RIO DELL, Calif. — At least two people were dead, nearly a dozen were injured and scores were displaced on Tuesday as the North Coast of California — a rugged and remote stretch of redwood country overlooking the Pacific Ocean — worked to recover from a 6.4-magnitude earthquake.

The powerful jolt, in the frigid dark at 2:34 am Pacific time, damaged bridges and roads, topped walls and chimneys, and cut power to more than 70,000 utility customers in Humboldt County. By evening, electricity was restored for about half of those customers, but some 34,000 were still without power, according to Pacific Gas and Electric, and some parts of the county were left without running water and major transportation routes.

The quake was centered just offshore, about 12 miles west of the community of Ferndale and more than 200 miles north of San Francisco, in a seismically active region. Exactly one year ago, the same area was rocked by a 6.2 temblor. More than 50 aftershocks followed Tuesday’s earthquake, including a large one about five minutes after with a magnitude of 4.6, according to the US Geological Survey.

William F. Honsal, the sheriff and emergency services director of Humboldt County, said that at least two people, ages 72 and 83, died because they had suffered medical crises around the time of the earthquake and could not be reached by emergency personnel soon enough .

Among the damaged roads is the one that crosses Fernbridge, a historic multiple-arched bridge across the Eel River that is the primary route for Ferndale residents to Eureka, the county’s largest city. The bridge was closed early Tuesday, and photos showed that a billowing crack had formed in the road nearby.

In Rio Dell, an old logging community about 10 miles southeast of Ferndale that the sheriff called “ground zero” for the earthquake’s impact, the city manager, Kyle Knopp, said that 15 homes were already deemed uninhabitable because of earthquake damage, and that inspectors were continuing to examine structures. Gavin Newsom, the governor of California, and Humboldt County officials declared a state of emergency to expedite aid.

Mr. Knopp, who estimated that as many as 150 of the community’s 3,300 residents would be displaced by the time inspections were completed, also said the city might be unable to supply tap water until Wednesday at the earliest.

“This was a tough day,” said Greg Allen, the Rio Dell police chief. “That jolt hit us pretty hard.”

Witnesses, many of whom had been through significant earthquakes before, said that Tuesday’s quake felt unusually strong, leading to terrifying moments as they were shaken from their sleep.

In Rio Dell, Kirstin Collins, 32, said she awoke to a violent rattling and thought immediately of her 8-year-old son, Liam, who slept on the opposite side of the house. Her husband, Johnnie Collins, 30, ran to retrieve Liam in the pitch darkness, and cut his feet on broken items on the floor, she said.

A dresser topped onto her bed, and a fallen mirror nearly barricaded her in the room, she said. The house’s water heater broke, and a broken pipe flooded the laundry room where the family’s dog slept.

“I honestly didn’t think I was going to get out of the house,” Ms. Collins said hours later, assessing the quake’s aftermath in the rain. Once there was daylight, she said, she found more damage both inside and outside the house, and wondered how she would feed her son, charge her phone or find shelter.

“We have nothing,” she said. “Everything is broken in our house completely, and we don’t know where to go and what to do.”

Another Rio Dell resident, Joe Filyau, 59, said that he had been through other earthquakes, but “never felt one that hard.”

The “earth was just slamming up and down,” he said.

A tile from the countertop in his newly renovated kitchen broke away from the wall, he said, and he had to turn the water off after a line burst, spraying water under his house.

“Everything in the house is just everywhere,” he said.

But Mr. Filyau had more pressing concerns: His 87-year-old mother, Beverly, is on oxygen, and he did not know how much longer their gasoline-powered generator would keep running to provide power for her oxygen machine. All of the nearby gas stations were closed, so he planned to drive to Ferndale, hoping that a gas station there would have electricity and be open for business.

In the city of Fortuna, five miles east of Ferndale, local merchants said the quake on Tuesday was stronger even than the one that struck last Dec. 20 in the same region. By dawn, many people were already busy sweeping up broken glass on the sidewalks.

Kathy Comerer, the proprietor of Fortuna Fabrics and Crafts, said the earthquake had shattered seven of her store windows, “a record.” Nearby, the aroma of alcohol wafted from a Beverage Plus store, where the floor was littered with smashed liquor bottles. The owner of a pharmacy, Robert Johnson, said his storefront was intact only because he had installed sturdier windows after an earlier earthquake.

About 15 minutes’ drive away, Daniel Zingale, a retired state political strategist who now lives on eight acres of redwood forest, said the quake had frightened his two donkeys, Niño and Pinto; had sent his cat, macaroni, into hiding; and had knocked a statue of the Virgin Mary from a crèche on the fireplace mantle. But otherwise, he said, his cabin came home through without serious damage.

“It’s very dark here at night and very quiet, and all of a sudden, the house was rocking and rolling,” Mr. Zingale said. “A big mirror fell off the wall and we didn’t even hear it, because the sound of the quake was so loud.”

Boutique shops in Ferndale, a small town of 1,350 residents, had merchandise scattered across their floors. The front windows of Valley Grocery were shattered, and signs declared “Cash Only” because the power was out, as patrons shopped for essentials in the dark. At Ring’s Pharmacy, a clerk, Susie Klatt, said the quake had left not only her workplace, but also her holiday covered home, strewn with debris and damage.

“I’m a big Christmas person, so I had three trees fall over,” she said. “Santa Clauses all over the place.”

The latest earthquake and the one last year occurred in a region where three of the earth’s large crustal plates come together. Known as the Mendocino Triple Junction, it is an area of ​​high seismic activity, averaging about 80 earthquakes a year of magnitude 3 or greater.

Along most of coastal California, the Pacific plate slides slowly to the northwest past the North American plate. This results in the San Andreas fault and other major faults that occasionally cause large earthquakes.

In the northernmost part of the coast, however, a third plate, the Gorda — part of a larger plate called the Juan de Fuca — comes into play. At this triple junction, the Gorda is sliding beneath the North American plate, a process called subduction, and at the same time sliding past the Pacific plate, creating a fault called the Mendocino Transform. The combination of these various stresses is what leads to the large number of earthquakes in the area.

Kitty Bennett contributed research. Ollie Hancock contributed reporting from Ferndale, Calif., Henry Fountain from Albuquerque and Jacey Fortin from New York.

The post California Earthquake Leaves 2 Useless and Hundreds With out Energy appeared first on Los Gatos News And Events.

RIO DELL, Calif. — At least two people were dead, nearly a dozen were injured and scores were displaced on Tuesday as the North Coast of California — a rugged and remote stretch of redwood country overlooking the Pacific Ocean — worked to recover from a 6.4-magnitude earthquake.

The powerful jolt, in the frigid dark at 2:34 am Pacific time, damaged bridges and roads, topped walls and chimneys, and cut power to more than 70,000 utility customers in Humboldt County. By evening, electricity was restored for about half of those customers, but some 34,000 were still without power, according to Pacific Gas and Electric, and some parts of the county were left without running water and major transportation routes.

The quake was centered just offshore, about 12 miles west of the community of Ferndale and more than 200 miles north of San Francisco, in a seismically active region. Exactly one year ago, the same area was rocked by a 6.2 temblor. More than 50 aftershocks followed Tuesday’s earthquake, including a large one about five minutes after with a magnitude of 4.6, according to the US Geological Survey.

William F. Honsal, the sheriff and emergency services director of Humboldt County, said that at least two people, ages 72 and 83, died because they had suffered medical crises around the time of the earthquake and could not be reached by emergency personnel soon enough .

Among the damaged roads is the one that crosses Fernbridge, a historic multiple-arched bridge across the Eel River that is the primary route for Ferndale residents to Eureka, the county’s largest city. The bridge was closed early Tuesday, and photos showed that a billowing crack had formed in the road nearby.

In Rio Dell, an old logging community about 10 miles southeast of Ferndale that the sheriff called “ground zero” for the earthquake’s impact, the city manager, Kyle Knopp, said that 15 homes were already deemed uninhabitable because of earthquake damage, and that inspectors were continuing to examine structures. Gavin Newsom, the governor of California, and Humboldt County officials declared a state of emergency to expedite aid.

Mr. Knopp, who estimated that as many as 150 of the community’s 3,300 residents would be displaced by the time inspections were completed, also said the city might be unable to supply tap water until Wednesday at the earliest.

“This was a tough day,” said Greg Allen, the Rio Dell police chief. “That jolt hit us pretty hard.”

Witnesses, many of whom had been through significant earthquakes before, said that Tuesday’s quake felt unusually strong, leading to terrifying moments as they were shaken from their sleep.

In Rio Dell, Kirstin Collins, 32, said she awoke to a violent rattling and thought immediately of her 8-year-old son, Liam, who slept on the opposite side of the house. Her husband, Johnnie Collins, 30, ran to retrieve Liam in the pitch darkness, and cut his feet on broken items on the floor, she said.

A dresser topped onto her bed, and a fallen mirror nearly barricaded her in the room, she said. The house’s water heater broke, and a broken pipe flooded the laundry room where the family’s dog slept.

“I honestly didn’t think I was going to get out of the house,” Ms. Collins said hours later, assessing the quake’s aftermath in the rain. Once there was daylight, she said, she found more damage both inside and outside the house, and wondered how she would feed her son, charge her phone or find shelter.

“We have nothing,” she said. “Everything is broken in our house completely, and we don’t know where to go and what to do.”

Another Rio Dell resident, Joe Filyau, 59, said that he had been through other earthquakes, but “never felt one that hard.”

The “earth was just slamming up and down,” he said.

A tile from the countertop in his newly renovated kitchen broke away from the wall, he said, and he had to turn the water off after a line burst, spraying water under his house.

“Everything in the house is just everywhere,” he said.

But Mr. Filyau had more pressing concerns: His 87-year-old mother, Beverly, is on oxygen, and he did not know how much longer their gasoline-powered generator would keep running to provide power for her oxygen machine. All of the nearby gas stations were closed, so he planned to drive to Ferndale, hoping that a gas station there would have electricity and be open for business.

In the city of Fortuna, five miles east of Ferndale, local merchants said the quake on Tuesday was stronger even than the one that struck last Dec. 20 in the same region. By dawn, many people were already busy sweeping up broken glass on the sidewalks.

Kathy Comerer, the proprietor of Fortuna Fabrics and Crafts, said the earthquake had shattered seven of her store windows, “a record.” Nearby, the aroma of alcohol wafted from a Beverage Plus store, where the floor was littered with smashed liquor bottles. The owner of a pharmacy, Robert Johnson, said his storefront was intact only because he had installed sturdier windows after an earlier earthquake.

About 15 minutes’ drive away, Daniel Zingale, a retired state political strategist who now lives on eight acres of redwood forest, said the quake had frightened his two donkeys, Niño and Pinto; had sent his cat, macaroni, into hiding; and had knocked a statue of the Virgin Mary from a crèche on the fireplace mantle. But otherwise, he said, his cabin came home through without serious damage.

“It’s very dark here at night and very quiet, and all of a sudden, the house was rocking and rolling,” Mr. Zingale said. “A big mirror fell off the wall and we didn’t even hear it, because the sound of the quake was so loud.”

Boutique shops in Ferndale, a small town of 1,350 residents, had merchandise scattered across their floors. The front windows of Valley Grocery were shattered, and signs declared “Cash Only” because the power was out, as patrons shopped for essentials in the dark. At Ring’s Pharmacy, a clerk, Susie Klatt, said the quake had left not only her workplace, but also her holiday covered home, strewn with debris and damage.

“I’m a big Christmas person, so I had three trees fall over,” she said. “Santa Clauses all over the place.”

The latest earthquake and the one last year occurred in a region where three of the earth’s large crustal plates come together. Known as the Mendocino Triple Junction, it is an area of ​​high seismic activity, averaging about 80 earthquakes a year of magnitude 3 or greater.

Along most of coastal California, the Pacific plate slides slowly to the northwest past the North American plate. This results in the San Andreas fault and other major faults that occasionally cause large earthquakes.

In the northernmost part of the coast, however, a third plate, the Gorda — part of a larger plate called the Juan de Fuca — comes into play. At this triple junction, the Gorda is sliding beneath the North American plate, a process called subduction, and at the same time sliding past the Pacific plate, creating a fault called the Mendocino Transform. The combination of these various stresses is what leads to the large number of earthquakes in the area.

Kitty Bennett contributed research. Ollie Hancock contributed reporting from Ferndale, Calif., Henry Fountain from Albuquerque and Jacey Fortin from New York.

The post 6.4-Magnitude Earthquake in California Leaves 2 Useless, 1000’s With out Energy appeared first on Los Gatos News And Events.

One of the nation’s largest corporate landlords, the company rapidly bought and renovated thousands of properties, often without required permits

July 12, 2022 at 6:00 a.m. EDT

Detail above Celeste Jackson’s front door. Some of the issues, like falling tiles and holes in the wall, have recently been addressed by Invitation Homes. (Stella Kalinina)Comment on this story

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RIVERSIDE, Calif. — Invitation Homes advertises that it is leading a real estate “revolution.”

Formed by Wall Street investors after the Great Recession and foreclosure crisis, the company accumulated tens of thousands of houses at depressed prices, spent hundreds of millions of dollars on renovations and now leases them out. Never before has a single landlord owned such large swaths of suburban America. As rents have risen in recent years, the value of the publicly traded company has soared to more than $23 billion.

“Top-quality homes,” it promises prospective renters, “maintained by top-level professionals.”

Yet some of the company’s homes have missed basic quality checks: Renovations at the company’s rapidly assembled collection of 80,000 homes often were made without building permits, according to a review of Invitation Homes properties in several states, a California lawsuit and a Washington Post analysis of building data in three cities.

Skipping building permits may have allowed the company to avoid costly delays and save millions in fees, according to estimates based on the number of company homes. But forgoing the permits, which are required by city codes to ensure quality and safety, has led to shoddy repairs and maintenance that puts tenants at risk, renters said.

“We’re paying $4,000 a month to live in hell,” said Celeste Jackson, a Los Angeles entrepreneur who lives with her husband in an Invitation Homes property. Before she moved in, a third bedroom was created in the home without the permits required to do so, according to floor plans of the property and interviews with tenants. Since then, the couple said they have suffered through cracked skylights, rotten wood and flooding so frequent that the company left sandbags at their door for months.

Outside Dallas, another couple said they discovered water pouring through their walls and soaking the carpet after a bathroom renovation for which no permits are on file with the city.

And near Tampa, contractors hired by Invitation Homes reframed rotted floors and walls and rewired a living room without pulling permits, according to county records. The contractors then left the living room gutted for seven months before the company fixed it properly, according to one of the tenants, Kristi McKenzie, and photos she provided.

“They hire people who will just do anything without doing it to code,” McKenzie said.

The company disputes allegations that it purposely hires contractors who disregard permitting rules, adding that most tenants are satisfied, staying nearly three years on average and giving positive online reviews.

Invitation Homes is one of several large corporations that have transformed the rental housing industry over the past decade, touting their ability to efficiently manage vast portfolios of single-family houses. Tenant advocates say corporate landlords are helping to drive up rent prices even as they skimp on maintenance and major repairs.

For this report, The Post analysis looked at three markets where Invitation has hundreds of homes: Charlotte; Orlando; and Riverside, Calif., a suburb east of Los Angeles. In all three, Invitation Homes properties were less likely than others in the area to have had permits pulled for renovations and other projects, according to the analysis of local building department data. In Charlotte and Riverside, Invitation Homes properties were half as likely to have had permits pulled.

Separately, The Post found that at more than a dozen Invitation Homes properties across several states, the company hired contractors for renovations for which there is no record of the required permits. The projects included roof replacements, air conditioning installations, swimming pool demolitions and other work that sometimes led to significant complications.

Given a summary of The Post’s findings, Invitation Homes did not comment on the statistical analysis or specific problems reported by renters. In a statement, the company said that it expects its contractors to abide by permitting rules.

“We always seek to comply with applicable laws and regulations, including permitting laws, and are continually evaluating and improving our compliance procedures,” the company said in an emailed statement from spokesperson Kristi DesJarlais. “We expect our third-party vendors to adhere to these same standards and enter into agreements that obligate them to do so.”

In most parts of the country, local officials require building permits for significant home renovations. Changing the plumbing, rewiring an electrical circuit or replacing a roof often call for payment of a fee and, sometimes, inspections. The responsibility for pulling a permit lies with both the owner and the licensed contractor doing to the work, building officials said. The process can cause delays and add thousands of dollars to renovation costs.

“Permits are there to ensure life safety,” said Ron Takiguchi, former president of California Building Officials, a professional organization. “Homeowners should have the right to enjoy their homes without worrying that the construction is safe.”

Invitation Homes officials have said the company has spent $25,000 on average renovating each home it acquired. Such costly projects often require permits, but company properties were much less likely to have had permits pulled than other houses in the same areas, according to The Post analysis.

This raises concerns that some renovations were not properly permitted, Takiguchi said.

“It would be a red flag just based on the disproportionality itself,” he said.

The Post analyzed how often building permits were issued to Invitation Homes properties compared to other residential properties, from 2012 to the present. For the analysis, The Post chose three cities where Invitation has hundreds of homes and building permit data is readily accessible. In all three, the Invitation Homes properties were less likely to have had permits pulled.

In Riverside, where the company owns more than 400 homes, building permits were issued for 13 percent of properties it acquired. By contrast, the proportion of other Riverside homes that have obtained permits is 28 percent — meaning Invitation Homes was half as likely as other homeowners to have obtained a building permit over the past decade.

In Charlotte, where the company owns about 1,900 homes, building permits have been issued for 24 percent of the company’s properties, compared with 48 percent of other Charlotte homes. And in Orlando, where the company owns 1,300 homes, building permits have been issued for 56 percent of its properties, compared with 63 percent of other homes.

Across the United States, The Post found multiple examples where unpermitted work left tenants with homes in poor condition.

In the middle of the pandemic, for example, Candy Scott and her family moved into an Invitation property in Denton, Tex., in December 2020. Recent photos of the property showed that the bathroom had been remodeled to replace a whirlpool tub with a shower stall.

“I thought: ‘They just remodeled. What could go wrong?’ ” Scott recalled.

The week she moved in, she found water from the shower filling the bathroom and running into the master bedroom, soaking the carpet. “When you walked on the carpet in the master bedroom, it was soaking wet. For a while, we tried to put towels on the carpet, but then we realized it was coming through the walls.”

A contractor came and tore out the tile, finding that no shower liner had been installed underneath, Scott said. He re-tiled the shower but then the drain clogged, she was told, because of mortar he’d let slip into the drain. Getting a new contractor to fix the shower took months, she said.

On another occasion, she said, the house needed a plumber , but the person who showed up was only prepared to repair drywall and told her he would “go to Home Depot and try to figure it out.”

She said she complained repeatedly to Invitation’s customer service staff about the quality of work.

“I would ask them: ‘Why do you keep sending people out here who are doing a horrible job?’ He’d say, ‘I have another company but they are going to do just as bad.’ ”

There are no permits on file with the city for any of the repairs, which are required by Denton. In April, Scott and her family moved out.

At a home in Clayton, N.C., near Raleigh, Invitation Homes hired a contractor to do $54,000 worth of work, including installing a new air conditioning system, according to documents obtained by The Post. Air conditioning installations and renovations of that value require building permits, but none are on file, a city spokesperson said.

“They never seem to live up to what they promise,” said tenant Erich Budde, who said that in addition to the unpermitted renovations, the painting and work on the floor seem in his view to have been shoddy and rushed. “Things are always discombobulated and disorganized,” he said.

The company declined to comment on specific cases.

“Since our founding 10 years ago, Invitation Homes has consistently invested in providing prompt, professional service to our residents, including the timely turnaround of all maintenance requests,” the company said.

Before the Great Recession, enormous real estate companies like Invitation Homes with huge portfolios of single-family houses were largely unheard of. Companies that rented houses tended to be much smaller and limited to one town or region.

“Back in 2012, home-leasing options were slim,” the Invitation Homes website explains. “There were only mom-and-pop landlords and a few regional leasing companies. No one could deliver the consistent, worry-free way of life that our founders envisioned.”

The foreclosure crisis created buying opportunities for these large ventures, but it was internet technology that enabled them to seize the moment. Using large-scale cloud-based data analysis, Wall Street investors were able to search for and buy hundreds of homes in a week.

The technology also benefited renters, Invitation Homes says, because it makes leasing a house simpler and more efficient. Potential renters can browse houses online or tour them in person with self-guided walk-throughs. Tenants often say that they might not even meet a property manager before moving in.

Like tech disrupters Uber, Robinhood and Amazon, Invitation Homes has touted its venture as a way to overhaul an industry populated by more traditional competitors.

Brad Griewe, one of Invitation’s founders, has described the idea this way: “We fundamentally believed we could use technology to enable a best-in-class team to identify, underwrite, purchase, renovate, and professionally lease/manage U.S. single-family rental homes across the country at scale.”

In fact, the company’s advertising suggests it can transform the American Dream and make renting better than buying a home. “That mortgage thing?” the company advertises. “Yeah, forget that.”

The rise of the investment groups, which in some markets are buying up to one-third of the homes that become available, are putting upward pressure on home prices, housing advocates said.

So far, Invitation Homes — spun off by the investment firm Blackstone in 2017 — has paid off for investors. Blackstone declined to comment. After briefly falling below $18 a share when the pandemic started in early 2020, Invitation Homes shares rose above $45 in January but are now going for about $35, reflecting the market sell-off. The company remains a favorite of Wall Street investors.

The company has benefited in recent years from the rapid rise in rents.

In the first quarter of 2020, Invitation charged an average of $1,851 per month. This year, that rose to $2,074, a 12 percent increase, per securities filings, with the largest increases in Phoenix, Las Vegas and Florida.

In buying and fixing up its portfolio of properties nationwide, Invitation Homes has sought to prepare homes quickly to start collecting rent, according to its executives speaking in quarterly calls with investors. That urgency, housing advocates and lawyers say, sometimes compromised quality.

To speed up purchases, large institutional investors like Invitation Homes can buy homes with only superficial inspections, which aren’t as thorough as the typical inspection an individual buyer usually needs to secure a bank loan. As a result, these big companies may be more likely to buy damaged properties, especially when buying homes in bulk or from bank auctions.

“We often do not have the opportunity to conduct interior inspections or conduct more than cursory exterior inspections on a portion of the properties, if at all,” according to Invitation financial filings. “Such inspection processes may fail to reveal major defects associated with such properties.”

The company typically hires third-party contractors to handle repairs and maintenance, spending about $2.5 billion to fix up the houses its buys, according to financial filings — an average of $25,000 to $35,000 per home.

To reduce the time a house sits empty, company executives say they track a metric they call “days to re-resident,” the time it takes to prepare a home and find a new tenant. During the pandemic, the company was able to shorten the period between tenants from 29 days to 23 days, according to executives on a call with analysts.

The speed may raise profits, but some attorneys say it also has harmed tenants.

In late 2020, a newly formed tech company sued Invitation Homes alleging that the company’s contractors regularly conducted repairs and renovations without permits. The lawsuit, which was based on an analysis of Invitation’s portfolio of 12,000 homes in California, claimed that the company had deprived multiple cities and counties of millions of dollars in permit fees. The allegations are based on a broad statistical analysis of building permits issued for Invitation Homes properties and on 15 specific examples where, the plaintiffs say, company properties were renovated without permits.

Invitation Homes “has spent thousands of dollars on renovations to its single-family homes in California but intentionally and systematically failed to obtain building permits,” according to the lawsuit from tech firm Blackbird Special Project, which is using the proprietary technology of a related company, Deckard Technologies, a firm that uses machine learning to review real estate data. The plaintiffs have been represented by Leonard B. Simon, a San Diego attorney, and the firm of Sanford Heisler Sharp.

The “company chose to ignore permitting requirements to avoid permit fees and to get the properties into the rental market as quickly as possible,” according to the lawsuit.

The lawsuit is intended to recover money from Invitation Homes for local governments under a whistleblower law that would give the tech firms a portion of any award.

Attorneys for Invitation Homes have called the allegations “unfounded” in court documents and said the case is “a manufactured story, unsupported by particularized allegations.” During a call with investors this year, Invitation chief executive Dallas Tanner said “we think we have some pretty compelling arguments” in response to the lawsuit and that the company looked forward to defending itself in court. Invitation’s attorneys filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuit in April.

“We believe this case has no merit and is riddled with factual errors and legal deficiencies,” the company said in its statement to The Post.

Regarding the lawsuit, Invitation said in its statement that the plaintiff’s statistical analysis of building permits “lacks any empirical reliability.” The real estate company also has called into question the 15 specific examples of unpermitted work cited by the lawsuit, and noted that they constitute only a small portion of its 12,000 homes in the state.

Using interviews, Google Earth and other public records, however, The Post found evidence that substantial work had been done without permits at eight of the 15 homes cited in the lawsuit. The timing of the unpermitted renovations was not always clear, but six of the eight were done about the time Invitation Homes bought them or shortly thereafter.

At one Riverside home, for example, a pool was filled in and a back portion of the house was demolished after Invitation Homes purchased the property in 2012, according to Google Earth imagery. These changes would have required a building permit, according to municipal codes, but none were obtained, according to city records.

One door down, a patio structure was dismantled without a city permit. The tenant said the roof was replaced, but no building permit was found in city records.

Other homes had an adjoining pantry or shed demolished and another got a new air conditioning system, as alleged in the lawsuit. None of the work had been done with permits, according to city records.

Most of the homes cited in the lawsuit are in Riverside, and in a statement, city officials said those eight homes are “under investigation based on the facts presented and the specific allegations of unpermitted construction contained in the lawsuit.”

Wall Street analysts are paying close attention.

Corporate landlords like Invitation Homes are a sector already “reviled by the populace,” said Ross Bowler, chief executive of 2nd Market Capital Advisory, which analyzes publicly traded real estate companies. Though Invitation Homes is fighting the allegations, he said, the suit probably will generate additional negative publicity.

“They say there is no merit” to the lawsuit, Bowler said. “But because it is potentially ugly and unknown, it puts a mark on the whole single-family rental sector.”

The Post identified properties owned by Invitation Homes by matching its subsidiaries with a national property ownership database maintained by Regrid. Riverside, Orlando and Charlotte were identified as places where Invitation Homes had hundreds of homes and with readily accessible online building permit data.

For each locality, The Post used city and county public online building permit portals and building permit databases to identify permits for homes owned by Invitation Homes and its subsidiaries. Permit data was collected starting in 2012, when Invitation Homes was founded, to the present for any property owned by the company.

Using the same sources, The Post calculated the percentage of all single-family properties not currently owned by Invitation Homes in each locality that had building permits since 2012 on file. Property lists came from publicly accessible county property assessor records. In Riverside, data on single-family properties was last updated in 2017, so homes built after that are excluded from the analysis.

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Six days after suffering a fractured skull in a vicious attack, Paul Pelosi, the husband of Speaker Nancy Pelosi, has been discharged from the Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital.

Mr. Pelosi, 82, is resting at home, recovering from injuries to his head, arm and hand. He spent most of his time at the hospital in the intensive care unit, according to a person familiar with the matter.

“The Pelosi family is thankful for the beautiful outpouring of love, support and prayers from around the world,” Ms. Pelosi said in a statement. “Paul is grateful to the 911 operator, emergency responders, trauma care team, ICU staff and the entire ZSFGH medical staff for their excellent and compassionate lifesaving treatment he received after the violent assault in our home.”

She added that her husband “remains under doctors’ care as he continues to progress on a long recovery process and convalescence. He is now home surrounded by his family who request privacy.”

A 42-year-old man, David DePape, has been charged by federal prosecutors with attempting to kidnap Ms. Pelosi and assaulting a relative of a federal official after breaking into the couple’s San Francisco home on Oct. 28. He also pleaded not guilty on Tuesday to several state felony charges.

Mr. DePape, who had embraced far-right conspiracy theories, struck Mr. Pelosi with a hammer in front of the police, according to prosecutors, and told investigators that he wished to break Ms. Pelosi’s kneecaps if she “lied” and see her “wheeled into Congress” as a lesson to other lawmakers.

His early morning break-in to the Pelosis’ house, in the upscale neighborhood of Pacific Heights, was detailed in a filing made by local prosecutors this week as they argued Mr. DePape should be detained without bail. On Friday, prosecutors and Mr. DePape’s defense team will appear before a San Francisco judge, who will set a date for his preliminary hearing and a bail hearing.

Mr. DePape, who brought zip-ties and two hammers, smashed through a glass door at the back of the house and confronted Mr. Pelosi, who had been asleep in his bedroom, according to two filings issued this week by state and federal prosecutors . The suspected demanded to see Ms. Pelosi, who was in Washington at the time, according to the authorities.

After some discussion, Mr. DePape allowed Mr. Pelosi to use the bathroom, where Mr. Pelosi called 911, and tried to signal surreptitiously to the dispatcher that he was in trouble while Mr. DePape listened to the call, the prosecutors said. When police officers arrived at the house, they witnessed the two men, who had moved downstairs, struggling for control of one of the hammers.

Mr. DePape pulled the hammer away from Mr. Pelosi and smashed him on the head with it before being tackled and restrained by officers. “Mr. Pelosi remained unresponsive for about three minutes, waking up in a pool of his own blood,” according to the local prosecutors’ filing.

Later, according to the same filing, Mr. DePape told officers that he was there on a “suicide mission,” looking for Ms. Pelosi, and that he had other targets as well: a local professor and several state and federal politicians, as well as their relatives.

“I’m sick of the insane fucking level of lies coming out of Washington, DC,” Mr. DePape told officers, according to the authorities.

Mr. DePape grew up in British Columbia in Canada and moved to California about two decades ago. For years, Mr. DePape was living in Berkeley, Calif., where he was at times homeless, before moving to a garage in nearby Richmond about two years ago.

Mr. DePape was easygoing, quiet and a diligent worker, according to Frank Ciccarelli, a carpenter who employed him for the past six years. But he also began embracing political conspiracy theories and believed that the 2020 election had been stolen, Mr. Ciccarelli said.

A few years ago, Mr. Ciccarelli tried to help out Mr. DePape, moving him off the street and into his friend’s garage. But Mr. Ciccarelli believed that gave Mr. DePape greater access to the internet, allowing him to become more isolated and captive to his darkest thoughts.

Mr DePape appeared to have written a blog filled with rants about the 2020 election, antisemitic beliefs and QAnon conspiracy theories. “He went down the rabbit hole,” Mr. Ciccarelli said.

On Tuesday, Adam Lipson, Mr. DePape’s public defender, signaled that his client’s “vulnerability” to political misinformation and propaganda could be a possible strategy for his legal defense.

“That’s certainly something we’re going to look into,” Mr Lipson said.

Holly Secon contributed reporting.

The post Paul Pelosi Leaves San Francisco Hospital After Assault appeared first on Los Gatos News And Events.

Six days after suffering a fractured skull in a vicious attack, Paul Pelosi, the husband of Speaker Nancy Pelosi, has been discharged from the Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital.

Mr. Pelosi, 82, is resting at home, recovering from injuries to his head, arm and hand. He spent most of his time at the hospital in the intensive care unit, according to a person familiar with the matter.

“The Pelosi family is thankful for the beautiful outpouring of love, support and prayers from around the world,” Ms. Pelosi said in a statement. “Paul is grateful to the 911 operator, emergency responders, trauma care team, ICU staff and the entire ZSFGH medical staff for their excellent and compassionate lifesaving treatment he received after the violent assault in our home.”

She added that her husband “remains under doctors’ care as he continues to progress on a long recovery process and convalescence. He is now home surrounded by his family who request privacy.”

A 42-year-old man, David DePape, has been charged by federal prosecutors with attempting to kidnap Ms. Pelosi and assaulting a relative of a federal official after breaking into the couple’s San Francisco home on Oct. 28. He also pleaded not guilty on Tuesday to several state felony charges.

More on the Paul Pelosi Attack

Mr. DePape, who had embraced far-right conspiracy theories, struck Mr. Pelosi with a hammer in front of the police, according to prosecutors, and told investigators that he wished to break Ms. Pelosi’s kneecaps if she “lied” and see her “wheeled into Congress” as a lesson to other lawmakers.

His early morning break-in to the Pelosis’ house, in the upscale neighborhood of Pacific Heights, was detailed in a filing made by local prosecutors this week as they argued Mr. DePape should be detained without bail. On Friday, prosecutors and Mr. DePape’s defense team will appear before a San Francisco judge, who will set a date for his preliminary hearing and a bail hearing.

Mr. DePape, who brought zip-ties and two hammers, smashed through a glass door at the back of the house and confronted Mr. Pelosi, who had been asleep in his bedroom, according to two filings issued this week by state and federal prosecutors . The suspected demanded to see Ms. Pelosi, who was in Washington at the time, according to the authorities.

After some discussion, Mr. DePape allowed Mr. Pelosi to use the bathroom, where Mr. Pelosi called 911, and tried to signal surreptitiously to the dispatcher that he was in trouble while Mr. DePape listened to the call, the prosecutors said. When police officers arrived at the house, they witnessed the two men, who had moved downstairs, struggling for control of one of the hammers.

Mr. DePape pulled the hammer away from Mr. Pelosi and smashed him on the head with it before being tackled and restrained by officers. “Mr. Pelosi remained unresponsive for about three minutes, waking up in a pool of his own blood,” according to the local prosecutors’ filing.

Later, according to the same filing, Mr. DePape told officers that he was there on a “suicide mission,” looking for Ms. Pelosi, and that he had other targets as well: a local professor and several state and federal politicians, as well as their relatives.

“I’m sick of the insane fucking level of lies coming out of Washington, DC,” Mr. DePape told officers, according to the authorities.

Mr. DePape grew up in British Columbia in Canada and moved to California about two decades ago. For years, Mr. DePape was living in Berkeley, Calif., where he was at times homeless, before moving to a garage in nearby Richmond about two years ago.

Mr. DePape was easygoing, quiet and a diligent worker, according to Frank Ciccarelli, a carpenter who employed him for the past six years. But he also began embracing political conspiracy theories and believed that the 2020 election had been stolen, Mr. Ciccarelli said.

A few years ago, Mr. Ciccarelli tried to help out Mr. DePape, moving him off the street and into his friend’s garage. But Mr. Ciccarelli believed that gave Mr. DePape greater access to the internet, allowing him to become more isolated and captive to his darkest thoughts.

Mr DePape appeared to have written a blog filled with rants about the 2020 election, antisemitic beliefs and QAnon conspiracy theories. “He went down the rabbit hole,” Mr. Ciccarelli said.

On Tuesday, Adam Lipson, Mr. DePape’s public defender, signaled that his client’s “vulnerability” to political misinformation and propaganda could be a possible strategy for his legal defense.

“That’s certainly something we’re going to look into,” Mr Lipson said.

Holly Secon contributed reporting.

The post Paul Pelosi Leaves San Francisco Hospital After Assault appeared first on Los Gatos News And Events.

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The post Nancy Pelosi Leaves San Francisco Dwelling – NBC Bay Space appeared first on Los Gatos News And Events.

DEKALB COUNTY, Ga. — Some residents say it’s taking days and weeks in some cases to get an HVAC company to fix broken air conditioning units, leaving hundreds of Georgia residents living in the heat.

“It feels like, basically, I’m living outside,” said Derrick Pitts, who is living without air conditioning.

Pitts says his family, including a 1-year-old, has been living like this during the hottest week on record for 2022.

[DOWNLOAD: Free WSB-TV News app for alerts as news breaks]

“This fan right here, and this is where I have to put my daughter at when she’s sleeping,” Pitts said.

He’s one of thousands of metro Atlanta residents living without air conditioning.

“I’ve put in work orders,” he said.

“Anytime we get a heat wave, we always have a massive influx in calls,” said Andrew Navarro, HVAC manager at RS Andrews.

Navarro said since the start of this heat wave, they’ve been inundated with “anywhere between 700 and 900 calls a day,” he said.

TRENDING STORIES:

The increase for air conditioning repairs is typical during hot periods, but pandemic-related understaffing plays a part in mechanical part delays.

“A lot of this stuff is still on back order for months,” he said.

Navarro said the call volume this heat wave has brought, has resulted in longer wait times.

“Right now we’re looking at about a week,” he said.

ChanneI 2 spoke with several metro area HVAC companies, and all said because of the demand it can take anywhere between three to ten days to respond to a request.

“Anytime we have an opening in the schedule, we do move them up forward,” Navarro said.

Pitts says he’s been waiting for more than a week to have his air conditioning fixed at the Clarkston Station Apartments.

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Channel 2 reached out to management to get a status on the fix, but they said no comment.

“That’s not acceptable,” Pitts said.

Navarro says most home air conditioning systems aren’t designed to keep up with temperatures that reach above 92 degrees, and with triple-digit temps on the way, it definitely puts a strain on units.

“When it starts getting hotter than that, systems are not going to keep up,” Navarro said. “Whenever we have a heat wave like this, there’s no company in Atlanta that’s going to be able to staff for the short time frame that we have.”

IN OTHER NEWS:

Mom left 3-month-old, 5-year-old in hot car as she shopped at Roswell Dollar Tree, police say Officers responded to reports of two children in a car outside a Dollar Tree on Holcomb Bridge Road. The temperature at the time was around 93 degrees.

©2022 Cox Media Group

The post Warmth leaves neighbors annoyed with HVAC corporations’ timelines to restore air conditioners – WSB-TV Channel 2 appeared first on Los Gatos News And Events.

Tony Bennett won over generations of fans singing “I Left My Heart in San Francisco”. And on his 95th birthday, the beloved singer left his heart on the stage of Radio City Music Hall. Six months after Bennett and his family announced that he had Alzheimer’s disease, Bennett sang with Lady Gaga to a sold-out audience in a two-concert series billed as his last New York appearances in early August. Related video above: Lady Gaga struggled to “stick together” when Tony Bennett remembered her name Now the rest of the world has a chance to watch the August 3rd moving show in a TV special, “One Last Time: An Evening With Tony Bennett and Lady Gaga, “which aired on Sunday. In addition to his signature song, Bennett played standards such as “Fly Me to the Moon” and “Steppin ‘Out With My Baby” and duets with Lady Gaga including “Love For Sale” and “Anything Goes”. His family members have said that sometimes Bennett doesn’t know where he is or what is going on around him. But on the stage in the TV special, the legendary actor didn’t miss a beat. When Lady Gaga shouted “New York, New York” before Bennett took the stage, Lady Gaga burst into tears when she paused to talk about him. “He’s my friend. He’s my musical companion. And he’s the greatest singer in the whole world. And I’m counting on you, New York, to make him smile. So you better cheer. You better scream. You laugh.” better. You better cry. You better give your soul. ” The Radio City Music Hall audience honored the end of the deal. Bennett got his first standing ovation before he even sang a note – and garnered at least a dozen more cheers over the course of the night. At one point the camera panned to a viewer who shouted, “We love you!” Bennett, whose singing career spanned eight decades, is no stranger to performing in front of throngs of enthusiastic fans. Still, before the concert, family members told “60 Minutes” that they weren’t sure what would happen during the show, knew everything would be fine. “It became himself. It just turned on. It was like a light switch,” she told “60 Minutes” on a segment that aired last month. That’s because music and gigs are so deeply rooted in the singer. According to Bennett’s neurologist Dr. Gayatri Devi. “People react differently depending on their strengths. In Tony’s case, it’s his musical memory, his ability to be a performer. It’s an innate and hardwired part of his brain,” Devi said on “60 minutes.” “Even though he doesn’t know what the day might be or where his apartment is, he can still sing the entire repertoire of the American Songbook and move people.” Bennett released his first album in 2014 with Lady Gaga collaboration which became a Cole Porter- Tribute album entitled “Love For Sale” released. It received six Grammy nominations last week. Following the nominations, Lady Gaga told BBC Radio 2’s “The Zoe Ball Breakfast Show” that it was heartbreaking to see what Bennett is going through. She told “60 Minutes” that Bennett had called her “Sweetheart” every time she saw him since the pandemic started, and she wasn’t sure he knew who she was. But when she got on stage to join him on the radio during the City Music Hall concert, Bennett seemed in no doubt. “Wow,” he said as she swirled around in a shimmering gold dress. “Lady Gaga!” An expression of joy crossed Lady Gaga’s face. She leaned forward, her head in her hands, before making another whirl. “I had to hold it together because we had a sold out show and I had a job to do,” Lady Gaga told 60 Minutes. “But I’m telling you when I went on stage and he said, ‘Lady Gaga’, my friend saw me and it was very special.” After the successful shows at Radio City Music Hall, Bennett said the future tour will stop performing. His son and manager Danny Bennett told Variety that these New York concerts would be his last. “This was a tough decision for us as he is a capable artist. However, this is the direction of the doctors,” said Danny Bennett. “It’s not the singing aspect, it’s more the traveling. Look, he’s getting tired. It is decided that it’s just getting too much for him to give concerts now.” Lady Gaga told 60 Minutes that she was in Bennett’s final appearance at Radio City Music Hall. “It’s not a sad story. It’s emotional. It’s hard to see someone change. I think the beauty of it and what was the challenge is to see how it affects them in some ways, but to see you how it doesn’t affect his talent, “she said. “I think he really pushed through something to give the world the gift of knowing that things can change and you can still be great.”

Tony Bennett won over generations of fans singing “I Left My Heart in San Francisco”. And on his 95th birthday, the beloved singer left his heart on the stage of Radio City Music Hall.

Six months after Bennett and his family announced he had Alzheimer’s disease, Bennett and Lady Gaga sang to a sold-out audience in a two-concert series in early August that was billed as his final New York appearances.

Similar video above: Lady Gaga struggled to “hold together” when Tony Bennett remembered her name

Now the rest of the world has a chance to see the moving August 3rd show in a TV special, “One Last Time: An Evening with Tony Bennett and Lady Gaga,” which aired on Sunday.

In addition to his signature song, Bennett played standards such as “Fly Me to the Moon” and “Steppin ‘Out With My Baby” and duets with Lady Gaga, including “Love For Sale” and “Anything Goes”.

His family members have said that sometimes Bennett doesn’t know where he is or what is going on around him. But on the stage in the TV special, the legendary actor didn’t miss a beat.

Lady Gaga belted out “New York, New York” before Bennett took the stage and burst into tears when she paused to talk about him.

“He’s my friend. He’s my musical companion. And he’s the greatest singer in the world. And I’m counting on you, New York, to make him smile. So you better cheer. You better scream. You better laugh.” You better cry. You better give your soul. “

The Radio City Music Hall audience honored the end of the deal. Bennett got his first standing ovation before he even sang a note – and picked up at least a dozen more over the course of the night.

On “Fly Me to the Moon” when he sang the line “Let me sing forever more” the audience burst into jubilation. At some point the camera panned to a viewer who shouted: “We love you!”

Bennett, whose singing career spanned eight decades, is no stranger to performing in front of huge crowds. Still, family members told 60 Minutes before the concert that they weren’t sure what would happen during the show.

But Ms. Susan Benedetto said that when she saw him on stage that evening, his eyes sparkled and her arms were outstretched towards the crowd, she knew everything would be fine.

“It became himself. It just turned on. It was like a light switch,” she told “60 Minutes” on a segment that aired last month.

That’s because music and gigs are so ingrained in the singer, according to Bennett’s neurologist Dr. Gayatri Devi.

“People react differently depending on their strengths. In Tony’s case, it’s his musical memory, his ability to be a performer. It’s an innate and hard-wired part of his brain,” Devi said on “60 Minutes”. “Although he doesn’t know what the day might be or where his apartment is, he can still sing the entire repertoire of the American Songbook and move people.”

Bennett released his first album with Lady Gaga in 2014. Their latest collaboration, a Cole Porter tribute album entitled “Love For Sale”, was released in October. It received six Grammy nominations last week.

Following the nominations, Lady Gaga told BBC Radio 2’s The Zoe Ball Breakfast Show that it was heartbreaking to see what Bennett is going through. She told “60 Minutes” that Bennett had called her “sweetheart” every time she saw him since the pandemic started, and she wasn’t sure he knew who she was.

But when she came on stage to accompany him during the concert at Radio City Music Hall, Bennett seemed in no doubt. “Wow,” he said as she swirled around in a shimmering gold dress. “Lady Gaga!”

An expression of joy crossed Lady Gaga’s face. She leaned forward, head in hands, before turning again.

“I had to hold it together because we had a sold out show and I had a job to do,” Lady Gaga told 60 Minutes. “But I’m telling you when I went on stage and he said, ‘Lady Gaga’, my girlfriend saw me and it was very special.”

After the successful shows at Radio City Music Hall, Bennett canceled future tour appearances. His son and manager Danny Bennett told Variety that these New York concerts would be his last.

“This was a tough decision for us as he is a capable performer. However, this is the doctors’ direction,” said Danny Bennett. “It’s not the singing aspect, it’s the traveling. Look, he’s getting tired. It is decided that it’s just too much for him to give concerts now.”

Lady Gaga told “60 Minutes” that she heard a powerful message in Bennett’s last appearance at Radio City Music Hall.

“It’s not a sad story. It’s emotional. It’s hard to see someone change. I think the beauty of it and the challenging thing is to see how it affects you in some ways, but see how it does not work. ” his talent, “she said.” I think he really pushed through to give the world the gift of knowing that things can change and you can still be great. “

The post Tony Bennett, 95, leaves his coronary heart onstage in a shifting last live performance with Girl Gaga appeared first on Los Gatos News And Events.

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO-TV) – A family in central Minnesota grapples with a bathroom nightmare after a water explosion from their toilet. Rita Sanders said the scary incident felt like an earthquake and is now looking for help in her town.

“In a moment it’s pressure, it’s noise,” Rita told WCCO-TV in Minneapolis. “It was like Old Faithful.”

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The incident tore a painting from its hanging, left Sander’s house water damaged, and her sleeping husband was injured. “It frightened him so much that when he got up he hit the chest of drawers with his forehead, leaving him with a nice little ‘V’. [cut]”Said Rita.

There were Pine City Public Works workers outside at the time, whom Rita believes to be responsible. This is the second time in recent years, she says.

(Credit: CBS)

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Neighbors did not experience the same unusual jet of water. “It made me sad about you because I know you have had these problems before,” said Pat Kempenich, who lives across the street.

Scott Hildebrand, the city administrator, says the workers are flushing the sewer line to clean it with high pressure water currents. Hildebrand said that the work usually doesn’t involve individual houses. He wished Sanders had called immediately after the incident. Instead, she opted for a letter to communicate the problem in writing.

Hildebrand said the call from WCCO was the first he heard of the incident, although Sanders says she spoke to someone in the city offices who received her letter last week.

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The city is sending someone early Wednesday morning to hopefully diagnose the problem.

The post Bathroom Explosion Terrifies Household, Leaves Residence Broken – CBS San Francisco appeared first on Los Gatos News And Events.