The Justice Department today filed a lawsuit against the owner and property manager of a 48-unit apartment complex in Ann Arbor, Mich., alleging that the defendants discriminated on the basis of race or color in the rental of apartments, the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of [...]
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The Justice Department today announced that landlord James Stevens, his company Fountain View Apartments Inc., and his former rental manager, Mildred Chastain, have agreed to pay $415,000 in monetary damages and civil penalties to settle a Fair Housing Act lawsuit alleging that they discriminated against African Americans and families with children at Fountain [...] Dennis Norman The United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit recently consdered an appeal by the plaintiffs of a class action lawsuit again D.R. Horton, Inc. and DHI Mortgage, Co brought by John R. Yeatman and Eleanor E. Yeatman on behalf of themselves and all similarly situated individuals. The lawsuit stems from the Yeatman’s [...]
Dennis Norman I usually try to keep the focus of my posts on this site on topics that, for the most part, apply to the entire real estate market, or selected areas that have a lot of investor activity (ie Florida) and shy away from local issues. I’m going to make an exception today however [...] Dennis Norman Maybe I’m naive, but it surprises me that some property owners are clueless about Fair Housing Laws or just blatantly disregard them…particularly owners and operators and large apartment complexes. I’m going to share information on another settlement, and an expensive one at that, the Department of Justice obtained from a property owner to [...] Author’s Note: I frequently publish stories on actions of the Department of Justice with regard to Fair Housing Laws…I do this not to draw attention to the parties involved in particular suit or case but to heighten the awareness of Landlord’s and other property owners of Fair Housing Laws and the repurcussions of violating them. The [...] Dennis Norman Last week a friend emailed me a link to a video titled “The Indymac Slap in Our Face” that was created by Think Big Work Small. I watched the video which gave a recap of the failure of Indymac bank back resulting in it’s seizure by the FDIC in July, 2008, and the [...] Valentine’s Day is a time for love…Are you feeling left out because you haven’t found Mr or Mrs Right? Maybe you aren’t looking in the right places…. have you tried hanging out in the laundry room of Apartment complexes? All right, I know what you are wondering, what does this have to do with real estate and [...] Dennis Norman If you are a small to medium sized landlord odds are you receive your rent payments in the form of cash or a check. Why not accept credit cards and debit cards for rent payments in addition? This is something I did for years and think for many landlords it is worth the effort to [...] The Justice Department today announced a settlement of a lawsuit alleging that those involved in the design and construction of two multifamily housing complexes in Davenport, Iowa, violated the Fair Housing Act. The complexes at issue are Kimberly Ridge Manor and Jersey Ridge Manor. The case began when the Davenport Civil Rights Commission filed fair housing [...] Even in Tough Times, 77 Percent of Americans View Homeownership as a Part of Their Own Personal American Dream A national survey released yesterday by Trulia shows that many Americans feel that President Barack Obama has not lived up to the hope he created during his campaign and his first 30 days in office. In [...]
Nick Johnson, Subject2.com I’m currently experiencing an increased amount of free time throughout my day. I recently posted Outsourcing My Life where you can see some of the reasoning behind why. My most active email is with Yahoo and I haven’t really complained about it. It’s a free service and regardless if people think a business [...] Nation’s Fifth-Largest Housing Developer to Retrofit Record Number of Apartments for People With Disabilities, Create National Accessibility Fund
Dennis Norman Today, the National Fair Housing Alliance (NFHA) and its member fair housing organizations in Atlanta, Ga., Melbourne, Fla., and Napa and Marin, Calif., announced a landmark agreement with the A.G. Spanos Companies to increase housing accessibility [...]
Dennis Norman Fair Housing Laws are just one thing landlords need to be very familiar with in order to protect themselves and their businesses. In addition, there is the Americans with Disabilities Act, application screening, lead-based paint and other disclosures,leases, state laws about security deposits,collection issues, criminal activity in your units and more…What’s a Landlord [...] Tweet This Post New home construction is on the rise in November…. WHY??? They aren’t selling as fast as they are being built…didn’t we learn our lesson? The U.S. Census Bureau and US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) issued a their report on New Residential Construction for November 2009 showing an increase in new home construction [...] Department of Justice Press Release Scam Involved Lawyers, Mortgage Brokers, and More Than $14.6 Million in Loans PHILADELPHIA—A 15-count indictment was filed today against five defendants charged in a $14.6 million mortgage fraud scheme that resulted in at least 35 fraudulent mortgage loans, announced United States Attorney Michael L. Levy, Special Agent-in-Charge of the FBI Janice K. [...] Learn what improvements will bring the most return from a buyer… Dennis Norman How many times while doing a rehab of a home you plan to flip have you spent extra money on something to make it special or stand out, such as a remodeled kitchen, updated master bath, room addition, etc, only to wonder in [...] Dennis Norman In a challenging market like this, you have to pull out all the stops to sell your property; in addition you need to be aware of the tools and resources out there to help you do so. One of the best resources currently available to sell homes is the newly extended and expanded [...] Shae Bynes, Good Faith Investing This has been on my mind so I thought I’d share my thoughts out loud. To those who are hustling doing real estate investing, or trying to do real estate investing, or just simply thinking about doing real estate investing…. If you want to be successful, and I mean truly successful (however [...] In his most recent book, “The Housing Boom and Bust,” economist Thomas Sowell argues that the current financial crisis was partly caused by politicians who were attempting to solve an “affordable housing” crisis, which did not really exist on a national basis. Land use laws and attempts to protect open space, block sprawl, etc, made housing [...] First-Time Homebuyer Credit Extended to April 30, 2010; Some Current Homeowners Now Also Qualify WASHINGTON — A new law that went into effect Nov. 6 extends the first-time homebuyer credit five months and expands the eligibility requirements for purchasers. The Worker, Homeownership, and Business Assistance Act of 2009 extends the deadline for [...]
Joy Jackson Personally Responsible for Over $16 Million in Losses to Mortgage Lenders; Used Over $800,000 of Fraudulently Obtained Proceeds to Pay for Her Wedding U.S. District Judge Roger W. Titus sentenced the president of the Metropolitan Money Store, Joy Jackson, age 41, of Fort Washington, Maryland, today to 151 months in [...] The IRS doesn’t restrict the home definition to just houses. A business that operates in an apartment, condominium, mobile home, or boat can qualify. The home definition also includes unattached structures on the property, like a garage, studio, barn, or greenhouse. Ask yourself the following to see if you are eligible for a business use [...] Of the many business entities that owners consider, Limited Liability Companies (LLCs) and Subchapter S Corporations (S-Corps) are two of the most popular. Although they share the distinction of being “pass-through” entities in addition to providing liability protection, they do have several differences. An owner must also consider operational ease, administrative requirements, profit-sharing and employment tax [...] The Justice Department announced it has filed a lawsuit today in federal court for the Eastern District of Missouri alleging a pattern or practice of violations of the Fair Housing Act by the owner and managers of Forum Manor Apartments, a federally-subsidized apartment complex, for refusing to rent to African-Americans and males, refusing to allow [...] Publishers note: If you have been reading our blog for a while you are probably aware we have been supporters and advocates of the home-buyer tax credit as well as the extension and expansion of the credit, which happened last week. We realize however, there are people that do not support the credits for a [...] Publishers note: We frequently published news releases having to do with allegations of, or settlements of, Fair Housing violations – the purpose of us doing so is to help educate landlords and heighten awareness of the various ways that a landlord may be violating the Fair Housing Act, even though in many cases there seems [...] Department of Justice Press Release TAMPA—United States Attorney A. Brian Albritton today announced the results of a nine-month-long Mortgage Fraud Surge investigation that has resulted in charges against more than 100 defendants and involves allegations concerning more than $400 million in loans procured by fraud and more than 700 properties. U.S. Attorney Albritton is [...] Dennis Norman UPDATE 11/06/09 5:14 p.m. – Thanks to Denis T who was commenting on this post, click here to go to the IRS site with information on the new tax credits. UPDATE 11/06/09 1:00 p.m. – I just heard that a short while ago President Obama signed the bill into law. IT’S OFFICIAL! So if you are in [...] |
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