Monday, April 2, 2012

Tuesday April 3 Housing and Economic stories

KeNosHousingPortal.blogspot.com

TOP STORIES:

Foreclosure rattles upscale San Jose neighborhood, and tenants - (www.mercurynews.com) The two-story home in the East San Jose foothills could belong to any well-to-do family, but step through the door and you're inside a million-dollar suburban foreclosure quagmire. More than a dozen adults and their pets have been living in a warren of rented rooms in the foreclosed house, turning a tranquil cul-de-sac into what one upset neighbor called "a nightmare for all of us living on that block." According to attorneys for the tenants, the former owner was renting out rooms -- including the laundry room and a living room split in two -- in the months after the home was foreclosed by the bank. They claim she never told tenants about the foreclosure. Now the tenants face eviction in a hearing to be held Thursday in Santa Clara County Superior Court. San Jose police officers have responded 16 times since September to resolve disputes and disturbances at the five bedroom, four bath home on La Castellet Court, where houses are valued at $1 million or more. The city's code enforcement department says it has an open case on the house.

Rescue creditors: Greece may miss debt target - (finance.yahoo.com) Greece's international creditors see "significant risks" that the country might fail to bring down its debt burden within targets, meaning it would require more rescue loans. In a document seen by The Associated Press on Tuesday, they say Greece's program of austerity measures and structural reforms "could be accident prone." "Authorities may not be able to implement reforms at the pace envisioned," said the report by the International Monetary Fund,the European Commission and the European Central Bank.

Monti's moment of truth, facing Italy's unions - (www.reuters.com) Prime Minister Mario Monti began a final push on Tuesday to forge a deal with trade unions on labour reform that marks a crucial test of his ability to revive Italy's chronically uncompetitive economy. The former European Commissioner opened informal discussions ahead of a meeting at 1500 GMT to try to agree on how to ease stringent legal protection for workers that dates back to the 1970s high-water mark of trade union power. The rules, which protect workers in larger companies from being sacked, have been fiercely defended by labour leaders but are also blamed for Italy's painfully low employment rate and years of stagnant growth.

Your ISP plans to spy on you and block access if they don't like what they see - (www.rt.com) Some of the biggest Internet service providers in America plan to adopt policies that will punish customers for copyright infringement, and one of the top trade groups in the music biz announced this week that it could begin as soon as this summer. The chief executive officer of the Recording Industry Association of America told an audience of publishers on Wednesday that a plan carved out last year to help thwart piracy is expected to prevail and be put in place by this summer. RIAA CEO Cary Sherman was one of the guest speakers among a New York panel this week and he confirmed that, at this rate, some of the most powerful Internet providers in America should have their new policies on the books by July 12, 2012. Last year, Time Warner, Verizon, AT&T, Comcast, Cablevision Systems and other Internet service providers proposed best practice recommendations that they suggested would help curb copyright crimes on the Web. The end result largely settled on consisted of a “graduate response” approach, a plan that would mean culprits could be issued a series of warnings for illegally downloading suspect material which, after a certain number of offenses, would lead to “mitigation measures,” connection speed throttling and termination of service.

Whistleblowers reap millions in U.S. mortgage suits - (www.reuters.com) Troubled homeowners are not the only ones set to get a financial lift from the U.S. government's $25 billion landmark mortgage settlement. Whistleblowers who were instrumental in revealing epidemic mortgage abuses, some of whom risked their careers to do so, are getting multi-million-dollar payouts, court documents show. Victor Bibby and Brian Donnelly, two Georgia mortgage brokers, are among the handful of whistleblowers whose stories are coming into focus. Bibby and Donnelly said they started noticing in 2005 that lenders were charging veterans hidden fees on mortgage refinancing - a violation of the government's Interest Rate Reduction Refinancing Loans program.

OTHER STORIES:

Greece’s Third Bailout Seen in Debt With Junk Grade: Euro Credit - (www.bloomberg.com)

Market's Next Big Worry: A Dismal Earnings Season Ahead - (www.cnbc.com)

Saudi Oil Output in January Was Near 31-Year High, Data Show - (www.bloomberg.com)

Bond Bear Market Yet to Roar - (online.wsj.com)

Mercedes Record 25% Discount Tops Shrinking China Margins - (www.bloomberg.com)

China Increases Fuel Prices Second Time in Two Months - (www.bloomberg.com)

Monti Eyes Labor Plan Amid Jobless Youth, Trapped Firemen- (www.bloomberg.com)

U.K. Inflation Slows Less Than Forecast on Alcohol, Food - (www.bloomberg.com)

Ireland Won’t Hold Re-Run If Voters Reject EU Pact, Howlin Says - (www.bloomberg.com)

Housing Starts in U.S. Fell in February from Three-Year High - (www.bloomberg.com)

Bernanke Returns to Academic Roots to Justify Fed’s Existence - (www.bloomberg.com)

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