Free Republic

Tenant activist-turned-suburban landlord Chris Daly certainly knows a good deal when he sees one. In February, the San Francisco supervisor, who has had his share of battles with developers over the years, scooped up a Fairfield house for $270,000, Solano County documents show. The four-bedroom, 2 1/2-bath house had last been assessed at $514,686.He's now renting out the house, Daly told The Chronicle's Marisa Lagos. Bonus for the supervisor - there's no rent control.Daly went bargain-hunting in Fairfield again in April and landed another four-bedroom, 2 1/2-bath home - this one with a pool, on a cul-de-sac - for $275,000....

In the Old Town historic district here, tourists and shoppers stroll brick sidewalks along King Street and peer into a wide range of boutiques — rug shops, antiques dealers, a cheese shop, even a comic book store. Old Town’s latest offering, though, has been stopping visitors in their tracks since it opened in January. It is called Le Tache, a “couples boutique,” more commonly known as a sex shop, which is sandwiched between art galleries whose offerings are more common in Old Town than colorful vibrators and steamy DVDs. The boutique’s owner leased the building after a dispute between the...

The ex-husband of a woman shot dead in a Christmas Eve massacre has been asked to pay her rent. Her landlord claims Alicia Ortiz broke her lease and gave 'insufficient notice to vacate' before she was killed. ... Her landlord, Broadcrest Foothill Apartment Homes, told Ortiz's former husband, Carlos, that he owes $2,821 in rent and penalties.

SAN JOSE, Costa Rica - John Mark Karr bragged to his landlord's wife that sexually, he was "like a wolf," and said he "liked little boys and girls" when he worked in Costa Rica as an English teacher, his former housemates told The Associated Press. Karr, now jailed in the United States after his arrest in Thailand, faces a Colorado warrant for the 1996 murder of 6-year-old JonBenet Ramsey. Karr traveled around the world in recent years, including brief stays in Honduras and Costa Rica, where he rented a room in 2004 from Canadian John Hall, who now teaches at...

LYONS NY--After weeks of trying to get the tenants out, the building owner, Craig P. LaRussa, age 36 of 4 Spencer Street Lyons, grabbed the opportunity of an open door to make his move. He simply removed the doors leading to the upstairs apartment and on the apartment itself. Unfortunately, the tenants still refused to budge and called the police. The door removal lead to the apartment becoming cold and the unwanted tenants, along with their two young children, held out with the law on their side. LaRussa was arrested on a warrant on Saturday (12/3) for Criminal Trespass 2nd...

TORONTO (Reuters) - To coincide with the world premiere of the "Lord of the Rings" musical in Toronto in February, a city tenants' group will crown a "Lord of the Slums." The group also wants slumlords to line up for a chance to win the "Golden Cockroach" award, and is eyeing a "Slums Unlimited" safari for tourists. The campaign by the Parkdale Tenants Association, which represents residents of a down-at-the-heels west end neighborhood, is taking aim at the city of Toronto and the government of Ontario over what it says are sub-standard living conditions for low-income renters. "When the city...

CONCORD, N.H. - Six newspapers in New Hampshire have agreed to stop running real estate ads that suggest children aren't welcome at the properties following complaints that the ads violated federal law. Several dozens landlords and real estate agents also agreed to stop placing ads targeting adult tenants and to submit future ads to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development for review. Federal law prohibits landlords from discriminating against children. The ads included promotions like "one mature person," "quiet adult location" and "great for a single person." They are discriminatory because they make it harder for families to...

When Jerald R. Klein, a Manhattan housing court judge, got a call from a reporter yesterday morning, he had no idea why he was being bothered at home on the weekend. He did not know that his face was all over eBay. He did not know that he was for sale. "What are you talking about?" he said. "Yes, I am a housing court judge. But I'm not for sale." According to a posting on eBay, an online auction house, the 55-year-old judge would go to the highest bidder. After four days, the best offer was $127.50. The eBay advertisement,...

<p>The more one follows the antics of the government, the more one has to question why so many politicians and voters believe the government is the answer to most every problem.</p> <p>State Sens. Jim Battin, R-La Quinta, and Jeff Denham, R-Salinas, recently proposed legislation that would create a database by which the state government can track its properties, according to a Register article last week. The goal is to sell some of the state government's vast land holdings - including vacant land and housing in Hawaii - to raise $1 billion to chip away at the $17 billion budget deficit.</p>

"Twelve million acres in the U.S., an area the size of Switzerland, is controlled by the The Nature Conservancy" The most shocking exposé in America today is in a new publication from RANGE magazine. In "Nature's Landlord," investigative reporter Tim Findley explores "the world's most powerful environmental group, The Nature Conservancy." Findley calls TNC "the monster we made from indifference" and shows how it has carefully and methodically achieved global power on a scale few could imagine. He traces the history of the TNC from its modest origins to its current status as a behemoth with nearly $3 billion (tax-exempt)...

You Don't Own Me Touring the glamorous homes of the opponents of Prop. R, which would allow thousands of renters per year to buy their own apartments You want fabulous? I'll show you fabulous: It's spending a sunny Bay Area Friday in the top-down convertible of realtor-to-the-S.F.-stars Kean Brewer; it's heading across the Bay Bridge toward the stunning six-bedroom, four-bath digs of San Francisco housing activist Randy Shaw, visiting the delightful Spanish Mediterranean West of Twin Peaks home of publisher Bruce Brugmann, or the lovely Haight-Ashbury duplex of growth-control advocate Calvin Welch; it's spending an entire morning soaking in the...

A heartless New York landlord is suing relatives of a September 11 victim, claiming she is owed £18,000 in unpaid rent. Denise Lyman said tenant Danielle Kousoulis, killed when hijacked planes crashed into the World Trade Centre, should have given three months notice before leaving her flat. Ms Kousoulis, 29, signed a £1,700-a-month lease for the city apartment 10 days before dying in the disaster. She worked on the 104th floor of the World Trade Centre's north tower as a vice president for trading firm Cantor Fitzgerald. Greedy Her family have been told by the the landlord she is an...