Homes

Distancing himself from Republicans on housing issues, President Obama pitched a $5-billion to $10-billion plan to help a key segment of struggling homeowners — those still making monthly payments, but on underwater mortgages. Obama proposed Wednesday to help about 3.5 million people with good credit who are unable to refinance at historically low rates because their homes are worth less than their mortgages. He argued that those homeowners — and the country — couldn't afford to let the housing market bottom out, as many Republicans, including presidential candidate Mitt Romney, have advocated.

Dodgers second baseman Mark Ellis returned home from the hospital Thursday, five days after undergoing emergency surgery on his left leg. Ellis was injured last Friday when Tyler Greene of the St. Louis Cardinals slid into him at second base. The next day, Ellis had fluid and blood drained from his leg. The procedure was required because the pressure on Ellis' muscles and joints was building. Team physician Neal ElAttrache told Dodgers Manager Don Mattingly that Ellis was several hours away from losing the lower part of his leg. Ellis is expected to be sidelined for six weeks.

The most ambitious federal mortgage program to date aimed at millions of underwater homeowners is poised to take off in the coming two weeks, yet some key issues could hinder borrower participation. One of them involves something most owners know nothing about: Who was your mortgage insurer on your underwater loan? Though it was announced by the Obama administration late last year, "HARP 2.0" — the second version of the Home Affordable Refinance Program — will finally hit full stride around the middle of this month, when Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac finish tweaking their automated underwriting systems to accept applications, and lenders and mortgage insurance companies start handling large volumes of requests.

In the end, the mountain lion was probably looking for a place to call his own. Scientists believe the male mountain lion roamed his way down the Santa Monica Mountains early Tuesday, likely following a runoff channel. When daylight broke, he found himself in the middle of the city and scared. The lion was 3, and experts said that was the age to carve out his own territory. "These young guys are looking for a home of their own," said Jeff Sikich, a biologist with the National Park Service.

"Selling L.A. " reality show viewers may wonder if any of the featured homes actually sell. Although perhaps not in time for the closing credits, some houses under consideration for the show do find a buyer outside the roving eye of the camera. One home that agent Rebekah Schwartz was promoting to HGTV for its 15 minutes of fame was the Marina del Rey pad that former Laker Lamar Odom rented a few years back. Listed at $1.995 million in January, it closed early this month at $1.825 million.

Vertigo. For most people, the word summons images of Jimmy Stewart dangling from high places in Alfred Hitchcock's classic thriller by the same name. It means something else, however, to hundreds of thousands of people who experience the strange, dizzying affliction. The most common cause of vertigo, known as benign paroxysmal positional vertigo, usually can be treated with one visit to the doctor.

Homeowners more deeply underwater on mortgages handled by five major U.S. banking firms are prime candidates for getting help from a $25-billion nationwide settlement over alleged foreclosure abuses. That's because the settlement gives the nation's largest mortgage servicers more incentives to help those who owe 40% to 75% more than the value of their homes, according to details of the settlement filed Monday in U.S. District Court in Washington. In a complex series of formulas designed to maximize the effect of the deal reached last month, banks will get more than six times the credit for reducing loans for severely underwater borrowers than they would for helping those who owe 5% to 15% more than the value of their homes.

With the Obama administration and private lenders actively considering mortgage-principal-reduction programs to help financially distressed homeowners, the Internal Revenue Service has issued an advisory to taxpayers who receive -- or seek to receive -- such assistance if it's offered. The IRS gets involved in mortgage principal write-downs because the federal tax code generally treats any forgiveness of debt by a creditor in excess of $600 as ordinary taxable income to the recipient.

If you've been holding back on the new $6,500 federal tax credit for repeat home purchases, you now have all the official IRS guidance you'll need to buy a house, qualify for the credit and pocket the $6,500. That's because the Internal Revenue Service finally published the rules for the repeat purchase credit along with key details for taxpayers that had been missing since President Obama signed the legislation creating the program Nov. 6. The IRS posted its revised Form 5405 on its website ( www.irs.

You might assume it's just another boring-looking piece of the paper blitz you're hit with when you apply for a home loan. But given IRS Form 4506-T's new prominence in the fraud-shocked mortgage market, it's much more than just another document to sign. The form authorizes a loan officer or mortgage investor to get electronic transcripts from the Internal Revenue Service covering multiple years of your federal income tax filings. The IRS has supplied private tax return information to lenders for years, but the data typically were requested only at the close of escrow, and mainly for self-employed applicants or those with unusual income patterns.

Los Angeles has made slow but significant progress toward ending homelessness, but the City Council is about to vote on a proposed law that could stop that momentum in its tracks. The Community Care Facilities Ordinance would threaten the well-being of thousands of people with disabilities, create a nightmare for property owners, cost taxpayers more, violate principles of fair housing and jeopardize access to federal funds. The proposed ordinance grew out of an effort to eliminate sober-living homes in residential neighborhoods.

Same opponent. Different location. Same result. After losing to the Sparks in the teams' season opener on Friday, the Seattle Storm spent three days, including a shoot-around earlier Tuesday, working on jelling with one another offensively and playing more aggressive defensively. Yet, as if on cue in a rematch at Staples Center, glitches by Seattle helped trigger the Sparks' 74-61 victory Tuesday night. Candace Parker scored 21 points and Kristi Toliver had 18 for the Sparks.

That ray of light you see peeking through all the clouds darkening California's future? That's the sun. More specifically, solar power, in which California is the hands-down national leader. The state's installed solar generating capacity of about 1.2 gigawatts - the equivalent of two big conventional power plants and enough to fill the electrical demand from nearly 200,000 homes for a year - easily outstrips the next 10 highest-ranked states. It's also the fastest-growing solar market in the country.

Joining the ranks of teenage homeowners is "Hunger Games" star Josh Hutcherson, who has bought a place in the Hollywood Hills West area for $2.5 million. Called the Tree House, the 2,000-square-foot-plus house has been home at different times to talk show host Ellen DeGeneres and the late actor Heath Ledger. The two-bedroom, two-bathroom house, built in 1951, sits behind gates on nearly a half-acre filled with sycamores. Features include glass walls, polished concrete floors, an office, beamed ceilings and video security.

When: 7:30. Where: Staples Center. On the air: Time Warner Cable 101. Records: Sparks 1-0, Storm 0-1. Record vs. Storm: 1-0. Update: This will be the home opener for the Sparks, who overcame a 21-point deficit to beat the Storm, 72-66, in the teams' season opener Friday at Seattle. Kristi Toliver, who came off the bench, led the Sparks with 25 points, six assists and three steals. Candace Parker had 11 points and four rebounds.

A former Los Angeles County property appraiser accused of improperly slashing the value on more than 100 Westside homes and businesses was taken into custody in Oregon on Monday, marking the first arrest in the wide-ranging corruption probe into the assessor's office. Prosecutors say Scott Schenter, 49, falsified department documents and unlawfully lowered property values by $172 million for multimillion-dollar homes and businesses. Schenter allegedly secured campaign contributions from the owners for Assessor John Noguez, authorities said.

The federal government's efforts to eliminate settlement cost surprises for home mortgage applicants may have opened the door to a new -- and potentially costly -- set of consumer problems. Starting Jan. 1, mortgage lenders nationwide were required to begin issuing new "good faith estimates" to applicants covering loan fees and settlement charges. Under the regulations issued by the Department of Housing and Urban Development, the estimates that lenders provide upfront must be accurate -- the same or nearly the same as the fees that are later charged at closing.

WASHINGTON - The Obama administration ordered tariffs of 31% and higher on solar panels imported from China, escalating a simmering trade dispute with China over a case that has sharply divided American interests in the growing clean-energy industry. The Commerce Department announced the stiff duties Thursday after making a preliminary finding that Chinese solar panel manufacturers "dumped" their goods - that is, sold them at below fair-market value. The widely anticipated ruling, if affirmed by U.S. trade officials this fall, is expected to have significant implications for both the global production of solar cells, now largely in China, and the growth of the solar energy industry in the U.S., which employs about 100,000 people in manufacturing, installation and services.

Known for the great variety of the roles he plays, Leonardo DiCaprio now is trying his hand at Malibu beach house landlord. He has listed this Cape Cod-inspired home for $75,000 a month for a long-term tenant or $150,000 a month for leases of less than six months. His Malibu Colony compound was recently remodeled and features a four-bedroom main house on the ocean side, a two-bedroom guest house and a detached loft with gym. There is a beach-front deck, a fire pit, gardens and lawn on the less-than-half-acre lot. DiCaprio, 37, whose blockbuster hits include "Titanic" (1997)

Actor Kelsey Grammer is back at it — trying to sell his home in the Beverly Crest area — this time for $17.999 million. Priced in 2008 at $19.9 million, the mansion is described in the listing as modern Traditional in style. The two-story house, built in 1980, features a central hall, media room, a library, a wine cellar and a service entrance. There are seven bedrooms, nine bathrooms and 10,567 square feet of living space. Lawn, a swimming pool, a six-car motor court and a four-car garage complete the grounds of more than three-quarters of an acre.