“A state appeals court has struck down provisions of a voter-approved San Francisco law that allowed the city’s rent board to reduce payments from tenants whose landlords harassed them. The First District Court of Appeal in San Francisco left intact other parts of Proposition M, a November 2008 measure,... Read More »

“This was the year thousands of U.S. homeowners with option adjustable-rate mortgages were supposed to default as their payments spiked. Low interest rates and a surge of early delinquencies mean the numbers probably won’t be as bad as forecast, softening the blow to a housing market where prices have... Read More »

The Wall Street Journal reports: Wells Fargo & Co., the nation’s largest mortgage lender, has asked U.S. regulators to set a down-payment standard of 30% on mortgages that wouldn’t have to meet a new requirement that banks retain 5% of a loan if it is securitized. The so-called risk-retention... Read More »

“San Francisco’s mayor says the last bureaucratic hurdles have been cleared for the construction of the city’s first Target retail store…. final permits been issued to begin building the downtown store .” ∙ Target + Metreon = (Twenty-Two Foot) Bull’s-Eye In 2012 ∙ Path cleared... Read More »

“The Potrero Hill plant, one of the dirtiest in California, will cease operations on Jan. 1, state officials are expected to announce today. The plant, operated by Houston-based GenOn Energy Inc., formerly Mirant Corp., could be fired up in the event of a dramatic power emergency before being... Read More »

“In October, the Department of Public Works accepted 42 applications for parklets outside businesses and residences. To garner approval, the applications must be approved along with permits for sidewalk seating, according to DPW spokeswoman Christine Falvey. Once approved, the business is responsible for the costs of construction of the... Read More »

“Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood announced Thursday that $1.2 billion in federal high-speed rail funds allocated to Wisconsin and Ohio would be rerouted to other states . Wisconsin and Ohio elected Republican governors who oppose high-speed rail and have asked to spend the funds instead on... Read More »

Driven by a 44 percent drop in multifamily units, housing starts in the U.S. fell to a 519,000 annual rate in October, down 12 percent from September and the slowest pace since the record low of 477,000 reached in April 2009. Single-family home starts fell 1.1 percent. Record-low mortgage... Read More »

“Save Florida Homes Inc. and its owner, Mark Guerette, have found foreclosed homes for several needy families here in Broward County, and his tenants could not be more pleased. Fabian Ferguson, his wife and two children now live a two-bedroom home they have transformed from damaged and abandoned to... Read More »

“Nowhere will Nancy Pelosi’s loss of the House speakership be felt more acutely than here in the Bay Area, where her power – and the power of fellow local Democrats in Washington – has been used to help steer hundreds of millions of dollars into infrastructure projects.” ∙ Nancy... Read More »