Author: ipgocorp

DENVER, CO – Apartment Investment and Management Company (Aimco) filed an amended complaint against Airbnb in the Superior Court of California seeking injunctive relief and restitution under that state’s Unfair Competition Law and broadening its claims to include all apartment owners whose properties have been rented without Airbnb’s first obtaining their permission. Aimco also filed an amended complaint in its second lawsuit against Airbnb in Miami-Dade County, Florida, Circuit Court.

Aimco believes that a significant portion of Airbnb’s business and revenues comes from its unauthorized short-term rentals of properties that Airbnb does not own and that Airbnb wrongfully profits from these transactions. In doing so Airbnb disregards its own Terms of Service, which purport to prohibit rentals that breach agreements with third-party property owners.

The lawsuits dispute Airbnb’s assertion that it serves solely as a passive, online listing platform and that all of its activities are immune from liability under the federal Communications Decency Act. The Act does not immunize Airbnb’s unlawful rentals and payment processing practices, both of which abuse landlords’ private property rights, interfere with their leases, and invite trespassers onto their private properties. According to Aimco’s complaint, Airbnb is a short-term rental broker directly involved in business transactions between hosts and guests and should be held accountable for actively encouraging, participating in, and profiting from the breaching of leases and trespassing.

“Airbnb continues its unlawful practice of knowingly promoting the breaking of lease agreements between residents and property owners and profiting from illegal rentals of properties it does not own,” said Aimco CEO Terry Considine. “There are countless examples of transient Airbnb guests causing disruption, using fraudulent passes to access resident amenities, and showing no regard for the safe, peaceful environment we strive to create for our permanent residents. Aimco is proud to take the lead in filing a class action complaint, standing up for our residents and for the thousands of property owners who have experienced upheaval due to Airbnb’s actions.”

All prospective Aimco residents undergo criminal background checks and credit history reviews before their acceptance as qualified renters.  When approved, Aimco residents sign the Company’s Good Neighbor Policy as part of their lease – a promise of good behavior and consideration for their neighbors.  Aimco objects to the fact that Airbnb transient guests are unvetted and have no vested interest in maintaining a peaceful community atmosphere.  On many occasions, Airbnb-supported trespassers have created safety, noise, and nuisance concerns for Aimco’s lawful residents, including incidents of public drunkenness and fighting requiring police assistance. Aimco repeatedly asked Airbnb to stop renting Aimco’s apartments in breach of Aimco’s leases with its residents, but Airbnb refused.

Aimco filed its initial lawsuits against Airbnb in February in Florida and California.  Airbnb’s continuing refusal to stop its illegal subletting of apartments and its disregard for the rights of property owners motivated Aimco to step up its litigation efforts.

NASHVILLE, TN – Vitality Senior Living, a Nashville-based senior living provider committed to empowering successful aging through engagement and innovation, has completed the purchase of Texas Star Assisted Living in Allen, Texas.

Vitality will rebrand the community as Vitality Court, Texas Star. The community opened a year ago and features an open and modern design with 86 apartments offering independent living, assisted living, and dementia care lifestyles.

“We are very excited to welcome this new community as we continue to grow Vitality’s unique mission at our second location in Texas,” says Chris Guay, Founder and President of Vitality Senior Living. “Our plan is to build upon an already great community with Vitality-specific physical plant and programmatic enhancements. These enhancements will start day one, as we invest immediately in infrastructure and physical plant upgrades that will support our commitment to enhancing lifestyles and redefining aging through innovation and technology. Texas Star will be another part of proving our vision of empowering successful aging for older adults.”

Vitality’s mission is “to advance independence and contribute to the health and well-being of older adults by creating vibrant lifestyles that inspire creativity, support choice, protect dignity, and celebrate experience.”

“Our communities will feature engaging environments and will offer the latest from a wellness, care, design, service and amenity perspective,” says Guay. “Perhaps our most defining difference, however, will be the shared dedication to ensuring successful aging and the philanthropic spirit that will emanate throughout our communities.”

NEW YORK, NY – Mortgage rates continued their decline this week hitting a new 7-month low, according to Bankrate.com’s weekly national survey. The average 30-year fixed mortgage has a rate of 4.04 percent, the lowest since November 16, 2016, and an average of 0.24 discount and origination points.

The larger jumbo 30-year fixed dipped to 3.99 percent, and the average 15-year fixed mortgage rate dropped to 3.24 percent.  Adjustable mortgage rates were also lower this week, with the 5-year ARM inching down to 3.40 percent and the 7-year ARM sliding to 3.56 percent.  

Mortgage rates fell to their lowest level since the middle of November, possibly heralding a modest increase in refinancing over the coming weeks. Rates on home loans have been falling since mid-May. This week’s decline can be traced to the disappointing employment report for May. The economy created fewer jobs than expected and wage gains were anemic. Although the Federal Reserve is expected to raise short-term interest rates next week, it doesn’t necessarily mean that long-term interest rates for mortgages move in the same direction.

At the current average 30-year fixed mortgage rate of 4.09 percent, the monthly payment for a $200,000 loan is $959.45.

SURVEY RESULTS

30-year fixed: 4.04% — down from 4.09% last week (avg. points: 0.24)
15-year fixed: 3.24% — down from 3.31% last week (avg. points: 0.21)
5/1 ARM: 3.40% — down from 3.41% last week (avg. points: 0.31)

Bankrate’s national weekly mortgage survey is conducted each Wednesday from data provided by the top 10 banks and thrifts in 10 top markets. For a full analysis of this week’s move in mortgage rates, go to www.bankrate.com

The survey is complemented by Bankrate’s weekly Rate Trend Index, in which a panel of mortgage experts predicts which way the rates are headed over the next seven days. The panelists are mixed this week with 44.5 percent expecting the decline in mortgage rates to continue over the next week and 44.5 percent predicting that rates will remain more or less unchanged.  Only 11 percent of the experts expect rates to rise over the next seven days.

(RECAP: The city of Roanoke has a new opportunity to grow. Throughout the years, Roanoke has relied on brownfields grants through the EPA to spur economic development. And now with a $200,000 one on the way, the city is getting to work.)

(RECAP: On Monday, June 5, Fairfax County officials, Congressman Gerry Connolly, Del. Mark Keam and private partners celebrated the opening of the Residences at Government Center, a privately-owned affordable apartment community on county property.)

(RECAP: The nonprofit Maggie Walker Community Land Trust celebrated the groundbreaking of its first single-family home at a ceremony Thursday. The 1,600-square-foot home, to be built on a vacant lot at 1114 N. 26th St., is designed to provide permanent affordable housing through a “pay-it-forward” approach to help qualified owners build equity.)

(RECAP: Richmond’s Church Hill neighborhood is home base for the area’s first Maggie Walker Community Land Trust house for workforce housing. “The purpose of a land trust is to create affordable housing in perpetuity,” Laura Lafayette, chairwoman of the Maggie Walker Community Land Trust and CEO of the Richmond Association of Realtors, said at a groundbreaking ceremony Thursday.)

IRVING, TX – Pure Multi-Family REIT announced that it has entered into an agreement to acquire La Villita, a multi-family apartment community located in Irving, Texas, for a purchase price of $48.8 million.

La Villita is a luxury Class A apartment community centrally located between Dallas and Fort Worth in the prestigious master-planned community of Las Colinas, which is strategically located among the headquarters of many Fortune 500 companies.

Completed in 2007, La Villita is a luxury Class A, 306-unit, garden-style apartment community that has been maintained to institutional-owner standards and has significant value appreciation opportunities.

Stephen Evans, Pure Multi-Family’s CEO, stated, “With the acquisition of La Villita, we are adding another great asset to our very strong Dallas portfolio. We plan to continue to implement our prudent balance sheet management strategy in this transaction by using approximately 50% loan-to-value mortgage financing.”

The acquisition of La Villita is subject to the satisfaction of customary conditions precedent and is expected to close in early July, 2017. Pure Multi-Family intends to fund a portion of the purchase price of La Villita with cash from its equity financing completed in April, 2017, and new first mortgage financing.

Pure Multi-Family is a Canadian based, publicly traded vehicle which offers investors exclusive exposure to attractive, institutional quality U.S. multi-family real estate assets.

ATLANTA, GA – Crown Bay Group announced double closings on its purchases of Park at Greenbriar Apartments, across from the Greenbriar Mall in SW Atlanta, and Kenilworth Manor in Macon GA.

Park at Greenbriar is Crown Bay Groups, newest property added to its existing portfolio of Atlanta apartment communities. The property is well positioned near shopping and is 4 miles from the area’s biggest employer, Hartfield Jackson Airport, the busiest airport in the US.

The property is made up of two and three bedroom apartments and townhouses. There is also a fitness center and very large swimming pool on site. The property is well served with a Kroger anchored shopping center next door, and the Greenbriar Mall opposite. There is public transport right outside the property, and quick access to I-285, the Interstate Highway loop encircling Atlanta.

Kenilworth Manor is an extremely interesting and unusual property, built on 50 acres in 1970. It is comprised of an 11 story apartment block, a 5 story mid-rise block and the rest of the site a mix of two story garden apartments, townhouses, and even a cluster of odd cubed shaped single story houses. The whole property is set in a beautiful nature setting with a 13 acre lake in the center of the property. The name will be changed back to its former name Crystal Lake Apartments.

This was built as a cutting edge dynamic community project at the time, but has gone into some disrepair over the years.

“On the first day this came on the market I knew I wanted it. I drove down the next day and made a deal!” says Steve Firestone, Crown Bay Group’s CEO. “We are going to bring this back to its former glory and more.”

There is a nature trail around the lake, and of course it will be pet friendly. There is a style of housing to suit almost anyone’s needs here.

“Park at Greenbriar and Kenilworth (now Crystal Lake) are well located value-add acquisition for our investors,” says Steve Firestone. “Our focus is on value-add opportunities in strong job growth market locations throughout the South East.”

IRVINE, CA – CoreLogic, a leading global property information, analytics and data-enabled solutions provider, released its CoreLogic Home Price Index (HPI) and HPI Forecast for April 2017, which shows home prices are up both year over year and month over month.

Home prices nationwide, including distressed sales, increased year over year by 6.9 percent in April 2017 compared with April 2016 and increased month over month by 1.6 percent in April 2017 compared with March 2017, according to the CoreLogic HPI.

The CoreLogic HPI Forecast indicates that home prices will increase by 5.1 percent on a year-over-year basis from April 2017 to April 2018, and on a month-over-month basis home prices are expected to increase by 0.7 percent from April 2017 to May 2017. The CoreLogic HPI Forecast is a projection of home prices using the CoreLogic HPI and other economic variables. Values are derived from state-level forecasts by weighting indices according to the number of owner-occupied households for each state.

“Mortgage rates in April dipped back to their lowest level since November of last year, spurring home-buying activity,” said Dr. Frank Nothaft, chief economist for CoreLogic. “In some metro areas, there has been a bidding frenzy as multiple contracts are placed on a single home. This has led home-price growth to outpace rent gains. Nationally, home prices were up 6.9 percent over the last year, while rent growth for single-family rental homes recorded a 3 percent rise through April, according to the CoreLogic Single-Family Rental Index.”

“Interest rates on fixed-rate mortgages are down by one-fourth of a percentage point since mid-March, just in time to support the spring home-buying season,” said Frank Martell, president and CEO of CoreLogic. “Some metro areas have low for-sale inventory, short time-on-market trends and homes that sell above the list price. Geographically, gains were strongest in the West with Washington and Utah posting double-digit gains.”