entertainment industry's award shows may be familiar with the phenomenon."
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The Federal Communications Commission licenses broadcast stations to use particular frequencies, and requires them to avoid "indecency" as a condition of keeping those licenses. Celebrities delight in dropping "F-bombs" here and there to show how cool they are and get free publicity. What should happen to the station that broadcasts it?

MyFox Chicago | Prepare to Pay More in Sales Tax by November: "'Chicago now has the unfortunate notoriety of having the highest sales tax in the country, and our region will now be a more expensive place to visit, live, work and operate a business,' said Jerry Roper, head of the Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce. 'The people of our region should be outraged.'"
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Chicagoans have the privilege of being governed by Democrats at the state, county, and municipal level. That means lots of free stuff being paid for by business and the middle class through high taxes. Would you locate your retail business in the city with the highest sales tax in the USA?