Whistleblower says BofA defrauded HAMP
By Jessica Dye
NEW YORK | Thu Mar 8, 2012 8:42am EST
(Reuters) – Bank of America NA prevented homeowners from receiving mortgage-loan modifications under a federal program in order to avoid millions of dollars in losses while benefitting from financial incentives for participating in the program, according to a complaint unsealed in federal court Wednesday.
The suit is the second whistleblower complaint unsealed so far with apparent ties to the $1 billion False Claims Act settlement announced by Bank of America and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York on February 9.
The Bank of America settlement is also part of the sweeping $25 billion agreement reached between state and federal authorities.
Final settlement documents have yet to be filed in the BoA settlement, which the U.S. Attorney’s Office said was the largest ever False Claims Act payout related to mortgage fraud.
More here.
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How to Sell a Home When There's a Tenant in It
Written by Michele Lerner
Published March 08, 2012
If you rented out your home to a tenant instead of selling the house during a slow market, you might be ready now to put it on the market. The effort to sell a home can be complicated by the presence of a renter.
While many real estate agents recommend waiting until your lease expires and selling your home without a renter in residence, not all landlords can afford to have their home vacant for a few months during the transition. In addition, local regulations can impact the process of selling an investment property.
“The first thing any landlord should do is to check out the local tenant-landlord rules,” says Patricia Kennedy, an associate broker with Evers & Co. Real Estate in Washington, D.C. “The rules vary from one jurisdiction to another. For instance, in D.C., tenants have the right of first refusal when a home goes on the market and again when an offer comes in.”
Kennedy suggests that homeowners start the sales process by communicating clearly with the tenants and asking if they want to buy the home.
Read more: http://www.foxbusiness.com/personal-finance/2012/03/07/how-to-sell-home-when-theres-tenant-in-it/#ixzz1oXNOVEvp
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Gas drilling study fee debated
By Timothy B. Wheeler, The Baltimore Sun
8:23 p.m. EST, March 6, 2012
A study of how or whether to allow a controversial drilling method for extracting natural gas in Western Maryland cannot be finished without funding, state officials told lawmakers Tuesday.
O’Malley administration officials joined environmentalists in supporting a bill that would pay for their year-old study of hydraulic fracturing by levying a fee on the estimated 150,000 acres leased for gas exploration in Garrett and Allegany counties. Business and oil industry representatives opposed the fee, arguing that it could dampen prospects for drilling to boost the economically depressed region.
The bill, heard by the Senate Education, Health and Environmental Affairs Committee, would raise about $3 million over the next two years by charging gas companies $10 per acre on leased land. Officials said they need perhaps $2 million to finish their study of potential problems and safeguards. Hydraulic fracturing, commonly known as “fracking,” involves extracting natural gas by pumping large quantities of water mixed with sand and chemicals to fracture or break up fuel-containing shale layers deep underground.
More here.
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Fracking opponents want fee on land leased for drilling; bill would create $10-per-acre charge
By Associated Press, Published: March 6
ANNAPOLIS, Md. — Opponents of using new hydraulic fracturing drilling techniques in western Maryland joined state officials Tuesday in asking lawmaker to support a fee to fund a study of potential environmental impacts.
Industry officials, meanwhile, turned out in Annapolis to warn members of a Senate committee not to turn away what could be an economic boon for two western counties.
The $10-an-acre fee would apply to lands leased for hydraulic fracturing, a drilling method that extracts the gas by blasting through layers of shale rock with a combination of water and chemicals. The bill would use the fee to pay for a study commissioned by Gov. Martin O’Malley.
Sen. Brian Frosh, a bill sponsor, said the governor has asked a state panel to examine the impacts “but it can’t fully do its work because it doesn’t have the money.”
More here.
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Fracking opponents want fees, warnings
Matthew Bieniek Cumberland Times-News
CUMBERLAND — Opponents of the use of hydraulic fracturing to drill for natural gas in the Marcellus shale of Western Maryland say they want fees to pay for further study of the process and its possible impact and also want those thinking of leasing their land for drilling to be warned of the possible dangers.
Advocates for the fee held a press conference on Lawyer’s Mall in Annapolis on Tuesday, led by Delegate Heather Mizeur, D-Montgomery, and members of the Chesapeake Climate Action Network. Mizeur is a sponsor of House Bills 1034 and 1204, which propose the fees and lease warnings.
The press conference preceded a hearing before the Senate Education, Health and Environmental Affairs Committee on the Senate companion bill on the fees, SB 798.
“Evidence continues to mount that Maryland was wise in its go-slow, study-first approach to shale gas drilling” said Mizeur. “It is up to us to protect our communities and regulate this industry, and the way we do that is through fully funding the study, completing the study and determining whether and how Maryland proceeds on this issue. Second chances are expensive. Maryland needs the time, and the funding, to get this right.”
The fee bill would require payment of a $10 fee per leased acre for gas development to be paid by the company that leases the land for drilling. The fees would be paid into the Oil and Gas fund of the Maryland Department of the Environment, according to the fiscal and policy note for the bill prepared by the Department of Legislative Services. The fees would be retroactive to land leased since Jan. 1, 2007.
Land leased after July 1, 2012, would be subject to an annual $10 fee per acre. The money would fund studies for the governor’s Marcellus Shale Safe Drilling Initiative Advisory Commission. Failure to pay the fee could result in an administrative penalty of up to $10,000 a day. Revenue for the state is estimated at about $1.6 million in fiscal years 2013 and 2014 if the bill should become law.
Garrett County resident Paul Roberts, who is a member of the advocacy group Citizen Shale and a winemaker at Deep Creek Cellars, is also in favor of the bill.
“We should learn from the mistakes we have seen in other states. Maryland has an opportunity to set a national standard for its study and regulation of the industry. These are essential first steps, should drilling be permitted in our community,” Roberts said. Other local speakers included Mike Koch of Firefly Farms and Leo Martin, the mayor of Mountain Lake Park.
“Despite many claims that natural gas is ‘clean,’ recent research shows us that the fracking process leaks copious amounts of methane into the atmosphere, which has more warming power than carbon dioxide,” said Mike Tidwell, executive director of the Chesapeake Climate Action Network. “Given the climate risks alone, it’s absolutely crucial that the General Assembly fund the work of the fracking commission.” Tidwell said as much as one-third of the land in Garrett County has been leased for gas drilling. It’s unclear what percentage of that number is for Marcellus shale gas drilling.
The move to impose fees is a “common sense” idea to fund baseline studies of the environment before drilling begins. Such studies weren’t done in Pennsylvania and have resulted in inability to evaluate whether water problems were caused by fracking or whether they existed before fracking, Tidwell said.
The risk disclosures, required by HB 1034, would prohibit a person from signing a lease unless “specified language as to the risks of drilling is provided to the lessor and stated conspicuously in the lease,” according to a digest of the bill on the General Assembly’s website. “Failure to provide the risk information … may be grounds for the denial of a well drilling permit.”
The law on risk disclosure would cost about $59,300 to monitor the first year, primarily because of hiring a paralegal to review leases, according to a fiscal and policy note attached to the bill by the Department of Legislative Services.
Contact Matthew Bieniek at mbieniek@times-news.com
More here.
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Help the Red Cross so it can help those who are in need
To the Editor: Cumberland Times-News
March is Red Cross Month. It is a time to recognize the work done by the American Red Cross here at home and in communities across the country and around the globe — and to remember how we depend on public support to help people in need.
Thanks to support from individuals, organizations and businesses in Allegany, Garrett and Mineral counties, the American Red Cross is able to respond to disasters both large and small; help members of the military, veterans and their families; provide blood for those in need and teach lifesaving skills.
Just over the past seven months, the Red Cross has helped 26 families from Western Maryland and Mineral County who were the victims of area disasters — mostly home fires.
Each September we have co-chaired the region’s largest fundraiser for the Red Cross — The Deep Creek Lake Art and Wine Festival. Every year the proceeds go directly to help victims locally and to the rest of the nation’s nearly 70,000 disasters a year by providing shelter, food, emotional support and other necessities to those affected.
The 8th Annual Art and Wine Festival is in September, but we believe in the Red Cross every day of the year. Red Cross Month is the perfect time for you to become a part of our mission and help people in need by making a financial donation, volunteering, giving blood or taking a class. Volunteers are also needed to help at the festival on Sept. 8. Disaster can strike anyone at any time. Please help.
Paula Yudelevit
McHenry
Vianne Bell
Oakland
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How to Negotiate a Lower Home Price
Written by Donna Fuscaldo
Published March 07, 2012
A home is the biggest purchase most Americans will make in their lifetime, so getting a good deal matters.
While playing hardball to get what you want at the price you want, you risk over negotiating and being left empty handed. Here are five tips to secure the home of your dreams without breaking the bank.
Keep Emotion Out. Experts advise treating a home purchase as a business transaction, and avoid getting emotionally attached to a home which eliminates any leverage during negotiations.
Read more: http://www.foxbusiness.com/personal-finance/2012/03/07/how-to-negotiate-lower-home-price/#ixzz1oXMnmQBx
Buying or selling real estate in Garrett County or Deep Creek Lake, Maryland? Call Jay Ferguson of Railey Realty for all of your real estate needs! I take great pride in referrals, and I assure you, I will take great care of your friends, family & colleagues!
Petroleum council goes on shale PR offensive
Study finds economic benefits for Garrett, Allegany counties
Matthew Bieniek Cumberland Times-News
CUMBERLAND — In an apparent effort to sway public opinion on drilling in Marcellus shale for natural gas, a state industry group has paid for two polls in six months and funded a just-released study that proclaims the economic benefits of gas drilling.
“The utilization of Marcellus shale formation in Western Maryland in order to produce natural gas would have transformative economic and fiscal impacts,” the study by Sage Policy Group said.
Among those impacts would be jobs created by each well.
“Applied to the estimated amount of total extractible natural gas available within the play, the study team projects … approximately 365 wells would be operating over the period 2016-2045,” according to the study.
“According to the Marcellus Shale Education & Training Center, it requires approximately 420 individuals across 150 occupations to bring a single Marcellus well online (only refers to direct jobs).”
The benefit to the state and Allegany and Garrett counties would be enormous. “Over the course of developing the Marcellus shale play (2015-2045), the state of Maryland would collect $213.8 million in 2011 constant dollar revenues. Garrett County would collect $162.4 million and Allegany County $64.9 million in 2011 … dollars,” the study said.
The study took a conservative approach, Drew Cobbs, the executive director of the petroleum council, said.
The council footed the entire bill for the Sage study, Cobbs said.
He said that, without consulting Sage, he preferred not to disclose the amount paid for the study. Sage is a well-known economic consulting group based in Baltimore.
According to the study, drilling makes especially good economic sense for Western Maryland.
“Allegany County continues to be associated with among the state’s lowest incomes and highest unemployment rates. Marcellus shale development represents a way for both Allegany and Garrett counties to secure a key driver of business investment and future job creation,” according to the study.
Maryland could miss out on the economic benefits of natural gas production if it creates bureaucratic and financial hurdles for gas industry, the study states.
“Policymakers should note that though Maryland has an opportunity to participate in the Marcellus shale play, its allure to the natural gas industry is somewhat limited.
“Maryland is home to only about 1 percent of the Marcellus shale play and could therefore be easily overlooked. … Maryland is even more likely to miss the opportunity if it creates an exceedingly regulated and expensive environment,” a portion of the study states.
The two polls, which produced almost the same results in response to a similar group of questions, were released in September and in January by Gonzales Research & Marketing Strategies Inc.
Neither of the polls asked respondents about the use of hydraulic fracturing to release the gas trapped in shale.
Cobbs said Gonzales offers to add questions to the poll for a fee, but that they use the same scientific methodology used in the poll questions they generate in-house.
Cobbs said he asked to have his questions added to a second poll because of the large number of bills in the General Assembly this session dealing with Marcellus Shale natural gas development.
Critics of the September poll, like Delegate Heather Mizeur, D-Montgomery, wouldn’t be any more pleased with the new poll.
In response to the September poll, Mizeur pointed out that the poll addressed the issue of natural gas instead of hydraulic fracturing.
In order to get the gas trapped in Marcellus shale to the surface, chemicals, water and sand are pumped underground to break apart rock formations and free the gas.
The process is called hydraulic fracturing.
The poll didn’t ask people if they supported the use of the process, or the environmental problems associated with hydraulic fracturing, she said at the time.
The January poll asked questions including language such as, “Should we wait for at least three years or begin safe development sooner?”
The January poll found strong support for drilling now rather than in three years when the governor’s Marcellus Shale Advisory Committee issues a final report including environmental impacts of drilling.
The poll found 69 percent of the more than 800 respondents wanted to drill sooner, while 28 percent said to wait.
The total value of the natural gas in Allegany County’s Marcellus shale could be close to $15.72 billion, with the average well earning $65,000 to $524,000 yearly, University of Maryland Extension staff has said.
Contact Matthew Bieniek at mbieniek@times-news.com
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Mortgage rates still hovering around record lows
Tight lending standards remain a factor as spring buying season approaches
By Inman News
Inman News®
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Mortgage rates eased this week, remaining at or near record lows as the spring homebuying season approaches, Freddie Mac said in releasing the results of its weekly Primary Mortgage Market Survey.
While low rates boost affordability, many would-be buyers are still unable — or unwilling — to finance a home purchase.
“Fixed mortgage rates bottomed out in January and February of this year, which is helping spur the housing market,” said Frank Nothaft, Freddie Mac chief economist, in a statement. Pending sales of existing home rose in January to the strongest pace since April 2010, and sales figures for December saw upward revisions, he noted.
Testifying before the House Financial Services Committee on Wednesday, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke noted that affordability has “increased dramatically” as a result of the decline in house prices and historically low mortgage rates.
More here.
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Sudden and Severe
Mar. 1, 2012
Flooding was sudden and severe last evening in Garrett County and the surrounding area, with more than two inches of rain falling in the late afternoon in heavy downpours that caused drainage overflows, flash-flooding, and probably thousands of wet basements.
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This photo was taken in Terra Alta, W.Va., by Matthew Friend of Oakland as he traveled through that town late yesterday afternoon. Several roads were closed at the peak of the storm, and some remained closed this morning in the southern part of the county, including Smouse Road. Debris covered most roadways this morning as well. The weather continues to be quite uncharacteristic for Garrett County, with warm temperatures and even thunder and lightning with yesterday’s Leap Day storm. Snow, a rare event this year, is predicted to fall Sunday, but the temperatures are to go back up Monday.
More here.
Buying or selling real estate in Garrett County or Deep Creek Lake, Maryland? Call Jay Ferguson of Railey Realty for all of your real estate needs! I take great pride in referrals, and I assure you, I will take great care of your friends, family & colleagues!
