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Legislation Passed Requiring Licensing of Michigan Loan Officers

It's just a matter of time before loan officers in Michigan will have to be licensed in order to continue originating mortgage loans in the state.

The House of Representatives just gave the stamp of approval to the legislation. It had already been approved by the Senate back in November, 2007.

Now all that's left before this legislation officially becomes law is the signature of approval from Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm.

This new legislation will call for loan officers to be licensed by the Michigan Office of Financial and Insurance Regulation, and be subject to continuing education requirements, among other things.

Those who have been convicted of a felony, or a misdemeanor involving embezzlement, forgery, fraud, securities, or a financial transaction, are going to run into problems.

I suggest they try to find another line of work - if they haven't already.

This ties nicely into the new Nationwide Mortgage Licensing System that Michigan plans to participate in. Because of all of the transitions that will have to be made, Michigan won't effectively participate in the Nationwide Mortgage Licensing System until summer, 2009.

You can read more about that in this post I made on January 3rd.

I'm sure more news will be announced in the near future about the new Michigan mortgage loan officer licensing requirements as more details and procedures of this new law are finalized.

As soon as I know more, I'll fill you in...

"Can a utility company report a delinquent account to a credit reporting agency?"

Answer:

YES!

1 vs. 99

According to RealtyTrac's 2007 "Foreclosure Market Report," foreclosure filings in the US were reported on 1,285,873 properties nationwide during the year.

That sure sounds like a lot of homes to me.

But looking at it another way, the report indicates that nearly 1% of all US households were in some stage of foreclosure during the year.

So doesn't that mean that almost 99% of all US households were not?

2007 Foreclosure Filings Up a Whopping 75%

According to the US "Foreclosure Market Report" released yesterday by RealtyTrac, foreclosure filings for 2007 were up 75% over what they were in 2006.

That's a helluva increase!

Nevada had the highest foreclosure rate for 2007, Florida came in second, and Michigan came in third.

Rounding out the nation's top 10 states with the highest foreclosure rates were California, Colorado, Ohio, Georgia, Arizona, Illinois, and Indiana.

If interested, you can get more detailed information from RealtyTrac by clicking here.

Clinton & Schwarzenegger Team Up Against Payday Loan & Check Cashing Places

The stats & facts on check cashing places and payday loans are astonishing! I'll give you a few shocking figures in a minute...

But first, I want to tell you about former US President Bill Clinton and current California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger joining forces in California to more-or-less squeeze those high-cost payday loan and check cashing places out of the marketplace (my words, not theirs).

As part of the William J. Clinton Foundation's Economic Opportunity Initiative, the two political powerhouses seek to help "unbanked" consumers in California transition over to traditional banking methods, open checking and savings accounts, and avoid paying outrageous fees to payday loan and check cashing places.

California is the kick-off state, and plans are in the works for Bill Clinton's foundation to support this initiative in other states all over the country. The foundation is already supporting efforts in Miami, Los Angeles, Boston, New York, San Francisco, Providence, Savannah and Seattle.

I think any positive effort to truly help "unbanked" consumers establish starter bank accounts, save money, avoid high-cost fees, and better manage their money is a really good thing.

I hope it's very successful! (by the way, California has already helped 11,000 people)

OK, now those facts & stats:

• Millions of lower and middle income Americans spend $8 billion per year on payday loan, check cashing and pawn shop services, which they could get for free or very low cost at a bank or credit union.

• The average unbanked full-time worker will spend $40,000 over their lifetime just to turn their paycheck into cash.

• The number of payday loan, check cashing and pawn shop places is more than double the number of McDonald's locations in the US.

• More than 20 million Americans cash $60 billion worth of checks at check cashing places each year.

• A typical full-time worker without a checking account pays an average of $40 just to cash their paycheck.

• Payday loan places sell $40 billion each year in expensive small-dollar loans that carry fees 30 times that of the average credit card.

• The majority of people without bank accounts have an average household income of $27,000, are married, have at least one child, and are employed by a small business.

• If the average full-time unbanked worker invested the money they'd otherwise spend on check cashing services (over their lifetime) in the stock market, they could create $360,000 in pre-tax wealth for themselves.

Just by reading the above, you can assess that there are many financial advantages to having a checking and/or savings account at a bank or credit union.

And by the way, if you want to read where I got all of this good info from, just click here.

Is Kwame's Sex Text and Lies Drama Keeping You From Focusing on Your Credit?

Here in Michigan, the recent BIG, HUGE sex, text message and lies scandal surrounding the Mayor of Detroit, Kwame Kilpatrick, and his former (as of today) Chief of Staff, Christine Beatty, is in the news all over the place!

The testimony Kwame Kilpatrick and Christine Beatty gave in a Detroit police officer "whistle-blower" lawsuit trial last year appears to have been a series of big, fat lies!

The police officers alleged they were wrongfully discharged and retaliated against because of their investigation into the wrongdoings and mayhem occurring in the Mayor's administration, which also threatened the exposure of the ongoing affair between the two.

Kwame Kilpatrick and Christine Beatty referred to the police officers as liars, denied each and every allegation made against them throughout the trial, and said the officers were only filing the law suits to get money from the City of Detroit.

Well, the officers did get some money from the City of Detroit. A lot of money! They won the lawsuit and after it was all said and done, with legal fees and all, the City of Detroit paid out about $9 million to the 2 officers involved in the suit and a third officer whose case was settled.

And now that some text messages have surfaced that Kwame Kilpatrick and Christine Beatty sent to each other on their city-issued devices during the time all of the "allegations" were said to have occurred, it appears that they perjured themselves during the whistle-blower trial.

And the series of big, fat lies they told on the stand last year, under oath, has come back to haunt them, and everyone around them.

And when I say haunt... I mean haunt! This news story is truly taking over!

It's getting top coverage in the biggest local newspapers, The Detroit Free Press and The Detroit News, plus coverage in major national newspapers and other local area papers throughout the country.

It's all over every broadcast of the Detroit local news stations, Channel 2, Channel 4 and Channel 7, plus getting airtime on many national programs and local news stations across the country.

I don't think there's a radio station in the Detroit area that's NOT talking about this "big scandal."

And blogs all over the Internet are having a field day with this story! Like (among countless others):

• http://www.kwamekilpatrick.com
• http://www.kingkwame.com
• http://www.detroityes.com
• http://www.firejerryo.blogspot.com
• http://firejerryo.com

This whole fiasco is taking over local-metro-Detroit-area life as we know it! And this is just the beginning!

I'm sure there's plenty more "stuff" that's going to hit the fan and command our attention.

So as we wait in anticipation of the next big development in this twisting-and-turning, drama-filled saga, let us not lose sight of focusing on our CREDIT, ok? :)

Cuz after all, that's what we're here for, right?

We have consumer credit and business credit issues to tend to around here!

Oh, and don't forget about all of the other important things in your life too! :)

Don't let the Kwame Kilpatrick, Christine Beatty, whistle-blower trial, text-message-sex-scandal hoopla suck you in and hypnotize you!

Just close your ears and look away or close your eyes! (at least for a minute or so...)

Just whatever you do - for crying out loud - stay focused and DON'T LOOK INTO THE LIGHT!

More FREE Michigan Foreclosure Forums Coming Soon! Detroit, Saginaw & Grand Rapids

Michigan Attorney General Mike Cox is at it again. His office is hosting 3 more "Avoid Foreclosure" forums pretty soon.

These forums are for Michigan consumers that are either having trouble making their mortgage payments, have adjustable rate mortgages that are due to adjust soon, or are facing foreclosure.

The forums, which are FREE and open to the public, allow Michigan home owners to meet with directly with lenders, servicers, and independent loan counselors to help them find a fix to their mortgage problems.

The "Avoid Foreclosure Forum" was originally held last year on December 13th at Cobo Hall in Detroit, which I first mentioned to you on November 28th, and then again on December 10th & December 12th.

And now, because of the obvious need with a record number of Michigan home owners facing foreclosure, 3 additional forums are being held in different areas of the state.

The "Avoid Foreclosure" forums will take place as follows:

Detroit on Tuesday, February 12th
12:00 pm - 7:00 pm
Cobo Hall
One Washington Blvd.
Detroit, MI 48226

Saginaw on Wednesday, February 13th
12:00 pm - 7:00 pm
The Dow Event Center
303 Johnson St.
Saginaw, MI 48607

Grand Rapids on Thursday, February 14th
12:00 pm - 7:00 pm
The DeltaPlex Entertainment and Expo Center
2500 Turner Ave. NW
Grand Rapids, MI 49544

Over the next couple of weeks, 30,000 Michigan home owners who could benefit from attending this forum will be mailed an invitation letter from the Attorney General's office.

Included with the letter will be a flyer for FREE parking, an informative brochure, and a worksheet to help prepare for meeting with the lenders and loan counselors present at the forum.

For more information on the lenders and servicers that will be present at the forum, what to bring with you, and the flyer for FREE parking, click here.

Or you can call 877-765-8388.

And by the way, solicitors are NOT welcome!