Real

Over the past dozen years, Sanford Solny has built a New York real estate empire, snatching up small residential buildings across the city that churn out hundreds of thousands of dollars in rent. His portfolio would be enviable but for one thing — much of it, prosecutors and homeowners contend, was stolen. In criminal charges and lawsuits, they have accused him of fraud: offering to help homeowners facing foreclosure by arranging to pay off their mortgages, while actually tricking them into signing over their buildings at bargain-basement prices. In nearly every case, the mortgage was never paid, leaving the homeowner with no property but a pile of debt. The practice is known as deed theft , and as city and state officials promised to crack down on it, they homed in on Mr. Solny. The Brooklyn district attorney, whose office has charged him with taking the homes of seven families, called his behavior “despicable.” In Queens, prosecutors accused Mr. Solny and his associates of … [Read more...] about He Runs a New York Real Estate Empire. Did He Steal It?

While home prices are still expected to decline in the Bay Area over the next year, the outlook is improving a bit, according to new data — even amid ongoing economic pressures in the Bay Area. Projections by Zillow show that home values in the San Francisco metro areas will likely decrease 2.7% in the next year, compared with the 3.6% decline the real estate listings website was forecasting in December. That comes even as tech layoffs continue and amid the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank and the crisis at First Republic , known as one of the biggest local providers of mortgages. What’s driving the expectation of a smaller year-over-year decline? Notably, buyer demand started to rebound quite a bit after hitting near-historic lows late last year, said Patrick Carlisle, chief market analyst for the Bay Area real estate group Compass. “We will know much more once the spring selling season, typically the most active of the year, really gets underway,” he said. “But … [Read more...] about Outlook for Bay Area home prices is changing. Here’s the latest data

Tech & Science Environmental Health Your skin is teeming with microbes. Millions of them. From the perspective of these tiny organisms, the surface of your body is their living, breathing habitat. This living layer is part of what's called the human microbiome—the collective genomes of all the "foreign" microorganisms that live in the human body—and research on it has exploded in recent years. But within microbiome research is a brand-new field that is just beginning to understand a stunning fact: Your microbiome extends beyond yourself, into the air around you. It hovers in a cloud around your body and leaves bits of itself on surfaces wherever you go. In short, you have an aura, except it isn't made of purplish light; it's your personal cloud of dead skin cells, fungus and many, many microbes. And researchers are learning to be able to identify you by it. "You know the dirty kid from Peanuts? Pig-Pen? It turns out we all look like that," says James Meadow, a data … [Read more...] about Auras Are Real, and Yours Looks Like Pig-Pen’s

Late last year, a strike force of elite Thai police officers descended on the Baan Suan estates, a palm-treed housing complex next to a golf course on the tourist island of Phuket . The officers’ mission was to capture the American expatriate in Villa 34: Joseph Hunter, a retired soldier wanted by his government for having taken up what law enforcement officials called a new career — as a hired killer. Within three days, Mr. Hunter, a former Army sniper with Special Forces training, was in shackles on an airplane bound for New York, where he was formally accused of managing a team of contract hit men overseas. Law enforcement officials said the group had conspired to murder a federal drug agent and a drug-world informant in exchange for an $800,000 bounty from men they believed were members of a Colombian cartel. The case against Mr. Hunter, nicknamed Rambo, seemed to have been lifted from the latest action thriller. The hit was set for Liberia and, the Drug Enforcement … [Read more...] about In Real Life, ‘Rambo’ Ends Up as a Soldier of Misfortune, Behind Bars

The penthouse in a former downtown San Francisco firehouse is for sale. The building at 6 Mint Plaza was converted into a luxury condo building in 2007. Nestled inside, commanding the entire top floor all to itself, the unit is on the market for $4.5 million. The original structure at 6 Mint Plaza was built in 1900 as part of the Hale Brothers department store. Later, the building served as a working firehouse in a time when fire engines were pulled by horses to the scene of a blaze. In 1924, the Station House buildings were added to the property by the San Francisco Fire Department. Its conversion in 2007 resulted in the Mint Plaza complex, which includes one eight-story tower and an adjacent two-story concrete building. Together, these buildings include 25 luxury residences that range from one-bedroom units to this large penthouse, #900, which spans 3,520 square feet. It features three bedrooms and 3.5 bathrooms, a sprawling great room overlooking the city skyline, a … [Read more...] about Penthouse in former San Francisco firehouse for sale

China Evergrande, the embattled Chinese property developer, said late Friday that its chief executive had resigned, the latest setback for the company as it struggles to manage its crushing $300 billion in debt. In an announcement , the company said the chief executive, Xia Haijun, had resigned over his involvement in a plan to funnel $2 billion into Evergrande’s coffers from one of its subsidiaries. A preliminary investigation found that the funds, belonging to Evergrande Property Services, had been used as collateral to guarantee a series of loans, money that was then diverted to Evergrande through a third party, the company said. When the loans were not repaid late last year, banks seized the $2 billion from the property management unit. In March, Evergrande delayed the filing of its annual results, saying that it needed to investigate why banks had claimed the funds from Evergrande Property Services. Evergrande, which did not identify the third party that … [Read more...] about China Evergrande C.E.O. Resigns After Loans Come Under Scrutiny

SAN FRANCISCO — It could cost California more than $800 billion to compensate Black residents for generations of over-policing, disproportionate incarceration and housing discrimination, economists have told a state panel considering reparations. The preliminary estimate is more than 2.5 times California’s $300 billion annual budget, and does not include a recommended $1 million per older Black resident for health disparities that have shortened their average life span. Nor does the figure count compensating people for property unjustly taken by the government or devaluing Black businesses, two other harms the task force says the state perpetuated. Black residents may not receive cash payments anytime soon, if ever, because the state may never adopt the economists’ calculations. The reparations task force is scheduled to discuss the numbers Wednesday and can vote to adopt the suggestions or come up with its own figures. The proposed number comes from a consulting team of five … [Read more...] about Reparations for Black Californians could top $800 billion

For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Apple ’s subscription music streaming service , Apple Music, now has a new sibling, dedicated to classical music. Apple Music Classical has just gone live and is available to most Apple Music subscribers at no extra cost. If you have an individual, family or student subscription, then Classical is included. The only exception is Apple Music Voice Plan, which is the lower-priced version for users of the HomePod, for instance, which is entirely controlled by the user’s voice. Oliver Schusser, Apple’s VP of Apple Music and Beats, talked to The Independent earlier this month about the new venture. He told me, “At Apple, we love music. When we launched Apple Music, in the first few years, we were trying to really wrap our heads around how streaming works and what we should do with the product. But as it went along, we … [Read more...] about Apple Music Classical: iPhone maker launches new streaming service focused on orchestral music

For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Apple could add hearing health features to its AirPods , according to a new report. The company has been rumoured to be working on using its earphones as health sensors since even before they were released – and now the company might be looking to make them into more of a “health tool”, according to a report from Bloomberg. That could include getting hearing data and sending it back to the iPhone, for instance, he reported. Apple’s patent filings have long suggested that it is looking at using the AirPods as an extra health sensor, presumably to complement the ones in the Watch. They have included tools that would allow it to measure a wearer’s temperature and sweat levels, for instance. Kevin Lynch, Apple’s vice president of technology who looks after the Watch, has talked in interviews about the … [Read more...] about Apple AirPods could get new health tracking features, rumour claims

For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails TikTok’s chief executive failed to give assurances that China doesn’t interfere in the app or that its software can be used to spy on users as he faced tough questions at a hearing in the United States Congress. Shou Zi Chew was portrayed as evasive by a hostile committee following fears the Chinese-owned video platform should be barred because of security concerns and because it carries content that can harm children’s mental health. He told Republican representative Cathy McMorris-Rodgers he could not “100 per cent guarantee” that Beijing was not influencing parts of the app. She also asked if Mr Chew could say with certainty that the app could not be used to spy on journalists or other US citizens. He declined to give that same commitment. It led her to accuse TikTok of being a “weapon” that could be … [Read more...] about TikTok boss can’t guarantee China doesn’t interfere with app or spy on users