KeNo's Housing and Economic Portal: Tuesday March 3 Housing and Economic stories

TOP STORIES:

Gov't sent 800K customers wrong Obamacare tax info - (www.cnbc.com) The Obama administration says it sent about 800,000 HealthCare.gov customers the wrong tax information, and officials are asking those consumers to delay filing their 2014 taxes. The tax error disclosed Friday is a self-inflicted injury that comes on the heels of what President Barack Obama had touted as a successful enrollment season, with about 11.4 million people signed up. California, which is running its own insurance market, just announced a similar problem affecting about 100,000 people in that state. The errors mean that nearly 1 million people may have to wait longer to get their tax refunds this year. Another 50,000 or so who already filed may have to resubmit their returns. Federal officials also announced a special sign-up extension for uninsured people facing the health care law's tax penalties.

HUD gave $37M to the wrong people in 2014 - (www.cnbc.com) More than $37 million in monthly housing subsidies for needy people ended up in the wrong hands last year because the Department of Housing and Urban Development doesn't know how to verify who's eligible for its program. The housing subsidies are intended for low-income people who meet the "community service and self-sufficiency requirement" or CSSR. To qualify, you must be between 18 and 62 and log a minimum of eight hours of community service or job training each month. The whole idea is to help prop up people who are trying to get back into the job market or reward those who are helping their communities. But a recent audit of the program quickly reveals that that's not exactly how the program is panning out. HUD's Inspector General found that tenants in living in at least 106,000 of the 550,000 subsidized houses didn't meet the service or job training requirements needed to qualify for the program. What's worse, while these people enjoyed housing subsidies they didn't qualify for, the program's waitlist is filling with people that actually do, according to the IG.

German-Led Block Willing To Let Greece Leave Euro, ECB Prepares For Grexit – (www.zerohedge.com) This is what peak bluffing looks like. Moments after there was much hope for a deal, suddenly ze Germans yanked the carpet from under any potential leverage Greece may have though it had when the Maltese foreign minister said:

GERMAN-LED BLOC WILLING TO LET GREECE LEAVE EURO, SCICLUNA SAYS
"I think they’ve now reached a point where they will tell Greece if you really want to leave, leave"

This in turns follows minutes after a Spigel article said that the ECB prepares for Greek euro exit. From the article, google-translated: The European Central Bank (ECB) is preparing for a Greek exit from the monetary union. To that effect, Employees by information obtained by SPIEGEL, an internal simulation games by how the rest of the euro zone could be held together. Despite all the denials to urge the European monetary authorities the Greeks to finally introduce capital controls. According to the findings of the ECB, the Greeks have a day more than one billion euros abroad.

Greek bank deposit outflows jump over long weekend jitters-source - (www.reuters.com) Greek bank deposit outflows accelerated to over 1 billion euros over the past two days, returning to some of the highest daily levels seen this year, two senior banking sources told Reuters on Friday. Outflows topped 500 million euros over Wednesday and Thursday with Greeks nervous ahead of a three-day weekend, given memories of capital controls imposed on Cyprus in 2013 over a long weekend, one senior banker said. Monday is a public holiday marking the start of Greek Orthodox Lent season. Fears of capital controls have risen in recent days as Athens struggles to reach a deal with the eurozone for continued funding. The government denies any plans for such controls. "Depositors have connected the three-day weekend with the capital controls that happened in Cyprus," the banker said, noting that the Cypriot situation was different since it was triggered by the collapse of a bank.

Caracas mayor who opposed government violently arrested – (www.washingtonpost.com) Opposition leaders in Venezuela are calling for a rally to protest the surprise arrest of Caracas’ mayor. The arrest of Antonio Ledezma late Thursday has enraged opponents of President Nicolas Maduro and is likely to add to the international condemnation of his government’s human rights record. Ledezma is expected to be brought before a judge Friday. Maduro is facing increasing pressure over Venezuela’s mounting economic woes but opposition groups so far have been unable to focus the widespread discontent against his socialist administration. Venezuela is expected to hold legislative elections later this year which the opposition hopes will give them control of Congress. Recent national polls show Maduro’s approval rating has slipped to 22 percent, the lowest of his presidency.

OTHER STORIES:

Is Attorney John M. Schwarz Trying To Flee New York W/ Client Cash? - (www.mfi-miami.com)

Here's Greece's bailout extension request letter - (www.cnbc.com)

German-Led Bloc Willing to Let Greece Leave Euro - (www.bloomberg.com)
Greece, euro zone close to a deal before Friday's Eurogroup: Greek official - (www.reuters.com)

Oil prices rise further but analysts expect downward correction - (www.cnbc.com)