AB-1436 Tenancy: rental payment default: mortgage forbearance: state of emergency: COVID-19. The pandemic has sent 5.1 million Californians to unemployment lines, hitting service workers and employees of small businesses hard. Supplemental unemployment benefits are nearing an end, leaving many renters and landlords concerned over future payments. One attempt to address this concern is Assembly Bill 1436, a new measure that would make it temporarily illegal for landlords to evict tenants who haven’t paid rent during the pandemic. Tenant advocates praised the bill for seeking to avoid a tidal wave of evictions. Landlords, Investor Groups and Real Estate & Mortgage Trade

Proposition 5 would amend Proposition 13 to allow homebuyers who are age 55 or older or severely disabled to transfer the tax-assessed value from their prior home to their new home, no matter (a) the new home’s market value; (b) the new home’s location in the state; or (c) the number of moves.

The rent-to-own model, in which tenants have an option to purchase the home they’re renting from their landlord is now under scrutiny by New York’s top financial regulator. The New York Department of Financial Services (NYDFS) is investigating whether rent-to-own programs constitute predatory lending and has issued a consumer alert to create awareness that lease-to-own, rent-to-own and land installment contracts must be carefully considered under New York laws and regulations. New York isn’t the only state looking into this model. According to Ben Lane, the Senior Financial Reporter for HousingWire,  last year, the Wisconsin Department of Justice sued Vision Property Management and its various

If you have been watching the rental market in California, you’ll have noticed that rents are increasing faster than wages. Jeff Collins reporting in the Orange County Register notes – over the past seven years, rent increased $337 a month on average in Orange County and $450 a month in Los Angeles County, according to Reis Inc. In the Inland Empire, the average seven-year gain was $255 a month. That amounts to rent hikes of about $36 to $64 each year for the average tenant. Housing groups in Orange and Los Angeles counties are seeing a spike in the number

Like a Phoenix rising from the ashes, home prices have exceeded their pre-recession peak. An analysis from ATTOM Data Solutions, reports Median price above pre-recession peaks in 54% of US metros. United States Home Prices & Values According to Zillow’s Home Value Index, the median home value in the United States is $213,146. United States home values have gone up 8.0% over the past year and Zillow predicts they will rise 4.2% within the next year. The median list price per square foot in the United States is $141. The median price of homes currently listed in the United States is

There is much hyperbole in the news surrounding the economic impact of a trade war between China and the US, but just how would it effect California real estate? INTEREST RATES John Mauldin, an investment advisor, suggests that US trade with China is so intertwined that less trade could result in higher interest rates causing house prices to fall. According to Mauldin, Trade with China is simple economics: Americans want Chinese goods more than we want the dollars spent on them. Chinese want those dollars more than they want the goods. Chinese bank accounts hold trillions of greenbacks. What do

A New Recording fee for Real Estate Documents. The California Legislature recently passed Senate Bill 2, also known as the Building Homes and Jobs Act (“Act”) and was signed by the Governor on September 29, 2017. The Building Homes and Jobs Act (“Act”) imposes a recording fee for real estate documents. Effective January 1, 2018, the Act imposes a new fee of $75 be paid at the time of the recording of every real estate instrument to be recorded, including – deed, grant deed, trustee’s deed, request for notice of default, abstract of judgment, notice of default, assessment lien, release of