Forums: Rent To Own

Last fall, Speaker Nancy Pelosi moved her district office into the new federal building in San Francisco. The move quadrupled the rent she pays, and her new $18,736 monthly bill is almost double the next-highest rental paid by a Member of the House.This artist’s rendering depicts the new federal building in San Francisco that now houses the offices of Speaker Nancy Pelosi. The building is an award-winning “green” design that saves on energy costs and is centrally located, according to Pelosi’s spokesman A database assembled by the Sunlight Foundation in cooperation with Roll Call provides new insight into Congressional spending...

In case you were tempted to buy the faux Washington outrage at BP and its gulf oil spill in recent days, here's a story that reveals a little-known corporate political connection and the quiet way the inner political circles intersect, protect and care for one another in the nation's capital. And Chicago. We already knew that BP and its folks were significant contributors to the record $750-million war chest of Barack Obama's 2007-08 campaign. Now, we learn the details of a connection of Rahm Emanuel, the Chicago mayoral wannabe, current Obama chief of staff, ex-representative, ex-Clinton money man and ex-Windy...

Dean Baker, co-director of the left-leaning Center for Economic and Policy Research, argues persuasively that the U.S. is not in the middle of a housing recovery. He contends the government has artificially pushed up prices by offering first-time homebuyers a hefty tax credit. Also, the Federal Reserve’s purchase of mortgage-backed securities has helped keep mortgage rates low, enabling homebuyers to finance bigger loans. “I don’t think the government has an interest in artificially propping up house prices,” he said. Yet Baker’s preferred policy, called “Right to Rent,” would do exactly that.

Diplomats: North Korea seeks hike in embassy rent By KWANG-TAE KIM, Associated Press Writer Fri Mar 12, 4:02 am ET SEOUL, South Korea – North Korea has demanded a hike in rental fees for embassies and international organizations in Pyongyang, diplomats said Friday, in what could be a move to raise foreign currency amid tightened international sanctions. The United Nations slapped new restrictions on North Korea following its second nuclear test last year. They ban the country from exporting arms and call on international financial institutions to halt grants, aid or loans except for humanitarian, development and denuclearization programs. North...

At the beginning of each semester, George Mason University Bookstore's general manager ventures into the school's mailroom and tries to figure out where everyone bought their books, because fewer and fewer students are coming into her store. This year, the competition was easy to spot: bright orange boxes from chegg.com, which considers itself the Netflix of textbook rentals. Chegg.com has rented more than 2 million books to students at more than 6,400 schools since it was launched nationally in 2007. Students can rent books by the semester, quarter or summer at rates that vary depending on the popularity of the...

American Dream 2: Default, Then Rent By MARK WHITEHOUSE PALMDALE, Calif. -- Schoolteacher Shana Richey misses the playroom she decorated with Glamour Girl decals for her daughters. Fireman Jay Fernandez misses the custom putting green he installed in his backyard. But ever since they quit paying their mortgages and walked away from their homes, they've discovered that giving up on the American dream has its benefits. Both now live on the 3100 block of Club Rancho Drive in Palmdale, where a terrible housing market lets them rent luxurious homes -- one with a pool for the kids, the other with...

Bristol County Sheriff Thomas Hodgson’s controversial program to charge inmates for rent, haircuts, medical visits and high school equivalency tests raised $750,000, but outraged inmate advocates who said the fees violated their constitutional rights and amounted to an unlawful tax. Five years after a judge struck down the program - ruling that county sheriffs do not have the authority to charge such fees - Hodgson is reviving the proposal. The state’s highest court will hear arguments in Hodgson’s appeal today. When he initially imposed the fees in 2002, Hodgson said he believed they could help teach inmates to accept responsibility...

Are you wealthy but homeless? Lucky you. For well-off folks who don't own a home now and don't mind renting for a while, this is a something of a golden era. That's because renting--particularly at the high end--has become such a startlingly good deal in some cities. There's no telling how long this period will last. But sellers of fancy homes, while refusing to drop their asking prices, seem happy to lease them out for a year or two on the cheap. It was true earlier this year, but it's even more so now, thanks to some hefty rent reductions....

I was going through, calling apartment complexes, and despite the fact that rents are sky high, they don't include electricity and heat! It's disgusting! With one place, they charge up to seven hundred and they also make you pay 1/3 water bills and heat and electricity. As if they were helping, they said they didn't charge through garbage services! Has anyone else had bad times finding a place that doesn't bleed you alive? Here comes the worst part: this place that has a one bedroom, small apartment requires that you have an income of 1,660 in order to be able...

How can New York City hot dog vendors afford a monthly rent of $53,558? A hot dog vendor was kicked from the curb outside New York City's Metropolitan Museum of Art last week for failure to pay his monthly rent—of $53,558. Pasang Sherpa was under contract to pay the Parks Department $362,201 a year for a stand on the south side of the Met's entrance and $280,500 for another on the north side. That's a lot of hot dogs. With rent astronomically high, how much do New York City hot dog vendors actually make? It's hard to say. Neither the...