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By Marlize van Romburgh / Friday, October 29th, 2010 / Real Estate, Top Stories / Comments Off on Hertel partner files $128M bankruptcy
Almost two years after Ventura-based developer R.W. Hertel & Sons was forced into bankruptcy by its creditors, one partner is left holding the bag. Bob Fowler filed one of the largest personal bankruptcies in tri-county history on Sept. 26, listing $127.6 million in debts. Of those liabilities, $105.6 million are personal guarantees Fowler made on Read More →
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By Marlize van Romburgh / Wednesday, October 27th, 2010 / Banking & Finance, Tri-County Economy / Comments Off on U.S. should set inflation target, Fed economist says at UCSB
Setting the federal funds interest rate target at zero is a trap, and one the Federal Reserve would be better off avoiding, St. Louis Federal Reserve Economist Bill Gavin said at an Oct. 27 appearance at UC Santa Barbara. Warning of the dangers of the so-called “zero lower bound,” when the federal funds rate is Read More →
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By Marlize van Romburgh / Monday, October 25th, 2010 / Real Estate, Top Stories, Tri-County Economy / Comments Off on Foreclosure freeze won
As the nation’s largest home lenders continue their self-imposed foreclosure freezes, economists in the tri-county region say the residential real estate market’s search for the bottom is being delayed. The Tri-Counties had more than 1,200 homes in foreclosure at the end of the second quarter, according to information from research firm DataQuick. That’s up more Read More →
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By Marlize van Romburgh / Monday, October 25th, 2010 / Top Stories, Tri-County Economy / Comments Off on Foreclosure fiasco’s ground zero: Ventura County offices churned out paperwork
Ask her how many foreclosure documents she worked through in a day at Countrywide Financial Corp., and Linda Martins-Mann says the pace was fast. “I didn’t count how many I processed, but it was a lot,” she said. “Maybe about 500 a day.” Martins-Mann was a foreclosure technician at Countrywide’s Simi Valley offices until the Read More →
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By Marlize van Romburgh / Monday, October 25th, 2010 / Columns, Real Estate, Small Business / Comments Off on SBA-backed deals are propping up commercial real estate market
Small businesses are starting to look like the heroes in the commercial real estate market’s turnaround tale. Businesses buying property for their own use, also known as owner-users, have fueled a number of deals in the Tri-Counties recently, many of them aided by financing through U.S. Small Business Administration lending programs. In Oxnard, Industrial Park Read More →
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By Marlize van Romburgh / Monday, October 18th, 2010 / Top Stories / Comments Off on SLO family fights state on ‘land grab’
Can the state demand access to a mile of pristine beach land in exchange for permission to fix up an old farmhouse? A San Luis Obispo County family, backed by one of the state’s top property-rights law firms, is suing the California Coastal Commission to find out. A family trust led by sisters Denise McLaughlan, Read More →
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By Marlize van Romburgh / Monday, October 18th, 2010 / Columns, Real Estate / Comments Off on A new addition to Santa Barbara’s courthouse corridor
As one of the only ground-up buildings to be constructed in Santa Barbara’s downtown core in years, the new law office complex at 1100 Santa Barbara St. is something of an anomaly. Also rare is the $1.3 million price tag and eight-month construction time line — the 6,000-square-foot project was under budget and ahead of Read More →
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