KeNo's Housing and Economic Portal: Friday April 18 Housing and Economic stories

TOP STORIES:

California suspends 3 Democrats, including 1 who allegedly took bribes for guns – (www.gazette.com) The Democratically controlled California Senate has voted to suspend three Democrats who face charges in separate criminal cases, after the latest lawmaker to be hauled into court refused to step down. Friday's 28-1 vote in the 40-member chamber came amid one of the most severe ethical crises in modern times for the Legislature in the nation's most populous state. The resolution prevents Democratic Sens. Ron Calderon, Leland Yee and Rod Wright from exercising any power of their office until the pending criminal cases against them have been resolved. Even so, they will continue receiving their $95,291 annual salaries. Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg of Sacramento acknowledged the public criticism of the chamber but defended his leadership and the integrity of the 37 senators who have not run afoul of the law. Nevertheless, he said he has been shocked by having 7 percent of the chamber face felony charges this year, which will be his last as leader. "One is an anomaly, two a coincidence, but three? That's not what this Senate is about," Steinberg said to his fellow lawmakers before the vote.

HealthCare.gov or bust! Millions flood Obamacare sign-up - (www.cnbc.com) What a difference six months makes to Obamacare. A massive flood of health insurance shoppers deluged the government-run exchanges over the weekend and into Monday, rushing to beat the midnight enrollment deadline under the Affordable Care Act. The influx of up to 1.5 million visitors by noon on the federal HealthCare.gov exchange led to a brief lag in its ability to handle new applications at midday, but that was quickly resolved. The surge came as a new report suggested that at least 9.5 million previously uninsured people have obtained health coverage since the October launch of Obamacare plans and Medicaid marketed by the exchanges. That report also suggested fewer than 1 million previously insured people had been left uninsured because their old plans did not meet new ACA requirements.

Tokyo Money-Market Rate Turns Negative for First Time - (www.bloomberg.com) Holders of Japanese government debt could get paid to borrow against the securities as the availability of sovereign bills and bonds wanes amid unprecedented monetary stimulus by the central bank. The benchmark rate for borrowers using such debt as collateral fell to negative 0.011 percent from 0.038 percent yesterday, according to data compiled by the Japan Securities Dealers Association. The one-day rate for transactions starting the next business day has never been below zero since at least October 2007, figures from the JSDA and the Bank of Japan show. The nation’s so-called repo rate is the difference in interest that a loan borrower and bond borrower pay each other. Demand for funds wanes as the BOJ buys an unprecedented 7 trillion yen ($69 billion) of government notes every month in addition to buying an amount of treasury discount bills that’s not predetermined. “The BOJ’s purchases have sapped available bonds and T-bills in the market,” said Toshiaki Terada, a researcher at Totan Research Co., a money-market brokerage in Tokyo.

Pento Censored from CNBC Interview for Revealing Numbers of US/Japan Sovereign Debt Collapse - (www.kingworldnews.com) I think it was the fact that I laid out the math behind a sovereign debt collapse in both Japan and the United States. I think so much of the quiescence in yields in the bond markets in both America and Japan depends on confidence. So it’s really in the best interest of both Japan and the United States to do everything they can to maintain that confidence at all costs. And when someone comes on TV, or in the financial media, and threatens the already fragile confidence that exists today, apparently decisions are now being made to censor. I laid out in no uncertain terms that the Federal Reserve and the Bank of Japan have laid the groundwork for insolvency, and set up these bond markets for a tremendous interest rate shock. When someone so cogently lays out those facts, obviously it’s in some entities best interest to pretend that individual was never part of that segment.”

Realtor Jailed for Inflating Real Estate Prices and Paying Kickbacks - (www.mortgagefraudblog.com) Trina Tahir, 58, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, has been sentenced to twenty-four months in federal prison and ordered to pay $382,290.82 in restitution for her role in obtaining fraudulent mortgage loans. A grand jury indicted Tahir along with two co-defendants, Derrick Reuben Smithand Michael Gipson, in July of 2010. According to the indictment, Smith recruited two individuals to buy two new homes in Edmond in mid-2006 and early 2007 for $425,000 and $435,000 respectively. The builder of both homes agreed that Tahir’s real estate brokerage, T&T Realty, would receive large commissions and bonuses totaling $51,950 and $77,950 respectively. The indictment alleged that after the closings, Tahir caused T&T Realty to write checks to Gipson, an agent at T&T Realty, for $27,059.86 and $58,000 respectively. Gipson then bought cashier’s checks in those same amounts payable to “MP Services,” a business that Smith operated. Smith paid $20,000 to the person who served as the buyer of the first house and used the rest of the money for his own purposes.

OTHER STORIES: