Richard C. Blum and Dianne Feinstein enjoying a chuckle.
Last month I published an investigation examining the big corporate investors that have bought up the East Bay’s foreclosed homes, turning thousands of them into rental properties. Featured in the story was Cheri King, an Oakland resident who lost her house due to predatory bank lending and the foreclosure crisis. Now her home in East Oakland is owned by Colony Capital, a private equity firm from Santa Monica run by billionaire Thomas Barrack, Jr.
Last Friday it was announced that a hotel chain owned by Barrack, FRHI Hotels & Resorts, purchased Oakland’s Claremont Hotel. Joining Barrack in buying the Claremont is Richard Blum, husband of U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein.
Here’s what the company’s press release said:
“FRHI Hotels & Resorts (FRHI), the parent company of luxury and upper upscale hotel brands Raffles Hotels & Resorts, Fairmont Hotels & Resorts and Swissôtel Hotels & Resorts, together with California financier Richard C. Blum and his family, have purchased the historic Claremont Hotel Club & Spa in Berkeley, California, it was announced today. FRHI and the Blum family are equal partners and terms were not disclosed.”
Whatever the specific terms were, the general gist is that Blum and Feinstein are now business partners with Barrack.
What does this mean for victims of the foreclosure crisis like Cheri King, and homeowners currently fighting to stop foreclosure? In her effort to stave off foreclosure by Wells Fargo, and win back her home from Colony Capital, King wrote to Senator Feinstein’s office last year. According to King, Feinstein’s staff were responsive and helpful, but ultimately nothing has come of her attempt to bring the California Senator’s attention to the problem of continuing bank foreclosures, dual tracking, and the investors like Colony Capital taking advantage of this situation.
Now that Feinstein is a business partner with one of the largest foreclosure investors in the nation, Colony Capital, will there be a push for more meaningful oversight of the banks that are creating the inventory of empty homes for buyers like Barrack to buy up?
Pueblo Lands 