Tuesday, March 19, 2013

The City of Lancaster is on a Quest to be the “Green City” as far as Energy and Recycling

A private firm, Ecolution plans to build a more than $100 million high-tech automated recycling center in the city of Lancaster instead of sending waste to landfills it reuses and recycles the waste for energy and other purposes. The 100 hundred million is said to come from private financing, and their facility is said to recycle more products than similar facilities in use and there are less labor costs. Mayor R. Rex Paris has been quoted as saying “The City of Lancaster stands to be the first Net-Zero City in America,” “I support innovative public-private partnerships which promote green energy development and maximize our available resources. The long term success of Lancaster hinges on our ability to position ourselves as a leader in alternative energy production.” According to Ecolution’s website, they have a mechanism for sorting trash that they call GreenStream, which separates waste into 20 categories of materials, including recyclables, wet and dry organic fuels, electronic waste, household hazardous waste and inert materials such as rocks, concrete and soil. This allows them the ability to collect 85% of the recyclable material that Lancaster throws away. They can turn this into energy, or a new recycled product. The project is undergoing an environmental impact report, and maybe situated in the Fox Field Enterprise Zone. The city has previously agreed to provide a forty acres area for the facility.

Monday, March 11, 2013

When Can a Buyer Buy a New Home or Land after Foreclosure or Bankruptcy?

It is not all bad as you think if you have had a Bankruptcy or Foreclosure. We found information that can help those hurt in the recent Real Estate Financial crisis. A period of time needs to elapse and you also need to retain good current credit before you can get back into the real estate market. There are some really short times frames that prior borrowers can take advantage of, Here is the breakdown. Bankruptcy Conforming and High Balance Chapter 7 The time period is four years from discharge date Conforming and High Balance Chapter 13 The time period is two years from discharge date and four years from dismissal date. FHA Standard Chapter 13, 1 year if the payout period under the BK has elapsed and the borrower’s payment performance has been satisfied with all required payments. The borrower may also have to receive written permission from the court before getting another mortgage. A FHA Standard Chapter 7 bankruptcy person will have to wait two years since the date of discharge, and must re-established good credit or no new credit. A borrower with a high balance FHA chapter 7 or 13 will have to wait seven years before entering a new mortgage, while a high balance VA loan borrower with a Chapter 7 or 13 with have to wait two years, or one year but maybe case by case before entering a new mortgage. Pre-Foreclosure or Short Sale A conforming high balance borrower will have to wait four years after the credit report date. The borrower could get up to a 90% LTV (loan to value) also. A standard FHA high balance borrower will have to wait three years while a VA borrow will wait two years. Foreclosure Conforming and High Balance borrows will need to wait seven years from the credit report date while and FHA and VA loan borrower will need to wait three and two years respectively. There you have it. This past foreclosure crisis maybe well behind many prior borrowers and each situation maybe case by case. But with the low interest rates in today’s market there is light at the end of the tunnel.

Monday, March 4, 2013

Beautiful Earth Solar Project US Treasury Cancellation and City of Lancaster Planning Extension

Beautiful Earth Group LLC is planning a solar project on 180 acres of land at Avenue H to Avenue H-8, and between 80th Street West, and 90th Street West. The construction of their 38 megawatt photovoltaic solar generating facility is comprised of two19 MW solar fields in the Rural Residential zoned land (RR-2.5). Lancaster planning approved a (CUP) Conditional use permit back in November of 2010 to construct their proposed solar facility. The planning commission also recommended approval of General Plan Amendment and zone change. The City Council approved both the GPA and the Zone Change and CUP which became effective on February of 2011. Beautiful Earth Group later constructed a fence around the site area. The US Treasury 1603 Program: Payments for Specified Energy Property in Lieu of Tax Credits. According to the US Treasury site, the purpose of the 1603 payment is to reimburse eligible applicants for a portion of the cost of installing specified energy property used in a trade or business or for the production of income. A 1603 payment is made after the energy property is placed in service; a 1603 payment is not made prior to or during construction of the energy property. The deadline for new projects has passed and no new projects will be accepted according to the program. If a project has submitted an application prior to October 1, 2012 for energy property not yet placed in service (known as a Begun Construction application) they must update to a Converted Application within 90 days after the energy property is placed in service. The project applicant will not need to wait for a response from Treasury on their Begun Construction application. Applications updated after 90 days of an energy property being placed in service will not be accepted. Looks like Beautiful Earth Group may fall under this converted version as to our knowledge they have not begun construction. Beautiful Earth Group has applied for and they were granted an extension of one year with the city of Lancaster, Ca. in order to complete the construction of the project. It shows that well funded and Federal and locally approved alternative energy projects run into construction and timeframe obstacles.