Linda Young – Fourth Estate Cooperative Writer
Irvine, CA, United States (4E) – The number of foreclosure filings nationwide dropped in April to its lowest level since July 2007, although foreclosure activity actually increased in some areas of the country. RealtyTrac, the leading online marketplace for foreclosure properties, released its April report on foreclosure filings on Thursday. The report showed shows that foreclosure filings, consisting of default notices, scheduled auctions and bank repossessions, were reported on 188,780 properties. Foreclosure activity decreased 5 percent in April, compared with March. It was down by 14 percent compared to April 2011. In addition, repossessions by banks dropped significantly to 51,415 repossessions last month, down 26 percent compared to a year [...] Continue Reading…
Realty Trac: foreclosures dropped to lowest level since 2007
May 18th, 2012 
davidguide Bonded labor ensnares entire families
May 17th, 2012 davidguide Kabul, Afghanistan (IRIN) – Bonded labor in Afghanistan’s brick kilns is one of the most common forms of hazardous labor in the country. More than half of the brick kiln workers surveyed in a recent report by the International Labor Organization (ILO) were children, with most under 14. Few are getting any education to allow them to develop skills needed to break out of work in the kilns. Most children began working at the age of seven or eight, and almost 80 percent are under 10. According to the ILO, the kilns rely on debt bondage: Workers and their families are tied to a kiln by the need to pay off loans taken out for basic necessities, medical [...] Continue Reading…
Ally mortgage unit files bankruptcy
May 15th, 2012 davidguide Diane Alter – Fourth Estate Cooperative Reporter
Midvale, Utah, United States (4E) – Ally Financial ResCap mortgage on Monday filed for prepackaged bankruptcy protection. The bank, owned by taxpayers, said the filing will allow the bank to take another step to repay the U.S. treasury. Ally’s ResCap unit operates under the GMAC Mortgage brand. At one time, it was the nation’s leading subprime lender. Problems with those home loans for risker borrowers, and the steep drop in the company’s core auto finance business, forced the Treasury to shell out some $15.8 billion in bailout funds in 2009 in an effort to rescue the ailing auto industry and bubble-bursting housing market. ResCap began as the finance unit of [...] Continue Reading…
Massachusetts Lawmakers Unveil Ambitious Plan To Cut Health Care Costs
May 5th, 2012 davidguide Boston, MA, United States (KaiserHealth) – When Massachusetts passed sweeping health insurance reform in 2006, a crucial piece was missing from the landmark legislation: how to control rising medical costs. Today, state lawmakers announced a new proposal to do just that, including new ways to pay doctors and hospitals, a specific cap on health-care spending tethered to economic growth and a tax on the state’s most expensive hospitals if they can’t justify their prices. Different Takes: How Massachusetts Can Control Health Care Costs. MIT economics professor Jonathan Gruber, an architect of the state’s 2006 health law and an advisor to President Barack Obama on the national Affordable Care Act calls the new House proposal “aggressive, broad [...] Continue Reading…
Ethnic minorities call for caution as sanctions ease
April 28th, 2012 davidguide Chiang Mai, Thailand (IRIN) – Ethnic minority groups in Myanmar are calling on the international community to set stronger benchmarks or steps in the incremental removal of international sanctions, following this week’s announcement by the European Union (EU) to suspend sanctions for a year, retaining only the embargo on arms sales. “Now more than ever, it’s important that our voice is heard,” Zipporah Sein, general secretary of the Karen National Union told IRIN on 27 April. “If sanctions are to be lifted, it’s important that specific benchmarks be put in place.” Many argue there can be no real progress towards democracy until the country formerly known as Burma makes peace with all its ethnic groups. Viewed as [...] Continue Reading…
Dubai’s bounced-check convicts go on strike
April 25th, 2012 davidguide The Media Line Staff
United Arab Emirates David Rosenberg / The Med – Christopher Renehan, a 38-year-old Irish national and building contractor, is looking at at least five more years in Dubai’s Central Prison and he has had enough. Seven months into his jail term, he declared a hunger strike last week and has since been joined by others serving time of as much as 20 years, all for the same offense. The crime that’s landed them in jail for such lengthy sentences isn’t murder or grand larceny – it’s for writing bounced checks, which in Dubai is a criminal offense that can get you as much as three years for each conviction. Renehan was the managing partner [...] Continue Reading…
Short sales up in housing market
April 21st, 2012 davidguide Diane Alter – AHN News Reporter
New York City, NY, United States (AHN) – Short sales out paced foreclosures in 12 states in January, market research form Realty Trac reported Friday. The increase highlights that more homeowners are finding an easier way out of a distressed home loans with short sales, and that more lenders are embracing them. Short sales occur when a lender agrees to a home sale for less than what is owed. In January, the number surged 33 percent year-over-year, and preliminary data suggests February numbers will also come in robust. Lenders have become increasingly acceptable to short sales, which tend to hurt neighboring homeowners less than foreclosures. In addition, homeowners may regain eligibility [...] Continue Reading…
Short sales up in housing market
April 21st, 2012 davidguide Diane Alter – AHN News Reporter
New York City, NY, United States (AHN) – Short sales out paced foreclosures in 12 states in January, market research form Realty Trac reported Friday. The increase highlights that more homeowners are finding an easier way out of a distressed home loans with short sales, and that more lenders are embracing them. Short sales occur when a lender agrees to a home sale for less than what is owed. In January, the number surged 33 percent year-over-year, and preliminary data suggests February numbers will also come in robust. Lenders have become increasingly acceptable to short sales, which tend to hurt neighboring homeowners less than foreclosures. In addition, homeowners may regain eligibility [...] Continue Reading…
Stocks slide Wednesday following Tuesday’s big gains
April 19th, 2012 davidguide Diane Alter – AHN News Reporter
New York City, NY, United States (AHN) – U.S. stocks took a breather Wednesday from Tuesday’s big gains and once again focused on problems in Europe’s economy. In mid-morning trading, the Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 30 points, the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index slumped 2 points, and the NASDAQ gave back 3. Weighing on stocks were mounting worries that the relative calm that has settled over Europe in the past several months may be short-lived, and the sovereign debt crisis that has been plaguing the region for quite some time will once again rear its ugly head. Spain released data Wednesday that showed Spanish banks are holding more problem loans [...] Continue Reading…
Big Banks Slack on Maintaining Foreclosed Homes in Minority Areas, Complaint Charges
April 18th, 2012 davidguide ProPublica Staff
Washington, DC, United States (ProPublica) – by Cora Currier Wells Fargo and U.S. Bank have let foreclosed homes in black and Latino neighborhoods lapse into disrepair, while bank-owned homes in mainly white neighborhoods are better cared-for, according to housing advocates. The National Fair Housing Alliance, a non-profit group, brought a formal complaint to the Department of Housing and Urban Development last week alleging that Wells Fargo violated the Fair Housing Act by failing to keep up homes in minority neighborhoods. Today, the group announced they are also filing a second complaint, against U.S. Bank. Earlier this month, the group released a survey, which was funded in part by HUD, of more than 1,000 unoccupied, foreclosed [...] Continue Reading…
