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GAO unveils reverse mortgage report at Missouri hearing

June 29, 2009 By

A federal report on consumer protection issues tied to reverse mortgages has been made public at a U-S Senate hearing in Missouri.

The Government Accountability Office says reverse mortgages or HECMs (Home Equity Conversion Mortgages) have several advantages but the program is relatively complex and there are substantial costs involved.

The GAO’s Director of Financial Markets, Matthew Scire (shur-RAY) has outlined the findings during a Senate Committee field hearing held in University City by Senator McCaskill.

While the study points to things the federal government needs to do, he says the federal housing agency says many problems are for states to solve.

Scire says the federal housing agency is moving to fill some gaps in federal regulations, including using more undercover investigators to find out if counselors are giving consumers accurate and complete information about the pluses and minuses of reverse mortgages.

Upload Mathew Scire’s testimony

Filed Under: Uncategorized

Cards place Greene back on DL for anxiety

June 29, 2009 By

The St. Louis Cardinals placed infielder Khalil Greene on the 15-day disabled list for the second time with social anxiety disorder on Monday.  Tony LaRussa has expanded his pitching staff to 13 players with the move.

The Cardinals brought up 24 year old Clayton Mortensen, AAA Memphis. Greene is batting .200 with five home runs and 19 RBIs. His eight errors are one off the team high despite playing in only 47 games. He was activated from the DL on June 18 after missing 19 games.

 

Filed Under: Sports Tagged With: ,

Invest in Missouri becomes law, state to reap benefits

June 29, 2009 By

State Treasurer Clint Zweifel says a minor change in state law will make a major difference in the rewards Missouri reaps from its deposits.

Zweifel championed the "Invest in Missouri" bill during the legislative session that breezed through the legislature, which is likely an understatement. The bill never received a "No" vote; not in committee and not on the floor of the House or the Senate. Governor Nixon has now signed the bill into law. It takes effect at the end of August.

The legislation reinvests the $1 billion in deposits the Treasurer makes in Missouri banks. Zweifel estimates that the change will reap at least $10 million, perhaps as much as $15 million by removing what Zweifel calls an artificial cap on the interest rate earned by state deposits. For the past 50 years, Missouri law has placed a cap on interest earned by tying it to the return of short-term US Treasury securities. The Treasurer’s Office says that yield hit a low of 0.20% this year. The restriction will be phased out over a five-year period.

"I think it’s an unacceptable policy," Zweifel tells the Missourinet. "This is clearly something that taxpayers weren’t getting a fair rate of return."

Zweifel says bi-partisan support was the key to easy passage of measure. Also, a faltering economy might have helped focus the attention of legislators on the weak return the state had been getting.

"I do think it changes the mindset of citizens," Zweifel says, "because families right now are going through tough times in a really tough and brutal economy and they expect government to manage its money and their money to best of its ability. When you’re not getting a fair rate of return, I think that’s unacceptable to any Missouri family."

The bill also expands eligibility to the state Linked Deposit Program, which at present subsidizes interest rates on about $200 million in small business and farm loans. Zweifel believes the changes will help that grow to $720 million, the statutory cap. Changes allow loans to be given to businesses with up to 100 employees, rather than the current 25-employee cap. It also will offered subsidized loans for alternative energy to small businesses and farms.

The program began years ago during a much different economic climate that feature very high interest rates. Though interest rates have fallen to historic lows, Zweifel says there is still a need for the program, especially for businesses needing capital to grow.

Download/listen Brent Martin reports (1:30 MP3)

Filed Under: Politics & Government

Reverse mortgage spokesman defends industry

June 29, 2009 By

The head of a national organization for reverse mortgage lenders says complaints about shady operators are overblown. President Peter Bell of the National Reverse Mortgage Lenders Association admits counseling of consumers is an important safeguard. He says it is what separates reverse mortgages from all other business models.

Bell tells a U-S Senate committee hearing in University City people who get reverse mortgages have substantial amounts of money available that could attract swindlers. He says those are problems of society, not problems of the reverse mortgage industry.

Bell says the federal housing agency has plans to improve the industry with a roster of trained counselors and more oversight of the problem. He says a new federal requirement will have counselors review clients’ recurring financial obligations to help them decide if they can stay in their home, even with a reverse mortgage.

He says studies show abuses in the reverse mortgage industry are few and far between….and are more a societal problem than an industry problem.

Bell says his polls of Attorneys General, state bank regulators, and the Federal Trade Commission show incidents of complaints against reverse mortgage lenders are "minimal to non-existent."

 

Uplink Bell’s testimony (7:49 mp3)

Filed Under: Human Interest

Operation Dry Water nets 17 arrests

June 29, 2009 By

As a part of Operation Dry Water, a nationwide campaign to enforce safer boating, the Missouri State Water Patrol conducted five sobriety check points throughout the state over the weekend, June 26 through 28.

The check points were in conjunction with a nationwide campaign, "Operation Dry Water," that 49 other states and U.S. territories participated in. The goal of the campaign is to raise awareness of and to decrease the incidence of intoxicated operation of vessels.

Check points were conducted at Lake of the Ozarks, Table Rock Lake, Mark Twain Lake, Pomme De Terre Lake and Smithville Lake.

Law enforcement officers stopped 343 boats and arrested 17 boat operators for boating while intoxicated. Seventeen other citations were issued for equipment violations and 62 warnings were issued. 

Officers were checking boat safety equipment in conjunction with field sobriety tests, making sure flares, fire extinguishers, personal safety devices and sounding devices, such as air horns, were in accordance with the legal specifications.

There was one drowning this weekend at the Lake of the Ozarks "Party Cove," and authorities believe alcohol consuption might have been a contributing factor. It’s a situation that drives home the importance of knowing the limits while mixing water with alcohol, says Sgt. Jerry Callahan, spokesman for the Missouri Water Patrol.

Todd Cornine, 33, of Richmond, never resurfaced after jumping from a boat into the water Saturday. The Water Patrol dragged the area and his body was recovered about an hour later, about 9 p.m. Saturday.

Sgt. Jerry Callahan talks about Operation Dry Water, weekend drowning

Filed Under: Crime & Courts Tagged With: ,
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