Owners who can certify that their home is not occupied by children under 6 or pregnant women may opt to allow the contractor to conduct repairs that are NOT in compliance with the Program. Repairs to rental properties MUST be done in compliance with the Program. The specific question to the Legal Hotline was in regard to vacant properties that were not rentals and not owner-occupied. ‘œDid the contractor have to follow Program requirements? Could the owner do his own repairs?’ EPA has advised that the ‘œhomeowner’ exception cannot be applied as a general exception for properties that are vacant or not intended to be used as rentals. They apply literally the language of the regulation that provides that exception to apply to renovations that will occur ‘œin the owner’s residence.’ Consequently, repairs done to property that is vacant (not owner occupied) would have to be done in compliance with the Program. NOTE: EPA will be publishing an amendment to eliminate the owner ‘œopt out.’ EPA has indicated that they anticipate that will become effective July 6. (RANM’s™ Legal Hotline)
Archives for May 2010
Commercial Loan Losses – Large but Bearable
Bearable — assuming banks will book the losses over time and offset them with earnings from healthier loans. But that convenient scenario may not play out for all banks, leaving investors potentially exposed to shock hits from commercial real-estate exposure. It will pay to sift through banks’ first-quarter earnings, which started to come out last week, for signs commercial real estate could yet cause unexpected pain. Read more…
Largest Commercial Firm — "Selling & Leasing Picking Up"
CB Richard Ellis Group Inc., reported a first-quarter loss Wednesday but said the business of selling and leasing buildings was picking up. The Los Angeles-based company said it had a net loss of $6.6 million, or 2 cents a share, compared with a loss of $36.7 million, or 14 cents, in the same period a year ago. With posted adjusted earnings of 1 cent a share after deducting one-time charges mostly related to cost-cutting measures and write-downs of impaired assets, the brokerage met Wall Street analysts’ predictions. Chief Executive Brett White said market conditions were getting better, especially in Asia. Read more…
