Nine indicted for Foreclosure fraud

Nine indicted for Foreclosure fraud

A statewide grand jury in Colorado has indicted nine individuals for targeting distressed homeowners as part of an alleged fraudulent short-sale scheme that allowed the defendants to ultimately defraud the banks and lenders who held the mortgages for the distressed homeowners, officials announced today.

Eight of the nine named defendants are being charged under the Colorado Organized Crime Control Act for a pattern of manipulating homeowners who were facing foreclosure, creating and processing forged and fraudulent documents relating to the properties, and ultimately using these forged documents and other actions to defraud the lenders and subsequent buyers.

The announcement was made by Colorado Attorney General John Suthers; Ronald Sloan, Director of Colorado Bureau of Investigation; Inspector General David Montoya of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development-Office of Inspector General; Acting Inspector General Michael P. Stephens of the U.S. Federal Housing Finance Agency-Office of Inspector General, and Marcia Waters, Division Director of the Colorado Division of Real Estate.

“It is unconscionable that this group would target financially distressed and vulnerable homeowners by fraudulently taking control of and selling their properties, with the ultimate goal of defrauding the homeowners’financial institutions and the subsequent homeowners.” Suthers said.

“Nine indicted for fraud by fraudulently taking control of and selling their properties, with the ultimate goal of defrauding the homeowners’ financial institutions and the subsequent homeowners,” Suthers continued. “This group took advantage of multiple homeowners, using deception and forged documents, to create illegal profits on the sale of various properties.”

The basic premise of the scheme focused on identifying distressed homeowners who were in pre-foreclosure status.

Once a property was zeroed in on by members of this scheme, the goal was to obtain control and ownership over the property through a series of deceptive tactics.

These tactics included manipulating the homeowners to sign over ownership and control of the property to the enterprise. At the same time, the enterprise would file forged paperwork with the lenders misrepresenting that the original homeowners still owned the house. Another tactic used in support of the scheme was the enterprise’s “flopping”of the pre-foreclosed properties.

The Colorado Bureau of Investigation is committed to combating organized white collar crime including schemes such as this short sale mortgage fraud scam,” said CBI Director Ronald Sloan. “While fraudulent schemes continually evolve, we believe active monitoring and investigation, along with aggressive prosecution that holds offenders accountable for their actions, combined with efforts to educate the public, will result in fewer victims in the future.”

“The nine individuals named in this indictment have allegedly committed fraud against individual victims and Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac,” said Acting Inspector General Michael P. Stephens. “This behavior is unacceptable and anyone found guilty will be held accountable to the full extent of the law.”

Wendy Thomas, 42, of Chicago, previously of Thornton; Cristina Nicole Smith, 42, of Thornton, Kurt Smith, 58, of Thornton; Sheila Gaston, 59, of Elizabeth; Sheila Giberti, 46, of Broomfield; Duane Thomas, 44, of Thornton; Christopher Consol, 43, of Englewood; and Janice Gardner, 46, of Brighton, were charged with multiple offenses, including violating the Colorado Organized Crime Control Act. Under COCCA, if convicted, each could be sentenced up to 24 years per count.

 

The best resource available to consumers facing foreclosure, according to the attorney general’s office, is the Colorado Foreclosure Hotline, which can be reached at 1-877-601-HOPE (4673).

 

 

John Marcotte

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U.S. should get mortgage firm data for probe, judge says

 

U.S. should get mortgage firm data for probe, judge says

 

(Reuters) – A federal judge on Monday recommended that a large firm that reviewed mortgages for Wall Street banks turn over e-mails and other data that may help the government decide which banks to sue for packaging shoddy mortgages into securities that fueled the financial crisis.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Donna Martinez in Hartford, Connecticut, said Clayton Holdings LLC should turn over due diligence reviews it prepared for its clients from 2005 through 2007, e-mails between employees and clients during that time, and a database that was used in providing services.

Investigators had subpoenaed the materials on July 1 on behalf of the Residential Mortgage-Backed Securities Working Group, which includes the U.S. Department of Justice and other federal and state regulators.

If enforced, the subpoena could help the government pursue cases against banks it wants to hold accountable for selling securities that fueled the U.S. housing and financial crises.

The government alleged that Clayton’s due diligence reviews discussed “potential problems with individual loans making up the loan pools, as did internal and externalcommunications at Clayton associated with the reviews.”

Clayton called the subpoena a “fishing expedition” on its dealings with its 193 clients, not just the 16 financial institutions that the government had advised were being probed. It also said it has cooperated with the working group and responded to “every government request for over six years.”

Martinez nonetheless concluded that Clayton did not show that it was too burdensome to comply with the subpoena, or that the government already had much of the information it sought.

The case is being handled by the office of U.S. Attorney Loretta Lynch in the Eastern District of New York. Robert Nardoza, a spokesman for Lynch, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Thomas Carson, a spokesman for Acting U.S. Attorney Dierdre Daly in Connecticut, declined to comment.

Clayton was a “major provider of third-party due diligence services” to Wall Street, according to the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission’s 2011 report.

“Because of the volume of loans examined by Clayton during the housing boom, the firm had a unique inside view of the underwriting standards that originators were actually applying – and that securitizers were willing to accept,” it said.

The government issued the subpoena under the Financial Institutions, Reform, Recovery and Enforcement Act of 1989, which it uses to recover civil penalties for losses to federally insured financial institutions.

FIRREA has a 10-year statute of limitations, versus five years for some securities fraud laws. Bank of America Corp and Wells Fargo & Co are among companies that the government has sued under FIRREA in mortgage-related cases.

The case is U.S. v. Clayton Holdings LLC, U.S. District Court, District of Connecticut, No. 13-mc-00116.

(Editing by Dan Grebler)

 

 

John Marcotte

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Relax. Rates Won’t Go Up Unless Yellen Wants Them To.

Relax. Rates Won’t Go Up Unless Yellen Wants Them To.

English: Official picture of Janet Yellen from...Fed nominee Janet Yellen (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Janet Yellen will be pushed to defend the Fed’s easy-money policies on Thursday when sheappears before the Senate Banking Committee for hearings on her nomination to succeed Benjamin Bernanke as chairman of the nation’s central bank.

The Fed has a dual mandate, of course: To stimulate full employment and keep inflation under control. Conservatives fear Yellen will abandon the inflation bit and focus only on employment, letting prices and interest rates riseand accelerating the transfer of wealth from savers to spenders.

If rates go up, in other words, it will only be if Yellen wants them to. And that will only happen if the economy is recovering so quickly that the Fed needs to intervene to cool down the credit markets.

A study of eight past episodes where long-term rates rose more than 150 basis points, or 1.5 percentage points, shows they nearly always come as the Fed uses its main tool of monetary policy, increasing the federal funds rate it charges banks. The fed funds rate, in turn, is closely linked to longer-term rates. In the four episodes since 1990, 10-year Treasuries never blew out to more than about 400 basis points above short-term rates, suggesting a limit to how steep the yield curve can get.

“We think that’s a natural cap,” said Greg McGreevey, chief executive of Invesco Fixed Income. The reason is basic arbitrage:  As the spread widens, banks and other investors begin to use short-term borrowed funds to buy longer-dated paper, driving up the price and down the yield.

“There’s a direct relationship between the federal funds rate and the 10-year; they can’t get completely disconnected,” McGreevey told me after the conference. “So if the Fed keeps rates near zero it would be impossible for (10-year rates) to get to 5-6%.”

Even when long-term rates rise, Invesco’s analysis shows the impact on investors is surprisingly limited: In the four episodes since 1990 there were  losses in the year after rates climb, followed by gains as market rates overshoot the Fed’s target and fall again. Investors in a broad mix of Treasuries lost between 2% and 4% in Year One after a rate increase, Invesco found, then earned between 2% and 4% in Year Two and as much as 6% in the third year.

Investment-grade bonds also rose over a longer period, showing positive returns in all four episodes in Years Two and Three and much higher returns as rates rose following the financial crisis. Courtesy of Forbes.

 

John Marcotte

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Credit card debt … Don’t compromise your future

Credit card debt …

Don’t compromise your future

According to an estimate recently released by NerdWallet.com, the average American has around $7,000 in credit card debt.1 Many households of course are carrying much higher balances. The good news: Paying your way out of credit card debt may not be as difficult as you think. You’ve probably heard and read the following information before, but if you’re still strapped with credit card debt, you didn’t act on it. Take action now!

  • Create a budget — Use an online service like Mint.com or list your monthly income and expenses on a spreadsheet. Review your expenses to find areas where you can cut costs and expenditures.
  • Reduce your monthly bills — Some of your regular monthly expenses are discretionary and can be cut or reduced. For instance, can you get by with a cheaper data plan for your smartphone? Do you really need all those TV channels and premium movie services?
  • Cut down on unnecessary purchases — Track your expenditures for a week and then cut back “minor,” everyday purchases such as fast food, coffees and so on.
  • Rethink entertainment — Note how often you go out to dinner, bars, movies, concerts, etc. Work to eliminate at least one expensive entertainment outing per month.
  • Reward yourself along the way — The only way to get the job done is to keep at it and stay motivated. Once you start feeling deprived or punished, you’re more likely to throw in the towel. So reward yourself: Create goals and set milestones by which to measure your progress. For example, if your goal is to reduce your credit card debt from $8,000 to $6,000 in two months, give yourself a reward — just keep it within reason. Don’t book a trip to Paris or Rome that will get you right back in debt.

 

John Marcotte

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Top Thrift Stores in Boulder

Top Thrift Stores in Boulder

boulder thrift stores

Something about this post makes me want to bust out a Macklemore song. Is it just me?

Who says you’ve got to shell out the big bucks to look fantastic? Sure, big time shops and designer retailers want you to think that great fashion comes with a hefty price tag, but that is simply not the case! Savvy shoppers know that right now, thrift stores are a wealth of great finds from vintage looks to slightly loved designer apparel.

Since Boulder shares space with some fairly successful entrepreneurs and fashionable college students, there are great finds to be had at some of Boulder’s most well-known thrift stores. Take a look at what they have to offer:

Goldmine Vintage

Located right on the Pearl Street Mall, this place is a hipster’s paradise. They’ve got everything from retro jackets to kitschy accessories and your favorite old school bands on vinyl. Goldmine is definitely a treasure trove of vintage finds.

Common Threads

This place offers uncommonly good prices for folks who want to look great, but have a pretty tight budget. Also, for those looking to make a few extra dollars, they offer consignment as well. Common Threads in Boulder is a great place to get fashionable finds for less.

Buffalo Exchange

Is this place part of a chain of thrift stores? Yes. Does that stop it from having one of the best sections of clothing in Boulder? Absolutely not! Whether you describe your look as Bohemian Punk or Neo Flapper, the chances of you finding the perfect outfit at Buffalo Exchange are pretty good.

Candy’s Vintage Clothing & Costumes

This place has been a staple in Boulder since 1977. If anyone gets the whole retro thing, it’s going to be these cats. Not only can you find some great old school pieces, you can also find some fantastic costumes and accessories! When it comes to vintage, Candy’s has it in the bag.

Looking for some places to thrift in Boulder while also giving your money to a great cause? Have no fear, there is a wealth of places that you can go shop at to find great outfits and make sure your money goes to a great cause.

 

 

John Marcotte

720-771-9401

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eGo CarShare: The Little Red Car That Could

eGo CarShare: The Little Red Car That Could

By  Yourboulder.com

eGo car share boulder

In the last several years, Boulder and Denver have seen an influx of carsharing programs. The idea is simple and sustainable: park a fleet of eco-friendly cars around the city and let people “rent” the cars for an hour or two to go run errands that might otherwise be a bit of a pain without a set of four wheels. It’s much more affordable than renting a car for an entire day, and the stations around town, typically make it accessible for most.

 

As stated above, car sharing seems to be a relatively new phenomenon. That is, until you find out a little bit more about eGo CarShare. This locally grown company was founded in 1997, which, to some, might feel like an entire lifetime ago. The company started as “The Little Red Car Co-Op” and the original participants physically passed a key around between one another (since the internet at the time was mostly geocities pages and animated sparkle gifs).

Of course, Boulder is a great fit for entrepreneurs, especially when they’re keeping sustainability and eco-friendly practices in mind. Thanks to the city of Boulder being built for people using all modes of transportation, it’s easier for many people to get away with not owning a car, making eGo CarShare the perfect fit when carless folks need more wheels than two to run some errands.

 

John Marcotte

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Top Farm-to-Table Restaurants in Boulder

 

Top Farm-to-Table Restaurants in Boulder

Farm to Table Restaurants in Boulder

One of the biggest trends in restaurants today is the farm-to-table concept in which restaurants source as much of their ingredients from local growers and farms, some even go as far as growing their own herbs and vegetables in house! Of course, the concept makes perfect sense in a town like Boulder, so there are numerous options to choose from. Here are the top farm-to-table restaurants in Boulder.

Black Cat Bistro

This restaurant is about as close as you can get to the farm since the chef, Eric Skokan, actually owns the farm he uses to produce the delicious dishes he produces for Black Cat Bistro in Downtown Boulder. Having their own farm lets the restaurant plan the menu from the ground up quite literally. The menu is constantly changing and is a great place to have an intimate, fresh and organic dinner.

Bramble & Hare

The sister restaurant to Black Cat Bistro, Bramble & Hare also gets theirfarm fresh menu from Black Cat Farms located just outside the city limits. This restaurant was designed with more of a casual pub feel to complement the intimate bistro next door. But make no mistake, while this might have the feel of a casual pub, lots of love goes into making these dishes.

The Kitchen/The Kitchen Next Door/The Kitchen Upstairs

This trio of restaurants on the west end of the Pearl Street mall has taken Boulder by storm. Together, they offer just about any kind of dining (or drinking) experience that one could ask for. For an upscale dinner with friends or fancy first date, try The Kitchen; for a few classy cocktails and apps with friends, visit The Kitchen Upstairs; and for those of you wanting a nice night out with friends, pop into The Kitchen Next Door. The trio was built upon the concept of community and takes into account sustainability and locally sourced ingredients.

Oak at Fourteenth

On a corner just off the Pearl Street Mall, Oak at Fourteenth doesn’t immediately jump out to passersby, but once you make it into the restaurant, you’re in for a real treat. Diners swear by the tomato braised meatballs and burrata and the shaved gala apple & kale salad (yes, their salad gets people excited). The kitchen at Oak uses locally sourced veggies and meats and makes their own pasta.

SALT Bistro

This restaurant designs “menus that honor the ingredients” and it shows in its popularity. During the week, you can get a farm-to-table lunch or dinner and on the weekends, indulge in an all-natural, gourmet brunch. SALT uses a variety of farms in the surrounding area to source their food, and even supply one of the farmers with their scraps to feed his pigs.

The next time you and your friends decide it’s time for a night dining out, use this list to pick from some of the best restaurants that Boulder has to offer and now that you’re not only supporting one local business, you’re supporting farmers and other small businesses that give these restaurants the fresh, local ingredients they need to create a wonderful dining experience and have you leaving with a full belly and a happy heart.

By  www.yourboulder.com

 

 

John Marcotte

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Boulder’s Bohemian Biergarten – A Bit Czech, German & Whatever Else

 

Boulder’s Bohemian Biergarten – A Bit Czech, German & Whatever Else

bohemian biergarten boulder

When I was an undergrad I studied abroad in Prague, Czech Republic for a semester. I went from not knowing where this tiny former Communist country was on a map to being obsessed with all things Cesky, especially culture around beer, or as they call it, “pivo.” So when I learned a few months back that an authentic Bohemian (region of the Czech Republic) beer garden was opening in Boulder, I was excited to say the least.

 

Let’s start off by saying that from someone who’s never been to Prague (or anywhere in Central Europe for that matter), Boulder’s Bohemian Biergarten has all of the features associated with a good natured, boisterous watering hole. The sharp dressed staff do their best to keep orders moving at a quick pace as both the front and back rooms fill up quickly after 5PM. There is seemingly endless, bench family-style seating throughout two huge rooms with a stage for music and comedy in the back room. The food tastes good, the music is loud and entertaining and everything has a distinct European feel.

I came to the Bohemian Biergarten with expectations of what my memory served me from when I was a younger man whooping it up overseas. What I got was a distinct mix of German and Czech culture and food. When Americans think of big, rowdy beer festivals in Europe, they probably think of Oktoberfest in Germany, not the Pilsner Urquel factory in Pilsen, Czech Republic. That’s fine, I get it. Give the people what they want.

The mix of Czech, German, and American beers on tap and in bottles is significant. From Pilsner Urquel, to Staropramen, you’ll find most of the major Czech beer producer represented here. You’ll also find a very large selection of German beers, which I frankly know very little about. I’m a Pilsner guy. However, the Prost Dunkel, a Denver based beer styled like acerny (black) Czech beer is absolutely delicious and I’ll often get that instead of my preferred Czech Pilsners when I’m wanting something different.

The food scene at Boulder’s Bohemia Biergarten is decidedly porky and fabulous. The array of grilled sausages are served just like you’d get them from a sausage stand right in St. Wencelsas Square, with a slice of bread, and a pile of sauerkraut waiting to be drenched in the mustard of your choice from a rotating condiment stand on each table. You might even see a whole pig on a rotating spit in the corner of the back room, right out in the open where everyone sits. It’s pretty primal and adds to their ambiance.

After a few litres of beer (yes, they serve liters), I frankly stop caring about the mixed metaphors my brain is interpreting of Czech and German cultureand its entirely easy to just get lost in the good, homey mood that is pervasive throughout Bohemia Biergarten. It’s the closest I can get right now to enjoying a shot of Becherovka on a cold Prague night in old town square and I can still get excited about that any day of the week.

Happy Hour is 3:00-6:30PM daily and it’s highly advisable to get there early as it does fill up right about the time when the Boulder folks get out of work.

By  YourBoulder.com

 

 

John Marcotte

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Liniger reflects on RE/MAX

Liniger reflects on RE/MAX

REMAX_40year_2Col_logoThe 10 million shares of RE/MAX stock went public at $22, the equivalent of $220 million. That is higher than the $19-$21 share price originally anticipated.

Dave Liniger, who co-founded the giant real estate franchise company in Denver in 1973 with his wife, Gail, wasn’t surprised by the company’s meteoric rise.

Liniger said interest in the stock was high.

“I think with the amount we were over-subscribed and from the road show last night, it was pretty obvious there was a tremendous appetite for the company,” Liniger said in a phone interview from New York City.

Denver may have another billion-dollar HQ

He also said that he checked the market cap of RE/MAX on Bloomberg this morning and it was more than $1 billion.

“I have no idea how they arrived at that,” Liniger said. “I was kind of curious because I knew people were going to ask me. But I don’t really care.”

The company, with more than 90,000 agents and with $78.3 million in revenues in the first half of the year, is easy to understand and is widely known, he said.

“We are the No. 1 real estate brand in the country and really our brand name is known world-wide,” Liniger said. “Our logo (with the trademark red white and blue hot-air balloon) is one of the most recognizable worldwide. People are familiar with us. We are an easy business to understand. We’re not some high-tech company or new medical devicecompany that is so complex you don’t really understand what they do. We have an easy to understand story. We’re really a franchise company that happens to be in real estate.”

RE/MAX changed the residential real estate world by popularizing the so called 100 percent commission concept, where agents paid a “desk fee” and kept all or most of their commissions.

“It is been a very happy, exciting day,” which included watching the trading of the stock on Wall Street for about a half hour this morning, Liniger said.

Can’t manage from the grave

The reason for going public was simple, he said.

“It has an aging founder,” said the 68-year-old Liniger. “You cannot manage this thing from the grave.”

In 2010, during the Great Recession, Liniger brought on some partners.

“They made it very clear they wanted to out of their investment in four to six years,” Liniger said.

“So that meant we had to either highly leverage the company, which I was not in favor of; we had to sell the company outright, which I certainly was not in favor of; or we could have an IPO (initial public offering.)

By going public, he said that he and Gail could continue to control and guide the company.

“I haven’t calculated how much of the company Gail and I own, but I think it is over 60 percent,” Liniger said.

He said they considered going public 10 years ago.

“To be honest, at the time we thought we were a little too small and we couldn’t sell enough of the company to have much of a trading following, so we put it off.”

Liniger had a brush with death in early 2012, and wrote a book about it,My Next Step; An Extraordinary Journey of Healing and Hope.

InsideRealEstateNews.com

 

John Marcotte

720-771-9401

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Boulder Startups: Local Resources for Entrepreneurs

 

Boulder Startups: Local Resources for Entrepreneurs

boulder startupBoulder’s startup scene has created quite the buzz in the tech community. Leading technology publications like The Next Web have tagged it as “the next Silicon Valley”, but those involved in Boulder’s rich startup culture prefer to see the city as simply a great community in which to build a business.

Many of the startups in Boulder come straight out of the TechStars startup incubator. This program, founded in 2006, receive applicants from all over the world who want the chance to be a part of one of the most successful business launching platforms in the world. But even beyond the walls of the prestigious TechStars community, Boulder has created a startup culture that welcome innovation, daring ideas, and fresh avenues for making the connections necessary for a new idea to become a big idea.

Resources to Explore in Boulder’s Startup Scene

If you’re new to town and looking to connect with like-minded entrepreneurs, Boulder has you covered. There are multiple events that go on throughout each month and year designed to get you plugged in and moving forward.

Boulder Open Coffee Club – At 8AM every other Tuesday, techies and entrepreneurs gather at Atlas Purveyors on the Pearl Street Mall for a highly energized meetup. Here, you’ll find developers from some of Boulder’s leading startups, marketers, publicity pros, and other individuals who can help you get your new idea off the ground. It’s casual and the event always includes a review of open positions, people looking for positions, and a stroll through current tech-related events.

Silicon Flatirons – No one in Boulder’s startup scene should miss the events at Silicon Flatirons. It’s a program created in conjunction with the University of Colorado – Boulder School of Law and hosts numerous events throughout the year on topics like venture funding, in-depth interviews with local entrepreneurs, and panels designed to shed light on topics like public relations, marketing, term sheets, and other tech issues of use to startups. It’s Boulder entrepreneurship at the most academic level.

Boulder Startup Week – Held ever May, Boulder Startup week is a fantasticly powerful convergence of everything in Boulder that is startups. There’s never a fee to register (while some events do have tickets for sale), entrepreneurs can mix, mingle, and connect with everyone in the Boulder startup scene. You can always stop by the event’s website to see which startups in Boulder might be hiring and as the event nears each year, you can view the schedule of events — there’s something for everyone!

 

 

 

John Marcotte

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