Daily Briefing: Tuesday, April 23, 2013
TODAY'S TOP STORIES
Condo residents find way around pet-free buildings
MIAMI (AP) – April 23, 2013 – A dogfight is developing in some pet-free condominium complexes across South Florida.The reason? A loophole that allows pets if residents can get them classified as “emotional support animals.” It’s apparently as easy as getting a physician, psychiatrist, social worker or mental health professional to sign a letter saying the resident gets emotional support from the pet.“It’s almost an epidemic here at the beach,” George Zamora, a property manager for Regatta Real Estate Management, told The Miami Herald.“It’s highly suspect when people start asking whether or not they can have a pet, and all of a sudden, they show up and say they need emotional support,” said Zamora, whose company manages 93 condominium associations in Miami-Dade County. “If you legitimately have an issue, you don’t ask.”Marcela Alvarez lived at Bay Garden Manor Condominium on Miami Beach with her husband for 14 years. When they got divorced, her chiropractor suggested she get a pet. Alvarez talked to an endocrinologist, who agreed to sign the letter.“I thought, ‘Oh why not? If you think that’s important to you, then that’s fine with me,’” said Dr. Marco Fiore, who signed the paper for Alvarez.Alvarez got a Jack Russell named Pelusa, who now lives in the pet-free building.It’s a different story for Steve Vincent, who lives in the building and recently had a kidney transplant. Doctors told him avoiding fur is a medical imperative and he’s tired of having dogs “sniff” him in the elevator.“I’m all for everybody being happy and living a healthy life,” said Vincent. “But you can’t do that at other people’s expense.Attorney Paul J. Milberg recently held a seminar to teach property managers to deal with requests for emotional support animals. He explained what kinds of questions they can ask, the documentation needed to verify legitimacy and the methods they can take to protect themselves in granting an accommodation.Dog trainer Rose Lesniak says she’s received calls from people seeing letters for their condo associations. She says she can tell right away whether someone has an emotional need.“All they want is a letter from me saying their dog is certified and I tell them that’s not the way it works.”Information from: The Miami Herald, http://www.herald.com Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
Fla. adds 400K names to do-not-call list in one year
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – April 23, 2013 – One year ago, Florida Commissioner of Agriculture Adam H. Putnam removed the $10 registration fee and $5 annual fee state people paid to sign up for the state’s Do Not Call list. Before the fee was eliminated on April 23, 2012, the list had 71,460 phone numbers. Today, there are 464,047.“The statewide Do Not Call list is an overwhelming success,” says Putnam. “By eliminating the cost to consumers, we’re able to protect even more Floridians from bothersome and sometimes deceptive calls. Safeguarding consumers from telemarketers, fraud and scams is a priority.”“Realtors in Florida must check two separate do-not-call lists to see out if they can legally call a private residence,” says Florida Realtors’ Vice President and General Counsel Margy Grant. “If a name appears on either list, Realtors may call that home only under very specific conditions.”The federal and state list have different rules and systems, but many names appear on both since a name added to the Florida list eventually gets added to the federal list, though it doesn’t automatically go the other direction – from federal to state.“It’s still important to check the Florida list, though,” Grant says. “For one thing, there’s a lag time between the updates, so a name could appear on the Florida list and not the federal list.“It’s also important to note that Florida law has calling restrictions that go beyond the ones in federal law,” Grant adds. “In addition, Florida has a somewhat stronger track record for tracking and prosecuting businesses that break state do-not-call laws.”For more information on the do-not-call laws, and Realtors’ responsibility, visit Florida Realtors’ online Legal Center.To sign up for the Florida Do-Not-Call list, visit the Florida Division of Consumer Services website or call 1-800-HELP-FLA (435-7352) or, in Spanish, 1-800-FL-AYUDA (352-9832).To sign up for the federal do-not-call list, visit the National Do-Not-Call Registry website.© 2013 Florida Realtors®
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New-homes sales rise 1.5% in March to 417K
WASHINGTON (AP) – April 23, 2013 – U.S. sales of new homes rose in March to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 417,000. The increase added to evidence of a sustained housing recovery at the start of the spring buying season.The Commerce Department said Tuesday that sales of new homes increased 1.5 percent. The gain brought the level higher than February’s pace of 411,000, though below January’s 445,000 – the fastest pace since July 2008.New-home sales are still below the 700,000 pace considered healthy by most economists. But the pace has increased 18.5 percent from 352,000 a year ago.Most economists see more gains ahead, as housing is likely to remain a consistent driver of economic growth this year.“With increasing signs of a softer U.S. economy springing up in the spring, we can take comfort in the resilience of the housing recovery,” said Jennifer Lee, senior economist at BMO Capital Markets.Steady job creation and near-record-low mortgage rates are spurring more Americans to buy houses. The rise in demand is helping to boost sales and prices in most markets. Higher prices tend to make homeowners feel wealthier and encourage more spending.A limited supply of both new and previously occupied homes has also helped boost prices.The inventory of new homes for sale increased 2 percent in March to 153,000, the second straight gain. Still, that’s the equivalent of a 4.4-month supply at the current sales pace and historically lean, according to Jim O’Sullivan, chief U.S. economist at High Frequency Economics.The median price of a new home rose to $247,000 in March. That’s 3 percent higher than a year ago.The March sales gain came from a 20.6 percent increase in the Northeast and a 19.4 percent rise in the South. Sales fell 20.9 percent in the West, where problems of supply have hampered home buying. Sales were down 12.1 percent in the Midwest.Sales of previously occupied homes dipped in March from February, according to the National Association of Realtors. Still, sales were 10.3 percent higher than a year earlier.The Realtors’ group cited the low housing supply as a reason sales fell in March. But in a positive sign, the inventory of previously occupied homes increased for the second straight month. That suggests more sellers are confident that the recovery will continue and they can sell at a good price.Low inventories have helped drive more construction of new homes.U.S. homebuilders started work on more than 1 million new houses and apartments in March at a seasonally adjusted annual rate, the first time it had crossed that threshold in nearly five years. That reflected a surge in volatile apartment building.Single-family home construction fell in March after reaching the fastest in nearly five years.Still, a low supply of homes for sale is just one of several constraints that could limit sales. Since the housing bubble burst more than six years ago, banks have imposed tighter credit conditions and required larger down payments. That has made it harder for first-time homebuyers to qualify for the super-low mortgage rates that have resulted from the Federal Reserve’s efforts to ease credit. Copyright © 2013 The Associated Press, Martin Crutsinger, AP economics writer. All rights reserved.
Eminent domain proposal revived in Calif.
SAN FRANCISCO – April 23, 2013 – A controversial proposal that allows local government officials to use their eminent domain authority to condemn residences with distressed mortgages is reportedly gaining traction in California once again.
The proposal faced sharp criticism a few months ago from Wall Street trade associations, such as the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association and the Association of Mortgage Investors, as well as investors in mortgage-backed securities.
However, Mortgage Resolution Partners (MRP), a San Francisco-based financier group, has signed advisory agreements with five California towns that would permit MRP to negotiate “a sharp reduction in the dollar value of distressed loans that are held in securities administered by banks and mortgage service firms,” Reuters reports.
MRP’s strategy: Get voluntary agreement from servicers and banks to reduce the principal owed on underwater loans to avoid the threatened use of eminent domain laws. Or, if that doesn’t work, actually use eminent domain to “forcibly seize the loans and restructure them at a lower price.”
MRP says eminent domain gives municipalities an opportunity to help homeowners struggling to pay their mortgage. However, critics argue that using eminent domain to rewrite home loans violates agreements between a bank and a borrower.
“This type of government intervention is only going to harm the housing market,” says Chris Katopis, executive director of the Association of Mortgage Investors, to Reuters. “This is not a fair and equitable solution.”
MRP’s agreement has been signed with the Californian cities of Richmond, El Monte, La Puente, San Joaquin and Orange Cove. MRP is reportedly also negotiating with local officials in North Las Vegas, Nev.
“It’s not a panacea to deal with the broad issue of foreclosure, but it is another tool that could be potentially effective,” says Bill Lindsay, the MRP manager for Richmond, Calif.
Source: “Eminent domain to fix troubled mortgages makes a Calif. comeback,” Reuters (April 16, 2013)
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