Cable/cord near brake level is extremely loose, brake doesn't work
Yep, the V-brake is improperly assembled.  The curved metal tube is supposed to "catch" the end where it touches the rubber accordion thing in the notch in the dohickey attached to the right-hand-side brake arm (which is on the left in your picture).  Either it got knocked out (possibly while the bike was being put into/taken out of your car trunk) or the notch has spread (unlikely) letting the tube slip through.  

Here is a picture of how it ought to look.

(Note that the brake is designed to come apart at that point.  This allows the arms to be spread apart to make it easier to remove the wheel for service.  In fact, it's not too unusual for a repair tech to forget to reconnect this after servicing a bike.  Or it may have been loosened to remove the wheel while transporting.)