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Cuba Says Can't Pay For Japan Imports On Time : Nikkei V. Phani Kumar HONG KONG -- The Central Bank of Cuba informed Japan's Nippon Export and Investment Insurance that it couldn't pay for Japanese imports by the agreed upon dates, the Nikkei business daily reported Monday. "This isn't a problem specific to this bank. Foreign exchange reserves for settling trade accounts are in short supply in Cuba," said an offical at the Cuban central bank, according to the report.

Richard Dreyfuss sues father, uncle over loan 1 day ago LOS ANGELES (AP) — Richard Dreyfuss is suing his father and uncle over an $870,000 loan he claims was never repaid. The lawsuit centers around a loan Dreyfuss claims he made to his relatives in 1984, who owned an interest in a downtown Los Angeles office building. Roughly 24 years later, Dreyfuss says that loan — and interest — remains unpaid.

How did the U.S. financial crisis happen? A review of the road to ruin reveals a course littered with more villains than heroes. No, it’s not the Great Depression, but the United States is facing a nasty economy-wide retrenchment following the excesses of the 2000s, with no easy way to dance through it. Think 1979 to 1982, when then U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker exorcised consumer price inflation from the economy. The difference today is that the inflationary explosion has been absorbed by prices of assets—houses, stocks and bonds, office buildings—rather than by the prices of things you buy...

Obama received $71,000 in campaign cash in 2004 from a lender in Illinois, who then in February 2005 gave him a below-market mortgage rate personally saving him nearly $4,000.00 per year. Perhaps just a whiff of corruption from the Chicago Kid?

A lawsuit filed by a Wisconsin couple against their mortgage lender could have major implications for banks should a U.S. appeals court agree that borrowers can cancel their loans en masse when their lenders violate a federal lending disclosure law. The case began like hundreds of others filed since the U.S. housing boom spawned a rise in sales of adjustable rate loans. Susan and Bryan Andrews of Cedarburg, Wisconsin, claimed that lender Chevy Chase Bank FSB (CCX_pc.N: Quote, Profile, Research) had hidden the true terms of what they believed was a good deal on a low-interest loan. In their 2005...

The Federal Reserve Bank of New York said on Thursday that it has extended a $28.82 billion loan to JPMorgan Chase & Co (JPM.N: Quote, Profile, Research) for the acquisition of Bear Stearns. "Total credit extended by the New York Fed is lower than originally anticipated as a result of an extensive review of the portfolio," the New York Fed said in a statement on its Web site. In addition, JPMorgan has extended a $1.15 billion loan to a Delaware limited liability company (LLC), the statement said. The LLC, which will be consolidated on the books of the New York...

I just found this website: http://www.kiva.org/ The company screens entrepreneurs in developing areas who are looking for microloans, then posts their loan applications online. Anyone who wants to can lend them money in increment as small as $25. For instance, if a potato farmer in Peru loses their seed crop to blight, they can apply for the loan needed to buy new seed to restart their farm. Microloans have gotten a lot of attention from lending institutions because, even though it involves lending to people who seem high-risk, the default rates have turned out to be very low. Kiva's default...

Dodd Defends His Own Mortgage DealsBy JESSE A. HAMILTON | Washington Bureau Chief June 14, 2008 WASHINGTON — - Sen. Christopher Dodd says there was nothing special about the 2003 mortgages on his two homes, and that he requested no preferential treatment from his lender. But it might take more than a short denial to get past this week's reports that he was one of several prominent politicians given deals by Countrywide Financial Corp. on their home loans. "As a United States senator, I would never ask or expect to be treated differently than anyone else refinancing their home," Dodd...

The housing downturn continues to crush Florida bankers: Overdue loans, mostly real estate related, have nearly quadrupled the past year in the Sunshine State. If that were not enough, the state's lenders have unusually low cash reserves to protect against mortgage defaults. And 41 percent of Florida-chartered banks were unprofitable the first three months of this year. That's twice the number of banks that bled red ink last year. These not-so-encouraging trends emerged from reports released the past week by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. Experts blame a chain reaction ignited by a two-year plunge in real estate values. It's...

Development campaigners have accused the UK government of making a stealth cut to an £800m fund designed to help poor countries adapt to climate change.

HARRISBURG -- With a section of a Pittsburgh bridge dropping 8 inches and an Interstate 95 support pillar cracking in Philadelphia, Gov. Ed Rendell is turning up the heat under the Legislature to provide infrastructure repair funds more quickly. Mr. Rendell sent a letter to all 253 legislators yesterday urging quick passage of a $240 million "supplemental debt authorization." His program of borrowing would enable state officials to fast-track repairs on some of the state's 6,000 bridges classified as structurally deficient, along with fixing ailing highways, repairing "state-owned, high-hazard dams" and beginning flood mitigation projects. Also yesterday, Mr. Rendell called...

QUESTION for freeper lawyers & paralegals & wannabees: If loan paperwork does not specifically state that a loan company can sell a loan, what legal basis could they have to sell it? What legal basis can another loan company buy it? For example: If a loan is defaulted, the loan company eventually files bankruptcy, zeroes the loan, and reports it as zeroed on the credit report, what legal basis could they have for subsequently selling the loan, especially if the loan docs do not state that power? Loan docs do state that whoever they transfer the loan to inherits all...

The impact of the U.S. mortgage market crisis on the underlying economy could be "dramatic" as leveraged investors may need to scale back lending by up to $2 trillion, according to investment bank Goldman Sachs. AP -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- In a report dated Nov. 15, Goldman's Goldman Sachs Group IncGS 227.02 UNCH 0% NYSE Quote | Chart | News | Profile | Add to Watchlist [GS 227.02 --- UNCH (0%) ] chief U.S. economist Jan Hatzius said a "back-of-the-envelope" estimate of credit losses on outstanding mortgages, based on past default experience, was around $400 billion. But unlike stock market losses, which are...

Experts: Freeze on home-loan interest no cure-allBy ALAN ZIBEL Associated Press Dec. 2, 2007, 3:17PM WASHINGTON — If lenders temporarily freeze low introductory interest rates on home loans made to risky borrowers before they soar, it would be a modest fix for the country's fractured housing market. The problems are so far-reaching, analysts say, that an emerging Bush administration-backed plan — nicknamed "teaser-freezer" by one economist — won't spare many borrowers, or bankers, from the pain of escalating foreclosures and defaults. Edward Yardeni, an economist who runs Yardeni Research in Great Neck, N.Y., called the plan "better than doing nothing,"...

Foreclosure wave sweeps US On 31 August, President George W Bush appeared in the White House Rose Garden to urge action to deal with a serious crisis in the US economy. He was flanked by two of the most powerful players in the global economy: US Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke The sub-prime crisis - which is threatening millions of families in the US with eviction, has created turmoil in the financial markets, and lead to serious disruption to the US economy and housing market - had moved to the top of the political...

Michael Jackson has defaulted on a $23 million loan and the holder has put him on notice. Jackson has 90 days to pay the full amount — $23 million plus $212,963.83 in interest — or he will lose his Neverland Ranch. The papers were filed in Santa Barbara County on Oct. 22, but apparently Jackson’s loan with Fortress Music Trust, doing business as DBCG LLC, a Delaware corporation, expired on Oct. 12. I told you in this space last week Fortress was trying to sell Jackson’s loans and that a desperate refinancing negotiation was taking place. From the looks of...

They had the car loans -- but not the cars.After a series of raids, prosecutors are set today to charge 11 people with defrauding a bank by obtaining car loans on luxury automobiles owned by other people, sources said.Cook County sheriff's police and other agencies conducted the raids Wednesday morning, hitting locations in south suburban Alsip, Oak Lawn, Palos Hills, Orland Park and Chicago. All of those arrested are of Middle Eastern origin, coming from such countries as Egypt and Jordan, a law enforcement source said.Members of the fraud ring applied for loans at State Farm Bank, an arm of...

KANSAS CITY, Mo., Aug. 17 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- NovaStar Financial, Inc. (NYSE: NFI), a residential mortgage lender and portfolio investor, today announced a reduction in workforce to align its organization and costs with an expected reduction in loan originations. The employment reduction affects approximately 500 persons, about 37 percent of the Company's workforce. Subject to completion of the necessary legal notices and requirements, implementation will begin immediately and conclude during the fourth quarter of 2007. NovaStar continues to meet all loan commitments, and its servicing and portfolio management organizations are not affected by the reduction. Lance Anderson, President of NovaStar, commented:...

With the troubled subprime loan industry beset by foreclosures and tightening credit, lenders and lawmakers are attempting to resurrect a 73-year-old government program to help take up the slack. Once a top choice for first-time home buyers and people with credit problems, loans insured by the Federal Housing Administration have lost their luster in recent years. During the U.S. housing boom that raged between 2000 and 2005, FHA was a minor player. That's largely because FHA's lending ceiling of about $363,000 is too low for pricey markets. It doesn't begin to approach the median single-family resale home price in many...

Lobbyist: Company involved in Jefferson scandal was ‘hogwash’By Kevin Bogardus June 15, 2007 Rep. William Jefferson, D-La. arrives to make a statement to reporters outside federal court in Alexandria, Va., Friday, June 8, 2007, after he pleaded not guilty to charges of soliciting more than $500,000 in bribes while using his office to broker business deals in Africa. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak) A company that cosponsored a trip to Africa noted in Rep. William Jefferson’s (D-La.) indictment showed signs of trouble before it established itself in the Bahamas and filed for bankruptcy in Louisiana. In his first interview since the Jefferson...

Las Manitas restaurant will get the money needed to relocate, remodel and stay in downtown Austin. Austin City Council members voted Thursday to grant the owners, Cynthia and Lydia Perez, a $750,000 forgivable loan that does not have to be repaid if certain requirements are met for a set time period.Las Manitas has been at its current location on 211 Congress Avenue since 1981. Last September, Marriot announced a $185 million hotel complex will be built there. The project will add 1,000 hotel rooms, 600 jobs and is being called the largest hotel development in Austin history. The community rallied...

Private equity deals getting riskier: lenders Jill Treanor in London June 7, 2007 ALARM bells have been sounded by two lenders about the way loans were being handed out to fund the booming private equity sector. Royal Bank of Scotland, in the throes of a record-breaking takeover of the Dutch bank ABN Amro, admitted there were signs the market was getting "quite toppish", while Intermediate Capital warned it was turning away deals because they were too risky. Riskier loans are being granted because banks are able to offload their exposure to rivals by forming large syndicates. Debt is a crucial...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Community groups that help subprime borrowers try to save their homes from foreclosure would receive $300 million in aid under legislation introduced on Thursday. The infusion of federal money would help consumer groups reach out to troubled borrowers and, in some cases, provide new financing directly. The groups that would benefit from the money are in direct contact with delinquent homeowners and guide them through the complicated steps they can take to save their homes, said Sen. Charles Schumer, chairman of a Senate subcommittee on housing and sponsor of the legislation. "They know how to do it....

Kazakhs get loan to save Aral Sea By Natalya Antelava BBC News, Aral Sea The sea's retreat spells disaster for local people The Kazakhstan government has secured a multi-million dollar loan from the World Bank to help save the Aral Sea. The money will be used to implement the second stage of a project aimed at saving the northern part of the sea. The United Nations has said the disappearance of the Aral is the worst man-made environmental disaster. But this new project could mean that at least part of the Aral - once the world's fourth largest inland body...

EVERY day, Will Hertzberg owns a little less of his three-bedroom house in Corona. Like hundreds of thousands of other homeowners around the state, Hertzberg has a mortgage that lets him choose how much he pays each month. ADVERTISEMENT Like many of them, he always chooses to pay as little as possible. For the moment, this allows the 56-year-old Hertzberg to continue living in his tract home despite being only marginally employed. But his debt is swelling, and his mortgage company controls his fate. "I am rather screwed," he said.

Cashiering payday loans? By Ryan Krueger Published November 24, 2006 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The recent outcry for a ban on payday lenders made me wonder how many of those pointing fingers ever tried to open one of the doors they want to kick down. Have they listened to a customer describe what is on the other side? The tasteful accusation at fancy dinner parties is that they prey on the low-income worker, trapping him into unsavory interest rates. The hosts need to ask the caterer or nanny used that same evening for their opinions. Up front, I must disclose a bias of...

When he came to Seattle from Los Angeles eight years ago, the married father of three young sons wanted to buy his family a home. Nothing fancy — three bedrooms, in a neighborhood close to schools and with a yard big enough for the boys to romp about. He'd landed a job in the construction industry that paid good money, and he had a tidy sum to put toward a down payment. But it's what he didn't have that worried him the most: A legitimate Social Security number. A credit file. Legal immigration status. "I was very honest with my...

Too many minority homeowners have been saddled with high-cost, adjustable-rate mortgages during the five-year housing boom, which makes them especially vulnerable now that rates are rising, according to a new study released Tuesday. Millions of black and Hispanic borrowers will face "rate shock" when their adjustable-rate loans start rising and higher monthly payments begin eating into household income, the study concluded.< SNIP > ACORN alleges that too many lenders needlessly sell high-cost mortgages to minority borrowers, even when the applicants could have qualified for lower interest rates. The results, ACORN says, can be devastating for many minority homeowners, especially those...

SACRAMENTO A day after President Bush vetoed a measure that would have expanded federal funding of embryonic stem cell research, California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on Thursday authorized a $150 million loan to fund the state's moribund stem cell institute, which has been stalled by lawsuits. The move has distinct political benefits for the governor who is seeking to put as much distance as possible between himself and the deeply unpopular president as he seeks re-election this year. Schwarzenegger said the state cannot afford to wait to fund the critical science associated with stem cells. "I remain committed to advancing stem...

WASHINGTON – They are the new breed of “affordability” mortgages, and home buyers in high-cost real estate markets can't get enough of them: Interest-only and so-called payment-option plans that cut monthly payments sharply in the early years of a loan. Lenders have marketed both types of mortgages aggressively – often to people who need to stretch their incomes to afford a home purchase – but have insisted that their borrowers have solid credit histories, excellent credit scores and fully understand the possible payment-shock risks once payments reset in a few years. In some parts of the country, the numbers of...

Miller mulls resignation in wake of fraud chargesCharges of altering checks to the federal government face the state House member Nikole Hannah-Jones, Staff Writer Miller State Rep. Paul Miller said Thursday that he has not decided whether he will resign his seat in the General Assembly after his arrest on felony charges of attempting to defraud the U.S. Department of Education. Miller said during a brief phone interview that he is in consultation with his attorney but that on the advice of counsel, he could not comment. In a short written statement, Miller reiterated that he would not speak about...

SACRAMENTO – Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger will propose a revised state budget Friday that uses most of a $4.5 billion windfall in unexpected tax revenue to pay down debt and build a larger budget reserve, rather than pay off a disputed “loan” to schools, administration officials said yesterday. Schools will get their regular share of the new revenue as required by the Proposition 98 school-funding guarantee, the officials told reporters in a briefing. The Schwarzenegger aides would discuss the budget only on condition of anonymity. But they refused to discuss the governor's plans, if any, to deal with a $3.2 billion...

Homeless Man Gets Five Fannie Mae Loans In Florida The St. Petersburg Times found a homeless man who had bought a few houses. “After struggling much of his adult life with unemployment, homelessness and drug addiction, Johnny Moon Sr. died last year on a dirty mattress on the floor of a small home near Tampa’s College Hill district. Moon left behind a watch, a flashlight and a wallet containing a solitary dollar bill. And more than a half-million dollars worth of real estate.”

Japan offers U.S. a loan to pay for troop moves Posted: February 23, 2006 The idea of getting US Marines off Okinawa sooner rather than later has reportedly triggered a Japanese offer to front the costs, but on a loan basis. An agreement last Fall called for 7,000 Marines to relocate from the island to Guam, but the $8 billion price tag has caused Japanese lawmakers to blanche. Now, reports circulating through the Japanese capitol suggest the central government will offer to loan the United States the money necessary to make the moves happen quickly. The United States has steadfastly...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A government board created to help U.S. airlines financially in their darkest moment -- in the aftermath of the 2001 hijack attacks -- could pocket more than $300 million for taxpayers when its work ends this year. The Air Transportation Stabilization Board (ATSB) was authorized by Congress to provide loan guarantees to struggling airlines, a program that some lawmakers and the Bush administration considered a wildly risky intervention in private industry.

The stakes on student loans just got higher: Not only have rates soared, but the debt can haunt you all the way to the grave. If you're a student or parent and felt a little out of breath over the holidays, you weren't imagining things. Lawmakers and Supreme Court justices were busy putting the squeeze on you. Right before Christmas, Congress decided to slash $12.7 billion over the next five years from the federal student-loan program and boost interest rates on the most popular loans. (The changes are likely to become law in February.) A few weeks earlier, the U.S....

The HeraldTribune is reporting the clock is winding down on the Hybrid Loan and Sub-Prime mortgage time bombs. Starting in 2006 and accelerating into 2007, as much as $2.5 trillion worth of the fancy mortgages called "hybrids" are coming to the end of the free-lunch part of the deal. Economists are still trying to put numbers on this reset factor, particularly when it comes to the riskiest home loans, referred to as "sub-prime." "We don't have enough data to know how big a problem this will be," said David Berson, chief economist at Fannie Mae, the nation's largest mortgage packager....

Al Sharpton, 2004: candidate for president of the United States. Al Sharpton, 2005: pitchman for car title loans. In commercials airing locally, the ever-colorful Sharpton stands on a stage with an American flag and happily declares, "Finally, there's someone in Virginia who will loan money to people the big guys won't loan to."

A Chino family wants a state pollution-fighting loan of $8.4 million to help build a 3,200-cow dairy in Fresno County — an idea taking heavy flak from environmentalists and state Treasurer Phil Angelides. Environmentalists are appalled, saying pollution-control loans should not finance a plan to move bad air into the San Joaquin Valley. The new dairy qualifies as a major air pollution source, adding 30 tons of smog-making gas per year to one of the country's dirtiest air basins, according to the most recent estimates. Angelides wants a moratorium on such low-interest loans to dairies until after stricter air and...

Help! Put on your economics hats out there. I'm trying to decide whether I should convert my variable rate home equity line to a fixed loan now that The Fed has raised the rates again. Is this just one more rate hike in a long line of future hikes; or is it a post-Katrina reaction? My equity line started at 3.5% and is now at 6.5%. I can lock into a fixed loan at 7.2%. I know there are a lot of Freepers out there who have a wealth of accumulated real estate and financial savvy. I was hoping to...

Mugabe spurned loan 'in fury over conditions' By David Blair in Johannesburg (Filed: 17/09/2005) President Robert Mugabe rejected South Africa's offer of emergency cash to bail out Zimbabwe's collapsing economy and "humiliated" his officials when they presented him with a draft rescue package, it emerged yesterday. Mr Mugabe was "apoplectic" when he learned of the stringent conditions attached to a loan from South Africa. The conditions are believed to have included Mr Mugabe being required to open talks with the opposition Movement for Democratic Change, repeal a series of repressive laws and implement ambitious economic reforms. A senior western diplomat...

As they happily watch their houses swell in value, Americans are changing their attitudes toward mortgage debt. Increasingly, a home is no longer a nest egg whose equity should never be touched, but a seemingly magical ATM enabling the owner to live it up or just live. Homeowners took $59 billion in cash out of their houses in the second quarter, double the amount in the 2004 quarter and 16 times the average rate of the mid-1990s, according to data released this month by mortgage giant Freddie Mac. People are cashing out so quickly that the term "homeowner" may soon...

N.Y. Community Center Loan Investigated By DAVID B. CARUSO Associated Press Writer New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer speaks at a news conference in New York, July 25, 2005. A New York radio station has agreed to pay $240,000 after sponsoring 'smackfest' contests in which young women took turns slapping each other for a chance to win concert tickets and cash, Spitzer and State Athletic Commission Chairman Ron Scott Stevens said on Monday. REUTERS/Mike Segar NEW YORK — State and city officials are investigating how $875,000 from a community center funded largely by government grants and contracts wound up in...

I have tried to devise the absolute worst mortgage loan that I can imagine. Fortunately, this loan is nothing more than a figment of my imagination -- at least, as far as I know. But take a cynical guy like me with a looming deadline and this is what you get. This fictional loan would contain many of the elements that appeal to borrowers hemmed in by affordability. Like today's option, adjustable-rate mortgages, borrowers would be able to choose an interest-only payment or even a minimum-payment option. While the borrower is lured by the minimum payment, what results is a...

IRAN GRANTS KYRGYZSTAN 50 MILLION-EURO EASY-TERM CREDIT MOSCOW, April 21 (RIA Novosti) - Iran has extended to Kyrgyzstan an easy-term credit line of 50 million euros for investment projects. This was said at the meeting between acting President and Prime Minister of Kyrgyzstan Kurmanbek Bakiev and Iranian Ambassador in Bishkek Golyam Reza Bageri, the Kyrgyz news agency Kabar reports. It was said at the meeting that "there is a perspective for a real increase in bilateral trade turnover through creating more favorable conditions for joint entrepreneurial activities". At the present time, trade turnover between Kyrgyzstan and Iran stands at 200...

China's boom has not led to wholesale change By Joe Studwell, editor-in-chief of the China Economic Quarterly Published: April 3 2005 20:24 | Last updated: April 3 2005 20:24 As China's economy shows signs of a modest slowdown from annual growth officially reported at more than 9 per cent in 2003 and 2004 - but which physical indicators suggest probably exceeded 10 per cent - it is time to ask whether this latest "China boom" has been qualitatively different from previous ones. Those who believe China is continuing its march away from a state-driven economy cite hard evidence. The efficiencies...

A lawyer at the Center for Responsible Lending (CRL) will testify tomorrow before a subcommittee of the U.S. House of Representatives' Committee on Small Business on how payday lenders prey on military personnel. The Subcommittee on Rural Enterprise, Agriculture and Technology meets in Kansas City, Missouri amid newspaper reports on service members victimized by payday lenders, who often get their customers trapped in loans running into more than 400 percent interest. Kathleen Keest, a lawyer for CRL, will tell the legislators that predatory payday lending costs Americans over $3.4 billion in excessive fees and that military personnel are prime targets...

<p>Laws against "usury" go back to biblical times and were adopted by states starting in the 18th century. The concept was simple: People in dire need of money will pay just about any interest rate to get it. So society moved to protect them from sleazy lenders who threaten to break legs.</p>

This Holiday season reigns frustration among college graduates who continually scratch their heads at the complex subsidized, unsubsidized, federal, state, etc. loans they have had to deal with throughout their collegiate career. This nightmarish system is one of confusion, multiple payments, new payments, old payments, familiar payments, unfamiliar payments, and general confusion, both for students, graduates and parents. Is anyone experiencing this frustration at a cumbersome and awkward system put together by bureaucrats who obviously have never had a child in college? We're all ready to tear our hair out.

Eddie Adams: Photojournalist won Pulitzer for Vietnam execution picture 08:34 PM CDT on Sunday, September 19, 2004 - Associated Press NEW YORK – Eddie Adams, a photojournalist whose half-century of arresting work was defined by a single frame – a Pulitzer Prize-winning Associated Press photo of a communist guerrilla being executed in a Saigon street during the Vietnam War – died Sunday. He was 71. [Adam's] ...fame resulted from a single photo taken Feb. 1, 1968, the second day of the communists' Tet Offensive, in the embattled streets of Cholon, Saigon's Chinese quarter. Drawn by gunfire, Mr. Adams and an...