In 2020, You Didn’t Even Have To Vacuum, And Your House Would Sell For $50,000 Over Price
A report from Click Orlando in Florida. “When Susan Boshers tried to sell her condo in the Hidden Village complex, she thought it would be simple. She had a buyer lined up, the paperwork ready — but the deal collapsed. The reason? Her condo was on a federal ‘blacklist’ that blocks certain types of mortgage approvals. When the buyer applied for a mortgage, they were denied — not because of their credit, but because the Hidden Village complex is on Fannie Mae’s ineligible list. That means buyers can’t use FHA or VA loans — leaving only cash buyers or those with large down payments as viable options. Realtor Sheena Tapia, who’s helping Susan sell the condo, says she’s lost 10 deals this year alone due to this issue. ‘Rejected, rejected, rejected,’ Tapia said, showing a list of unapproved condo complexes in Seminole County. ‘It’s heartbreaking.'”
“It’s not just Hidden Village. Tapia says 88 communities in Seminole County are affected — and only four are currently approved for FHA or VA lending. The reasons vary: structural issues, poor maintenance, or — in Hidden Village’s case — concerns about reserve funding. Even though the complex has strong financials, its 2025 budget includes using reserve funds for a project — a move that violates federal guidelines. ‘I feel stuck,’ Susan said. ‘We’re in a situation we can’t do anything about.'”
From WTOP. “Home sales in the D.C. region’s market have slowed this spring and summer, and so have annual price gains. ‘The most active buyers in the market right now are higher-income buyers,’ said Lisa Sturtevant, chief economist at listing service Bright MLS. ‘Because they are more active in the market, they are actually skewing that median sold price, making it look like the overall market is seeing price gains. But it is really about the middle of homes being sold.’ The luxury market also appears to be more isolated from federal government spending and job cuts in the D.C. region than the overall market, though Sturtevant said that may change. ‘The threshold for the luxury market is $1.8 million,’ she said. ‘That is an expensive home. But it is also a home that people who work in the federal government could potentially afford to purchase. We are going to see more impact on the housing market from the federal government cuts this fall, and I think that could rise up into the luxury segment of the market.'”
Culture Map on Texas. “For the eighth consecutive months, the number of homes for sale in Houston rose. It’s currently sitting at over 44,000, which is a 31-percent year-over-year increase from the 34,000 homes for sale in July 2024. In addition, prices are falling. The average transaction price dipped 2.9 percent — about $10,000 — from July 2024 to July 2025. It’s the biggest decline since May 2023 when prices dipped 3.5 percent year-over-year. Overall, Houston ranks first nationally with the most homes listed. That’s a trend that’s common across the Sunbelt, with Raleigh, NC, Miami, and Las Vegas showing the highest growth by percentage.”
“The condo market is seeing a similar shift, with 1,725 units listed in July, a 49.2 percent increase. A median transaction price of $175,000 is down by 17.5 percent, the largest drop since September 2018. ‘The housing market in Houston is slowly, but surely, shifting in favor of buyers,’ Itziar Aguirre, senior director of market analytics for CoStar and Homes.com, tells CultureMap. ‘Listings are at an all-time high and prices are falling, giving buyers more negotiating power.'”
KLAS in Nevada. “There are more luxury homes for sale in the Las Vegas valley than ever before. According to realtor.com, million-dollar home listings jumped more than 40% since last year. However, with so many options, some sellers may be forced into lowering their asking price. One buyer told 8 News Now it is good news for his family, as it allows them to be more particular while shopping and have greater negotiating power. ‘We’ve noticed that there’s plenty to choose from. That is the big difference between here and Hawaii,’ Quintan Brassfield, who recently moved to the valley from Oahu with his wife said. ‘You had this pressure on you to buy a home as soon as you possibly can because you are competing with so many people funneling into the island at once. I don’t feel that same pressure here.'”
“Las Vegas realtor Lance Sherman attributes the current trend to market balancing. ‘About a year ago, homes were selling in a week, in all price points. Today, homes are taking a little longer,’ Sherman said. ‘Your average-sales priced homes are selling in about 30 to 45 days. These luxury homes might take four to six months.'”
From KREM in Idaho. “Is this summer home-buying season a bust? You might’ve heard financial reporters say that. But local experts say, while that might be the case nationally, locally, it’s a different story. ‘I’ve been kind of jokingly saying we’re in a seller’s market, but it feels like a buyer’s market,’ said Elizabeth Hume, President of Boise Regional Realtors. ‘Because, in 2020, you didn’t even have to vacuum, and your house would sell for $50,000 over price, right?’ It’s a different story in Canyon and Twin Falls Counties, with home sales down more than 6% and 9%. Builders and lenders are offering all sorts of incentives that can essentially lower your interest rate and your payment to make this seller’s market feel more like a buyer’s market. ‘People aren’t seeing prices go down, so that’s why they think that we’re still in a seller’s market,’ said Hume. ‘But the way we are negotiating and the way the market is working, there are definitely incentives and gives and pulls and all the things that happen in a buyer’s market.'”
The Columbus Dispatch. “Nationwide is being sued for allegedly withholding insurance payouts to victims of the Eaton Fire in southern California. The lawsuit alleges that Columbus-based Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company refused to pay certain benefits to a family whose home was contaminated by toxins from the January fire, forcing them to find temporary housing and shoulder the costs themselves, according to a copy of the court complaint obtained by The Dispatch. Singleton Schreiber LLP filed the lawsuit on behalf of husband and wife Tony and Mayra Greer, also parents to two young children. The complaint says though the Greer’s home was spared from total destruction, the fire covered the property in toxic contaminants that made it unlivable. The complaint says the family had not received payments from Nationwide by the end of February, forcing them to move into a rental property while continuing to pay their mortgage.”
“Over the next several months, the Greer family ‘underwent a battle royale’ with Nationwide while trying to receive payouts, while the company ‘bent over backwards’ to avoid paying, the complaint alleges. On March 25, Nationwide sent a letter to the Greer family, offering to pay them roughly $4,600 for remediating their home, after collecting the family’s $1,500 deductible. According to the complaint, this payment ‘fell woefully short’ of what was needed for repairs. Eventually the company agreed to pay an extra $27,540 for remediation and additional living expenses, according to the complaint. The payment was issued at the end of July, though the complaint says the amount was still insufficient to fully cover remediation or temporary housing, and Nationwide continues to deny any payments for costs of damaged personal property. According to the complaint, Nationwide ‘invented excuses’ for withholding payments to the Greers, treating them like ‘adversaries’ instead of policyholders and putting additional hurdles in their path.”
Cambridge Today in Canada. “Officials are pointing the finger at a challenging market and high-costs for builders, particularly for mid-rise and high-rise projects, as the reason thousands of approved housing units remain unbuilt in Cambridge. After going through what is often a lengthy public process to seek zoning and official plan amendment approvals, why aren’t these developments going ahead? A spokesperson for Build Urban, a collection of urban developers with a goal of getting shovels in the ground across Waterloo Region, said this problem isn’t unique to Cambridge and isn’t simply a matter of developers being unwilling to build. Melissa Durrell, Build Urban spokesperson, noted some planning approvals are not held by builders but by land speculators who are seeking to increase the land value for sale rather than to build.”
“‘Often, the designs used to secure approvals aren’t based on real development experience and don’t reflect what is financially viable to build,’ she said. ‘When actual builders look at purchasing these sites, they find the numbers don’t work.’ At a groundbreaking ceremony for a townhouse development in east Galt earlier this month, Reid’s Heritage Home president Ron McMillan said high-rise and mid-rise projects are too expensive to build right now if someone is looking to make any kind of profit out of it. McMillan also noted a lot of investors came in from outside the industry looking to upzone properties by increasing the density intending to increase profits. ‘That only worked for 2022 when prices were going through the roof and everybody was paying that,’ he said. ‘Those poor guys that paid that for those sites, now it’s sitting there while the revenues drop, costs have gone up. They can’t make it work anymore.'”
One Roof in New Zealand. “A leasehold apartment in a leaky building in central Auckland has sold under the hammer for just $34,700, with the owners deciding to quit their property rather than risk being slapped with a hefty increase in their ground rent. Ray White agent Steve Kirk said his vendors were among many in the Scene One complexes on Beach Road who have decided to sell before the next ground rent review, which is expected this month. His clients purchased the one-bedroom apartment off the plan 21 years ago when there was a 15-year ‘holiday’ on ground rent payments, but ever since the ‘holiday’ period came to an end, they have struggled with the ever-increasing fees. ‘They were liquidating what they could out of it so they could move on,’ he said, noting that they had taken a $200,000 hit on the property.”
“Kirk told OneRoof that the sale price of $34,700 was in line with what other apartments in the complex were selling for. In addition to being leasehold, Scene One is currently being remediated for weather-tightness issues. Kirk said the ground rent review occurs every seven years and increases are based on the value of the land. However, the last review, conducted in 2018, saw owners hit with a 133% increase. Many of his buyers were older people who could not get bank loans, but instead used their KiwiSaver to fund their purchases. They liked the security of owning rather than renting, he said. There have been about 20 sales in Scene One in the last 12 months, with prices ranging from $7000 to $55,000.”
“City Sales sales manager Scott Dunn said sales in the complexes peaked about six to 12 months ago when people started to worry about the ground rent increase and decided to get ahead of it. ‘The ground rent review is imminent. We would absolutely expect to see many owners anxious about this.’ The impending ground rent review affects all the apartments built on Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei Whai Rawa land, including the Scene complexes, The Docks, Hudson Brown, The Landings, Parnell Terraces, The Mirage, Railway Campus, and buildings on Cotesmore Way, Sudbury Terrace, and Dove Dale Place. ‘There would be thousands of apartment owners that could be impacted by this.'”
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‘The most active buyers in the market right now are higher-income buyers,’ said Lisa Sturtevant, chief economist at listing service Bright MLS. ‘Because they are more active in the market, they are actually skewing that median sold price, making it look like the overall market is seeing price gains’
It’s THE MIX Lisa! Eat yer crowz.
‘The threshold for the luxury market is $1.8 million,’ she said. ‘That is an expensive home. But it is also a home that people who work in the federal government could potentially afford to purchase’
Wa? I’ve been told guberment workers make less that all the others?
FedGovs do make less salary than their industry counterparts. The benefits are (or were) better, but that doesn’t help when buying a house.
Almost no actual FedGovs would be able to afford a $1.8M house. Even two GS-15 spouses bring in $350K max. But the Beltway Bandits can afford the luxe homes: defense contractors, lawyers, lobbyists, some journalists, former government intelligence “analysts,” etc.
‘Almost no actual FedGovs would be able to afford a $1.8M house’
Yer saying Lisa is a lion?
Likely not. More likely, when she said “government workers” she was probably referring to the defense contractors and lobbyists, not true .gov employees. Most people are not that specific with their language.
How many of those guys even live in DC? It’s a 10 square mile block of old dumps from what I saw.
There probably aren’t many actual fedgovs who in within the DC city limits. Of course there are some who like the city life, but many take the train or the metro subway in from Maryland and Virginia.
As for 10 square miles of old dumps — that’s mostly true. The apartment buildings tend to be newer, but the single-family homes and townhomes are 80-100 years old, and how nice it is depends on how wealthy the neighborhood is. In general, anything east of the White House is in general a sh!thole. The farther west you go, toward the river and upstream, the safer, wealthier, and nicer the neighborhood.
“But it is also a home that people who work in the federal government could potentially afford to purchase”
Maybe an SES employee,,, if your spouse also has lucrative gig?
‘I feel stuck,’ Susan said. ‘We’re in a situation we can’t do anything about’
I want to thank Susan for today’s HBB Pitfalls of Commie Urban Living™.
“Even though the complex has strong financials, its 2025 budget includes using reserve funds for a project — a move that violates federal guidelines.”
Y’all need to lobby your members of congress, Susan.
‘The condo market is seeing a similar shift, with 1,725 units listed in July, a 49.2 percent increase. A median transaction price of $175,000 is down by 17.5 percent, the largest drop since September 2018. ‘The housing market in Houston is slowly, but surely, shifting in favor of buyers’
It’s a good thing everybody put 25% down Itziar!
‘The complaint says the family had not received payments from Nationwide by the end of February, forcing them to move into a rental property while continuing to pay their mortgage’
I normally say it was still way cheaper than renting Tony and Mayra, but you are renting.
Greetings & salutations, fellow renters!
‘McMillan also noted a lot of investors came in from outside the industry looking to upzone properties by increasing the density intending to increase profits’
Again, increasing ‘density’, the beloved myth of guberment do gooders, actually increases the land and thus housing prices.
‘That only worked for 2022 when prices were going through the roof and everybody was paying that,’ he said. ‘Those poor guys that paid that for those sites, now it’s sitting there while the revenues drop, costs have gone up. They can’t make it work anymore’
Bless yer heart for comforting these poor bashtards Ron.
Realtors are liars.
Sunrise in Colorado Springs was 6:18 a.m. this morning. By 6:22 a.m., word filtered in that realtors were already out & about lying to prospective marks.
‘Rejected, rejected, rejected,’ Tapia said, showing a list of unapproved condo complexes in Seminole County. ‘It’s heartbreaking.’”
Au contraire. It’s encouraging to know that taxpayers aren’t going to be put on the hook for mortgages on sketchy condo complexes where the FBs could end up walking away from their financial obligations.
‘I feel stuck,’ Susan said. ‘We’re in a situation we can’t do anything about.’”
No so, Susan. There’s a little trick called “mark to market” that will ensure a buyer for your condo. So get to sawin’ and slashin’ like you mean it.
“buyers can’t use FHA or VA loans”
According to Copilot AI, FHA and VA loans together are less than 20% of condo purchases. That leaves 80% of the buyers who can bypass the blacklisting.
I think all lenders know about these lists and respond appropriately.
“That means buyers can’t use FHA or VA loans — leaving only cash buyers or those with large down payments as viable options. Realtor Sheena Tapia, who’s helping Susan sell the condo, says she’s lost 10 deals this year alone due to this issue.”
You can bet that realtor Sheena thinks a large down payment is anything over 5%. What she’s actually complaining about is the subprime bowl being taken away.
“That means buyers can’t use FHA or VA loans — leaving only cash buyers or those with large down payments as viable options.”
That’s a good explanation for why the market died in the arse.
Wait until the no-more-forbearance finally kicks in. Bloodbath!
I thought the last of the forbearances were already lifted. Of course, the buyers just want to pick up where they left off, without any balloon payments or extra interest.
It’s currently sitting at over 44,000, which is a 31-percent year-over-year increase from the 34,000 homes for sale in July 2024.
Is that a lot?
‘Listings are at an all-time high and prices are falling, giving buyers more negotiating power.’”
But if listings are rising and prices are falling, why would anyone buy now, said the savvy would-be buyer.
I’m not sure about the exact percentages, but AI seems to be approximately 50 percent hype, 30 percent government subsidies, 19 percent stupid, and 1 percent intelligence.
Does that add up to 100 percent?
Financial Times
My Account
The Big Read Artificial intelligence
Is AI hitting a wall?
OpenAI’s underwhelming new GPT-5 model suggests progress is slowing — and competition is changing
OpenAI chief executive Sam Altman acknowledged some limits this week but AI-driven stocks such as Nvidia maintain their investor support
© FT montage/Bloomberg/Getty Images
Melissa Heikkilä and Tim Bradshaw in London and Cristina Criddle and George Hammond in San Francisco
Published Aug 15 2025
When OpenAI launched its much-hyped new artificial intelligence model GPT-5 last week, it was meant to be the company’s big moment.
Its CEO Sam Altman heralded GPT-5 as “a significant step along the path to AGI”, meaning AI systems that exceed human-level intelligence.
But OpenAI executives also believed that the new model would smooth out some of the rougher edges in ChatGPT, the all-purpose chatbot that has grown faster than any consumer app in history.
“The vibes of this model are really good, and I think that people are really going to feel that,” said Nick Turley, head of ChatGPT at OpenAI.
Except the vibes were not good. Soon after the launch, users shared images on social media of the new model making basic mistakes that plagued its predecessors, such as mislabelling a map of the US.
…
100% hype.
Scraping search engines, Reddit posts, and Wikipedia (all biased in their results) does not make it “intelligent.”
It’s hard to overestimate the hype element, but it’s also hard to ignore the $500 billion or so the US government has committed to pour down the AI rathole.
Is $500,000,000,000 a lot?
Scraping search engines, Reddit posts, and Wikipedia (all biased in their results) does not make it “intelligent.”
It synthesizes information at scale. Big data informs decision-making.
Just because dotcoms busted in 2001 does not mean the internet is worthless and stupid. But yeah, lots of dumb businesses failed.
It’s a waste of electricity.
It has below average IQ.
Financial Times
US equities
US tech stocks hit by concerns over future of AI boom
Warning from OpenAI’s Sam Altman and MIT paper puncture Wall Street’s enthusiasm
Pedestrians pass by the Nasdaq MarketSite and a large American flag display in Times Square amid busy city traffic
The S&P 500 information and technology sub-index has risen 14% since mid-May, led by AI-linked companies
© Angela Weiss/AFP/Getty Images
George Steer and Aiden Reiter in New York
Published yesterday
Updated 13:53
US tech stocks sold off on Tuesday as warnings that the hype surrounding artificial intelligence could be overdone hit some of the year’s best-performing shares.
Nvidia, the chips group that has surged to become the world’s first $4tn company on the back of AI, fell 3.5 per cent, while software group Palantir dropped 9.4 per cent and chip designer Arm shed 5 per cent.
The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite closed down 1.4 per cent, the biggest one-day drop for the index since August 1. The blue-chip S&P 500 fell 0.7 per cent.
European and Asian markets largely followed Wall Street lower early on Wednesday. Some of Europe’s biggest tech names fell, with German software maker SAP down 0.8 per cent and chipmaker Infineon off 1.4 per cent.
The broad Stoxx Europe 600 dropped 0.6 per cent in early trading, before paring some of its losses to rise 0.2 per cent by lunchtime.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 index fell 1.5 per cent and South Korea’s Kospi slipped 0.6 per cent. Futures prices indicated moderate declines when Wall Street opens.
Traders pinned some of the declines in the US on a critical report on Monday authored by a branch of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Researchers said “95 per cent of organisations are getting zero return” from their investments in generative AI, the technology that has sent US stocks soaring to record highs in recent months.
“The story is spooking people,” said one trader close to a multibillion-dollar US tech fund.
…
Is the great, big drop in overhyped AI stocks into the deep, dark CR8R already underway at this point, or is this round just a practice drill?
Updated Wed, Aug 20 2025
3:43 PM EDT
Nasdaq falls for a second day as tech struggles again: Live updates
Pia Singh
Alex Harring
Traders work at the New York Stock Exchange on August 20, 2025.
NYSE
Stocks dipped on Wednesday, pressured by a broad decline in tech for the second day in a row. Investors also monitored a mixed batch of retail earnings and the Federal Reserve’s latest meeting minutes release.
The Nasdaq Composite
lost about 1%, while the S&P 500 slipped 0.4%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average shed 16 points, or 0.1%.
Investors continued to take profits from several heavyweight technology and semiconductor names, fanning concerns about their high valuations and the strength of the AI trade longer term. Nvidia declined about 3%, while Advanced Micro Devices and Broadcom each lost more than 3.5%. Shares of Palantir declined about 5.5%, and Intel dropped more than 6%. Mega-cap tech companies Apple, Amazon, Alphabet and Meta also declined.
“It’s not a surprise to see some investors taking profits in tech stocks, which have had an incredibly strong run – with some up over 80% since the early April lows. Market volume in general is typically quite sparse in late August leading to wider swings than fundamentals would warrant,” said Carol Schleif, chief market strategist at BMO Private Wealth.
…
https://www.cnbc.com/2025/08/19/stock-market-today-live-updates.html
Investing·Fortune Intelligence
The ‘Ghosts of 2007’ and the graybeard ‘Nifty 50’: BofA looks at the rare situation in markets and finds ominous parallels to the GFC and the dotcom bubble
By Nick Lichtenberg
August 19, 2025 at 4:15 PM EDT
Broker
The ghosts of 2007 are lingering.
TIMOTHY A. CLARY—AFP/Getty Images
The U.S. Federal Reserve’s looming decision on whether to cut interest rates in September 2025 is sparking heightened concern on Wall Street, as strategists at Bank of America (BofA) Securities draw unsettling parallels to the months preceding the 2007–08 financial crisis. A recent Liquid Insight report, published Aug. 14 by strategist Howard Du and his team, warns that the current monetary and inflation landscape is flashing signals reminiscent of the last time the Fed cut rates in a rising inflation environment. “This is a possible but historically rare regime,” they added. The last time it happened was from the second half of 2007 to the first half of 2008, they said in their note titled “Ghosts of 2007.”
At the same time, a separate BofA Global Research note, from the equity and quantitative strategy team, looked at another historical rhyme: between the megacap stocks dubbed the “Nifty 50”—notably Nvidia and other members of the “Magnificent Seven”—and the last time they outperformed the S&P 500 for so many years. (The first Nifty 50 to bear the nickname was a group that ran until roughly 1973, when the game changed for markets because of the onset of the Great Inflation and other factors, including a shift away from the gold standard.)
“Megacaps led for seven years but cracked in July,” wrote the team led by Savita Subramanian, adding that the last memorable run by the largest 50 stocks in terms of market cap was the 1990s lead-up to the dotcom bubble. That was about six years long, a similar duration to the current market pattern.
…
https://fortune.com/2025/08/19/will-market-crash-recession-ghosts-of-2007-nifty-50-dotcom-bubble/
Financial Times
US equities
Tech stocks slip as investors rotate towards defensive sectors
Concerns about durability of AI rally dent sentiment for second day
Nasdaq Marketsite is seen during morning trading
Big Tech stocks have driven gains for the US stock market this year
© Getty Images
Emily Herbert in London, George Steer and Aiden Reiter in New York
Published 8 hours ago
Updated 23:15
A decline in US tech stocks extended into Wednesday as concerns about the durability of this year’s rally in artificial intelligence shares prompted a shift into defensive sectors.
The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite finished the day down 0.7 per cent, while the blue-chip S&P 500 lost 0.2 per cent.
Several Big Tech groups came under selling pressure, with Apple and Amazon down about 2 per cent each and Google parent Alphabet falling 1 per cent. Palantir, one of the biggest beneficiaries of the AI boom, declined 1 per cent.
Consumer staples, healthcare and utilities stocks climbed at the same time, as investors rotated into so-called value sectors at the expense of the racier tech names.
“Insatiable demand and capacity constraints propelled tech stocks to record highs,” said Laura Cooper, head of macro credit and global investment strategist at Nuveen. “Investors are now questioning the durability of the uptrend” because of “stretched valuations”.
On Tuesday, the Nasdaq Composite closed down 1.4 per cent, the biggest one-day drop for the index since August 1. The S&P 500 fell 0.7 per cent.
…
Hello there Shat Intelligence, please analyze this text for accuracy:
—————–
Let’s break it down:
50% hype
30% government subsidies
19% stupid
1% intelligence
Now add them:
50+30+19+1=100
✅ Yes, the numbers add up correctly to 100%.
As for accuracy of the text itself:
It’s written humorously/satirically, not as a factual breakdown of AI.
The “percentages” are rhetorical, not based on data.
The math is internally consistent, though the claims are subjective.
Do you want me to check if anyone has used a similar phrasing before (like a published quote), or do you just want a math/logic check?
—————-
This is an example of a full answer that the AI gives you. The Chatty info I post here is a heavily edited summary.
“Las Vegas realtor Lance Sherman attributes the current trend to market balancing.
Balancing
Normalizing
Adjusting
Imagine having an occupation where you have to constantly lie and dissemble.
Realtors are liars
Nearly 2,700 sq/ft house for 244K. Probably a nice home in its day. The listing says its a diamond in the rough, but its just a lump of coal unless the price drops considerably. That area isn’t as desirable now as it was in the 70s. After seeing that nasty mattress, I feel the need to go take a shower and wash off the virtual bed bugs and other vermin that hopped on me.
https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/341-Lowell-Ln-Pensacola-FL-32514/44642507_zpid/
I noticed the one dilapidated house in Pensacola is on “ Lowell Ln “, named maybe in an attempt to class-up the the street. (lane)
an old, classic poem about the Boston Brahmins.
“And this is good old Boston,
The home of the bean and the cod,
Where the Lowells speak only to Cabots,
And the Cabots speak only to God.”
This one is definitely a Palace on the Block. The other houses are half the size and half the price. It’s right behind a C-grade shopping center, possibly a drug area. It fixable but needs at least $100K to be really nice. Drop the price $75K and some poor flipper will try their luck.
$244K for that dump? it looks like a haunted house.
That shower chair in #16 of 33 looks wide, really wide.
‘Those poor guys that paid that for those sites, now it’s sitting there while the revenues drop, costs have gone up. They can’t make it work anymore.’”
Die, speculator scum.
But local experts say, while that might be the case nationally, locally, it’s a different story.
We get it, lying REIC shills. “It’s different here.” But the data tells its own story. Imagine if the garbage legacy media started quoting contrarians instead of discredited touts & shills whose paychecks depend on propagating NAR happy talk.
Another stained mattress. Also, a dirty spare toilet sitting in the backyard. They paid too much for the property in 2022 and are now trying to unload it for more. However, unless the realtor is lying, “this is a prime flip or rental opportunity.”
https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/6613-Cedar-St-Milton-FL-32570/47906614_zpid/
Go MTG! Imagine if property taxes were abolished & local governments had to live within their means, while lacking the tax revenues to subsidize parasitism and engage in fraud, waste, and abuse.
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/mtg-calls-property-tax-abolition-simultaneously-sounds-alarm-health-insurance-healthcare-system
Soros DAs & Democrat-Bolshevik judicial officials will come down like a ton of bricks on white males who interfere with Youth for Kamala in the performance of their vibrant cultural enrichment in the greater Denver area.
https://nypost.com/2025/08/20/us-news/ex-space-force-sergeant-orest-schur-sentenced-to-54-years-in-prison-for-fatally-shooting-suspected-teen-car-thief-in-colorado/
Youths (youts), students, spring breakers, etc. It’s all so tiresome.
This is a nice looking move-in ready house about a half a mile from us. However, the agent neglected to mention the train tracks behind the neighborhood or the smelly sewer lift station at the entrance.
Listed for 284K, sold in 2016 for 163K.
https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/5102-Carley-Ct-Milton-FL-32583/103517427_zpid/
I had to look up what a sewer lift station was. Oh, it’s a pumping station for sewer systems in low-lying areas. I do a lot of suburban hikes in neighborhoods that touch the rivers that flow into Chesapeake Bay, or waterfront homes on the Bay itself. I see a lot of these pumping stations and wondered what they were for. Now I know.
In modern countries like Texas, they leave them underground. It’s more common than you might think. Typically they pump the sewage up, let it gravity flow down, and repeat many times to the plant. That way it moves at a good speed and reduces clogs. If a pump fails for any reason an indication is sent to staff who are on call 24/7 and it’s fixed immediately. They usually have their own backup generators. The night time on-call deal can be pretty sweet. You get paid to sleep and if you do have to go out it is golden pay/per hour.
We talked to a laid-off worker about the City of Denver’s job eliminations
More city employees learned they were being laid off on Tuesday, as the City of Denver works to address a $200 million budget shortfall. The city began laying off employees on Monday.
Many of the employees laid off on Tuesday worked for the Denver Department of Transportation and Infrastructure (DOTI). Denver7 has been listening to city employees over the past couple of days, as they waited to learn their fate.
“Over the last couple of weeks, there was definitely a low morale around the office,” said Jessica, who was an administrative assistant for two years at DOTI. “[The] tension was high, and a lot of the conversation was mostly just about having anxiety over the situation.”
Shortly after waking up Tuesday morning, Jessica logged into her computer and saw an invite to a virtual Teams meeting with Amy Ford, the executive director of DOTI.
“It was pretty apparent upon receiving that Teams meeting request what was going to come next,” she said. “So for the next hour, I kind of just sat around with anxiety and, you know, being upset, and waited for that phone call.”
It was during that call when Jessica learned she would be laid off.
“Personally, I would have preferred it to just be an email,” Jessica said. “Not have that awkward Teams meeting where you’re on the camera crying.”
She is among 171 employees the city let go Monday and Tuesday to help address a $200 million budget shortfall.
https://www.denver7.com/news/local-news/denver-lays-off-more-employees-as-city-looks-to-address-200m-budget-gap
$200 million is that a lot?
Probably just the tip of the iceburg.
I wonder how many “refugees” are still having their bills covered by Dumver? Here is what google says:
$340 million is that a lot?
a lot of the conversation was mostly just about having anxiety over the situation
They all thought they were fireproof.
“Many of the employees laid off on Tuesday worked for the Denver Department of Transportation and Infrastructure (DOTI).”
Their revenue should come from gasoline taxes. Any chance they’re looting those accounts to support woketopia?
Bill Ackman-Backed Firm Offloads Beleaguered Seaport Site For $30M Loss
Tavros Capital is in contract to buy 250 Water St., the development site of the long-stalled Seaport Tower, for $150.5M.
The property is owned by Seaport Entertainment Group, a hospitality and entertainment company that spun off from Howard Hughes Holdings last year in a deal spearheaded by hedge fund billionaire Bill Ackman. HHH purchased the full-block lot for $180M in 2018, nearly $30M more than what it’s being sold for now.
An $850M, 26-story tower was planned for the Lower Manhattan site, which was previously a parking lot, but it never came to fruition. The proposal included 399 residential units, approximately 100 of which would be affordable, above a five-story base, featuring 200K SF of office, retail and community space.
https://www.bisnow.com/new-york/news/construction-development/bill-ackmans-firm-offloads-beleaguered-seaport-tower-site-for-30m-loss-130623
Lost $30 million on a parking lot.
Philly’s Biggest Office Property Marketed As Conversion Play After Foreclosure
Philadelphia’s largest office property is set to go up for sale later this week, two years after it was foreclosed upon amid the crowdfunding scandal involving Nightingale Properties CEO Elie Schwartz.
Court-appointed receiver CBRE is reportedly preparing to list 1500 Market St., according to Green Street’s Real Estate Alert. The space, totaling 2.2M SF, will be pitched as a blank slate prime for residential, retail or hotel conversion.
The property, which is 36% occupied, is expected to fetch just over $100M. That is a more than 80% decline from its appraised value of almost $510M five years ago.
The structure, also known as Centre Square, consists of two towers on top of a four-story base and a sizable parking lot next to Philadelphia City Hall. It was constructed in 1974 and renovated in 2018.
Nightingale Properties and InterVest Capital Partners, formerly known as Wafra Capital, spent just over $328M on the property in 2017. They refinanced it via a $390M loan from JPMorgan Chase two years later.
Occupancy fell dramatically in the wake of the pandemic, and the property was foreclosed upon in 2023 after the partnership stopped making payments.
Schwartz was charged with wire fraud the following year, accused of bilking hundreds of investors via failed real estate deals financed through the crowdfunding platform CrowdStreet.
The nearly $63M fraud scheme earned Schwartz a seven-plus-year prison sentence. He was also ordered to pay $45M in restitution.
The property at 1500 Market isn’t the only one in the neighborhood with a plummeting value. Accesso Partners’ 1515 Market St. is now worth just $28M, down 68% from when the loan was originated in 2014, Morningstar reported earlier this week.
https://www.bisnow.com/philadelphia/news/office/1500-market-list-cbre-residential-conversion-elie-schwartz-nightingale-130630
Here is a fun Philly story from 5 days ago. Couple moves into row house that is fairly nice. The one next door however, starts to shift and crack. They called the city and the city said not to worry.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_8u-GG6oxhg
It partially collapsed 2 days later damaging their home too.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bDwwCauRXM8
Tech championed no-strings-attached cash. Now it’s under attack
Universal basic income: it was one unlikely proposition on which Elon Musk, Marc Benioff, Sam Altman, Chris Hughes, and social justice activists could all agree, at least for a moment. Automation was coming for work, they said, and a safety net would be necessary. A decade on, UBI, as these no-strings-attached cash payments are commonly known, is arguably needed even more, with AI threatening to take over white-collar jobs.
“UBI to me represents a floor that people can stand on,” Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey said in 2020, “while they are learning how to transition into this new world.”
The Bay Area became ground zero for this policy trend. Between 2019 and 2025, more than $65 million in public funding, as well as donations from Google, the Silicon Valley Community Foundation, Omidyar Network, and others, has flowed into UBI pilot programs in the region. At least 10,000 people in the Bay Area have received some amount of cash.
But the utopian UBI policy Dorsey and others envisioned has not arrived. The test pilots limited recipients based on income, housing status, family composition, race, and gender. This wasn’t just to see if UBI worked; it was a fundamental reconsideration of basic income as suited only to the most vulnerable. Proponents say that’s what makes it work.
More than 50 pilot programs and research studies have concluded or are winding down. But the narrowed scope has made UBI more likely to crash out than make the leap to policy.
Basic income programs in the Bay have focused on transgender youth, single mothers, and young Black people, among other demographics. They have been, by design, not universal. No program has tested a cohort that reflects a random sample of the population. Even Altman’s OpenResearch project in Illinois and Texas limited its cohort to extremely low-income families. (Altman has since floated the idea that instead of cash, participants could receive compensation in the form of AI computing time.)
That distinction is necessary for the money to make the most impact, say proponents of the shift.
“Basic income gives everyone an anchor to life, but that does not mean that every individual needs the same amount to achieve that security,” said Guy Standing, a professor at the University of London who focuses on UBI.
He sees the original vision of UBI as fundamentally flawed. As robots (and large language models) are taking over jobs, it is those with the lowest socioeconomic status who will be hurt the most and need the extra cash boost, according to guaranteed income advocates.
“There are some disparities that are based on race or gender or other demographics,” said Shafeka Hashash, director of Cash Initiatives for the Economic Security Project, a nonprofit founded by Chris Hughes in 2016.
It sounds a lot like existing welfare programs.
“I think people who are in favor of these policies think that they’re serving them better, but it’s not a different service. It’s just giving money,” said Jesse Rothstein, UC Berkeley professor of public policy and economics.
When Ramses Rain left a career in the film industry in 2022 to go back to school and find a more stable job, he wasn’t sure how he was going to pay his bills.
When he learned of the Black Economic Equity Movement, he thought it was “too good to be true.” The program gave $500 a month to an initial cohort of 300 Black young adults in San Francisco and Oakland between 2023 and 2025. Rain was chosen.
When he got his first check, he felt a weight lift off his shoulders.
Along with the money, Rain and fellow participants had access to financial planning. To prove the pilot’s impact, program staff asked participants to keep a diary of how the payments changed their financial, emotional, and physical health. Rain said he felt a greater sense of calm. The extra money went toward rent while he focused on his career.
Then President Donald Trump was reelected. In March, BEEM was among the thousands of research projects that lost funding from the National Institutes of Health.
“So-called diversity, equity, and inclusion studies are often used to support unlawful discrimination on the basis of race and other protected characteristics, which harms the health of Americans,” said the NIH letter of grant suspension. NIH funding had been the source of a majority of BEEM’s budget.
“I had to gather everyone around and send them home,” said Sheri Lippman, a UCSF epidemiologist and principal investigator responsible for processing BEEM’s data. In order to keep checks flowing to participants, BEEM took the hit on the administrative side. “It was heartbreaking.”
If researchers want to study the impact of cash supplementation on communities most impacted by poverty, that funding is no longer likely to come from the federal government.
“It is so hypocritical because at the same time that the Trump administration is taking an axe to the social safety system, they are also rolling out policies that include direct cash — the DOGE dividends and the Trump Account,” said Hashash, referring to policies floated this year by Trump and Elon Musk. “They are doing this for racist and ideological reasons.”
Following a lawsuit by California and other states, the NIH funding was reinstated in July. But BEEM is still in the crosshairs of anti-DEI activists outside government. In 2023, conservative lobbying group Californians for Equal Rights Foundation filed a lawsuit against San Francisco saying that BEEM and other guaranteed income programs are“ unconstitutional” for providing aid to specific groups.
Now Lippman and the rest of the program’s staff are playing catch-up — and planning for their next fight.
For Rain, the benefits of BEEM have long outlasted the money. The stability he achieved in the program, he says, gave him the opportunity to learn programming. He now works for a self-driving car company and hopes to be an advocate for UBI. But he’s not a fan of “the tech-bro vision” of the policy, which he sees as a way to undo and replace the social safety net.
“You cannot brag about how rich your country is and then have a lot of your citizens be poor,” he said. “This is not about giving people money and taking away every other form of assistance. This needs to be about every person’s right to live a good life.”
Hashash said UBI programs may take DEI-coded language out of their applications and descriptions, at least for now. This would, ironically, bring them closer to the original utopian “universal” ideal — a UBI fantasy that, despite tens of millions of dollars spent, hasn’t been tried yet.
https://sfstandard.com/2025/08/19/universal-basic-income-ubi-bay-area/
I’m watching this tilt-up wall get craned into place right now:
https://ibb.co/Mk1KW2KS
Still waiting for that AI controlled robot that will eliminate ALL of these jobs.
Vegas tourism is down. Some blame Trump’s tariffs and immigration crackdown
Tourism in Las Vegas is slumping this summer, with resorts and convention centers reporting fewer visitors compared to last year, especially from abroad, and some officials are blaming the Trump administration’s tariffs and immigration policies for the decline.
The city known for lavish shows, endless buffets and around-the-clock gambling welcomed just under 3.1 million tourists in June, an 11 percent drop compared to the same time in 2024. There were 13 percent fewer international travelers, and hotel occupancy fell by about 15 percent, according to data from the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority.
Mayor Shelley Berkley said tourism from Canada — Nevada’s largest international market — has dried up from a torrent “to a drip.” Same with Mexico.
“We have a number of very high rollers that come in from Mexico that aren’t so keen on coming in right now. And that seems to be the prevailing attitude internationally,” Berkley told reporters earlier this month.
Ted Pappageorge, head of the powerful Culinary Workers Union Local 226, called it the “Trump slump.” He said visits from Southern California, home to a large Latino population, were also drying up because people are afraid of the administration’s immigration crackdown.
“If you tell the rest of the world they’re not welcome, then they won’t come,” Pappageorge said.
Travel agents in Canada said there’s been a significant downturn in clients wanting to visit the U.S. overall, and Las Vegas in particular. Wendy Hart, who books trips from Windsor, Ontario, said the reason was “politics, for sure.” She speculated it was a point of “national pride” that people were staying away from the U.S. after President Donald Trump said he wanted to make Canada the 51st state.
On AAA’s annual top 10 list of top Labor Day destinations, Las Vegas slipped this year to the last spot, from No. 6 in 2024. Seattle and Orlando, Florida — home to Disney World — hold steady in the top two spots, with New York City moving up to third for 2025.
Just off the strip, there’s been no slowdown at the Pinball Museum, which showcases games from the 1930s through today. Manager Jim Arnold said the two-decade-old attraction is recession-proof because it’s one of the few places to offer free parking and free admission.
But Arnold said he’s not surprised overall tourism might be slowing because of skyrocketing prices at high-end restaurants and resorts, which “squeezes out the low-end tourist.”
The mayor said the rising cost of food, hotel rooms and attractions also keeps visitors away. “People are feeling that they’re getting nickel-and-dimed, and they’re not getting value for their dollar,” Berkley said. She called on business owners to “see if we can’t make it more affordable” for tourists.
https://thenevadaindependent.com/article/vegas-tourism-is-down-some-blame-trumps-tariffs-and-immigration-crackdown
On AAA’s annual top 10 list of top Labor Day destinations, Las Vegas slipped this year to the last spot, from No. 6 in 2024. Seattle and Orlando, Florida — home to Disney World — hold steady in the top two spots
Seattle? Seriously?
Sanger resident self-deports after living in the US for 20 years
SANGER, Calif. — Immigration efforts by the Trump administration continue throughout the US and here in Fresno County, pushing people to self-deport. A Sanger resident who chose to return to Mexico on her own terms after 20 years in the Central Valley.
Patricia Vazquez Topete voluntarily returned to Mexico after calling Sanger home for two decades.
Topete said “I voluntarily chose to leave. And I want individuals to know that this is from an empowered state, as some of us may be feeling very disempowered right now.”
Vazquez was a valedictorian, received her bachelor’s from Fresno Pacific University on a full ride, and became a global banker.
She continued, “I didn’t want to be considered a criminal or to ever be put in a situation where I would be taken into an encampment and treated as a criminal.”
The first two years of college, she worked picking strawberries, then finished as a DACA recipient. Her arrival in the us wasn’t easy, she arrived with a family member and as a preteen.
She said “I actually left Mexico because I was being sexually abused in my home by a close family member.”
Jesus Ibanez, an advocacy and services attorney said “There’s individuals who are fleeing of course because they’ve been victims of domestic.” He continued, “Going back to a country to a situation where the likelihood of them being harm or re-harm is quite high.”
Ibannez explained that it is becoming more frequent for clients to jeopardize their current legal process for peace of mind. Like Vasquez, many are choosing to take their power back from the uncertainty of the Trump administration.
As a global banker, Vazquez finds herself traveling often, but with the current immigration raids, work has become more dangerous.
Vazquez explained, “I want to work in a global space, right? I want to be able to move and cross borders and support the global economy. But I knew that with with my current current state and my current status in the US, right? It was. It was becoming very challenging.”
https://kmph.com/news/local/sanger-resident-self-deports-after-living-in-the-us-for-20-years
‘received her bachelor’s from Fresno Pacific University on a full ride’
Cheap labor doing the banking work Americans won’t do!
From the comments:
Do it the right way. Procrastinating and hoping you won’t get caught doesn’t cut it.
Much like. saying I’ve been driving a car in this country for years and never had a ticket,why do I need a driver’s license?
Follow the law, get your documents in order. Most countries in the world have immigration laws in place (including Mexico)!
It doesn’t take 20 yrs to do! She was in the position to know how to handle her situation at 25 but didn’t! Truly sad! These are the people that we want to be Mexican Americans but not if they can’t follow the rules! It’s not far to the millions of people who have done it the legal way for multiple decades& who didn’t have her opportunities!!!
I suspect there is more to this story than meets the eye. For all we know she was being let go in a layoff and had no prospects in the US.
My Spidey sense is tingling. If she really was a big shot “global banker” her employer would have sponsored her for a green card years ago.
I have a Mexican cousin who is a forensic accountant, specializing in catching money launderers. She came to the US, legally, sponsored her new employer, a bank.
It can be done.
Vazquez was a valedictorian, received her bachelor’s from Fresno Pacific University on a full ride, and became a global banker.
Since when do “global bankers” live in Fresno? She was probably a manager at a BofA branch.
I’m sure Fidelity or Vanguard hired her out of Podunk U.
“When you get here, you realize everyone’s lying.”
I believe this is her LinkedIn:
Her current “Experience” is a Masters Student at CUNEF Universidad
Her “international banking” was VP, Community Relations Market Manager at Citi (Feb 2022-Apr 2025)
Also interesting she was a coordinator with the California Citizens Redistricting Commission and a Regional Program Manager for the California Complete Count Census.
She has a bunch of other DEI crap jobs in her resume as well.
Good riddance. Don’t need illegals interfering with census counts and redistricting.
Her “international banking” was VP, Community Relations Market Manager at Citi (Feb 2022-Apr 2025)
I have been told that all bank branch managers have the title of “vice president”
Also interesting she was a coordinator with the California Citizens Redistricting Commission
Citizens? She isn’t a citizen! She doesn’t even have a Green Card. She’s a freaking DACA.
Good riddance. Don’t need illegals interfering with census counts and redistricting.
Clownifornia is so fubar’d. Anyway, she’ll be lucky if she gets hired as a teller in Mexico, for one thing she will be branded as “too old”.
Real Journalists.
Video shows ICE agents pulling man from car in Minneapolis and arresting him
Immigration agents pulled an undocumented man from the passenger seat of a car in Minneapolis on Friday. They say they arrested him because he showed “a reckless disregard for the safety of others.”
That dramatic arrest was caught on camera near the Walker Art Center. The video is about two minutes long and shows the struggle that ensued as concerned community members watched and recorded, including Cynthia Daggett.
“They may have had a warrant, it may have been a legitimate stop, but very hard to trust that,” Daggett said.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement wouldn’t answer if it had a warrant or not, but immigration attorney Gloria Contreras Edin says ICE is operating within the law.
“It is clear that ICE has the authority to arrest someone without any written documentation handed to an individual before the arrest,” Contreras Edin said.
In a statement, ICE officials said: “For more than two decades, illegal alien Javier Yanez Morales, has put the public at risk for repeatedly and selfishly choosing to drink and drive, showing reckless disregard for the safety of others. This same disregard extends to immigration law which Morales has violated for just as long. Morales has been illegally entering the United States as far back as 1998, but despite being previously deported to Mexico he continued to commit crimes including domestic assault and false reporting. When ICE officers moved to take him into custody in Minneapolis, he resisted arrest. A passenger who interfered only escalated the situation, creating unnecessary danger for themselves, bystanders, and the officers.”
WCCO has confirmed Morales was charged with DWI with a blood alcohol level of 0.08 in July.
https://www.cbsnews.com/minnesota/news/minneapolis-ice-arrest-video/
I wish someone cared about my welfare the way these Bolsheviks care about illegals.
All they seem to care about is extracting as many tax dollars as possible from my wallet and giving them to invaders.
Jonathan Greenblatt hand rubbing intensifies…
But, yeah. Keep paying those federal income taxes, cattle tax slaves.
For some reason your comment reminded me of this story. They found their dream home but the hoarder next door went and died in the back yard. They are mad about the smell and the toxic biohazard leaking into their backyard since the body was also being eaten by the dogs. No one in the report shows any concern about the deceased person. The woman is so clearly a libtard. This is the level of concern they have for their own neighbors:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F1VVl5rzPps
Federal agents return to Chirilagua, arrest individual at bus stop day after construction worker detentions
Federal agents returned to Alexandria’s Chirilagua neighborhood Tuesday morning and arrested an individual at a bus stop, one day after detaining 15 construction workers in the same area.
Video provided to ALXnow shows approximately six agents, some masked and some not, with “Police Federal Agent” markings arresting an individual at the DASH bus stop at W. Glebe Road and Florence Drive, near the Eaton Square apartments where the construction workers were taken into custody Monday afternoon.
The identity of the individual arrested Tuesday, the reason for the arrest and their current location are unknown.
The Tuesday morning arrest occurred in the same Chirilagua neighborhood that saw an evening community rally Monday where city officials and residents denounced federal immigration enforcement actions.
On Monday, federal immigration agents arrested 15 construction workers at Eaton Square Apartments while they were working on a roofing project, according to Evelin Urrutia, executive director of Tenants and Workers United. The timing coincided with the first day of school in Alexandria, heightening community concerns about children’s safety.
The Monday arrests prompted a rally where Mayor Alyia Gaskins, Vice Mayor Sarah Bagley and City Council member Abdel Elnoubi attended and condemned the federal enforcement action.
“The men who were taken today, who were kidnapped today, they were not strangers. They are our neighbors. They are someone’s parent. They are someone’s son, someone’s brother, cousin, friend,” Gaskins said Monday evening.
City Councilman Canek Aguirre released a statement calling Monday’s enforcement action an example of an “authoritarian regime hell bent on terrorizing communities.”
Councilman R. Kirk McPike shared on X Monday night: “Arresting people putting in a hard day’s work to keep their families housed and fed does not make our community safer. It spreads terror through neighborhoods across Alexandria. These fascistic ICE raids must stop, and those responsible for them must be held accountable.”
The Chirilagua neighborhood, located in Alexandria’s Arlandria area, has a significant Latino population and a long history of welcoming immigrants.
https://www.alxnow.com/2025/08/19/federal-agents-return-to-chirilagua-arrest-individual-at-bus-stop-day-after-construction-worker-detentions/
‘They are our neighbors. They are someone’s parent. They are someone’s son, someone’s brother, cousin, friend’
They’ll get used to the outhouses and banana leaves Alyia.
Councilman R. Kirk McPike shared on X Monday night: “Arresting people putting in a hard day’s work to keep their families housed and fed does not make our community safer.
It does when those people break laws like DUI’s. driving without a license or insurance, molesting children, etc.
Perhaps you could spend more time looking after the welfare and interests of Americans, Mr. Councilman.
That’s the Homan doctrine again, it was all about “public safety threats,” and now the supposedly peaceful illegals are going to use that as an excuse.
“heightening community concerns about children’s safety”
Like Laken Riley’s safety? Remember that one, Real Journalists?
Your Charlie Hebdo moment is coming soon, there’s an army of Luigi’s just waiting for GO TIME
Immigrant advocacy group presses Colorado AG to investigate possible ICE collaboration in mountain communities. Local officials say they’re following state laws.
A Western Slope-based immigrant advocacy group is urging Colorado’s attorney general to look into communication and possible collaboration between local officials and Immigration and Customs Enforcement that may violate state laws.
Voces Unidas President and CEO Alex Sanchez filed two complaints on Aug. 14 with Attorney General Phil Weiser’s office over incidents involving the Garfield County Sheriff’s Office and the 14th Judicial District Attorney’s Office, which covers Routt, Moffat and Grand counties. Voces Unidas shared both complaints with The Aspen Times.
Sanchez said the incidents, which involved some communication between those offices and ICE, raised concern because of state laws that restrict information sharing and coordination with federal immigration enforcement officials.
“Our organization has been hearing from community members in the Western Slope, in particular, about some of the distrust that they have with our local governments,” Sanchez said in an interview.
The complaint lodged against Vallario’s office centers around a man who was arrested and jailed in Garfield County on Aug. 8 and released later that day into ICE custody.
Sanchez said Voces Unidas spoke with the man’s family after he’d been detained by ICE, and the organization called the jail in Glenwood Springs to confirm what happened. According to the complaint, they were told by a sheriff’s deputy that the man had “bonded out” and was taken into ICE custody in the jail’s sallyport, which is used for secure entrances and exits.
Sanchez said the incident “felt like the transfer of an inmate,” which spurred suspicion from Voces Unidas that it could have violated restrictions on ICE collaboration. He said the man should have been allowed to leave the jail, after which point ICE could have detained him.
“He was not allowed to the freedom that he absolutely deserved because he was already bonded out,” Sanchez said. “It wasn’t like ICE was across the street and this was an encounter of chance.”
Vallario said the man was charged with resisting arrest, a protection order violation, driving without a license, fictitious license plates, open containers for alcohol and marijuana, and driving without taillights. He said he isn’t aware of any federal criminal charges against the man.
Vallario confirmed in a phone interview that the man was detained by ICE in the jail’s sallyport and said there’s “nothing that I’m aware of that prohibits us from making that transfer” in that area.
SB 276 does require public buildings like schools, libraries and child care centers to develop policies for giving ICE access to non-public spaces. But it does not prevent immigration officers from operating in private sections of government buildings, like jails, if given permission.
It is common practice for law enforcement to tell ICE when an inmate is going to be released from a jail, Vallario added. He said his office does not hold people for ICE or share information about their immigration status, which would be a violation of state law.
“Once they’re released from custody, it is up to (ICE), whether or not they want to come and pick them up and hold them or not,” Vallario said. “In this particular case, it appears they did.”
Violeta Chapin, an immigration law professor at the University of Colorado School of Law in Boulder, said law enforcement officials can communicate with ICE about an inmate’s release under state law.
She said ICE can also perform operations under “administrative warrants,” which are signed by immigration officials, not a judge.
“Immigration officials are allowed to execute administrative warrants in public places, or, if they’re given permission to enter (non-public spaces),” said Chapin, who has a background in assisting immigrants’ legal cases as head of the university’s pro bono immigration defense clinic.
Chapin added, however, that even if an agency like a sheriff’s office is following the law, its actions can lead to a perception in the community that it’s helping ICE with detainments.
“That will have consequences for how people in the community see local law enforcement,” Chapin said.
Garfield County has also pushed back on claims of being a “sanctuary” community. Commissioners last year passed a resolution rejecting the term, which was condemned by local immigration leaders who called the resolution’s language “divisive.”
The resolution said people who enter the country illegally can pose a “significant public health and safety risk,” tying them to increased crime, disease and demand on public infrastructure and services.
Sanchez’s other complaint is against the 14th Judicial District Attorney’s Office, which had received information from ICE about the potential detainment of a defendant in district court that was then discussed in a court hearing last month.
Court transcripts show that during a July 31 bond hearing in Steamboat Springs, Deputy District Attorney Joseph Bucci told Judge Erin Wilson he had “received information from the federal government that ICE has lodged a detainer against this defendant.”
The defendant in the Steamboat Springs case, a woman, was arrested for theft and felony identity theft. She had been arrested alongside a man, who faces the same charges and also has charges of felony identity theft in Adams County, according to the district attorney’s office.
Sanchez said information sharing with federal immigration officials is only allowed during federal criminal investigations, and questioned why the district attorney’s office would be communicating with ICE to learn about a detainer and why it would be discussed during a bond hearing over state charges.
He added that a detainer — a request by ICE for local law enforcement to hold someone — shouldn’t be relevant since Colorado authorities aren’t allowed to comply with the request.
“Again, we need the public to trust local DAs. We need the public to be able to report crimes. We need the public to want to come to court,” Sanchez said. “We need the system to work and to work for everyone.”
Karzen, the district attorney, said asking ICE if a detainer has been lodged against a defendant is not the same as sharing immigration-related information with ICE. He said the practice is within state law and necessary for his office to do its job.
Karzen said his office has periodically gotten cases where the accused person has a criminal history that indicates they have previously been removed from the country by ICE.
“With the increase in immigration enforcement, we began to see cases where ICE detained the person but we did not know about it,” meaning that person would not appear in court, Karzen wrote.
Karzen said his office has started to ask ICE when defendants are in their custody if they believe someone may have been detained and/or removed in the past, as noted in their criminal history. If someone is in ICE detention, Karzen said his office needs to know so they can adjust accordingly, such as obtaining a video court appearance from the defendant in an ICE facility.
In the Steamboat Springs case, Karzen said both defendants had identifications of prior detention and/or removals, and that the deputy district attorney needed to know if ICE was intending to detain and/or deport the defendants in the case so he could make decisions around bonds, a plea and sentencing agreement, or any victim interactions required under the Victims’ Rights Act. He also said it is important for court scheduling and case management.
Karzen said asking ICE about the status of a defendant as it relates to detention is the extent of his office’s interactions with the federal agency. He added that his office is requesting information, not providing it to ICE.
In an emailed response to questions from the Aspen Times, Karzen called Voces Unidas’ complaint against his office “profoundly disappointing,” saying the group never reached out to his office “for comment, or to articulate their concerns or ask for an explanation.”
“Voces Unidas appears to be an important vehicle of advocacy on the Western Slope in an area where such advocacy has perhaps never been more important,” Karzen said, “and yet their lack of due diligence and apparent apathy as to the full truth regarding these matters is exactly the kind of thing that can destroy credibility.”
The law has, however, already sparked several legal battles, including a July 22 lawsuit filed by Weiser’s office against a Mesa County Sheriff’s Office deputy who allegedly shared information with federal immigration officials that led to the arrest of a Utah college student who had an expired visa.
Mesa County later countersued, claiming that the state law is too vague.
Another lawsuit was filed on June 4 against Gov. Jared Polis by Scott Moss, the head of the Colorado Division of Labor Standards and Statistics. Moss alleges that Polis sought to force his department to provide information to ICE regarding 35 state-vetted adult sponsors who were housing unaccompanied immigrant children.
Moss said the request from ICE was not backed by a court-issued warrant and that complying with it would violate the state’s laws on information sharing.
https://www.aspentimes.com/news/ice-immigrant-advocacy-group-colorado-mountain-communities/
‘Vallario said the man was charged with resisting arrest, a protection order violation, driving without a license, fictitious license plates, open containers for alcohol and marijuana, and driving without taillights’
He just wants a better life!
He just wants a better life!
And “provide” for his family! Just kidding, his family is provided for by taxpayers via section 8, SNAP/EBT, Medicaid and other goodies.
And the Obamaphones
Oh please. The Visigoths who sacked Rome were looking for a better life.
The man accused of beating a pregnant woman now faces deportation
STUART, Fla. (CBS12) — A man is now in custody and facing deportation after deputies say he brutally beat a pregnant woman in Hobe Sound this weekend.
Martin County deputies responded to a domestic violence call and found the suspect, an illegal immigrant from Guatemala, with a stab wound. The victim told authorities she used a kitchen knife to protect herself.
The legal status of the Guatemalan national has added another complication to this case, especially since the victim is trying to drop the charges. While victims dropping charges can sometimes lead to an expedited deportation, the State Attorney’s Office can step in and prosecute him regardless.
A quiet Hobe Sound mobile home park turned into a crime scene over the weekend. Authorities say they found a 29-week pregnant woman covered in bruises. The victim told the Martin County Sheriff’s Office she stabbed 19-year-old Noel Gerardo Niz-Marroquin to protect herself.
Sheriff John Budensiek described the scene, noting that despite conflicting stories on how the stabbing occurred, the underlying facts were clear.
“We know from both of them that he had beat her and choked her two days in a row,” Budensiek said.
Both the suspect and the victim identified themselves as Guatemalan nationals. Niz-Marroquin was arrested and charged with aggravated battery against a pregnant victim, but ICE also placed a deportation detainer on him. Even though the victim has told authorities she doesn’t want to press charges, the State Attorney can still move forward with prosecution.
“In these domestic violence scenarios, again, there’s a clear mechanism to prosecute these cases, even without the victim coming in and being a victim,” Budensiek explained.
Whether or not the case is tried in court, Sheriff Budensiek says Niz-Marroquin will eventually be handed over to ICE and deported.
The victim, who is also in the U.S. illegally, has some protections if the case goes to trial.
“There is a mechanism also in state and federal law, if somebody is a victim, that does give them temporary status to stay until the case is resolved so that’s something that comes into play in this,” the Sheriff added. “You cannot just go grab a victim and deport them just because they’re not here legally.”
https://cbs12.com/news/local/the-man-accused-of-beating-a-pregnant-woman-now-faces-deportation
They just wanted a better life! From the comments:
“if somebody is a victim, that does give them temporary status to stay until the case is resolved” Fine, as she gets closer to giving birth, take her to the Bahamas, Mexico, Canada any place but the USA to give birth. Then she can come back for the trial and then her and her baby can be deported.
you are gone Juan!🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸
The legal status of the Guatemalan national has added another complication to this case, especially since the victim is trying to drop the charges.
She was so terrified that she stabbed him, yet wants his charges dropped. I realize this is a common behavior and not limited to illegals, but still …
Let he who has never gotten stabby with romantic partners cast the first stone.
#MuhResistance wants more of this in the country. This is who they (are getting paid) to protest for.
Previously deported sex offender sentenced for illegally reentering the U.S.
BALTIMORE (WBFF) — An illegal immigrant who investigators said snuck back into the United States after being convicted of a sex crime involving a child appeared in federal court Tuesday to learn his fate.
Alfredo Carreon-Lopez, 39, was sentenced to time served, more than 20 months in custody for illegally reentering the United States after deportation.
Back in June 2025, Carreon-Lopez had pleaded guilty to the single count. Carreon-Lopez is a citizen of Mexico. Officials said he originally illegally entered the U.S. back in 2006.
According to state and federal court documents, in 2018 a victim reported he had raped her inside her home in Baltimore when she was 6 years old, back in 2013. Carreon-Lopez was charged with 10 counts associated with the sexual abuse.
In 2021 Carreon-Lopez entered an Alford Plea, meaning he maintained his innocence yet accepted the State had sufficient evidence to prove beyond a reasonable double that he could be found guilty, according to court records.
Carreon-Lopez was sentenced to 25 years in prison. A judge suspended all but time served, about 2 and a half years.
Carreon-Lopez was deported to Mexico in Oct. 2021. According to court documents, Carreon-Lopez reentered the United States without permission and was discovered by law enforcement in Baltimore City on September 15, 2023.
https://foxbaltimore.com/newsletter-daily/previously-deported-sex-offender-sentenced-for-illegally-reentering-the-us
From the comments:
HERE is the PROBLEM: “Carreon-Lopez was sentenced to 25 years in prison. A judge suspended all but time served, about 2 and a half years.” Why does this Judge still have a job ???
These judges want Criminals free. Either they are getting paid to do so, or they along with many Democrats just love Criminals! It’s getting to be extremely Suspicious!
Again, President Trump was right again about these criminals!
President Bukele has a room waiting for this predator.
President Bukele has a room waiting for this predator.
In places like Communist China he would get a bullet to the back of his head.
Too fast. N Korea has a dog food sentence.
Another SPLC & ADL Grand Prize Winner, free taxpayer shekels for ALL of you.
Coin Clippers, the game never changes.
From the Dumver Post
Denver layoffs deliver big hits to small offices like children’s affairs, climate action
So, they are letting go of the useless first. Not complete idiots, are they?
Sorry, Democrats, but this needs to stay in Mexico.
https://nypost.com/2025/08/20/world-news/6-severed-heads-found-by-side-of-the-road-along-with-chilling-message-in-one-of-mexicos-safest-regions/
My understanding is that the dismembered hands are a “sign” that the victims stole from the cartels, in other words they “overcharged” for the drugs they were selling and tried to pocket the difference.
Mexico is fubar’d. Vacation there at your own risk.
Obama’s NATO Ambassador Admits to British Lords: Trump Just Ended 80 Years of Global Control
Promethean Updates
4 hours ago
In this episode, Susan Kokinda from Promethean Action reveals crucial insights into the recent shift in US foreign and economic policy under President Donald Trump. Highlighting the testimony of Ivo Daalder, former NATO ambassador, before the British House of Lords, Kokinda discusses how Trump’s administration is challenging the post-war rules-based order that has guided Western policies for decades. The video outlines Trump’s success in resolving global conflicts, reestablishing national economic sovereignty, and dismantling the strategies of imperial global elites.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O6ErG7SHWLo
12 minutes.
From the comments:
England’s patriots stand with President Trump 🇺🇸🤝🇬🇧✌️
I’m in the UK, i stand with trump and vance. Our government is atrocious. Thank you, America.
I’m a english woman watching from ireland,thank
you for the real news,and godbless President Donald Trump
As a Brit I am so grateful you guys put Trump back into power to deal with these people. This isn’t over until the WEF is reduced to an irrelevance however.
1.2 MILLION Ukrainians dead in this endless war. The world wants peace!!!
If Russia and US are strong allies, do they need NATO? Bet not! That’s what the Empire is dreading.
Abolish the house of Lords…outdated and corrupt
Everytime I hear negativity in the UK media about DJT it makes me smile, because when they cry I know he’s disassembling their horrid world brick by brick…
The British people want rid of the House of Lords. Want rid of Labour and conservatives time for new parties.
We Brits can’t thank DJT enough!
The entire British power apparatus has to be destroyed. Its offshore tax havens, its commonwealth, its privy councils, everything.
We Europeans☘ DISPISE our governemnets. God Bless 🙏 Trump & Putin. Please God! let the EU end.
Thank you so much for your talk. This 86 year old English woman is one of those living in a very disturbed Britain, who has a deep appreciation of your great and wise President. I so enjoy listening to your talks. God Bless President Trump and First Lady Milania Trump.
Another Brit here im so proud and grateful to be a witness to a true patriotic American President who not only cares deeply for Country and the people, but has the strength and care to give his time to cross the barriers of other countries to help solve the problematic war mongers that don’t have the capability to see the need for peace . Great work President Trump.❤❤❤ to you and your family and all the true patriots that stand behind you🙏🙏🙏god Bless.
Standing with President Trump 👏🏼 all the way from the South Pacific
Arrest Soros.
No more forever wars, no more familial political dynasties, no more centralized everything and creepy ass surveillance of all citizens.
I’ve waited for this for a long time. Roughly 42 years waiting for a real leader. He’s the only one I’ve ever seen.
Every time I turn on the news lately. It’s like it’s Christmas and Independence Day all rolled together. Thank God for all the Patriots the clear headed thinkers like this channel and President Trump.
Over 800 more at the link.