The Dealmaker: 5/25/2017

Existing home sales decline in April. Sales slipped 2.3% “but were still 1.6% ahead of the same month last year.”  According to NAR’s Lawrence Yun, “every major region except for the Midwest saw a retreat in existing sales….” Head to Builder for the regional breakdown along with median sales price figures, plus much more from Yun, including his views on the continuing realtor/client “frustration” over “inventory woes.” http://bit.ly/2rZDPfU

Trends in delinquency rates point to continued healing. “[T]he proportion of all mortgages either 90 or more days delinquent or in the foreclosure process fell by 10 basis points over the first quarter of 2017” — and Eye On Housing has the MBA data and charts & graphs to prove it! –> http://bit.ly/2qgyt3m

Fannie Mae EXCLUSIVE: The crisis in affordable rental housing, Part 1. “Across America, millions of households are struggling to find a place to rent they can afford,” writes Jeff Hayward, Fannie Mae’s head of multifamily. In his first of a two-parter for HousingWire, Hayward looks at the “scope of the affordability problem” and “how we got here.” (Hayward also notes that Part 2 on “what some communities are doing to address the issues” should be available tomorrow. So stay tuned!)  http://bit.ly/2qgJGkD

Dealmaker BONUS: The ‘Flintstone House’ outside of San Francisco has finally found a buyer after two years. No, the home is not in “Bedrock” (it’s in Hillsborough); nor does the new owner have plans to demolish the structure which would turn it into “Barney Rubble.” And, from what we observed, the home does not have an elevator which is “raised and lowered” by a brontosaurus (thanks Wikipedia!). MarketWatch has the home’s most recent asking price along with interior/exterior photos. And (finally!), no, those int/ext images are not on a stone tablet, carved into it by a bird’s beak.  http://bit.ly/2r1pzpE

Mesa pays $13k after police officers lose woman’s dog; did the city get a bargain? asks Evan Bolick, Rose Law Group litigation attorney. Here’s what went down: After Mesa police arrested a woman at a hotel, the “officers took her dog, Dakota,” to a shelter, but the shelter was closed. So the officers gave the dog to some woman “in the parking lot.” No one has seen Dakota since. Mesa paid the woman 13K “to avoid any lawsuits.” Evan Bolick: “It is really uncommon for cities to pay out anything, typically, but the smallest claims.” But did the city get a bargain? (Or to look at it another way: Did the woman get bitten TWICE? — first by cops losing her dog, then by possibly losing out on even MORE money?) Read/WATCH the story and get Evan’s answer at azfamily (3TV/CBS 5).  http://bit.ly/2qociU5

MISSED BY A MILE – South Mountain Freeway right-of-way acquisition ahead of where spokeswoman indicated. “The spokeswoman for the [freeway] developer [Connect 202 Partners]… told Chandler business leaders two weeks ago that 47 percent of the highway’s right of way still had to be acquired.” Turns out that figure was incorrect. “A spokesman for [ADOT] said that the… land it has acquired… constitutes ’90 percent of the total area needed for the project.’ So what was the spokeswoman referring to? ADOT’s Dustin Krugel straightens it out in this freeway status update at Ahwatukee Foothills News. http://bit.ly/2rV9jEA

Pima County supervisors pass tentative budget with 25-cent road tax.  “By a 3-2 majority, the Board of Supervisors approved a tentative $1.27 billion Pima County budget Tuesday that includes a new 25-cent property tax whose proceeds would be dedicated to repairing local roads in both incorporated and unincorporated areas…. Supervisors Steve Christy and Ally Miller voted against the measure.” Find out why at Arizona Daily Star. http://bit.ly/2qkAvvc

Business leaders say Arizona should engage in crafting NAFTA 2.0. “At a forum in Phoenix [yesterday]…Arizona business leaders said the state’s commerce experts and political actors should help craft a new North American Free Trade Agreement if the two-decade-old agreement is renegotiated.” A KEY QUOTE comes from Economist Jim Rounds who cautioned, “If for some reason NAFTA 2.0 ends up being something draconian… it’s going to cause a lot of ripple effects… far-reaching harm if they’re not careful.” Arizona Capitol Times http://bit.ly/2qkwbMA

Arizona environmental chief, physician differ on role of EPA. “Misael Cabrera, the director of the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality… told separate House and Senate committees Tuesday that the federal government needs to back off and let states take care of environmental regulation… He pointed to a complex, multiyear [EPA] effort to increase visibility in the Grand Canyon that resulted in ‘no visible improvement.’… But [Dr. Monica Kraft], who testified alongside Cabrera… defended the importance of strict federal emissions regulations.” Cronkite News http://bit.ly/2qouuwU

Why Scottsdale is, and isn’t, a hub for fake news. “A recent PolitiFact story assembled a database of Websites around the world classified as parody, imposter and fake news sites. Of the 201 listed, 64 are registered in Scottsdale — nearly one-third.” But as AZCentral points out, “that doesn’t mean the people running the sites are Scottsdale residents.” (Or as some bogus news story might refer to such folks: “Scottsdalizoids.” Do they hail from outer space” as in “Scottsd-aliens”? <— Thanks, Phil Riske!)  http://bit.ly/2qgLPMU

Newsmaker BONUS: Government and business cooperation regarding cybercrime investigations. Recently a client asked: “The FBI wants my help with investigating a cybercrime against my business. What do I do?” In Rose Law Group Reporter, Lauren Reynolds and Daniel Gauthier, who are focused on cybersecurity and privacy issues, discuss “three important considerations” that this question raises. They involve “timing,” “losing control” and “regulatory risk and civil liability.”  http://bit.ly/2qkv7YZ