Romney camp: Obama taking Bain donations 'height of hypocrisy'

While Democrats assail presumptive Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney's Bain Capital business practices, Republicans note that President Obama has not been bashful about accepting cash from Bain executives or other high-profile figures in the corporate buyout business.

"President Obama has based his entire reelection campaign on a vicious, dishonest assault on Mitt Romney's business career. The real question for President Obama is this: if Bain Capital is so bad, why have you taken nearly $120,000 in donations from them?" said Romney spokeswoman Andrea Saul. "President Obama's actions are the height of hypocrisy."

Obama and his re-election campaign have been hammering Romney for reaping huge profits at the helm of Bain, while companies in which the firm invested went bankrupt, laid off workers or outsourced jobs overseas.

"Romney and his partners put payments to themselves and their partners first, before anything else," David Foster, a former union leader at Bain-owned GST Steel, which later went bankrupt, told reporters on a conference call.

"I was the one who had to tell [the laid off workers] that Bain had broken its promises, underfunded their pensions and that they were on their own," he said, noting that Bain had devastated families and real lives.

According to the Center for Responsive Politics, which tracks Federal Election Commission data, Obama has collected $118,121 from donors who list Bain as their employer between June 2004 and May 2012. The period covers Obama's bid for the Senate and his presidential campaigns.

One of Obama's top campaign financiers - Jonathan Lavine - is also managing director at Bain, bundling between $100,000 and $200,000 in contributions for the 2012 Obama Victory Fund, according to estimates released by the Obama campaign. The president has also relied on other leading figures in the private equity sector as hosts for high-dollar fundraisers and as members of his Jobs Council.

Obama campaign spokesman Ben LaBolt denied there was a double standard, saying the attacks on Romney are not about Bain Capital or private equity but about the candidate's business record.

"Mitt Romney is the only person campaigning for president who says that during his tenure as a corporate buyout specialist his goal was job creation and that we should evaluate his qualifications for the presidency based on that record," LaBolt told reporters on a conference call.

"As the president has made clear when he's discussed this, the job of the President of the United States is to worry about the workers and the livelihoods of middle-class families just as much as it is to worry about profit creation," he said.

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5 Things to Consider Before Taking in Renters (U.S. News & World Report)

Thinking about renting out your basement or mother-in-law suite? While the decision to become a landlord is not something to take lightly, it can be a great source of income, says Robert Griswold, author of Property Management for Dummies and Inman News columnist. "It helps you with mortgage payments and the beauty of it is if anything goes wrong, you're right there," he says.

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And if you're selling your home with built-in rental space, it can be considered a selling point, according to Griswold. Before you take the plunge and list your rental property, here are five things to consider:

1. What are the rental zoning laws? While some cities do not place limits on renting out a mother-in-law or walk-out basement, other cities deem those types of rentals, often called "accessory dwelling units" or "secondary suites," illegal. If they are legal, they are often under zoning codes that could include:

--Restrictions on number of residents.

--Laws allowing only one "household" per house.

--Restrictions on the number of dwelling units on a parcel.

--Extra requirements for multi-unit housing (e.g., required additional parking spots for tenants) Even if your city allows these rentals, if you live within a planned neighborhood or are a member of a homeowners or neighborhood association, you may be subject to their rules.

2. Is your rental up to code? If you are renting out a secondary unit on your property, you are legally responsible for following the local housing codes. Like rental zoning laws, rental housing codes will differ around the country. If you don't comply with housing codes, the penalties can be significant, notes Griswold. Not only will you face considerable fines, but the rent can be waived and returned to the tenant if the property is not found to be code compliant.

3. Is the rental desirable? While your walk-out basement may be up to code and legal, is it something that someone else would want to rent? Ask yourself objectively if you can picture yourself living there. Most often secondary housing units are priced lower than an apartment or other rental, so take that in consideration as well. As with all real estate, demand varies from market to market. Are you in a location where rentals are in high demand?

[See the best personal finance stories from around the Web at the U.S. News My Money blog.]

4. Do you have time to be a landlord? As a landlord you are responsible for making or arranging for repairs and should be available 24/7. Expect about 10 percent of your rental income to go to repairs and updates on the property. If you don't keep up on the property, you could lose or alienate good tenants.

5. Would you be a good landlord? You also need to know your personality, says Griswold. "You need to be fair, firm and friendly but not friends with your tenant so you can enforce rules," he explained. Although it's rare for an on-site rental, you have the option of hiring a professional property management company to deal with your tenants. Additionally, get to know fair housing standards, said Griswald, and whether you would be OK renting to someone who had a different lifestyle from you. "You have a right to what you believe, but you can't get into that as landlord."

Erika Riggs is a real estate writer for Zillow Blog, a resource for real estate and mortgage news. Twitter: @zillow.

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