By KIMBERLEY HAAS An agreement to resolve a lawsuit against a landlord who allegedly touched female tenants and entered their apartments without consent has been reached. Officials at the United States Department of Justice announced on Tuesday that Davenport, Iowa, landlord Juan Goitia will be prohibited from managing rental housing and is required to retain an independent property manager to oversee any rental properties he has now or in the future because he violated the Fair Housing Act. “Sexual harassment by housing providers is an illegal and egregious abuse of power that deprives tenants of their right to be safe and secure in their homes,” said Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. Clarke said…
By KIMBERLEY HAAS Near one of the hottest housing markets in the country, a local builder says a shortage of electrical transformers is slowing down progress on 166 condo units. Joshua Manning, General Manager at Lewis Builders Development in Atkinson, NH, says they are trying to complete a new construction project in Epping, NH, where the median listing home price is $581,500, according to Realtor.com. When Manning ordered the 20 electrical transformers he needs last year, there was no indication there would be an issue. Now he wonders when the order will be completely filled. “It’s never taken this long to get electrical transformers for new houses,” Manning said in a recent interview with The Mortgage Note. Manning said he…
Over a three-year period, between 4% and 6% of all monthly listings across the country were offered directly by their owners, a new report from Zillow found. Homes listed as “For Sale By Owner” (FSBO) are advertised and sold directly by owners without an agent’s help. Roughly 63,000 homes for sale in September 2021 were FSBO, while in 2021 overall 24% of rural sellers did not use an agent. For comparison, 16% of suburban sellers did not use an agent, along with 20% of urban sellers. The report found that FSBOs are most common in rural areas. They were also more affordable overall. The median list price for an FSBO was $292,810, while the median price for a home sold…
