house refinance

В Киеве было совершено нападение на 34-летнего предпринимателя Михаила Гончара, бывшего гражданского мужа дочери президента Виталины Ющенко и отца внучки главы государства Ярины-Доминики.

У Гончара украли 1,2 миллиона гривен и 40 часов. Об этом сообщили в МВД Украины.

Неизвестные поджидали жертву в подъезде элитного дома на улице Городецкого на Печерске, избили, забрали ключи, похитили крупную сумму денег и скрылись.

Предварительная картина такова, пишет издание. Гончар возвращался домой около трех ночи один - охранник отпросился по личным делам. Войдя в подъезд, Михаил заметил, что лифт стал подниматься вверх, на шестой этаж, где живет и он сам. Гостей в столь позднее время Гончар не ждал, соседи, как ему было известно, отсутствовали (на площадке всего две квартиры).

Это насторожило: дождавшись кабину внизу, Михаил нажал кнопку пятого этажа. Покинув лифт, он увидел этажом выше у своей двери трех человек в масках и бросился бежать. Его догнали, сбили с ног, нанесли несколько ударов, от которых он потерял сознание, и вывезли в какую-то лесопосадку, где потребовали назвать код (жилье на сигнализации), забрали ключи от квартиры и сейфа, оставили Гончара и, пригрозив убить, если тот обратится в милицию, снова отправились на Городецкого.

По месту жительства жертвы исчезло более 1,2 миллиона гривен, а также 40 импортных часов, стоимость которых уточняется. Об этом милиции заявил отец потерпевшего Игорь Гончар, которому Михаил, находившийся в шоковом состоянии, с трудом сообщил о происшедшем по телефону. В данный момент Гончар-младший госпитализирован. Причиненные ему травмы пока исключают общение с ним следователей, отрабатывающих несколько версий ЧП. Согласно одной из них, к истории причастен охранник, ставший "наводчиком" преступления. По другой - за Михаилом давно следили и ждали только удобного случая (нападавшие, видимо, точно знали, что в ту ночь дома у Гончара никого не будет). В столичном милицейском главке изданию подтвердили факт, уточнив, что уголовное дело, возможно, возбудят по статье 186-й - грабеж. "Говорить о конкретике рано - случалось, бывали и инсценировки. Так что надо все хорошо изучить", - сказали в главке.

Напомним, в декабре 2006 года Михаил Гончар подозревался в том, что из окна его квартиры был обстрелян служебный кабинет народного депутата от Партии регионов Юлии Ковалевой. Возникла версия о том, что стрелял он сам, находясь в состоянии алкогольного или наркотического опьянения, однако следствие вскоре было прекращено, и уголовное дело закрыто за отсутствием состава преступления.

Президент Украины Виктор Ющенко официально отрекся от родства с Михаилом, заявив, что семья президента "не имеет отношения к этому человеку".

В 2008 году в эпицентре другого громкого скандала оказался уже отец Михаила, Игорь Гончар, возглавлявший Департамент контроля за производством и обращением спирта в ГНА Украины - его уличили во взятке в 20 тысяч долларов. Во время обыска в его квартире на жилом массиве Троещина в Киеве в личном сейфе нашли 400 тысяч долларов.

Дело еще до конца не расследовано, хотя генпрокурор Александр Медведько заверил, что оно имеет судебную перспективу.

Источник

 

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The NBU's acting head Anatolii Shapovalov announced that the regulator will provide around UAH 8bn to refinance 20 commercial banks.

The details of the refinancing were not disclosed, while Mr. Shapovalov stressed on the importance of the collateral provision to receive the loan.

We see the news to be insignificant to the banking sector, since the refinancing is not large enough (1.8% of total banking sector corporate and retail deposits as of 01.01.09) for the commercial banks to redeem the short term liabilities, but the measure could temporarily support the above 20 banks.

Meanwhile, the amount of refinancing is expected to increase the monetary base by more than a half of the amount forecasted by the NBU in 2009 Monetary Policy Fundamentals. Moreover, the announcement on the importance of collateral provision may stimulate the commercial banks to buy domestic government bonds, which may have further inflation and devaluation effects.

Leading British betting and gaming firm William Hill plans to raise approximately £350 million in a rights issue to refinance its debt, which is part of a wider plan to restructure the group’s £1.2 billion in borrowings.

According to a piece in The Sunday Times newspaper, the move is likely to be fully underwritten by Citigroup, William Hill’s financial adviser and broker, and announced this Friday alongside the firm’s annual results.

The fundraising would see the bookmaker scrap its dividend, which would save it about £70 million, with investors seemingly ready to give the rights issue plan the thumbs-up.

“William Hill is a good business,” said a ‘big shareholder’ quoted by The Sunday Times.

“A rights issue at that sort of level should be quite well received. We would be supportive of it.”

William Hill’s current lending arrangements expire in March of 2010 but its banks, which include Barclays, HSBC and RBS, are expected to agree new facilities although it is not yet clear what terms, if any, have been agreed.

In a statement issued on January 15, William Hill revealed that its gross win had risen eight percent over the previous eleven weeks against a year earlier and investors may also have been reassured by a steady set of financial results from rival Ladbrokes released earlier this week.

Mexico's Cemex, the world's No. 3 cement maker, will meet with bond investors over the next two weeks about a planned debt issue to refinance part of its existing liabilities.

One of the banks managing the sale said on Tuesday that the roadshow for the planned U.S. dollar-denominated benchmark senior unsecured issue will start in London on Wednesday and Thursday and then move on to the United States later this week and next.

Fitch Ratings expects to assign a rating of 'BB' to Cemex's (CX.N: Quote, Profile, Research) (CMXCPO.MX: Quote, Profile, Research) proposed bond of around $500 million.

Lead managers for the planned issue are Citigroup, BBVA, HSBC, Royal Bank of Scotland and Santander, the bank said.

Cemex has to meet $4.1 billion in debt maturities this year. The Monterrey-based company, which competes with France's Lafarge (LAFP.PA: Quote, Profile, Research), plans to use free cash flow and asset sales to pay for most of its due loans.

Cemex, the top cement maker in the United States, has been slammed by debt problems after its ambitious Rinker takeover in 2007, slumping sales, and losses on derivatives amid turmoil caused by the global credit debacle.

Its shares were about flat at 8.49 pesos while its New York-traded stock added 2 cents to $5.66 in midday trading. (Reporting by Natalie Harrison in London and Cyntia Barrera Diaz in Mexico City; Editing by Brian Moss)

A typical house in the Seattle area is now worth less than it was worth in October 2005 or more than at the end of 2006, depending on which of two new reports one reads.

The value in King, Pierce and Snohomish counties in December 2008 decreased 3.6 percent from November, 13.4 percent from a year earlier and 16.7 percent from the all-time peak in July 2007, Standard and Poor's S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Indices reported. It was the 11th consecutive record annual decline and second consecutive record monthly drop for the Seattle index, which goes back to the start of 1990.

Meanwhile, the Federal Housing Finance Agency reported the value of a typical house in King and Snohomish counties down just 5 percent in the fourth quarter from an all-time high in the fourth quarter of 2007 and 1.6 percent from the third quarter. Pierce County's typical value was down 5.1 percent from a year earlier and 0.8 percent from the third quarter, the agency said.

The biggest difference between the two reports is that the Federal Housing Finance Agency only looks at loans through mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. It excludes "jumbo" mortgages larger than government-imposed caps or subprime and Alt-A mortgages that do not comply with Fannie and Freddie standards, said Glenn Crellin, director of the Washington Center for Real Estate Research at Washington State University.

"That's probably becoming a critical distinction," he said, adding that the magnitude of the discrepancy surprised him.

Seattle-area houses worth less than $281,354 fared worst in December, with values falling 4.2 percent from November and 15.3 percent from a year earlier, according to S&P. This boosts the argument that subprime loans are a big reason for the difference between the indexes, Crellin said.

Houses in the middle-price tier fared the best, with values dropping only 2.7 percent from November and 12.4 percent from December 2007. Houses worth more than $407,934 saw values drop by 4 percent from November and 13 percent from a year earlier.

Both reports gauge market movement by tracking repeat transactions of specific houses, rather than depending on what happens to sell in any given month. S&P looks only at sales, while the Federal Housing Finance Agency also includes appraisals for refinances.

S&P's numbers fit better with the latest report from the Northwest Multiple Listing Service, which showed the median price of a King County house that sold in January was $382,500, down 12.1 percent from a year earlier and 5.2 percent from December.

The S&P report put Seattle ninth out of 20 areas it tracks for annual decline and 16th for monthly drop. Values were down in all 20 areas.

S&P's 20-city composite fell 2.5 percent from November and 18.5 percent from December 2007, while its U.S. National Home Price Index was down 18.2 percent in the fourth quarter from a year earlier. Both were records. Nationwide prices are back to levels last seen in late 2003.

"We're going to learn a little more in the spring market when the number of transactions starts to pick up and when we see how the president's program on trying to clear up this foreclosure logjam works," said Karl Case, an economics professor at Wellesley College and one of the founders of the index. "Eventually this market will clear, but there's not a lot of signs of it here."

Case said Seattle's drop was larger than he expected.

Patrick Newport, U.S. economist at IHS Global Insight, said slowing annual declines in some areas and slowing increases elsewhere showed areas reaching a point where prices were no longer in free fall.

"With the number of homes for sale at an all-time high, housing prices will continue declining for quite a while, and quite a bit more," he said. "Indeed, just as house prices overshot on the way up, they are likely to undershoot on the way down because of the inventory overhang."

The Federal Housing Finance Agency said nationwide values, using its seasonally adjusted sales-only index, were down a record 3.4 percent from the third quarter and 8.2 percent from a year earlier. Its U.S. all-transactions index, which includes refinances, was down just 0.2 percent for the quarter and a record 4.5 percent from a year earlier.

"Price declines continued in the fourth quarter although not as rapidly as some had expected," agency Director James Lockhart said in a statement. "We are hopeful the housing initiatives announced last week by President Obama will begin to provide much-needed stability to the housing markets."

Crellin said the Seattle area could benefit from the Obama administration's initiative, which includes allowing people who owe up to 105 percent of the value of their homes to refinance into better mortgages and lowering interest rates for troubled owners to get payments down to affordable levels.

Washington has a relatively large number of troubled owners who have not yet lost their homes to foreclosure or gotten to the point at which they owe so much more than the value of their homes that they couldn't benefit from the program, Crellin said. "This could help the Washington market stabilize with not as much pain as we've seen in some of the markets to the south ... and stabilize a bit more quickly."

The Federal Housing Finance Agency said Washington values, based only on sales, were down 7.4 percent from a year earlier and 5.1 percent from the third quarter, good for 39th place among states and Washington, D.C. Changes ranged from an annual increase of 1.9 percent in North Dakota to a 28.2 percent drop in Nevada. Prices were down from a year earlier in 44 states and Washington, D.C.

The agency ranked the Seattle area 199th out of 292 areas for annual change. Changes ranged from an annual increase of 6.6 percent in the Decatur, Ala., area to a drop of 49.5 percent in Merced, Calif. The five largest drops and 12 of the largest 20 were in California. Las Vegas was the only one of those 20 areas not in California or Florida.

Among the 20 areas in S&P's report, Phoenix posted the largest drops -- 5.1 percent from November and 34 percent from December 2007. The smallest monthly decline was Boston's 1.3 percent drop, while Denver had the smallest annual fall, 4 percent.

Declines from peak ranged from 8.6 percent in Dallas to 45.5 percent in Phoenix. Total drops have topped 10 percent in 18 areas, 20 percent in 10 areas and 40 percent in four areas.

Measure would grant time to modify mortgages, encourage lenders to negotiate

ACORN organizer Joe Cox said the charges against Hanks were "not unexpected" and that the group will assist her with the criminal case and even post bond if necessary.

"ACORN will continue to stand in solidarity with homeowners resisting foreclosures and will provide support when necessary," Cox said.

The foreclosure bill, introduced at last night's City Council meeting, is meant to give homeowners a chance to work with lenders to modify their mortgages and to encourage lenders to negotiate, city officials said.

While the Obama administration is providing financial incentives for mortgage backers to change loans for homeowners, it is going to take time for those loans to be renegotiated, Clarke said. "We need to buy time for people to be able to negotiate modified mortgages."

No representatives of the banking or mortgage industries attended the news conference yesterday morning.

John Mechem, a spokesman for the Mortgage Bankers Association in Washington, which represents 2,400 companies, said in a telephone interview that the Baltimore bill could lengthen the housing downturn by creating "perverse incentives" to not pay mortgages if borrowers knew they had a year before they could lose their homes.

"I don't think that stretching out this process is the right public policy approach," Mechem said. "Lenders already [have incentives] to work with borrowers as much as possible to avoid foreclosure."

Mayoral spokesman Scott Peterson said Dixon wants to monitor the council debate before taking a position on the bill. Ryan O'Doherty, a spokesman for Rawlings-Blake, said the council president wants to see whether the legislation can be targeted more specifically to owner-occupied properties.

Robert J. Strupp, director of research and policy for the Community Law Center, who helped write the Baltimore bill, said it dovetails with the Obama proposal, which calls for a lowering of interest rates, extending the term of loans and other incentives. Details of the bill will be released next week, he said.

Knowing that it would take longer before residents must vacate would encourage lenders to avoid foreclosure, he said.

"You've got the time now. You might as well try," Strupp said. There have been few third-party sales of foreclosed properties, he said.

"Some note-holders haven't been acting logically," Strupp said. "I've seen them turn down a modification at 50 or 60 cents on the dollar" only to wind up selling the property at auction for 30 cents on the dollar.

Homeowners who pay their mortgages on time would also benefit from the bill, because preventing foreclosures and home vacancies would prevent Baltimore home values from plummeting further, he said.

Henry described foreclosed homes as "starter homes of blight," left open to squatters, drug use and vandalism, and thus reducing neighborhood property values.

The steady trickle of band-aid solutions to the mortgage market downturn continued on Tuesday, when the Bush Administration and several major lenders unveiled another plan to assist struggling homeowners.

Announced by HUD Secretary Alphonso Jackson and Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, Project Lifeline is aimed at borrowers who are currently 90 days behind in their mortgage payments. It allows them to pause the foreclosure process for 30 days while they work with their lender to renegotiate their loan terms.

The participating companies constitute the six largest lenders in America: Bank of America, JP Morgan Chase, Citigroup, Countrywide Financial, Washington Mutual, and Wells Fargo. And in theory the new strategy could assist some distressed homeowners who have home loans with one of those companies.

But the excessive fanfare for a tactic which was announced by some of the parties several months ago makes the plan appear to be nothing but media hype. And it remains to be seen whether today’s new plan will prove beneficial to any who enroll in it, thanks to the draconian lending guidelines which pervade the market today.

American Recovery and Reinvestment Act aims to make it easier for you to refinance your mortgage loan Now that President Barack Obama’s $787 Billion Economic Stimulus Bill has been signed into law and will take effect on March 4, many American homeowners are anxiously wondering how this bill may affect the housing market. Despite primarily focusing on bolstering the economy by creating jobs and reviving spending, the bill includes steps to revitalize this critically important segment of the American economy. But what impact will the stimulus package directly have on your mortgage?
President Obama’s plan, named the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, is designed to address two groups of homeowners: those who are current on payments but have high interest rates and not enough equity to qualify for refinance, and those who are at risk of losing their homes. The plan also intends to provide $200 billion in additional financial backing to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to increase money available for home lending. 

These steps will directly help homeowners and new home buyers seeking a new mortgage, says Michael Isaacs, president and CEO of Residential Finance Corporation (www.residentialfinance.com), a nationwide mortgage lender specializing in FHA refinances. “The stimulus package aims to make money more readily available for lenders to help those who are currently in need," says Isaacs. "The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act will directly help those seeking to refinance out of bad mortgages as well as those looking to become homeowners for the first time." 

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act offers the following provisions: 

FHA Loan Limits – FHA loan amount limits will be raised to $729,750 for homes in high-cost areas. Areas with higher-valued homes will enjoy the many benefits of an FHA loan, such as low rates and easier qualification standards. The bill reinstates 2008 FHA loan limits, with a maximum cap of $729,750. The bill also provides the option, if warranted, to increase loan limits for any “sub-area”, i.e.an area smaller than a county. These limits will expire December 31, 2009. 

Home Ownership Tax Credit – A non-refundable tax credit of up to $8,000 will be available for buyers who purchase a home this year--before December 1, 2009--and who have not bought a house in the previous 3 years. This tax credit amount is based on 10-percent of the home’s purchase price, up to $8,000. To qualify, homeowners must keep their home for at least 3 years. 

Simplified Refinancing – Borrowers with less than a 20-percent equity stake in a traditional loan guaranteed by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac (commonly referred to as “conforming” loans) may now refinance to up to 95-percent of their home’s market value without purchasing private mortgage insurance, which typically can increase monthly payments by hundreds of dollars. 

Neighborhood Stabilization – $2 billion in additional funding is also made available to create the Neighborhood Stabilization Program (NSP) to address the problems facing whole neighborhoods that are decimated by foreclosures. Funds can be used to purchase, manage, repair and resell foreclosed and abandoned properties. States and localities can also use these funds to establish financing methods for purchasing and redeveloping foreclosed properties. 

Reverse Mortgages – Loan limits on Home Equity Conversion Mortgage (HECM) – or “reverse mortgage” loans will rise to $625,500 until the end of 2009. Current limits, which mirror conforming loan limits, will be raised to open up reverse mortgage options for many seniors who may want to rely on home equity as a stable source of income. 

Low Income Housing – States will receive financing for construction and rehabilitation of low-income housing. 

Rural Housing Programs – 100-percent financing will be made available for rural housing loan programs. 

Energy Efficiency Benefits – Tax credits for energy-efficient upgrades will be extended through 2010. 

Foreclosure Protection – $75 billion program will be established to subsidize loan modifications for participating lenders to help many homeowners facing foreclosure. 

“Rates are still at historically low levels and this is still a great time to refinance,” says Isaacs. “However, there has been much talk that banks and lenders will make it harder for borrowers to qualify for loans for both new and refinanced mortgages, especially for borrowers with less than perfect credit scores. I urge people contemplating a new mortgage or refinancing an existing mortgage loan to move quickly to lock in their best loan rate and options." 

About Residential Finance Corp. 

Residential Finance Corporation (RFC) is the nation’s premier home mortgage lender specializing in FHA mortgage refinance. Founded in 1997 and now serving 26 states, RFC is “Full Eagle” certified by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), offering refinancing borrowers the security and great rates of government-insured home mortgage loans. RFC’s investor relationships include some of the nation’s largest and most diverse investment banks. Headquartered in Columbus, OH with offices in Tampa, FL, and numerous regional offices, RFC employs hundreds of highly-trained Home Loan Consultants with the knowledge and dedication to work closely with borrowers to help them find the right home mortgage loan options--with the best mortgage rates and terms--to meet each homeowner’s unique needs. For more information, contact Jessica Manna, CMO, at 614-255-4317.