A report from the LA Daily News. "The economic impact of the devastating Palisades and Eaton fires grows larger by the day. Homeowners, many of them underinsured, face years of anguish as they struggle to find temporary shelter and get claims paid. Consumers face ever-mounting insurance premiums — if they can get insurance at all — as carriers reassess the risks of doing business in Southern California. Apart from insurance, banks worry about people not being able to pay their mortgages on time or defaulting on their loan altogether, said Jonathan Schneyer, research director with CoreLogic’s Insurance Solutions Group. And that could 'grow substantially' as the fires spread. Yet, insured losses represent only about 40% of total property damages, Schneyer said. 'That difference is what we refer to as the insurance gap,' he said. Homeowners may not have enough to pay their mortgage after dipping into savings to pay for temporary housing or living expenses, Schneyer said. 'Try putting yourself in the place of someone who just evacuated on a moment’s notice, who may have lost their entire home,' he said. 'The last thing you want to be thinking about is your mortgage payment.'"

The Los Angeles Times. "Peggy Holter spent decades as a television journalist, a peripatetic career that took her all over the world, but there was one place she called home and always returned to: the Pacific Palisades condo she moved into on Jan. 1, 1978. That all changed after Tuesday's firestorm, when her condo burned to the ground along with the rest of the 36 units in the Palisades Drive complex. Holter, 83, who only retired last year, is now facing uncertainty after she said State Farm didn't renew her individual condo insurance, citing the condition of her roof. Her biggest question is whether she can rebuild. The homeowners association had a master policy from FAIR Plan, which totaled only $20 million. That would pay out only about $550,000 per unit if the complex were not rebuilt — far below the $1 million-plus the condos commanded in recent sales. The land could be sold off to a developer. Holter, who is now living with her son in the Hollywood Hills, had paid off her condo."

From Xinhua. "Preliminary estimates place the economic losses from the wildfires between 52 billion and 57 billion US dollars, exceeding the devastation caused by California's 2018 wildfires. Dorothy, a longtime resident of the Palisades, also lost the home she had lived in for 40 years, along with the homes of all her neighbors. 'The whole area is wiped out. It's a nightmare,' she told Xinhua. 'I'm a retired school administrator, and most of us bought our homes decades ago when they were affordable. Now, even if there were homes left to buy, who can afford that?'"

From WTSP TV. "Areas with unprecedented flooding from Hurricane Milton continue to recover exactly three months after Hurricane Milton made landfall in Florida. Neighborhoods in north Tampa like Forest Hills took a hard hit despite being in a low-risk flood zone. Affected neighbors said they didn't have flood insurance, are still not at home, or are navigating challenges with FEMA. 'There's days that I just can't even get out of bed,' Marilyn Menendez-Arnett said. She is determined to rebuild her home after it flooded. It's a home she shared with her late husband Wendell Arnett who passed away last year. Menendez-Arnett, who also went through back surgery and two knee replacements prior, said while she's been able to get some help from FEMA, she's still out at least thousands of dollars. On top of paying for her mortgage and the shed-turned-apartment unit temporarily, the money adds up for someone relying on disability. "

From KDVR. "A statewide grand jury found enough evidence in December to indict five employees of two Denver-area construction companies on 34 counts of fraud and theft, the Colorado Attorney General’s Office announced Friday. The charges are related to what the AG called a 'widespread home remodeling contractor fraud scheme' from July 2021 through December 2024. The contracting companies named in the affidavit were Schwalb Builders and Avi’s Remodeling and Contracting. The companies are affiliated with each other. Named in the grand jury indictment were the two companies’ owners — Sean Schwalb and Avi Schwalb — as well as three employees: Kevin Allbritton, Michael Stein and Blanca Dominguez."

"According to the Colorado Attorney General’s Office, the five had collaborated to find home remodeling contracts, collect customer deposits and 'then failed to complete any work on the projects.' 'In some instances, Schwalb Builders abandoned the projects after starting demolition or performing faulty work on the homes, leaving the homes damaged and uninhabitable,' the AG’s office continued in a press release. The indictment alleges that 'in all instances' the members of the perceived criminal ring never returned customer funds for incomplete or defective work."

The Chicago Tribune in Illinois. "Kelvis Sanchez has lived in fear for so long that he no longer reacts to the sounds of gunshots, screams or windows breaking that ordinarily would have terrified him. A recent morning, the 30-year-old Venezuelan stood in his kitchen and propped his toddler daughter up over his shoulder. He and his wife had run several extension cords outside for electricity. Bare bulbs and wires hung down from the ceiling, several feet above the head of their 4-year-old. 'We left (Venezuela) because of the violence and the chaos. And now, we’ve found ourselves again in the middle of chaos,' Sanchez said. 'We really didn’t expect this to happen when we entered the United States. My daughters hide under the bed when they hear the gunshots.'"

"After migrants started coming to Chicago in 2022, state agencies launched a program that helped those staying in shelters resettle into rental housing. Migrants generally moved to the South and West sides, where some have encountered patterns of violence and chaos similar to what they risked everything to leave behind. And now that President-elect Donald Trump is promising the largest deportations in United States history. Sanchez said he had some leads on an apartment, and that he wanted to leave as soon as he could. Still, as he falls asleep to gunshots, he said he sometimes understands the call for mass deportation. 'Those who are causing harm should be deported. Even Venezuelans criticize them, and I agree,' he said. 'I don’t think — and I pray they don’t — come for people like us.'"

Fosters Daily Democrat. "Residents of mobile homes and condominiums are speaking out after the city's property revaluation process resulted in large tax increases, on average much higher than what single-family homeowners are seeing. A report by Marybeth Walker, the city's interim chief assessor, shows the disparity. Condo values went up 94% on average and mobile home values went up 208%, following trends seen in other New Hampshire cities and towns. Single-family homes went up on average 73%, meaning more of the tax burden shifted to people who own condos or mobile homes."

"This not fair, according to Sheila Hall, 67, who lives in a mobile home in Hideaway Park. She and her husband Ken, 74, are on a fixed income. 'I have lived here since 1970 and have done nothing special to the home except for regular maintenance,' Hall said. 'We bought it for $39,000 and now they say it valued at $139,000. My tax bill increased by 34% because they put it on a spreadsheet and valued my mobile home the same as a new one. Well, mobile homes depreciate. They do not appreciate.'"

"Hall said the city does not maintain roads in her neighborhood because the city says they are private property. 'We are part of a cooperative,' she said. 'We own the trailer and a share of the land in the park. My homeowner's insurance will only cover us for $50,000. We cannot replace it for more or get what they say it's worth. I do not think this is right or fair. How can we be valued for more than we can even insure our home? And it is our home. We want to stay (but) maybe can't afford to as we are on Social Security.'"

The Globe and Mail in Canada. "10 Glencairn Ave, Toronto. Asking price: $1,549,000 (September, 2024). Previous asking prices: $1,579,000 (August, 2024); $1,629,000 (July, 2024). Selling price: $1.53-million (October, 2024). This three-bedroom house attracted some attention from buyers but received no offers as competing homes became available on adjacent streets off Yonge Street,. That changed somewhat after the price was cut by $50,000, but the two bidders that emerged were in the end unable to reach a deal with the sellers. 'The time it was on the market was just quiet, and people had no sense of urgency,' said agent Brayden Irwin. 'We had a few offers made over the course of the listing, but we weren’t able to get on the same page.'"

"In the fall, a further $30,000 price cut brought in another offer and a deal was cut for $1.53-million. 'A lot of the mechanicals and the bones of the house were updated, but not necessarily the kitchen, bathrooms or floors,' said Mr. Irwin. 'Sometimes it’s hard for buyers to see the value. A lot of buyers don’t want to undertake any renos, so it just took a little longer to find the right buyer.'"

The Herald Sun in Australia. "Victorians trapped in 'mortgage prisons' are putting their homes up as holiday rentals, leasing out spare rooms and ending maternity leave early in desperate bids to pay their mortgage. Airbnb has revealed more than 40 per cent of Aussies opening their door to holiday makers are doing so in an effort to hang onto their home. Meanwhile, mortgage brokers have revealed falling home values have left others unable to refinance their loan and forced to work second jobs or cut short their time with new bubs as the Reserve Bank keeps the nation’s cash rate on hold at 4.35 per cent — the highest level since 2011."

"More than 35,500 Victorians sought financial counselling last year, about 10,000 above the 24,532 who called for help in the midst of the pandemic in 2021. The number one reason behind the calls was difficulty paying a home loan. Smart Lending director Melissa Gielnik said younger Victorians who bought a home anywhere from 2018-2021 were bearing the brunt of the property pain, most taking on second jobs to cope with the strain."

"Ms Gielnik said one in four people they were speaking with now were in a 'mortgage prison.' 'That’s where you have a mortgage and can’t refinance and you can’t consolidate because the home is worth less than you paid,' Ms Gielnik said. 'They might have bought for $700,000, but the repayments now compared to back then — it’s a good $1000 different and for the average family that’s shocking, for a month.' She said while many were desperately holding on for a rate cut later this year, it might not be enough for everyone. 'I feel like everyone is holding their breath, waiting for the rates to lower,' Ms Gielnik said. 'And I’m not that confident they will drop more than 1 per cent in the next two years … and I don’t know that it will be enough to have the impact people think it will.'"