Mary Podmolik

Ticket Scalpr comes home to Chicago after successful test in San Francisco

chicagotribune.com — Ticket Scalpr, a Chicago-based startup whose mobile application allows consumers to buy and sell last-minute tickets for events, has launched in its local market after testing the concept in San Francisco. The company's founder is Patrick O'Brien, a 25-year-old Mount Prospect native and former Groupon employee.

A visual look at Fannie, Freddie’s performance

marketwatch.com — Federally controlled mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac exhibit "critical financial weaknesses" in areas such as capital, poorly performing legacy assets, outdated systems and uncertainty over the future, according to a regulator's report issued last week. The charts in this slideshow take a closer look at Fannie and Freddie, starting with delinquency rates.

MKTWgoldstein: Fannie & Freddie's portfolio ...

twitter.com — Fannie & Freddie's portfolio performance is slowly improving http://www.marketwatch.com/story/a-visual-look-at-fannie-freddies-performance-2013-06-17 ... pic.twitter.com/f4syKXSMcK

Racial Bias in Housing Finance Gets U.S. Supreme Court Review

businessweek.com — The U.S. Supreme Court will decide whether people who file housing discrimination suits must show they were victims of intentional bias, accepting a case that may undercut the Obama administration's crackdown on the lending industry. The justices today agreed to consider an appeal by Mount Holly, New Jersey, which is fighting a U.S.

Apple releases information on data requests from NSA, other agencies

chicagotribune.com — WASHINGTON -- Apple Inc. , said it received 4,000 to 5,000 requests for customer data from U.S. officials during the six months ending in May, as it became the latest high-tech company to provide some details on its involvement in the National Security Agency 's Internet surveillance program.

Fair housing issues raised at a gated community

chicagotribune.com — Homeowners in the Galewood Crossings development in Chicago have been paying legal fees to defend the homeowners' board against accusations of racial discrimination in a federal lawsuit. The people who sought to protect their home values by keeping Chicago Housing Authority residents outside the gates are primarily African-Americans and Hispanics themselves.

Home Sweet Homeownership Tax Breaks

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Larger homes are the next big thing, again

chicagotribune.com — Homes are getting bigger again. About 483,000 single-family homes were built last year, and 41 percent of them had at least four bedrooms. Thirty percent of them had at least three bathrooms, and that's the highest percentage of homes with three or more bathrooms since the Census Bureau started keeping track of such things in 1987.

Chicago moves to ban plastic shopping bags-if Rahm's willing

chicagoreader.com — Chicago would become the largest U.S. city to ban plastic shopping bags from supermarkets if a group of aldermen get their way. But that's the catch, because aldermen don't get their way in Chicago unless the mayor lets them.

Home prices in Cook County show uptick

chicagotribune.com — Home values in Illinois' most populous county are improving, but the gains may be smaller than would-be sellers are expecting. First-quarter prices of single-family homes in Cook County increased 3.5 percent from 2012's first quarter and rose 3.2 percent from December, according to a home price index calculated by the Institute for Housing Studies at DePaul University.

Housing discrimination; HUD study

chicagotribune.com — Hispanic homebuyers have made strides, but Asians and African-Americans looking to purchase a home still are told about or shown far fewer homes than are equally qualified white consumers, a national study has determined. Hispanic renters, however, face the same challenges as other minority groups in finding apartments, according to the report, issued Tuesday by the U.S.