Politics, Government and Business in Southern California's Inland Empire
BY ALICIA ROBINSON
STAFF WRITER
arobinson@pe.com
Published: 22 May 2012 05:09 PM
Riverside officials say they expect to recover only a portion of the $49.44 million that the former redevelopment agency spent to buy 80 pieces of land that are now up for sale.
By Alejandro Lazo
May 17, 2012, 2:22 p.m.
From the Southland to the Bay Area, California’s housing market showed strength last month as median prices rose and sales outperformed the same month last year.
The Golden State’s median home price popped 6% in April to $264,000, according to real estate information firm DataQuick of San Diego. The median is the point at which half the homes in the state sold for more and half for less.
Wednesday, May 16, 2012 – 10:30 a.m.
The National Association of Realtors is approaching the $750,000 mark in its independent expenditure campaign supporting Congressman Gary Miller (R-Diamond Bar) according to current filings with the Federal Election Commission.
Andrew Edwards, Staff Writer
Created: 05/08/2012 02:23:12 PM PDT
Recent signs suggest the Inland Empire’s office market may be returning to health, but the market may be at least three years from a full recovery.
That’s the word from Lee Spence, a principle at DAUM Commercial Services branch in Ontario, who based his prediction on his firm’s analysis of companies gradually moving in to the many vacant offices of San Bernardino and Riverside counties.
Andrew Edwards, Staff Writer
Created: 04/29/2012 03:43:13 PM PDT
The Inland Empire’s industrial real estate market gathered strength during the first three months of 2012 as vacancies decreased and asking rents increased, according to brokers’ data.
The numbers demonstrate the logistics industry remains a strength for the Inland Empire, but one industry on its own will not be enough to lift the area into overall prosperity after the past recession.
Ryan Carter, Staff Writer
Posted: 04/25/2012 11:43:21 AM PDT
Take a drive along local freeways on any given day of the work week, and you might see signs of life – economic life.
Developments are popping up – housing and commercial.
Andrew Edwards, Staff Writer
Created: 04/23/2012 08:27:17 PM PDT
Rep. Gary Miller, R-Brea, and several other inland legislators are asking the Federal Housing Finance Agency to stay out of Southern California while testing a pilot program in which foreclosures would be sold in bulk to institutional investors.
Capitol Alert
The latest on California politics and government
April 18, 2012
Opposed by powerful business and finance groups, key mortgage reform bills sponsored by Attorney General Kamala Harris are headed for a joint legislative conference committee.
The six-member conference committee will consist of two Democrats and one Republican from each house, according to multiple legislative aides who had been notified of the plan.
Sandra Emerson, Staff Writer
Created: 04/16/2012 05:00:42 PM PDT
MONTCLAIR – A new residential development in the city has received a boost from a well-known figure.
Canyon-Johnson Urban Fund, in which former Los Angeles Laker Earvin “Magic” Johnson is a partner, has made a $25.7 million investment in a joint venture with an affiliate of GLJ Partners for the acquisition and development of The Paseos, a transit-oriented apartment development in north Montclair.
Mike Cruz, Staff Writer
Created: 04/14/2012 07:30:41 PM PDT
CHINO HILLS – Hundreds of residents turned out to voice their concerns to lawmakers about property values and public safety at a congressional hearing Saturday on the controversial Tehachapi Renewable Transmission Project, which involves erecting 200-foot electric towers in the city.
The transmission poles and towers are being installed in Southern California Edison’s right-of-way from Chino Hills’ western border near Tonner Canyon through the city and eventually going into Riverside County.
Andrew Edwards, Staff Writer
Created: 04/14/2012 07:09:23 AM PDT
RANCHO CUCAMONGA – The first renters at the Lewis Group of Cos. “Santa Barbara” apartments have begun to move in, and the developers plan on building upon the coastal city’s name to create a new brand of upscale apartments.
Oversight boards charged with navigating complex process
April 14, 2012 2:11 PM
Natasha Lindstrom, Staff Writer
Two and a half months ago, they lost their battle against the state to keep redevelopment agencies alive.
Now, in a complicated, untested process that’s likely to take years, local government officials are members of a select group serving on new boards charged with overseeing the agencies’ demise.
Joe Nelson, Staff Writer
Posted: 04/11/2012 07:05:54 PM PDT
San Bernardino County and the cities of Ontario, Fontana and Hesperia are joining forces to establish a program to assist homewoners who are underwater on their mortgages.
It is part of the county’s “Vision” plan – a roadmap to the county’s future that establishes clear-cut goals to achieve optimum quality of life for the people who live in its 24 cities and unincorporated areas.
By Dale Kasler
dkasler@sacbee.com
Published: Wednesday, Apr. 11, 2012 – 12:00 am | Page 6B
CalPERS, still retooling its massive portfolio, is trying to sell off $1.5 billion in private equity investments.
The big pension fund has hired investment banker UBS to sell the investments. Marketing efforts should begin as early as this week, said a source familiar with CalPERS’ plans but not authorized to discuss the matter.
Tuesday, April 10, 2012 – 09:55 a.m.
It was a baseless and blind run-up.
The stock market that is.
BY JEFF HORSEMAN
STAFF WRITER
jhorseman@pe.com
Published: 04 April 2012 09:05 PM
The value of all taxable property in Riverside County is expected to fall again this year, punching a multimillion-dollar hole in the county’s already fragile finances.
BY ALICIA ROBINSON
STAFF WRITER
arobinson@pe.com
Published: 26 March 2012 06:26 PM
Riverside officials hope to sell about 80 parcels owned by the now-dissolved redevelopment agency.
Most of the plots are vacant and less than an acre, though the list includes two Victorian homes, a historic downtown building and clusters of parcels near Riverside Plaza, on University Avenue, and in the Five Points area on the city’s west end.
Investors purchase undervalued abandoned housing subdivisions
March 22, 2012 9:09 AM
Tomoya Shimura, Staff Writer
A private investor who recently bought 233 abandoned housing lots in four Victor Valley subdivisions plans to sit on them until the housing market picks up, according to a broker involved in the deal.
By Alejandro Lazo
March 15, 2012, 1:25 p.m.
California home sales were up in February but median prices remained mired in the muck of a lackluster housing recovery.
The real estate firm DataQuick estimated 29,630 houses and condominiums sold throughout the Golden State last month, an increase of 8.5% from the same month a year earlier. Sales have improved every month for the last seven months and February was the strongest for a February since 2007.
By Jim Puzzanghera
March 12, 2012, 12:19 p.m.
Reporting from Washington— State and federal officials on Monday formally filed the $25-billion settlement with the nation’s biggest mortgage servicers.
The lengthy documents outlining the terms of the landmark settlement were filed in U.S. District Court in Washington, formally ending investigations by the Justice Department, Housing and Urban Development Department and attorneys general in 49 states into botched foreclosure paperwork and mortgage servicing problems.
Southern California home prices slipped in January
Andrew Edwards, Staff Writer
Posted: 02/15/2012 03:32:14 PM PST
New Southern California homes are selling at the slowest paces on record, but the wood frames of new houses under construction at the Rosena Ranch development near Fontana are a sign that builders are still willing to invest in the Inland Empire.
By Alejandro Lazo, Los Angeles Times
February 16, 2012
The Southland’s housing market is flooded with cash-rich, bargain-hunting investors snapping up distressed homes and dragging down overall prices — but their presence also indicates the market could be nearing bottom.
Capitol Alert
The latest on California politics and government
February 11, 2012
California Attorney General Kamala Harris said today she is “doubling down” on prosecutions of predatory lending and other cases of lender misconduct in the wake of the $26 billion mortgage settlement announced last week.
By Michael Hiltzik
February 11, 2012
I hate a parade. And the parade of rosy self-congratulation staged last week by the creators of the $25-billion mortgage fraud settlement with five big banks is the kind of parade I really hate.
By Wendy Leung, Staff Writer
Created: 02/02/2012 06:07:28 PM PST
RANCHO CUCAMONGA – There has been a change in leadership for the affordable housing group National Community Renaissance, or National CORE.
The nonprofit has hired Steve PonTell, founder of the think tank La Jolla Institute, as interim president and chief executive officer, replacing Orlando Cabrera.
Trends favor apartments
Andrew Edwards, Staff Writer
Created: 01/25/2012 03:20:18 PM PST
Residential developers will remember the past year as the third-slowest in California history – and the slowest ever in terms of permits for new single-family homes.
Golden State developers are finding a better market for apartments and other multi-family living options than new homes.
By Alejandro Lazo
January 25, 2012, 2:57 p.m.
Calif. Atty. Gen. Kamala D. Harris’ office has called a proposed $25-billion settlement with the nation’s mortgage industry “inadequate.”
“We’ve reviewed the details of the latest settlement proposal from the banks, and we believe it is inadequate for California,” Shum Preston, a spokesman for Harris, said in a statement. “Our state has been clear about what any multistate settlement must contain: transparency, relief going to the most distressed homeowners and meaningful enforcement that ensures accountability. At this point, this deal does not suffice for California.”
Molly Davis, Staff Writer
Posted: 01/18/2012 04:38:10 PM PST
REDLANDS – Historic preservationists cautiously celebrated after receiving word that cinema owner George Krikorian is in default of an agreement with the city that could lead to his purchase of a historic downtown packing house.
Dan Walters
Published: Tuesday, Jan. 3, 2012 – 12:00 am | Page 3A
California adopted redevelopment as a tool for improving its urban ambience just after World War II, and for more than 30 years, it was nothing more than an ancillary local government activity.
But when voters in 1978 adopted Proposition 13, the landmark limit on property taxes, redevelopment boomed because it let cities retain property taxes from their redevelopment projects, rather than share the revenues with counties, schools and special districts.
By Jim Sanders
jsanders@sacbee.com
The Sacramento Bee
Published: Friday, Dec. 30, 2011 – 12:00 am | Page 3A
Attorney General Kamala Harris’ first year in office saw her dive into a massive financial crisis by ordering an investigation into mortgage meltdowns, attracting a national spotlight for California’s top cop.
BY IMRAN GHORI
STAFF WRITER
ighori@pe.com
Published: 20 December 2011 08:46 PM
San Bernardino County has hired a consultant to prepare a study on whether it should impose fees on developers to pay for streets, parks and other improvements.
Money & Company
Tracking the market and economic trends that shape your finances.
December 20, 2011 | 2:43 pm
California Atty. Gen. Kamala D. Harris has filed suit against mortgage titans Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac for refusing to answer subpoenas issued to the companies this year.
By David Glovin and Joshua Gallu
December 16, 2011 9:58 AM PT
Daniel Mudd, the former chief executive officer of Fannie Mae, and Richard Syron, ex-CEO of Freddie Mac, were sued by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for understating by hundreds of billions of dollars the subprime loans held by the firms.
Andrew Edwards, Staff Writer
Posted: 12/15/2011 12:00:01 AM PST
The so-called “shadow inventory” of future foreclosures may be about to fall on Southern California’s real estate markets.
In San Bernardino County, foreclosure filings jumped nearly 30 percent from October to November, new numbers show. Los Angeles County’s foreclosure activity jumped 15 percent.
By Alejandro Lazo, Los Angeles Times
December 15, 2011
Banks in November scheduled more than 26,000 homes to be sold at California foreclosure auctions, a 63% increase from October and a sign that a surge in discounted, bank-owned properties is on track to hit the market next year.
By Blake Ellis @CNNMoney
December 13, 2011: 6:51 PM ET
NEW YORK (CNNMoney) — If you thought the U.S. housing market couldn’t get much worse, think again.
Far fewer homes have been sold over the past five years than previously estimated, the National Association of Realtors said Tuesday.
By Dale Kasler
dkasler@sacbee.com
Published: Wednesday, Dec. 14, 2011 – 12:00 am | Page 6B
CalPERS reported a $695 million profit from one of its investments Tuesday.
The California Public Employees’ Retirement System said it earned the money from an investment fund that closed down after a 10-year run that ended when it sold its last asset.
By Rick Daysog
rdaysog@sacbee.com
Published: Wednesday, Dec. 7, 2011 – 12:00 am | Page 1A
Last Modified: Wednesday, Dec. 7, 2011 – 9:07 am
Promising to hold lenders accountable for abuses that helped fuel the foreclosure crisis, California has entered into a broad alliance with the state of Nevada to investigate the nation’s mortgage industry.
Thursday, December 1, 2011 – 10:00 a.m.
All the misplaced euphoria over the recent drop in weekly first-time unemployment numbers, along with the Fed loaning the European Union (EU) some $600 billion, seems a little suspect.
The Fed is doing nothing more than manipulating markets in the short-term, with money it really doesn’t have.
Joe Nelson, Staff Writer
Created: 11/24/2011 06:15:38 AM PST
San Bernardino County Supervisor Neil Derry is in a furor over a $150 state-imposed fire fee on rural property owners that is nearly double what was initially proposed in August.
Derry called the fee an act of “outright thievery” by Gov. Jerry Brown. The state Board of Forestry and Fire Protection approved the fee on a 6-2 vote on Nov. 10.
By Kevin Yamamura
kyamamura@sacbee.com
Published: Friday, Nov. 25, 2011 – 12:00 am | Page 3A
Last Modified: Friday, Nov. 25, 2011 – 8:43 am
Desperate for money and on the verge of cutting schools, California has become a ready target for quick-cash ideas.
A British gaming company recently offered $1 billion to take over part of the California Lottery. Now a private investor group twice rejected by Gov. Jerry Brown is again pushing California to sell 11 office properties for $1.2 billion in immediate cash.
“There really is no such thing as insider trading for real estate,” said Milsap. “It goes on in real estate all the time. That’s the benefit of local knowledge.”
Ryan Milsap, Adjunct Professor at USC School of Real Estate and Broker
Joe Nelson, Staff Writer
Posted: 11/14/2011 08:19:46 PM PST
Authorities looked hard at several land deals involving former San Bernardino County Assessor Bill Postmus during their investigation of the county’s $102 million legal settlement with Rancho Cucamonga developer Colonies Partners LP, according to recently released search warrants.
By Dan Walters
dwalters@sacbee.com
Published: Monday, Nov. 14, 2011 – 12:00 am | Page 3A
Last Modified: Monday, Nov. 14, 2011 – 7:09 am
It’s amazing that more than three decades after its passage, Proposition 13 is still such a polarizing political symbol.
Those on the right revere Proposition 13 for slashing property taxes and making it more difficult to raise other taxes, while those on the left see it Read the rest of this entry »
Wednesday, November 9, 2011 – 09:30 a.m.
In February 2011, the City of San Bernardino celebrated it’s foreclosure and taxpayer ownership of the mostly-empty Carousel Mall.
Now, just nine months later, sources report the city’s Economic Development Agency (EDA) is struggling to manage $16.5 million it borrowed on a “line of credit” through Citizens Business Bank.
Money borrowed to acquire the mall note from Center Bank and foreclose on the mall owner.
Wednesday, November 9, 2011 – 09:00 a.m
Wells Fargo Bank, Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase and other institutions, who have resisted helping struggling homeowners, dumped billions in bad mortgages on the government-owned Federal National Mortgage Association (Fannie Mae) in the 3rd quarter of 2011.
A practice which has been ongoing for years now.
Fannie Mae recorded a loss of $7.8 billion for the period ending September 30.
On Monday November 7, 2011, 2:41 pm EST
Home prices are highly seasonal, due to the different mix of homes that sell at different times of the year, but the latest reading for September shows home prices are under added pressure now; this is not just due to the high concentration of distressed properties on the market.
Dan Walters
By Dan Walters
dwalters@sacbee.com
Published: Wednesday, Oct. 26, 2011 – 12:00 am | Page 3A
It’s an article of faith – indeed, blind faith – among those on California’s political left that the passage of Proposition 13 in 1978 began the state’s downward spiral.
By Shobhana Chandra – Oct 25, 2011 7:02 AM PT
Home prices in 20 U.S. cities dropped more than forecast in August, highlighting one of the obstacles facing the economic recovery in its third year.
The White House hopes by the end of the month to announce changes that will make it easier for more homeowners — perhaps millions more — to participate.
By Don Lee, Los Angeles Times
October 24, 2011, 12:54 a.m.
Reporting from Washington— The Obama administration, worried that the housing crisis is strangling the economic recovery, is stepping up efforts to aid the battered market as another wave of home foreclosures threatens to drive values down further and rattle consumer confidence again.
Sunday, October 23, 2011 – 02:15 p.m.
Hooray! We’re all saved.
The economy is recovering, unemployment is is improving and the Dow is going to hit 15,000 by Christmas.
What the hell.
By Alana Semuels, Los Angeles Times
October 22, 2011, 5:43 p.m.
Jim Lytle gunned his silver BMW past the boarded-up model homes and the faded red flags of an abandoned sales office, then steered into a grid of empty streets and yellowed grass.
By Alejandro Lazo, Los Angeles Times
October 21, 2011, 9:24 p.m.
California is reemerging as a central focus for state attorneys general hoping to reach a nationwide wrongful-foreclosure settlement with major banks, even though the Golden State walked away from talks three weeks ago.
California is trying to determine whether BofA and its Countrywide Financial subsidiary sold investments backed by risky mortgages to investors in California under false pretenses, a source says.
By Alejandro Lazo and E. Scott Reckard, Los Angeles Times
October 20, 2011
Investigators with the state attorney general’s office have subpoenaed Bank of America Corp. in connection with the sale and marketing of troubled mortgage-backed securities to California investors, according to a person familiar with the probe.
Money & Company
Tracking the market and economic trends that shape your finances.
October 18, 2011 | 11:15 am
A big August surge in foreclosure actions by Bank of America and Bank of New York sent the number of California homeowners entering foreclosure to levels not seen in a year.
By Christopher Palmeri – Oct 16, 2011 9:01 PM PT
California voters approved Proposition 13 to rein in property taxes that had doubled in 10 years. More than three decades later, that rebellion has mortgaged the state’s future, saddling it with the nation’s highest debt and lowest credit rating.
Sunday, October 16, 2011 – 07:25 p.m.
Wells Fargo dumping bad mortgages on U.S. taxpayers?
Say it isn’t so.
October 9, 2011 7:58 pm
By Henny Sender in Hong Kong and Michael MacKenzie in New York
Asian and Middle Eastern central banks and sovereign wealth funds are increasingly anxious about the safety of their investments in the debt of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac , despite the assurances of US government officials.
Money & Company
Tracking the market and economic trends that shape your finances.
October 6, 2011 | 7:27 am
The rate for a 30-year fixed mortgage dropped to 3.94% in the latest Freddie Mac tally of home lenders, the first sub-4% rate in the survey’s 40-year history.
Wednesday, October 5, 2011 – 09:55 a.m.
The situation hasn’t improved much for Bank of America these days.
Cassie MacDuff
Cassie MacDuff
cmacduff@pe.com
Published: 03 October 2011 07:35 PM
A defunct developer has left San Bernardino County owing more than $750,000 in legal fees from a lawsuit over a mountain housing tract that was approved in violation of environmental laws.
Andrew Edwards, Staff Writer
Created: 10/04/2011 03:49:32 PM PDT
State Attorney General Kamala Harris said Tuesday she left national settlement talks with lenders over potential mortgage and foreclosure violations because she doesn’t expect a deal will provide enough compensation for troubled California homeowners.
BY JACK KATZANEK
STAFF WRITER
jkatzanek@pe.com
Published: 02 October 2011 09:03 PM
Inland Southern California is running out of industrial space, especially for the users of high-profile, big-box distribution centers.
But while developers are purchasing and building new warehouses in Riverside and San Bernardino counties, the head count in its office buildings is getting even lighter. The vacancy rate for the office market is expected to end 2011 at 25 percent, one commercial real estate operator predicted late last month.
BY BRIAN ROKOS
STAFF WRITER
brokos@pe.com
Published: 02 October 2011 09:23 PM
San Bernardino officials say the city’s only multiplex theater could reopen next year, in what they say will be the first piece of an entertainment and restaurant complex that officials hope will rejuvenate the economically depressed downtown.
Attorney General Kamala Harris says the state will not accept terms that would grant immunity to the lenders. Rich Pedroncelli / AP
Bloomberg
Carolyn Said, Chronicle Staff Writer
Saturday, October 1, 2011
California Attorney General Kamala Harris is withdrawing from multistate negotiations with big banks over their handling of foreclosures and instead will continue her own probe in an attempt to reform bank practices and prevent foreclosures, she said Thursday.
Money & Company
Tracking the market and economic trends that shape your finances.
September 30, 2011 | 4:19 pm
Advocates for homeowners in California applauded California Atty. Gen. Kamala Harris’ decision to bow out of talks aimed at reaching a national foreclosure settlement with the nation’s biggest banks.
By Kate Linthicum and Sam Farmer, Los Angeles Times
September 28, 2011
Tim Leiweke, the chairman and chief executive of Anschutz Entertainment Group, stood in front of the West Hall of the Los Angeles Convention Center on Tuesday and told a roaring crowd: “Tear it down!”
By Nathaniel Popper and Alejandro Lazo, Los Angeles Times
September 23, 2011, 7:39 p.m.
Reporting from New York and Los Angeles— California Atty. Gen. Kamala Harris has emerged as a key player in pursuing a nationwide settlement with major U.S. banks accused of wrongful foreclosures and is facing increased pressure from consumer groups seeking help for homeowners devastated by the mortgage crisis.
By David Siders
dsiders@sacbee.com
Published: Friday, Sep. 23, 2011 – 12:00 am | Page 1A
Occasional rumblings around the Capitol about changing Proposition 13 aren’t likely to amount to much anytime soon: The landmark tax-limiting measure is about as widely popular today as when it passed in 1978, according to a new Field Poll.
By Jim Puzzanghera, Los Angeles Times
September 20, 2011, 5:45 p.m.
Reporting from Washington— The government’s latest attempt to hold large banks accountable for helping trigger the Great Recession could fall as flat as earlier efforts to punish Wall Street villains and compensate taxpayers for bailing out the financial industry.
By Alana Semuels, Los Angeles Times
September 6, 2011, 11:20 p.m.
The 2008 acquisition of Anheuser-Busch Cos. by Belgium’s InBev, a deal worth $52 billion, created the largest beer company in the world.
It also created a potential boon for cash-strapped local governments in California — allowing them a rare chance to reassess the 1,022 acres owned by Anheuser-Busch in California and tax its 14 parcels at current market value.
Runner
George Runner
Posted: 09/05/2011 06:15:26 PM PDT
Give Gov. Jerry Brown credit. He’s smart enough to recognize that imposing massive property tax hikes on California’s struggling job creators will hurt, not help, our state’s economy. And he’s willing to take heat from members of his own party for his stand.
By NELSON D. SCHWARTZ
Published: September 1, 2011
The federal agency that oversees the mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac is set to file suits against more than a dozen big banks, accusing them of misrepresenting the quality of mortgage securities they assembled and sold at the height of the housing bubble, and seeking billions of dollars in compensation.
Money & Company
Tracking the market and economic trends that shape your finances.
August 31, 2011 | 1:35 pm
Bank of America Corp. has put another giant piece of the Countrywide mortgage empire on the auction block — the correspondent lending arm, which buys closed home loans from mortgage bankers, commercial banks and other loan originators.
11:46 PM PDT on Tuesday, August 23, 2011
BY ALICIA ROBINSON
STAFF WRITER
arobinson@pe.com
Riverside council members’ doubts about leasing downtown office space for $1.6 million a year have apparently been assuaged, as they took no steps to reconsider the issue at a meeting Tuesday.
Thursday, August 18, 2011 – 09:25 a.m.
What a shocker!
The U.S. Department of Labor revised it’s estimate of first time claims from last week.
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