COVERAGE INFORMATION:
California Department of Real Estate (DRE) NEWS CLIPS service coverage:
Monday through Friday (except state holidays) each week includes electronic format articles retrieved from newspapers or news services that report real estate related news in California and some national services. Coverage is for California newspapers that are available electronically via the Internet - and any significant related breaking news.
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Copyright © , California Department of Real Estate
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Friday, June 13, 2025
Top Stories
Founder of ADU company accused of fraud files for bankruptcy protection from creditors
JEFF MCDONALD, The San Diego Union-Tribune (Subscription)
The man who claimed to be disrupting the backyard housing industry — securing financing, permits and building granny flats across San Diego County, before collecting millions of dollars without doing the work — is now seeking federal protection from his many creditors. Jose Frausto, the founder and chief executive of Multitaskr and many of its satellite companies, has filed for personal bankruptcy months after the company was sued by scores of disgruntled clients.
National News
Is US housing affordability about to take another hit?
FERGAL MCALINDEN, Mortgage Professional America
A report last month suggesting cuts at Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac could hinder the US housing market’s recovery drew stinging criticism from the Trump administration, with a Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) spokesperson touting the “great robust affordability programs” still offered by the government-sponsored entities (GSEs).
Court denies CFPB's request to vacate fair lending settlement
MATT CARTER, Inman (Subscription)
Judge declines to reopen case and vacate settlement with Chicago mortgage broker Townstone Financial, calling the request “a Pandora’s box the court refuses to open.”
California News
State sues SoCal real estate tycoon, alleging widespread tenant exploitation
LIAM DILLON, Los Angeles Times (Subscription)
Alleging widespread and egregious violations of housing and tenant laws, Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta sued Southern California real estate tycoon Mike Nijjar in Los Angeles County Superior Court on Thursday. In the lawsuit, Bonta accused Nijjar, family members and their companies of subjecting tenants to vermin infestations and overflowing sewage, overcharging them and violating anti-discrimination laws.
California Opens Investigation Into State Farm
RUKMINI CALLIMACHI, The New York Times (Subscription)
Ricardo Lara, California’s Insurance Commissioner, announced a formal investigation into State Farm on Thursday, as complaints continue to mount about the insurer’s handling of claims from the catastrophic wildfires in Los Angeles. The so-called “market conduct examination” is a tool used when there is evidence of broad consumer complaints, according to a spokesman for the department. It’s the fourth time that State Farm General Insurance Company — the state’s largest insurer, which covers one out of every five homes in California — has been the subject of such an investigation since 2014, said Michael Soller, a deputy insurance commissioner.
San Jose mayor says legislators ‘talking out of both sides of their mouths’ for demanding progress while cutting homelessness funding
DAVEN PATEL, The Mercury News (Subscription)
Mayors from the Bay Area’s three largest cities have united to demand that California legislators restore critical homelessness funding that could be stripped from next year’s budget, raising the alarm that the loss of these funds would set back progress on residents’ biggest concern and potentially lead to more draconian policies throughout the state in the future.
Millennium Tower Stopped Sinking, but Apartment Values Did Not
KATHERINE CLARKE, The Wall Street Journal (Subscription)
Craig D. Ramsey thought he was getting a deal. In 2016, amid reports that San Francisco’s infamous Millennium Tower was sinking, he paid $13 million for a penthouse there, convinced that once the building’s structural problems were rectified, the unit’s value would soar. The purchase price was a significant discount from the nearly $20 million the previous owner, the late venture capitalist Tom Perkins, spent to buy and build out the unit.
Industry News
Average long-term US mortgage rate ticks down to 6.84% this week, a second straight small decline
MATT OTT, The San Diego Union-Tribune (Subscription)
The average rate on a 30-year U.S. mortgage fell modestly for the second straight week, but home borrowing costs remain elevated. The long-term rate inched back to 6.84% from 6.85% last week, mortgage buyer Freddie Mac said Thursday. A year ago, the rate averaged 6.95%.
Senate unanimously passes trigger leads bill
FLAVIA FURLAN NUNES, HousingWire (Subscription)
The U.S. Senate on Thursday unanimously passed the Homebuyers Privacy Protection Act (S. 1467), a bipartisan bill aimed at curbing the abusive use of trigger leads in the mortgage industry—a move widely applauded by mortgage trade groups.
Real estate teams are winning big. Is the solo agent era over?
JEFF ANDREWS, HousingWire (Subscription)
LPT Realty achieves growth by tailoring compensation models to the career stage of its real estate agents, from newbies who get the most out of a flat-fee model to superstars who like a traditional split. “What that creates is [that] we actually have alignment with our team leaders,” said LPT CEO Robert Palmer. “Everybody wins, and it’s led to massive growth.”
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