by Steven Greenhut

In the seven years since Gov. Jerry Brown shut down California’s redevelopment agencies, their defenders have managed to resuscitate their image. Never mind that these controversial agencies ladled out corporate welfare, wantonly abused eminent domain on behalf of developers and diverted $5 billion annually from public services. A new bill would bring them back to life, and its supporters would have us believe they’re the means to resolve California’s housing crisis.

That argument is bizarre given that “redevelopment” actually helped cause the current housing shortage because it overvalued the construction of sales-tax-generating big-box stores at the expense of home construction. Sure, redevelopment law required agencies to set aside 20 percent of their proceeds to build subsidized apartments, but the relatively small number of redevelopment-created units pales in comparison to the havoc wreaked by the land-use distortions caused by these agencies.

By Rob Stephens

Interested in renting out your yurt, tiny house or couch? Now there are several options homeowners have to make extra income. For those looking to purchase a second home, often called a vacation rental home, renting out to vacationers is a great way to afford purchasing an additional property. Not to mention, for a growing number of travelers, renting a private home is the only way to go and typically offers more choices, comfort and privacy than hotels, and often cost less as well.

by John Wilhoit

Prior to analyzing financials for a potential multifamily acquisition, there are two things we must know about a property; what and where.   What type of property, in terms of quality, and where it is located?  Without first distinguishing some characteristics about what and where there is no reason to devote time to a review of income and expenses.   In this article we will look at the where.

By Chay Lapin, Senior Vice President, Kay Properties & Investments

Recently a client in a 1031 Exchange with $4,000,000 of equity was working with another registered representative and talking to a sponsor directly. In talking with Kay Properties and Investments, they learned that we specialize in DST 1031 Exchanges and that we have access to a variety of DST properties from many DST sponsor companies throughout the industry.

After we hosted the family at our Los Angeles Headquarters and they had a chance to visit with our team, we learned more about their situation.

The building they were selling was debt free. In this scenario, the client could go into DSTs that are debt free with no mortgage. This means that these DST properties could never be foreclosed on by a lender and do not carry the risk of mortgage maturity and refinancing.

by Daniel Bornstein, Esq.

An Inglewood family sued their landlords, Amusement Six Apartments, for breach of warranty of habitability, emotional distress, negligence, and breach of contract after they didn’t sleep tight.

Nothing can tug at the heart of a jury more than a three-year-old that is covered in bed bug bites and scratches himself to permanent scarring. As if Little Jorge Jr.’s bleeding and disfigurement were not enough to incur the ire of the jury, the child’s family was instructed by apartment management to discard their furniture and sleep on the floor in the aftermath of a bed bug infestation.

By Craig P. Alexander

Among the many burdens we place on military families, there’s frequent re-location from one military duty station to another – one year you’re in North Carolina, the next in Southern California or Norfolk, Virginia or even Germany or Japan. These are not combat zones but some of the places the military send both the military member and his or her spouse and family. Part of that is requiring children of a military family to pack up and move their lives, including their ongoing education, to another state or even nation.

By Nate Bernstein, Esq., Managing Counsel- LA Real Estate Law Group

In any landlord v. tenant litigation scenario, the risk of an award of attorney’s fees and costs against you or your company  (as the landlord or property management company) is a serious financial risk if your opponent prevails on the merits in landlord tenant litigation.  The risk can be present at the level of “law and motion,” the level of “trial practice,” or the level of “appellate practice.”  Landlords and property management companies are generally not “judgment proof.” Their assets are visible on the boulevard and the public title records !!   If the risk is not insurable, landlords and tenants have financial exposure if a tenant prevails in an eviction case or other type of litigation case. If you are a plaintiff in a hotly contested case, you have the burden of proof, and if you lose on the merits before a judge or jury you have exposure for an award of attorney’s fees and costs against you, not to mention a potential lawsuit for “malicious prosecution.”  

by C. Finley Beven, JD, CPM, CCAM

Unit #3 had been vacant for about 8 days. We were just finishing the “make over” process, ads were running, and we had begun accepting applications. While at the property, we happened to notice that someone was parking in the space intended for unit 3. It was highly probable that one of our tenants was using that space. As no current tenant was being inconvenienced at this time, we did not need to act in haste. We will resolve this, but we will do it thoughtfully.

 by Esther Schiller, Smokefree Air For Everyone (S.A.F.E.)

Tenant surveys conducted by the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research, the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health’s Tobacco Control and Prevention Program and the American Lung Association have been showing that most apartment residents want to live in a smoke-free environment. At the same time, these same surveys are also showing that most tenants don’t complain when they are breathing a neighbor’s tobacco smoke. They may not want to risk damaging a friendly relationship with that neighbor, or annoying the on-site manager who may also be a person who smokes. For whatever the reason, there seems to be a disconnect between owners and their tenants on this issue of smoking.

By Dwight Kay – Founder, Kay Properties and Investments, LLC

Investors considering a 1031 exchange often look at Delaware Statutory Trust and Tenant in Common Properties as a more passive, hands-off investment vehicle whereby they do not have responsibility for the day-to-day operations and management of a property. The question many investors have is which is the winner in the DST vs. TIC debate.

Before looking at the individual structure of the two investment options, in our opinion, investors must consider the real estate as the most important factor—the quality of the property and if the real estate makes sense.