© Arizona Republic 2009Arizona State buildings will go on the market next week, as state officials look to raise $735 million to boost the state's depleted coffers.The offer, which includes the state Coliseum, prisons, the headquarters of the Department of Public Safety and legislative buildings, will go on the market Tuesday and Wednesday, said Alan Ecker, a spokesman for the state Department of Administration.  Investors can buy certificates of participation in the buildings in $5,000 increments by working through the state's underwriters, Morgan Stanley and Citi. Ecker said the certificates, which are tax exempt, will likely carry an More >>

© Business Week 2009 Taxpayer losses from supporting Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will top $400 billion, according to Peter Wallison, a former general counsel at the Treasury who is now a fellow at the American Enterprise Institute. “The situation is they are losing gobs of money, up to $400 billion in mortgages,” Wallison said in a Bloomberg Television interview. The Treasury Department recognized last week that losses will be more than $400 billion when it raised its limit on federal support for the two government-sponsored enterprises, he said. The U.S. seized the two mortgage financiers in 2008 as the government struggled to prevent a meltdown of the financi ...
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13 Attorney Generals are challenging the constitutionality of part of the federal health care bill.  They sent a letter Wednesday to U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and U.S. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reidwarning the congressional leaders that legal action may result if they do not remove a provision that gives Nebraska a break on Medicaid payments.  The group says the “Cornhusker Kickback” is unconstitutional and was added to secure the vote of Nebraska U.S. Senator Ben Nelson. Republican U.S. SE Lindsey Graham and Jim DeMint asked McMaster to look at the bill amended to win Nebraska Sen. Ben Nelson’s support.  Below is a copy of the le ...
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Last week, the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) announced the enactment of two appraisal Mortgagee Letters (ML) will be delayed until February 15, 2010.  ML 2009-28, Appraiser Independence, prohibits mortgage brokers and commission-based lending staff from ordering the appraisal.  In ML 2009-51, FHA announced it is adopting the Appraisal Update and/or Completion Report, Fannie Mae Form 1004D/Freddie Mac Form 442/March 2005.  ML 2009-28 and ML 2009-51 were initially to be implemented on January 1, 2010. According to FHA, the extension "will provide FHA and lenders additional time to adjust systems to accommodate the changes." More >>

On December 16, the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) released Mortgagee Letter (ML) 2009-52, providing guidance to lenders and underwriters on short sales and short pay offs. The guidance is effective immediately and impacts FHA Handbook 4155.1, Mortgage Credit Analysis for Mortgage Insurance on One- to Four-Unit Mortgage Loans. The ML provides guidance to lenders for borrowers: 1) taking advantage of market conditions, 2) eligible for a new FHA mortgage, and 3) in default at the time of the short sale. According to the guidance, borrowers who enter into a short sale agreement to take advantage of a declining market to purchase, at a reduced price, a similar or superior property will not ...
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© Rueters 2009  A new government insurance program that would help the elderly and disabled stay in their homes is headed for passage in the U.S. Senate's sweeping healthcare revamp despite doubts about its viability and cost.  The measure has not received the intense scrutiny focused on a proposed government-run medical coverage plan, which has been jettisoned from the the Senate's healthcare bill and is unlikely to be restored in final legislation. But the Community Living Assistance Services and Supports (CLASS) Act, which was championed by the late Senator Edward Kennedy, is a significant program that supporters say is long overdue and critics say could add to ...
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© Streetinsider.com 2009 There is growing interest from investors for a chance to get in on a $1.1 billion package of commercial real-estate loans that had been given out by failed banks.The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. has received more than a dozen bids for the package of loans held by several defunct banks including the Franklin Bank, IndyMac Bank, and others according to a report in the Wall Street Journal.The FDIC continues to hold a substantial amount of real-estate loans that continues to grow as more banks fall victim to the current economic climate. This package that is gaining interest would hardly put a dent into the FDIC's total holdings.Once the deal is done, th ...
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© Billings Gazette 2009 State and local governments would be forbidden from imposing a tax on real estate sales and transfers under a proposed 2010 constitutional initiative ballot measure submitted Tuesday by the Montana Association of Realtors. The group turned in the proposal to Secretary of State Linda McCulloch’s office, which kicks off a state review of the proposal. “Ranchers and farmers, homeowners, retirees and small business already pay property taxes,” said Dennis Iverson, a former legislator and immediate past president of Montana Association of Realtors. “Real estate transfer taxes are nothing more than double taxation of property. A real e ...
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© CNN 2009 Simmering liberal angst over the Senate health care bill threatened to boil over Thursday as a critical labor union threatened a new fight over provisions that were dropped to attract more moderate supporters.  The warning came shortly after a top Senate progressive indicated he is not prepared to back the bill as currently drafted.  Senate Democratic leaders also faced continuing problems with social conservatives in their ranks. A key moderate continued to warn that Majority Leader Harry Reid's bill does not do enough to bar taxpayer-funded abortions. Read more ...
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This week the House passed legislation that would set national standards for notifying potential victims of identity theft when their personal information that is stored electronically is improperly exposed. Under the bill, HR 2221 (Rush D-IL) businesses that hold consumers' personal data would be required to notify individuals within 60 days when their personal information has been breached. However, covered businesses would be exempt from the notification requirements if they determine there is no "reasonable" risk of identity theft. Businesses utilizing encryption technology are also deemed to be exempt from notification requirements. The bill also requires the Federal Trade ...
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