• AARP: Foreclosures Surge for Older Americans
• Source: New York Times   |   Nation   |   July 19, 2012
• A report found that while people under 50 are the group most likely to face foreclosure, the risk of “serious delinquency” on mortgages has grown fastest for people over 50.
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• Los Angeles Sues US Bank to Reduce Blighted, Abandoned Homes
• BY: McClatchy News   |   Los Angeles   |   July 17, 2012
• Los Angeles officials accused US Bank of illegally allowing the Abner Street home and many others to deteriorate into slums and demand that the bank clean up vacant properties and improve conditions for families living in others.

• San Francisco Considers Housing Ordinance to Curb Plastic-Bottle Use
• Source: AP/San Francisco Chronicle   |   San Francisco   |   July 13, 2012
• City officials are considering an ordinance that would require owners of new and renovated buildings with water fountains to install special bottle-filling taps, hoping to encourage people to use containers instead of plastic water bottles.
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• Can Eminent Domain Help End the Foreclosure Crisis?
• BY: Penelope Lemov   |   July 12, 2012
• Wall Street opposes the idea, but a county in California thinks it can use eminent domain to seize underwater mortgages and restructure them on behalf of homeowners.
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• Countrywide Financial Won Congressional Influence with Discounts
• Source: Los Angeles Times   |   Nation   |   July 6, 2012
• Subprime lender Countrywide Financial used hundreds of discount loans to buy influence with lawmakers and officials, a House report says.
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• Pennsylvania Gov. Corbett Signs Bill to Save City from Property-Tax Appeals
• Source: Philadelphia Daily News   |   Pennsylvania   |   July 6, 2012
• Gov. Corbett signed into law a bill that will allow the city to put off a controversial property-tax overhaul for a year without the risk of being flooded with costly appeals.

• Apartment Rents Rise to Record Levels
• Source: Wall Street Journal   |   Nation   |   July 5, 2012
• Landlords boosted apartment rents to record levels in the second quarter as demand from tenants sitting out the home-buying market pushed vacancy rates to their lowest point in more than a decade, according to a report.

• What Birds Indicate About Home Values
• BY: Elizabeth Daigneau   |   July 2012
• New research shows that lots of birds in an area can mean higher property values.

• Detroit to Demolish 1,500 Vacant Homes
• BY: Leigh Ann Renzulli   |   Detroit   |   June 27, 2012
• Detroit Mayor Dave Bing announced plans to demolish 1,500 abandoned houses in the next 90 days.

• Anti-Foreclosure Laws May Backfire on Economy
• Source: Reuters   |   Nation   |   June 27, 2012
• State and federal laws enacted to protect homeowners from eviction in the wake of the 2008 housing crash may be extending the slump, according to a growing number of economists and industry experts.

• San Jose Stores Property of Homeless to Avoid Lawsuits
• Source: New York Times   |   San Jose, Calif.   |   June 20, 2012
• Fearing lawsuits by advocates for the homeless, the city has begun storing the belongings of people whose encampments have been cleared.

• Abandoned Homes Plague Cash-Strapped Cities
• Source: USA Today   |   Nation   |   June 15, 2012
• Lack of money is hampering some local governments’ efforts to demolish many abandoned housing units.

• Nation's First Homeless Bill of Rights Sent to Rhode Island Gov. Chafee
• Source: AP/Boston Globe   |   Rhode Island   |   June 14, 2012
• Rhode Island's General Assembly approved legislation that aims to prevent discrimination against homeless people -- the first measure of its kind in the nation. The measure now moves to Gov. Lincoln Chafee, who is expected to sign it into law.

• North Dakota Voters Reject Ending Property Taxes
• Source: Los Angeles Times   |   North Dakota   |   June 13, 2012
• North Dakota voters were also set to allow the University of North Dakota to rename its controversial mascot, which critics say denigrates Native Americans.

• North Dakota May Be 1st State to End Property Taxes
• Source: AP/Dickinson Press   |   North Dakota   |   June 12, 2012
• Voters are set to decide Tuesday whether to make North Dakota the first state to eliminate local property taxes, but a businessman who helped put the constitutional amendment on the ballot conceded it could be walloped at the polls.
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