Hard Money Loans

CitiMortgage Inc. has agreed to a $2 million settlement in a class action, a news release said. A class action was filed in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Washington against EMC Mortgage Corp., Keller Rohrback LLP announced. Last September, Ohio’s attorney general said a motion to dismiss the state’s lawsuit against HomEq Servicing was denied.

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Cleveland, OH, United States (AHN Sports) – William Buford led Ohio State’s balanced attack with 18 points as the first-seeded Buckeyes cruised to a 75-46 victory over the Texas-San Antonio Roadrunners in the second round of the NCAA men’s basketball tourney Friday at Quicken Loans Arena.

Ohio State started its NCAA tourney campaign with a bang, as the Buckeyes unloaded 12 treys and dished out 26 assists to make a quick work of Texas-San Antonio.

Buford went 3-of-5 from deep (7-of-12 overall) and tallied six boards and five assists to pace the vaunted Buckeyes squad throughout.

Jon Diebler, the Big Ten all-time three-point leader, also drained four treys and finished with four boards and five dimes.

Freshman sensation Jared Sullinger had a decent NCAA tourney debut, as he chalked up 11 points, nine boards, and three steals in just 26 minutes of action.

Fresh from a 70-61 victory over Alabama State in Wednesday’s First Four duel, Texas-San Antonio started the game on fire and even took a four-point lead four minutes into the first half.

Ohio State did a fine job guarding Roadrunners’ star guard Melvin Johnson III, who came up with just five points on 1-of-9 shooting after erupting for 29 points Wednesday.

The Buckeyes also stifled the Roadrunners to just .340 percent from the floor and outrebounded them 34-26.

Moreover, Ohio State’s 89.7 (26 assists of its 29 field goals) assists-field goal percentage marked the highest by a team in an NCAA tourney game in the last 15 years.

Devin Gibson, who averaged a team-high 16.8 points in the season, tallied a game-high 24 points to lead the Roadrunners in the losing effort.

The Buckeyes will resume their quest for their second NCAA title Sunday, when they face no.8 George Mason.

The Patriots, who went all the way to the Final Four in 2006, bested Villanova 61-57 Friday to settle a round-of-32 showdown with the Buckeyes.

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Georgia, United States (AHN) – ONE World Enterprises, LLC is recalling O.N.E. Coconut Water, packaged in 11.2 oz Tetra Pak cartons with Lot code 12E1004, UPC # 894991001104 and Sell-by date of May 1, 2011, due to the potential oxidation of the product that may permit the growth of mold.

The affected product is isolated to a single lot number and the company is currently utilizing Corrective And Preventative Action (CAPA) procedures to identify why this problem exists, which was discovered after receiving a small number of consumer complaints.

Test results for pathogens were negative as tested by the Georgia State Department of Agriculture.

The affected product was distributed to various retail outlets in Florida, Georgia, Indiana, New York, South Carolina, and Tennessee.

Product Description

Product: O.N.E. Coconut Water

Container: 11.2 oz Tetra Pak cartons

Lot: Lot code 12E1004, UPC # 894991001104

Sell-by date: May 1, 2011

Dates and codes can be found stamped on the top of the packaging.

No illnesses have been reported to date in connection with this recall.

Currently the company is working with the Georgia State Department of Agriculture to determine the cause of the consumer complaints. The recall is being conducted in cooperation with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

To date all internal testing at the manufacturing plant indicates no contamination. Therefore, the company is investigating possible issues that may have occurred during transport thereby causing potential oxidation.

Consumers should return any of this product to the retail store where it was purchased for a full refund or credit. Consumers with questions may contact the company at 888-ONE-COCO (888-663-2626) between 9 am and 5 pm P.T. Monday through Friday for further information.

View full post on Economy, Business And Finance Stories

Ottawa, Ontario, Canada (AHN) – The Financial Action Task Force in Canada said Thursday the multi-government group tasked with putting in place anti-money laundering and anti-terrorist financing practices in the country has plugged loopholes.

The task force held a closed-door meeting that ended Friday in preparation for a Paris meeting this week of international anti-money laundering authorities. Ottawa had previously been criticized for failing to meet several key anti-money laundering benchmarks, particularly to diligently check the background of customers.

The task force discovered that Canada did not comply with 11 of 49 recommendations in the basic framework for anti-money laundering efforts, which placed the country behind the U.S., Germany, and even India and Saudi Arabia. But Ottawa met seven recommendations and partially or compliant with most of the recommendations.

Among the measures Ottawa has put in place are tougher requirements to check on customer due diligence and stricter tracking of wire transfers to casinos and check-cashing firms, which are the usual conduits of money launderers.

Toronto is the site of the permanent headquarters of the secretariat of the Egmont Group. The group is an organization of 101 of the world’s financial intelligence units, including the Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Center of Canada. Ottawa contributed $5 million in 2006 spread over five years to help the secretariat get established.

However, experts said that even if Canada has plugged some of the more obvious loopholes, the lack of investigation, enforcement and prosecution still makes the country vulnerable to money laundering activities.

View full post on Economy, Business And Finance Stories

Washington, DC, United States (AHN) – The nation’s largest bank, Bank of America, on Friday halted foreclosures in all 50 states, becoming the first major bank to take that action.

Bending to mounting political pressure, Bank of America (BAC) announced it would stop all foreclosure proceedings and pending sales of homes indefinitely. It had taken that action last week in 23 states that require court approval for foreclosures.

At issue is the practice of beginning the foreclosure process using so-called “robo-signers,” people who signed hundreds or thousands of documents every day without reviewing the details of any foreclosure.

Bank of America announced it would begin a nationwide review of all its foreclosures. The bank services about 14 million mortgages and approximately 14 percent of those loans are past due or in foreclosure.

The bank announced it would resume foreclosures once its review was complete, but also said that so far bank officials had found that their assessments in mortgages sent for foreclosure was accurate.

Mortgage lenders have been under investigation by the federal government and the attorneys general in several states for sloppy and inaccurate foreclosures. U.S. lawmakers on Friday called on other mortgage lenders to follow Bank of America’s action.

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So, you have the most advanced and dynamic real estate agent website on the web. You got all the bells and whistles your buyers and sellers would ever want. The traffic is rolling in, but there’s still one problem. Where are the leads?

Like every other real estate agent, you know how tough it is to find quality real estate leads. You need potential clients to take action now! Not wait, sit on the fence for a while and eventually slip away. So how can you catch these clients hook, line and sinker? Learn how to market and advertise YOURSELF! Take advantage of the features your realty website offers that allow you to show off.

Write a catchy and creative blurb on your professional skills, attitude and star sales qualities.

Remind your clients to interact with your website. Ask them to fill out a form, contact you and save their favourite properties. Make them communicate with you in any way possible.

Take advantage of every touch point. Store clients’ e-mails, phone numbers and addresses. Make sure to contact every single person that makes contact with you.

Don’t fall into the background. Stay top of mind with a monthly newsletter, deal of the month or open house invitation.

Always show customers what’s in it for them. Sell yourself through your abilities, actions and services not through boasting, bragging or arrogance.

Make an offer they can’t refuse. Promise a free home staging quote, t-shirt, mortgage broker quote or even a useful real estate report if they fill out a form. Remember, everyone LOVES something for free. Tag team with an industry specialist to make it happen.

Identify what makes you different from every other money-hungry agent. Create a Unique Selling Proposition for your services and run with it. Make it the bread-and-butter of your business.

Ask them for referrals, testimonials, questions and requests. Keep your phone number and e-mail visible and in the right places. Present a call to action that encourages them to follow through.

Make your REALTOR® website a real estate research headquarters. Give your visitors ALL the info they need to know. You can bet buyers & sellers will get online to make an informed decision long before they take any definitive action with an agent. Why not be the one-stop-shop? Appeal to their every real estate need, want and desire. With the right marketing and advertising strategies, they will stay on your site longer and visit more often. That’s how you ring in the qualified sales. Cha-ching!