There are lots of reasons why some of our neighborhoods face immense challenges in rejuvenation: low population, poverty, etc.  I’ve heard the stereotypical phrase ‘absentee landlord’ all my life, but did you know just how ‘absentee’ a landlord can be? Read Bill’s posts and find out.  Even though I knew about this, seeing that Google map of properties is still startling.  These types of investors may have the best of intentions, but if you own a zillion homes somewhere, who is overseeing the properties?  Ask Cleveland’s Housing Court (or go sit in on a day’s worth of cases there) and you could get an answer.

I don’t always agree with Bill’s solutions, and am admittedly anti political party this year, but I tip my hat to him for remaining vigilant on this issue.  In some ways, I wish he had taken the CEO’s plane ticket and gone to California and talked and maybe taken Ray Pianka of the Housing Court with him.  Or better yet, EZ homes execs need to come here for an extended period of time.  They can always stay in one of their homes!   Are these people doing this because they are part of a REIT investment program?  Not sure how they can be making money on properties with no increase in investment possibilities unless they are fixed up.   Any ideas?   Peace Out – 3C

 Here is a blog post from Slumlord Watch  in Baltimore about EZ Access here and a lawsuit filed against them.   Peace Out – 3C

The second thing I took away was not a new idea.  Focusing on why some areas are experiencing growth because of a focus on attracting immigrants. For us (as it was for Pittsburgh) this a renewed effort, not a new one, as we know from our history. Here is a quote from the article:

Aim low, as well as high, with economic development. Pittsburgh and Cleveland must regain their lost status as giant magnets for poor but entrepreneurial immigrants, said Michael Madison, a University of Pittsburgh law professor who writes a civic-criticism blog called Pittsblog 2.0. Newcomers from the Far East and India are streaming to Milwaukee, Des Moines and Minneapolis-St. Paul, saving money in crummy jobs, then starting businesses, he said. The cultural diversity, in turn, makes a city even more appealing to the educated creative classes. Strong, united and welcoming leadership should actively court foreign laborers, Madison said.

Peace Out – 3C

Highlights:

1.  You have to purchase a home to live in (owner occupied).  This means you can buy an investment property, but you also have to live there along with your tenants.

2. If you are a first time buyer, your credit is now available to you until April of 2010.  Your tax credit is still $8000. You must not have owned a home for the past three years to qualify.

3. If you own a home but want a different one, you may qualify for a $6500 tax credit, also available through April 30th).  And you must have owned your home for 5 years (they say five of the last 8 yrs).  In reality, and in this market, buying a home when you will be selling one becomes a bit easier if you have owned it for at least 5 years…this provision makes sense to me.

4. There are income limits (in effect as of today). If you are single, you can earn up to $125,000 (it WAS $75,000).  If married, the income level goes up now to $225,000.

5.   They had some issues with fraud (IRS issues). No surprise since money was involved. Now you must attach proof of purchase (title?) to your tax returns in order to get your credit (does this mean they did not require it before? I don’t know.)

Technically, the ‘end’ date is a bit different than the last credit.  Last time you had to own your home by Nov 30th.  Period.  Now they are allowing you to have it under contract by April 30th and you must take possession by July of 2010.

Hope this helps, any other questions, please feel free to email me or call me at 216-235-3719.    Peace Out – 3C

The House passed the Home-buyer Tax Credit extension and expansion this afternoon 403 in favor and 12 opposed. The final step is the President Obama’s signature. He is expected to sign the bill tomorrow. 

Along with first time home buyers, the new Bill allows for ‘trade in’ home buyers, those who already own homes, to get a credit as well.

Once President Obama has signed the Bill, I’ll put all the details here.

No matter how you feel about bailouts and government spending our money, this tax credit seems to be the single portion of the Recovery Act that is working. (Well now the bill is part of an unemployment benefits extension too).  With Chrysler working hard to put televisions in cars instead of something useful, I’d much rather money go towards home owners.  How about  you?  Peace Out – 3C

The League of Women Voters has a summary of the Issue 6 Charter changes and you can read the summary here.  Under Council duties I don’t see them actively involved in oversight of things like Health and Human Services, etc., but maybe that can be fleshed out later.

The 28 page Charter with governmental changes can be seen here. I got this information from the Facebook page for Issue 6. 

Hope this helps.  Peace Out – 3C

First, I received a call from what I will call an advance person for President Obama.  He wanted to know if I would be willing to go to Cincinnati this past Sunday to rally around health insurance/care change.

He was probably expecting a yes or no but he doesn’t know me very well.  I told him this: instead of a political style rally, why not put all this grassroots effort into getting health care professionals around the country into groups to discuss the issue. Brainstorm ideas.  No need for a rally which the savvy public would only see as the political event it is, with ‘plants’ in the audience.  I really think the President could do himself a world of good by circumventing the political process on this entirely.  Get the dialogue going and let’s come up with a valid plan, even if it’s not total public coverage from the get go. Who knows better what is not working now than the health care people in the trenches and the patients?

At the end of my monologue he said ‘so you’re not going to go?’   Sigh.

Secondly, has anyone explored the issue of individual states being responsible for a somewhat public plan? I just checked on line and the health insurance plan I had when I lived in Maryland: MDIPA  is still, seemingly, going strong.  I haven’t lived in Maryland for a decade now, but when I was there, the coverage was inexpensive and fabulous.  It covered Dental, specialists, hospitalization.  And the beauty of it was that most individual medical practices opted into the plan, until some of the HMO’s we are used to.  Surfing the net got me some information that MDIPA was ranked above average over other plans.  All I know is my experience, which is $5 co pay when I saw my doctor, $10 co pay for specialists and I think I paid (it was a while ago) $100 when I had a breast biopsy. My monthly payment for individual coverage was $68 dollars.  Not free but not $300 a month either!

If all we do is grouse and say no change or yes change, we won’t get anywhere. I doubt anyone on either side of the isle in Congress, if they were honest with themselves, wouldn’t want some kind of change to the system.  It’s the kind of change that needs dialogue so lets do it instead of taking a republican or democratic stance on this issue.

Okay i feel better.  What do you think?  Peace Out – 3C

We had Ward redistricting in Cleveland.  If you think they probably didn’t change where I vote, you just might be wrong.

Go to the County BOE website to check your polling location.  Just click on the ‘check polling place’ icon. And if you are not registered, click on that icon so your vote can be heard next time!  You can also get a copy of the sample ballot on line.   Peace Out – 3C