News release: “The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) and the Federal Reserve Board today released amendments to their enforcement actions against 13 mortgage servicers for deficient practices in mortgage loan servicing and foreclosure processing. The amendments require the servicers to provide $9.3 billion in payments and other assistance to borrowers. The amendments memorialize agreements in principle announced in January with Aurora, Bank of America, Citibank, Goldman Sachs, HSBC, JPMorgan Chase, MetLife Bank, Morgan Stanley, PNC, Sovereign, SunTrust, U.S. Bank, and Wells Fargo. The amount includes $3.6 billion in cash payments and $5.7 billion in other assistance to borrowers such as loan modifications and forgiveness of deficiency judgments. Borrowers covered by the amendments include 4.2 million people whose homes were in any stage of the foreclosure process in 2009 or 2010 and whose mortgages were serviced by one of the companies listed above. These borrowers are expected to be contacted by the Paying Agent–Rust Consulting, Inc.–by the end of March 2013 with payment details. The Paying Agent will send payments and correspondence.”
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Monthly Archives: February 2013
New Documents Reveal U.S. Marshals Drones Experiment
“The use of surveillance drones is growing rapidly in the United States, but we know little about how the federal government employs this new technology. Now, new information obtained by the ACLU shows for the first time that the U.S. Marshals Service has experimented with using drones for domestic surveillance. We learned this through documents… Continue Reading
New Report Documents Evolving Tax-Time Financial Products Market
“As tax season shifts in to full swing, the National Consumer Law Center (NCLC) and Consumer Federation of America (CFA) have issued their eleventh annual report on the tax-time financial products industry: Something Old, Something New in Tax-Time Financial Products: Refund Anticipation Checks and the Next Wave of Quickie Tax Loans. The good news? For… Continue Reading
U.S. crude oil production tops 7 million barrels per day, highest since December 1992
EIA: “U.S. crude oil production exceeded an average 7 million barrels per day (bbl/d) in November and December 2012, the highest volume since December 1992. The end-of-year data were reported on February 27 in EIA’s Petroleum Supply Monthly. Increasing oil production in North Dakota and onshore Texas drove the increase in U.S. crude oil production… Continue Reading
New GAO Reports – Broadcast and Cable Television, Defense Logistics, Prescription Drugs, Temporary Assistance for Needy Families
Broadcast and Cable Television – Requirements for Identifying Sponsored Programming Should Be Clarified, GAO-13-237, Jan 31, 2013 Defense Logistics – A Completed Comprehensive Strategy is Needed to Guide DOD’s In-Transit Visibility Efforts, GAO-13-201, Feb 28, 2013 Department Of Justice – Executives’ Use of Aircraft for Nonmission Purposes, GAO-13-235, Feb 26, 2013 Homeland Defense – DOD’s… Continue Reading
Total Consumer Debt Up Slightly as Deleveraging Process Decelerates
“In its latest Household Debt and Credit Report, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York announced that in the fourth quarter of 2012 outstanding consumer debt increased slightly ($31 billion), breaking the downward trend observed since the fourth quarter of 2008. The increase was primarily due to a rise in non-housing debt and the stabilization… Continue Reading
The Distribution of Cited U.S. Congressional Committee Documents in the Academic Journal Literature
The Distribution of Cited U.S. Congressional Committee Documents in the Academic Journal Literature: An Historical Survey, by John Spencer Walters, Regional Depository Librarian at Utah State University “This paper is the culmination of a six-year effort to reveal the citation patterns of U.S. congressional committee level publications in the professional journal literature. Using the Web… Continue Reading
EPIC Testifies Before Maryland Legislature on Location Privacy
“EPIC Appellate Advocacy Counsel Alan Butler testified before the Maryland House Judiciary Committee on H.B. 887, a location privacy bill that will establish a search warrant requirement for the collection of private location information. Mr. Butler discussed the current state of location tracking and privacy under the state and federal constitutions. The Maryland bill will… Continue Reading
Rethinking potential output: Embedding information about the financial cycle
Rethinking potential output: Embedding information about the financial cycle by Claudio Borio, Piti Disyatat and Mikael Juselius, Working Papers No 404, February 2013 “This paper argues that incorporating information about the financial cycle is important to improve measures of potential output and output gaps. Conceptually, identifying potential output with non-inflationary output is too restrictive. Potential… Continue Reading
Pew – Most Say Spending Cuts Would Have Major Impact on Economy, Military
“While many Americans may be resigned to seeing automatic spending cuts in the budget sequester go into effect, the public is concerned about the potential impact of the reductions. A new national survey by the Pew Research Center and The Washington Post, conducted Feb. 21-24 among 1,000 adults, finds that most say the budget sequester… Continue Reading
Report – A Matter of Degrees: The Effect of Educational Attainment on Regional Economic Prosperity
A Matter of Degrees: The Effect of Educational Attainment on Regional Economic Prosperity, Ross DeVol, I-Ling Shen, Armen Bedroussian and Nan Zhang. February 27, 2013 “When it comes to education, a rising tide really does lift all boats. That’s one of the conclusions of this sweeping research report. Ross DeVol, chief research officer and one… Continue Reading
Pessimism About the Future May Lead to Longer, Healthier Life, Research Finds
“Older people who have low expectations for a satisfying future may be more likely to live longer, healthier lives than those who see brighter days ahead, according to new research published by the American Psychological Association. “Our findings revealed that being overly optimistic in predicting a better future was associated with a greater risk of… Continue Reading
