Hard Money Loans

First Heritage Bank was closed Friday by the Washington Department of Financial Institutions. Sidus Financial LLC said that it was halting new lock requests from mortgage brokers and correspondent customers. Including banks and credit unions, the failure or closing of 65 mortgage-related operations have been tracked by MortgageDaily.com during 2011.

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Washington, DC, United States (AHN) – Officials of American mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac denied Wednesday they caused the foreclosure crisis, instead blaming mortgage services and law firms that they contract.

The executives told Congress that since the two companies do not service loans the responsibility for managing payments by borrowers on home loans or foreclosing mortgages that have defaulted is with the mortgage servicers and loan firms.

Fannie Mae Executive Vice President for Credit Portfolio Terence Edwards said the mortgage servicers are the primary front-line operators who have contact with the borrowers. Fannie Mae pays them service fees to work with borrowers during the duration of the loan.

However, acting Comptroller of the Currency John Walsh disputed Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac’s explanation, countering that the companies’ policies contributed to the foreclosure problem. In particular, he identified the large number of documents used by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in their mortgage foreclosure processes.

Walsh said large national bank servicers, namely Bank of America, Citibank, JPMorgan Chase, HSBC, PNC, Wells Fargo and U.S. Bank, have similar deficiencies in their foreclosure processes, which the OCC and other banking regulators are reviewing.

The Treasury Department spent in 2008 $135 billion on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac after the federal government seized the two firms to cover their losses on soured mortgage loans. In mid-November, President Barack Obama nominated North Carolina Banking Commissioner Joseph Smith Jr. to head the agency that has supervisory power over Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

Smith will replace Edward DeMarco, who headed the Federal Housing Finance Agency since August 2009. The agency is in the midst of preparations to overhaul the two mortgage lending giants.

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D.C., Washington, United States (AHN) – Despite the recent furor created by strict airport security measures, particularly ivasive passenger searches, a survey released Monday indicated about two-thirds of Americans support the use of new full-body scanners at U.S. gateways.

However, 50 percent of the survey respondents drew the line on pat-downs, which they described as having gone too far. Some groups have labeled the pat-downs as glorified grope sessions.

Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano insisted the new regulations are needed for public safety because of the continued threat against the aviation industry by power and gel smugglers who could use these items as explosives.

Napolitano promised that the Transport Security Administration – which said less than 3 percent of air passengers undergo the pat-downs – would listen to public sentiment and make adjustments if it will not compromise airport security.

Since October 400 full-body scanners had been installed and in use at 70 of 450 American gateways.

Travelers who disagree with the TSA body search methods have initiated an online campaign urging passengers to refuse scanners on Wednesday, when a large number of Americans travel for the Thanksgiving week.

Some travelers plan to show their protest by opting for the slower pat-downs instead of passing through the full-body scanners considered as too invasive.

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Washington, D.C., United States (AHN) – Indian diaspora on the East coast was treated to a visual display of real estate investment opportunities at a gala dinner featuring finished and planned projects by New York based Ireo on Saturday in Vienna, Virginia.

“If you are interested in real estate space in India, be it for yourself – your family – or simply an investment, there is no better place to put your money then with Ireo,” Vijay Amritraj, international tennis legend and former United Nations Ambassador told AHN on the sidelines of the glittering show.

Answering, “Why should I mess (read: invest) in India – when I live here?” the core question of Indian Americans settled in the United States, Anjali Grover, of Ireo, told the select audience of rich and famous gathered at the “Bombay Tandoor Restaurant,” that the projects, some of which are completed, some are in the building stage while others are on the architects’ drawing tables, are all on par with the American standards in quality and safety.

Sitting in the United States, the investor can use easy means to invest and own or sell later with Ireo providing personalized services all the way, she added.

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Washington, DC, United States (AHN) – People seeking answers to combat the growing problem of bedbug infestations gathered at a Congressional forum on Thursday.

The recent resurgence in bedbugs means people have found bedbugs in both public and private areas including theaters, retail stores, office buildings, hotel rooms, apartments, homes and college dormitories.

A recent Rasmussen poll found that 20 percent of people had recently changed travel plans to avoid public places because of fear of bed bugs.

U.S. Reps. Don Young (R-AK) and G.K. Butterfield (D-NC) co-sponsored the “Congressional Don’t Let the Bed Bugs Bite Forum.” The forum provided an “opportunity to discuss current federal policies and initiatives of prevention and management,” Young said in a statement.

Noting that bedbugs are as likely to infest a five-star bed and breakfast as they are to invade a five-star hotel, Butterfield said the pests represent a public health issue as well as a threat to tourism and commerce in every state.

Butterfield and Young have introduced H.R. 2248, the Don’t Let the Bed Bugs Bite Act. The legislation would give the U.S. Secretary of Commerce authority to provide grants to help states inspect places for bedbugs. The grants would cover any area including private homes, hotels, schools and train stations.

In addition, the grants would cover pest management education and training to use the most effective prevention and eradication techniques.

Young spoke about an Alaskan elementary school that recently had to send students home early after bedbugs were found in several classrooms.

Participants at the forum included members of Congress, academic bed bug experts, the National Pest Management Association (NPMA), other industries and people who have experienced bed bug infestations.

Some 95 percent of professional pest management companies have encountered bed bug infestations in the past year, according to a 2010 survey of pest management firms by NPMA and the University of Kentucky.

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Washington, D.C., United States (AHN) – Hollywood siren Pamela Anderson appeared to have proved too saucy for India, said Hindu statesman Rajan Zed, in a statement in Nevada on Thursday.

Zed, in a detailed email, noted that Anderson entered the House in India’s popular and controversial daily television reality show “Bigg Boss” in Lonawala (near Mumbai) on Wednesday night for a three-day cameo appearance and India Government issued an order earlier in the day to ban the show in prime time relegating it to slot between 11pm-5am.

The Hindu statesman, cited the official reason being that its content “offends against good taste and decency” and “objectionable and not suitable for children and unrestricted public exhibition.”

“Bigg Boss”, however, went ahead on Wednesday during its regular earlier time slot of nine pm. But Bombay High Court, being moved by show’s owner ‘Viacom 18′ on Thursday, stayed the India Government’s order to reschedule the time of broadcast till next hearing on November 22 on the issue.

Commenting on the censorship Zed called it “was not acceptable, but many times television producers crossed the line for mercantile greed without consideration to families and children. Their race to boost the ratings had frequently resulted in sensationalization of the content.”

“They should regulate themselves so that the freedom of expression was not jeopardized. Television producers needed to grow-up and show maturity to analyze themselves what was good for the Indian nation and the world,” Zed, who is President of Universal Society of Hinduism, added.

Zed, however, welcomed Anderson to India and applauded her interest in Indian ethos and other things Indian.

Describing the Anderson saga, Zed said she entered the House, where she is Khaas Mehmaan (Special Guest), with a white chiffon sari, jhumkas (ear hangings), bangles, bindi, and “namaste”.

She cleaned the floor with a broom, gyrated to Bollywood number “Dhak dhak karne lagaa”, and ate paranthas (Indian stuffed bread).

It is her first visit to India and she has reportedly said that she was not a fan of reality shows. She has reportedly been paid $550,000 for this stint, Zed disclosed.

Zed also cited Television rating agency Audience Measurement and Analytics Limited as reportedly revealing that, “Bigg Boss” gained substantially from Pamela Anderson’s appearance.

“Big Boss”, in its fourth season, follows the “Big Brother” format. Filmfare winner Bollywood megastar Salman Khan (Tere Naam), 44, is the current presenter.

Anderson joined ten remaining housemates, who included Bollywood actors, models, singer, former dacoit, and wrestler. British celebrity Jade Goody appeared in this show in 2008.

Thrice divorced/annulled MTV nominated Pamela Anderson (Baywatch), 43, is a Canadian-American actress-model-author-producer-former Playboy Playmate.

She is vegetarian and an animal rights activist, Zed concluded in his long email release on the subject.

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Washington, DC, United States (AHN) – President Barack Obama on Sunday looked forward to accountability and responsibility from the newly-elected Republicans in the House.

“My expectation is, when I sit down with Mitch McConnell and John Boehner this week, along with the Democratic leaders, that there are a set of things that need to get done during the lame duck, and that they are not going to want to just obstruct, that they’re going to want to engage constructively,” he said.

The President made the comments Sunday to journalists aboard Air Force One as he returned from a 10-day trip to India, Indonesia, Korea and Japan.

Obama noted that “I believe it is a mistake for us to borrow $700 billion to make tax cuts permanent for millionaires and billionaires. It won’t significantly boost the economy, and it’s hugely expensive. So we can’t afford it.”

The president, however, expressed his willingness to learn “how they (the Republicans) intend to spend–how they intend to pay for it,” as he recalled that, “during the campaign at least, the Republicans expressed some strong feelings about (those tax-cuts).”

“I want to hear from them how strongly they feel about it, particularly given that they’re also saying they want to control the deficit and debt,” he added.

“Campaigning is very different from governing,” noted Obama. “All of us learn that. And they’re (the Republicans) still flush with victory, having run a strategy that was all about saying no.”

The American people “want to see us make progress precisely because they understand instinctually how competitive things are and how we have to step up our game.” Obama hoped that “we should be able at least to get through the lame duck, making sure that taxes don’t go up for middle-class families starting January 1st, that some of the key business provisions that can assure economic growth get done.”

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Washington, D.C., United States (AHN) – Rep. John Boehner said Wednesday he plans to use the new political power he would gain as Speaker of the House to continue tax cuts for middle-income and wealthy Americans.

Boehner spoke at a press conference in the U.S. Capitol to update the news media on how the House of Representatives is transitioning to a Republican majority.

“Extending all of the current tax rates and making them permanent will reduce the uncertainty” about the economy, Boehner said.

Tax cuts instituted by the Bush Administration are set to expire at the end of this year.

President Barack Obama said he agrees the tax cuts should be extended for middle-income Americans but is reluctant to extend them for the wealthy.

A permanent extension of the tax cuts is “the most important thing we can do,” said Boehner, an Ohio Republican.

He is set to become the new Speaker of the House after the midterm elections gave Republicans the House majority they need to replace Democratic Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi.

Boehner plans to meet with Obama next week to discuss the tax cuts and other transition issues.

The cuts lowered taxes for individuals earning less than $200,000 a year and families earning less than $250,000. The two categories include 98 percent of Americans.

Obama said recently in a “60 Minutes” television interview the U.S. Treasury would lose $700 billion over the next decade if tax cuts for Americans earning more than $250,000 per year remain in effect.

Boehner took a jab at Pelosi during his press conference in the Capitol when he said he would continue to commute between Washington, D.C., and his home district in Ohio by commercial aircraft.

Pelosi uses military aircraft to fly home to California.

Meanwhile, Boehner’s Republican colleagues are pressuring him to abandon the traditional seniority system in assigning leaders to House committees.

Committee leaders are appointed by the Speaker of the House. Traditionally, the most senior members of committees are given the chairmanships.

Republican congressmen Jerry Lewis of California and Hal Rogers of Kentucky said recently that Arizona Republican Jeff Flake should be given a prominent role on the House Appropriations Committee.

Lewis and Rogers both have seniority over Flake on the Appropriations Committee.

However, Flake is known as a conservative budget-cutter and tax break advocate.

The Appropriations Committee designates how tax revenue is allocated among House committees.

The American Conservative Union is circulating a petition on Capitol Hill that urges Boehner to search for new talent in committee leadership rather than relying on seniority.

Appointing committee chairmen based on seniority “would be a signal to the millions of independents and members of the Tea Party movement who took a chance on Republicans in the election, that you have ignored their message of change, and that instead it will be business as usual in Washington,” the petition says.

Any decisions on how Boehner will choose Republican Party leaders in Congress is likely to come out of the transition team meetings that continued Wednesday.

The 22-member transition team is meeting to set rules they will follow during the move into a new Republican majority in Congress.

“Our goal is to look at how we can make the U.S. House of Representatives more open, more transparent, more accessible to the American people … in terms of how to improve legislative policy, how we can get to job number one, which is creating jobs, and how we can get at reducing deficit spending,” Rep. Greg Walden (R-Ore.), chairman of the transition team, said during a press conference.

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Washington, D.C., United States (AHN) – The decision by the United States Federal Reserve to pump $600 billion into the nation’s economy by buying U.S. Treasury Bonds has sparked international criticism led by Germany and China.

China and Germany represent the world’s second- and fourth-largest economies respectively. In addition, they were joined by Brazil and South Africa in criticizing the “quantitative easing.” Quantitative easing is the economic term for buying assets to attempt to boost the economy and lower unemployment.

However, Germany, China, Brazil and South Africa allege that the scheme will not help the U.S. economy and will instead create more problems in the rest of the world. Quantitative easing is expected to lower the value of the dollar, which will make U.S. exports cheaper in world markets.

That means that U.S. exports would be more competitive against German and Chinese exports.

Indeed, the dollar did plunge in value against several of the world’s currencies on Thursday.

Germany’s Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble on Friday said the U.S. Federal Reserve’s move would undermine efforts to create a level playing field in the currency markets.

China Central Bank chief Zhou Xiaochuan said the U.S. should focus on reforming the international currency system. He argued that if the U.S. central banking policy is good for the U.S., but not good for the rest of the world that it might have a negative impact on the rest of the world.

The U.S. has criticized China for artificially keeping its currency devalued for many years to make its exports cheaper. But China made that move when its country had full employment and a budget surplus. The U.S. central bank is not buying U.S. Treasury bonds to deflate the value of the dollar abroad but rather to try to pour money into the American economy – which currently has a budget deficit – and to stimulate the weak economy to encourage American businesses to hire unemployed American workers at a time of continued high unemployment.

Germany also criticized the move because they said it would add to America’s deficit.

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Lansing, MI, United States (AHN) – Four Loko the popular alcohol infused energy drink popular on college campuses has been banned in Michigan. Stores now have 30 days to remove it from shelves, but store owners aren’t worried they know a new drink will take its place or consumers will make their own mixes.

On Thursday Michigan’s Liquor Control Commission on a 201 voted to ban alcoholic energy drinks like Four Loko. The ban came a day after Chicago’s City Council proposed their own ban on energy drinks that contain alcohol and follows an already enacted ban in Utah.

Health experts have signaled out Four Loko in their campaign to have the product banned and just recently students in Washington and New Jersey were hospitalized after drinking Four Loko.

“The popularity of these drinks are increasing among college students and underage youth,” Commission spokeswoman Andrea Miller said. “They felt it necessary that this product should be banned in Michigan until further research.”

Phusion Projects the company which makes Four Loko said the popular product contains 12 percent alcohol and a 23.5-ounce has as much caffeine as a tall Starbucks coffee.

However critics of the drink say the caffeine masks the effects of the alcohol. Thereby, leaving young consumers unaware of their intoxication level and prompting them to drink more.

Phusion contends consumers have been mixing alcohol and caffeine for years in such drinks as Red Bull and vodka and rum and cola for years.

Michael Mansour, owner of Spartan Spirits near the Michigan State University campus told The State News, “If they can’t get it prepackaged in one unit, then they’ll buy it separately and mix it themselves. They’re going to do it, whether they package it that way or not.”

He went on to say, “In this market, we are always changing and staying on top of what our students’ appeal is. We are constantly staying up on what’s the latest, greatest newest product, so something will come out.”

Phusion plans on challenging the action and released a statement Thursday saying that Michigan’s liquor commission did not provide advance notice of its proposed action and “did not give parties who will be affected by the ban any opportunity to be heard on whether the ban is warranted or authorized by law.”

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