The Association of Christian Financial Advisers has welcomed the Government’s decision to investigate payday loans.
The Office of Fair Trading is to investigate payday lenders amid claims that they are taking advantage of people in financial difficulty and providing loans without checking that borrowers can afford to repay them.
The ACFA is calling for legislation to cap interest rates.
The group outlined its concerns in a letter to Chancellor George Osborne last December in which it expressed “increasing dismay” over the manner in which payday loan companies were allowed to trade.
The letter criticised the “unfair and unreasonable” interest rates charged by lenders.
According to the Independent, the typical APR charged by a payday lender is 4,000%.
“These rates of interest are not dissimilar to those of a back street loan shark, but dressed up with a fancy website and slick paced advertising,” the ACFA stated in its letter.
“Many consumers are now using this easy access to credit as a form of roll-over credit, month by month, thereby racking up unaffordable debt at extortionate rates of interest.”
The ACFA is calling upon the Chancellor to introduce legislation to cap interest rates for all personal lending, including unauthorised bank overdrafts.
It wants to see APR capped at a maximum percentage above base rate and interest limited to a rate similar to that imposed on credit unions – currently 12 per cent.
The ACFA has asked the Government to urgently introduce a measure to limit interest rates in the forthcoming budget.
“We’re delighted the government has announced this review of so-called Payday loans,” said Chairman Aidan Vaughan.
“There should be no place for the extortion of the desperate and vulnerable.”
http://tourism9.com/ http://vkins.com/
2012年2月25日星期六
The burden of student debt
At the height of the Occupy protests last fall, young people held signs announcing how much they owed in student loans. While the pundits were asking each other what, exactly, the protesters wanted, a big part of the answer was on those signs: Students are leaving colleges and universities with a staggering financial burden and bleak job prospects.
“When you get out of college at 21 with a 30-year loan, it’s soul crushing,” says Scot Ross, executive director of One Wisconsin Now, a progressive organization that is launching an advocacy campaign on the issue. Ross is on leave to serve as communications director for gubernatorial candidate Kathleen Falk.
The student loan landscape has shifted dramatically since the parents of current students and recent graduates left college. In 2006, the U.S. Education Department’s National Center for Education Statistics reported that most borrowers who finished college in the early 1990s were able to manage their student loan burden. Most paid the loans back in 10 years. Today, many students face 20 to 25 years of making payments. In the early ’90s, about half of students borrowed; in 2006, two-thirds had to borrow. And their loans are much bigger.
Federal and state policy and budgetary decisions in recent years have contributed to the student debt burden. Public funding for public universities has fallen steeply at the same time that tuition has skyrocketed. Congress slashed funding for Pell Grants that helped the most needy students and put provisions in place to protect private lenders.
Federally funded student loans are no longer available from Sallie Mae, and its private loans have much higher interest rates than do home or car loans.
Last year, students borrowed more than $100 billion dollars — a new record. The College Board, an advocacy group that works to ensure that every student has the opportunity to prepare for, enroll in and graduate from college, reports that students are borrowing twice as much as in 2001. The total amount owed on all outstanding student loans is expected to reach $1 trillion next year. A full-time undergraduate student borrowed an average of almost $5,000 in 2010, 63% more than a decade earlier after adjusting for inflation, according to the College Board.
These young debtors are not just those who opted to attend prestigious private universities. Tuition at public universities has soared as those institutions struggle to offset cuts in public funding. University of Wisconsin-Madison’s in-state tuition jumped from $5,866 in 2005 to $9,672 in 2011. The estimated total cost for a year at UW-Madison was $15,256 in 2005. Now it’s $25,421.
About half of 2010-2011 bachelor’s degree recipients at UW-Madison will have borrowed an average total of $24,493, says Susan Fischer, director of the office of Student Financial Aid. For those who go on to graduate school, the debts increase sharply. About three-quarters of law school graduates will have loans and owe an average $99,723. Almost 90% of medical school graduates will have borrowed, and their average debt will be $151,383.
To make matters worse, student loans differ from all other kinds of debt in two significant ways. They are excluded from bankruptcy protection, and it is not possible to refinance or restructure loans to take advantage of falling interest rates.
“It is easier to be a deadbeat dad than it is to lose your student loan debt,” Ross says of the lack of bankruptcy protection. “What does that say about us as a nation?”
People on disability who can’t afford to pay their student loans can even have their payments garnisheed, Ross notes. The only recourse, he adds, is “loan rehabilitation, which means you have to agree to make extended payments and take a new loan, with added fees. You end up with even more debt.”
Ross admits he has a dog in this fight. He borrowed about $30,000 in 11 different loans to pay for his bachelor’s and master’s degrees. He laughs, a little ruefully, when he admits that, at 42, he is in “year 12 of a 30-year student debt,” and says he’s fortunate to have a job and be able to keep up with the payments.
Ben Manski, founder of the Liberty Tree Foundation, is another advocate for reforms to the student loan system. He contends that the huge increases in student debt are the inevitable result of cuts to higher education in state budgets.
“Generation X was the first generation to experience the impact of debt and a restructured job market,” says Manski, 37, who was recently appointed campaign director for Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein. “We are overemployed and overworked. We do not have job security. Retirement is not even a consideration. The Millennials have it even worse, because of high unemployment. When you have this kind of debt, you lose freedoms — the freedom to engage in public service, for example, or pursue the career you are most fitted for as opposed to one that will make ends meet.”
Despite the heart-stopping debt statistics, the UW’s Fisher thinks it’s still possible to get at least an undergraduate degree without going very deeply into debt.
“Sometimes, students accrue big debt because they change majors and take longer to graduate. Or they choose a private or out-of-state public school that the family really cannot afford. My advice to incoming students is to work while they are in school and live frugally. And get in and get out. If they do that, I think they can finish with a minimal amount of debt.”
But starting working life owing tens of thousands of dollars during a period of high unemployment has many students wondering how they will be able to afford to marry, have children or buy a house. Paying off even a relatively small loan in a sagging economy is proving very difficult for many people. Here are some of their stories.
‘You can’t live your life without worrying’
Christina Spector left UW-Madison with an undergraduate degree in elementary education and psychology (2002), a graduate degree in educational leadership and policy analysis (2008) and a law degree (also 2008).
“It was a conscious decision to go to UW-Madison for the in-state tuition. I had scholarships, a little help from my parents, and I always had jobs while I was in school,” she says. But it wasn’t enough.
“The first time I signed a promissory note, I had such a hard time of it. I cried for two days about entering that system, but I had no other choice.”
A school administration consultant for the State Department of Instruction, Spector will pay $550 a month for a total of 25 years before her loans are paid off. Her husband, who has a master’s degree and is employed by the American Federation of Teachers, makes student loan payments of $200 a month.
That $750 monthly expense means they must live very frugally.
“We are on a really strict budget,” she says. “We don’t make large purchases unless we absolutely have to. We bought much less house than we qualified for, and we drive an inexpensive car. We are thoughtful about little things like buying coffee. We take our lunch to work. We can’t travel, so we use our vacations to visit family.”
One place where the family does not cut corners is on daycare for their 2-year-old child.
“Daycare costs more than our mortgage, but that’s one thing you’re not going to scrimp on.”
The debt drives all the family’s decisions — having another child, making a career change, moving.
“It’s difficult sometimes, because you can’t live your life without worrying about it,” she says. “I am much less inclined to take any kind of risk because of it.”
Spector knows she could ease the financial burden by abandoning a job she loves in the public sector and joining a private law firm.
“I never went to law school wanting that. I always wanted to work in the public sector. I have friends from law school who have made that decision so they could pay off their loans. To me, it seems like selling your soul. I just couldn’t do it. That would be a true prison on top of the bondage of the loans.”
‘We have given up many things’
A Madison West high school graduate, Ben Manski has an undergraduate degree in sociology and a law degree from UW-Madison. His higher education left him with $70,000 in student loan debt. His wife, Sarah, also has debt for her student loans.
“I am paying about $500 a month. For both my wife and me, it’s about $800 a month. It’s a major part of our budget, almost as much as we pay for housing,” he says.
Although Manski could be earning big bucks in a private law firm, he has stayed true to his commitment to use his education to work for social change. Founder of the Liberty Tree Foundation, he ran for the state Legislature as a Green Party candidate in 2010. He also practices a little law and teaches sociology at Madison College.
“I had other choices I could have made,” Manski says. “I was offered a lobbying job for an insurance company when I was 22 years old that would have paid $80,000 a year. I turned it down.”
Manski and his wife have had to make difficult choices because of their student loans.
“It is very difficult to save, and we have given up many things. We are not in a position where we can help others financially. And, certainly, we are not having a family until we have the ability to afford kids,” he says. He and his wife recently started a new website, posipair.com, designed to put environmentally responsible businesses in touch with each other and with customers, in an effort to generate some independent income.
Manski, who comes from a family of teachers, has a passion for education and would like to teach full time.
“I think there’s no higher calling than teaching and no more important institution than education,” he says.
Sometimes, he says, his students ask him if their schooling is worth the money and if they will be able to get jobs when they finish. “I used to be able to say it is definitely worth it,” he says. “But now that question is more difficult to answer.”
‘We can’t take vacations’
When Kathy Wallace learned that her Kenosha employer, Powerbrace Corp., might be moving its operations to Mexico, she decided to follow her dream of becoming a math teacher.
With a bachelor’s degree in math already in her pocket she would need only to complete the requirements for a teaching license. She enrolled at Carthage College, where she took night classes for four years on top of working 40 hours processing accounts payable. In 2006, she had to quit her job to student teach. She landed a job as a substitute teacher at Bullen Middle School in Kenosha and continued to work toward a master’s degree through an online Walden University program. She completed the master’s degree 20 months later, and now has a full-time teaching position.
Dream achieved.
But Wallace’s career change left her with a total of $60,000 in student loans and the prospect of supporting her family of four on a teacher’s salary and the modest disability payments her husband receives. Her loan payments are $700 a month.
“I’ve been paying the first one [for the undergraduate degree] since 2007, and I still owe about $19,000 on that one. I finished the master’s program in August and owe $30,000 for that. It will probably take at least 12 years to pay it all off.” Wallace will be 54 years old by then.
She says her husband’s disability payments cover their mortgage, but the family has to get by on her income for everything else.
“We don’t go out to eat. We can’t take vacations. Our kids don’t get to do things the other kids get to do. It’s really hard knowing you can’t do things for your own kids.”
Those children, now 11 and 16 years old, both want to go to college.
“I’ve told them I’d chip in as much as I could. I’ve encouraged them to go for scholarships. The rest will have to be student loans,” Wallace says. “My kids seeing me get more education showed them this is what you need to do to survive. Without college, there’s not much out there for you.”
Wallace hopes she may be able to take advantage of a loan forgiveness option for her federal Stafford and Perkins loans after five years of teaching. She qualifies on two counts — she teaches mathematics and she teaches in a Title 1 school. But she worries that she might not make the five-year requirement.
“If I can get [those loans forgiven] it takes a lot of pressure off me. But we are facing layoffs again in our district.”
‘The interest is very high’
Tanya Oemig finished paying off her own student loans in her early 30s, but now, at 46, she faces paying back $15,000 she borrowed to send her children to college.
“They couldn’t borrow enough themselves,” she explains, adding that, as a single parent, she was unable to save for her children’s higher education.
Until recently, Oemig was a communicable disease surveillance specialist with the Wisconsin Division of Public Health. Her salary there was not enough to pay the bills after taking on the new debt, and she had to add a second job. She finally decided she was on overload and quit both jobs to work for a software development company at a higher salary.
“I loved the work at Public Health, but I just couldn’t afford to keep doing it. I was lucky to find a good place to work, and it pays enough that I’m able to make the payments on one salary now. There are people struggling a lot more than I am.”
Still, Oemig worries about her children’s prospects. Both still live with her. One graduated from Madison Media Institute in May with an associate degree and now works at a gas station while he looks for a job related to his skills and education. The other one is still at Madison College, working toward a two-year degree in information systems administration. He has a part-time help desk job, but his hours were cut recently.
“I worry about their job prospects all the time. Currently they don’t make enough to support themselves. They can make their loan payments, but they can’t pay for car insurance or cell phones. And I worry they won’t find a job before their education is obsolete. They are both very discouraged.”
Oemig thinks the time allowed before graduates have to start repaying student loans is unrealistic, given the dismal job market.
“Even if they had a job right out of school, they would have a lot of expenses getting started. They need more than six months so they can save enough to afford an apartment and maybe a car — to get their feet on the ground.”
And she wonders why interest on student loans is so high when loans for other purposes are cheap these days. One of her sons has a Sallie Mae loan with an interest rate of 10%.
“I had good credit so I could get federal loans, but those who don’t have to go to private loans where the interest is very high.”
‘Sometimes I wonder why I’m doing this’
There was never any question in Dustin Bradley’s family that the Beloit Memorial graduate would go on to college.
“My grandparents didn’t go to college, and my father [a third grade teacher in Wauwatosa] was the first and only one to get a degree. My family always encouraged me and expected me to get more education,” he says. However, he admits that he drifted during his first couple of years at UW-Madison, struggling with the math required for the business program where he first enrolled, and finally finding his academic passion in sociology.
“I did the victory lap,” he explains of his extra fifth year as an undergraduate. He will receive his bachelor’s degree in May.
But Bradley’s accumulation of student debt is not over. He plans to enroll in a paralegal certificate program next fall. It’s a high-demand skill, and he’s sure he’ll find work. Then, after a few years of gaining experience, he wants to enroll in law school.
So far, Bradley’s debt load is only about $12,500, lower than average, because his family was able to kick in for his first few years and because he worked an average of 32 hours a week while in school. But from here on out, he’s on his own.
He’s looking at paralegal programs at technical colleges in Madison and Milwaukee and at several online programs. The private web-based programs are convenient, especially for someone who has a job, he says, but they are more expensive. Programs at the tech schools cost about $4,000 for the one-year course. The costs for online courses that have accreditation range from $7,500 to more than $10,000. Bradley expects he will have to borrow that money on the far more expensive private student loan market, but hopes he can pay most it off before he starts law school.
That is where the really big debt will start to build. According to UW-Madison statistics, the average law school graduate in 2012 will owe almost $100,000. That number includes accumulated undergraduate debt, but law school alone leaves the average borrower some $80,000 in debt.
Still, Bradley is confident that incurring the debt will be a good investment. “I think I’ll be making enough to make [the payments] manageable. But it’s hard when I look at some of my friends who got jobs right out of high school at Chrysler or GM. They have high-paying jobs but don’t have this debt. So sometimes I wonder why I’m doing this.”
Cause for hope
Many college graduates face a sobering reality: turning 50 and still not being free of student loan payments. But there are efforts under way to ease the burden. The progressive organization One Wisconsin Now is launching an advocacy campaign that proposes the following for state residents:
“This is an issue that is just starting to bubble up to the surface,” says One Wisconsin Now’s deputy director, Mike Browne. “We’re in relatively early days, legislatively.”
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“When you get out of college at 21 with a 30-year loan, it’s soul crushing,” says Scot Ross, executive director of One Wisconsin Now, a progressive organization that is launching an advocacy campaign on the issue. Ross is on leave to serve as communications director for gubernatorial candidate Kathleen Falk.
The student loan landscape has shifted dramatically since the parents of current students and recent graduates left college. In 2006, the U.S. Education Department’s National Center for Education Statistics reported that most borrowers who finished college in the early 1990s were able to manage their student loan burden. Most paid the loans back in 10 years. Today, many students face 20 to 25 years of making payments. In the early ’90s, about half of students borrowed; in 2006, two-thirds had to borrow. And their loans are much bigger.
Federal and state policy and budgetary decisions in recent years have contributed to the student debt burden. Public funding for public universities has fallen steeply at the same time that tuition has skyrocketed. Congress slashed funding for Pell Grants that helped the most needy students and put provisions in place to protect private lenders.
Federally funded student loans are no longer available from Sallie Mae, and its private loans have much higher interest rates than do home or car loans.
Last year, students borrowed more than $100 billion dollars — a new record. The College Board, an advocacy group that works to ensure that every student has the opportunity to prepare for, enroll in and graduate from college, reports that students are borrowing twice as much as in 2001. The total amount owed on all outstanding student loans is expected to reach $1 trillion next year. A full-time undergraduate student borrowed an average of almost $5,000 in 2010, 63% more than a decade earlier after adjusting for inflation, according to the College Board.
These young debtors are not just those who opted to attend prestigious private universities. Tuition at public universities has soared as those institutions struggle to offset cuts in public funding. University of Wisconsin-Madison’s in-state tuition jumped from $5,866 in 2005 to $9,672 in 2011. The estimated total cost for a year at UW-Madison was $15,256 in 2005. Now it’s $25,421.
About half of 2010-2011 bachelor’s degree recipients at UW-Madison will have borrowed an average total of $24,493, says Susan Fischer, director of the office of Student Financial Aid. For those who go on to graduate school, the debts increase sharply. About three-quarters of law school graduates will have loans and owe an average $99,723. Almost 90% of medical school graduates will have borrowed, and their average debt will be $151,383.
To make matters worse, student loans differ from all other kinds of debt in two significant ways. They are excluded from bankruptcy protection, and it is not possible to refinance or restructure loans to take advantage of falling interest rates.
“It is easier to be a deadbeat dad than it is to lose your student loan debt,” Ross says of the lack of bankruptcy protection. “What does that say about us as a nation?”
People on disability who can’t afford to pay their student loans can even have their payments garnisheed, Ross notes. The only recourse, he adds, is “loan rehabilitation, which means you have to agree to make extended payments and take a new loan, with added fees. You end up with even more debt.”
Ross admits he has a dog in this fight. He borrowed about $30,000 in 11 different loans to pay for his bachelor’s and master’s degrees. He laughs, a little ruefully, when he admits that, at 42, he is in “year 12 of a 30-year student debt,” and says he’s fortunate to have a job and be able to keep up with the payments.
Ben Manski, founder of the Liberty Tree Foundation, is another advocate for reforms to the student loan system. He contends that the huge increases in student debt are the inevitable result of cuts to higher education in state budgets.
“Generation X was the first generation to experience the impact of debt and a restructured job market,” says Manski, 37, who was recently appointed campaign director for Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein. “We are overemployed and overworked. We do not have job security. Retirement is not even a consideration. The Millennials have it even worse, because of high unemployment. When you have this kind of debt, you lose freedoms — the freedom to engage in public service, for example, or pursue the career you are most fitted for as opposed to one that will make ends meet.”
Despite the heart-stopping debt statistics, the UW’s Fisher thinks it’s still possible to get at least an undergraduate degree without going very deeply into debt.
“Sometimes, students accrue big debt because they change majors and take longer to graduate. Or they choose a private or out-of-state public school that the family really cannot afford. My advice to incoming students is to work while they are in school and live frugally. And get in and get out. If they do that, I think they can finish with a minimal amount of debt.”
But starting working life owing tens of thousands of dollars during a period of high unemployment has many students wondering how they will be able to afford to marry, have children or buy a house. Paying off even a relatively small loan in a sagging economy is proving very difficult for many people. Here are some of their stories.
‘You can’t live your life without worrying’
Christina Spector left UW-Madison with an undergraduate degree in elementary education and psychology (2002), a graduate degree in educational leadership and policy analysis (2008) and a law degree (also 2008).
“It was a conscious decision to go to UW-Madison for the in-state tuition. I had scholarships, a little help from my parents, and I always had jobs while I was in school,” she says. But it wasn’t enough.
“The first time I signed a promissory note, I had such a hard time of it. I cried for two days about entering that system, but I had no other choice.”
A school administration consultant for the State Department of Instruction, Spector will pay $550 a month for a total of 25 years before her loans are paid off. Her husband, who has a master’s degree and is employed by the American Federation of Teachers, makes student loan payments of $200 a month.
That $750 monthly expense means they must live very frugally.
“We are on a really strict budget,” she says. “We don’t make large purchases unless we absolutely have to. We bought much less house than we qualified for, and we drive an inexpensive car. We are thoughtful about little things like buying coffee. We take our lunch to work. We can’t travel, so we use our vacations to visit family.”
One place where the family does not cut corners is on daycare for their 2-year-old child.
“Daycare costs more than our mortgage, but that’s one thing you’re not going to scrimp on.”
The debt drives all the family’s decisions — having another child, making a career change, moving.
“It’s difficult sometimes, because you can’t live your life without worrying about it,” she says. “I am much less inclined to take any kind of risk because of it.”
Spector knows she could ease the financial burden by abandoning a job she loves in the public sector and joining a private law firm.
“I never went to law school wanting that. I always wanted to work in the public sector. I have friends from law school who have made that decision so they could pay off their loans. To me, it seems like selling your soul. I just couldn’t do it. That would be a true prison on top of the bondage of the loans.”
‘We have given up many things’
A Madison West high school graduate, Ben Manski has an undergraduate degree in sociology and a law degree from UW-Madison. His higher education left him with $70,000 in student loan debt. His wife, Sarah, also has debt for her student loans.
“I am paying about $500 a month. For both my wife and me, it’s about $800 a month. It’s a major part of our budget, almost as much as we pay for housing,” he says.
Although Manski could be earning big bucks in a private law firm, he has stayed true to his commitment to use his education to work for social change. Founder of the Liberty Tree Foundation, he ran for the state Legislature as a Green Party candidate in 2010. He also practices a little law and teaches sociology at Madison College.
“I had other choices I could have made,” Manski says. “I was offered a lobbying job for an insurance company when I was 22 years old that would have paid $80,000 a year. I turned it down.”
Manski and his wife have had to make difficult choices because of their student loans.
“It is very difficult to save, and we have given up many things. We are not in a position where we can help others financially. And, certainly, we are not having a family until we have the ability to afford kids,” he says. He and his wife recently started a new website, posipair.com, designed to put environmentally responsible businesses in touch with each other and with customers, in an effort to generate some independent income.
Manski, who comes from a family of teachers, has a passion for education and would like to teach full time.
“I think there’s no higher calling than teaching and no more important institution than education,” he says.
Sometimes, he says, his students ask him if their schooling is worth the money and if they will be able to get jobs when they finish. “I used to be able to say it is definitely worth it,” he says. “But now that question is more difficult to answer.”
‘We can’t take vacations’
When Kathy Wallace learned that her Kenosha employer, Powerbrace Corp., might be moving its operations to Mexico, she decided to follow her dream of becoming a math teacher.
With a bachelor’s degree in math already in her pocket she would need only to complete the requirements for a teaching license. She enrolled at Carthage College, where she took night classes for four years on top of working 40 hours processing accounts payable. In 2006, she had to quit her job to student teach. She landed a job as a substitute teacher at Bullen Middle School in Kenosha and continued to work toward a master’s degree through an online Walden University program. She completed the master’s degree 20 months later, and now has a full-time teaching position.
Dream achieved.
But Wallace’s career change left her with a total of $60,000 in student loans and the prospect of supporting her family of four on a teacher’s salary and the modest disability payments her husband receives. Her loan payments are $700 a month.
“I’ve been paying the first one [for the undergraduate degree] since 2007, and I still owe about $19,000 on that one. I finished the master’s program in August and owe $30,000 for that. It will probably take at least 12 years to pay it all off.” Wallace will be 54 years old by then.
She says her husband’s disability payments cover their mortgage, but the family has to get by on her income for everything else.
“We don’t go out to eat. We can’t take vacations. Our kids don’t get to do things the other kids get to do. It’s really hard knowing you can’t do things for your own kids.”
Those children, now 11 and 16 years old, both want to go to college.
“I’ve told them I’d chip in as much as I could. I’ve encouraged them to go for scholarships. The rest will have to be student loans,” Wallace says. “My kids seeing me get more education showed them this is what you need to do to survive. Without college, there’s not much out there for you.”
Wallace hopes she may be able to take advantage of a loan forgiveness option for her federal Stafford and Perkins loans after five years of teaching. She qualifies on two counts — she teaches mathematics and she teaches in a Title 1 school. But she worries that she might not make the five-year requirement.
“If I can get [those loans forgiven] it takes a lot of pressure off me. But we are facing layoffs again in our district.”
‘The interest is very high’
Tanya Oemig finished paying off her own student loans in her early 30s, but now, at 46, she faces paying back $15,000 she borrowed to send her children to college.
“They couldn’t borrow enough themselves,” she explains, adding that, as a single parent, she was unable to save for her children’s higher education.
Until recently, Oemig was a communicable disease surveillance specialist with the Wisconsin Division of Public Health. Her salary there was not enough to pay the bills after taking on the new debt, and she had to add a second job. She finally decided she was on overload and quit both jobs to work for a software development company at a higher salary.
“I loved the work at Public Health, but I just couldn’t afford to keep doing it. I was lucky to find a good place to work, and it pays enough that I’m able to make the payments on one salary now. There are people struggling a lot more than I am.”
Still, Oemig worries about her children’s prospects. Both still live with her. One graduated from Madison Media Institute in May with an associate degree and now works at a gas station while he looks for a job related to his skills and education. The other one is still at Madison College, working toward a two-year degree in information systems administration. He has a part-time help desk job, but his hours were cut recently.
“I worry about their job prospects all the time. Currently they don’t make enough to support themselves. They can make their loan payments, but they can’t pay for car insurance or cell phones. And I worry they won’t find a job before their education is obsolete. They are both very discouraged.”
Oemig thinks the time allowed before graduates have to start repaying student loans is unrealistic, given the dismal job market.
“Even if they had a job right out of school, they would have a lot of expenses getting started. They need more than six months so they can save enough to afford an apartment and maybe a car — to get their feet on the ground.”
And she wonders why interest on student loans is so high when loans for other purposes are cheap these days. One of her sons has a Sallie Mae loan with an interest rate of 10%.
“I had good credit so I could get federal loans, but those who don’t have to go to private loans where the interest is very high.”
‘Sometimes I wonder why I’m doing this’
There was never any question in Dustin Bradley’s family that the Beloit Memorial graduate would go on to college.
“My grandparents didn’t go to college, and my father [a third grade teacher in Wauwatosa] was the first and only one to get a degree. My family always encouraged me and expected me to get more education,” he says. However, he admits that he drifted during his first couple of years at UW-Madison, struggling with the math required for the business program where he first enrolled, and finally finding his academic passion in sociology.
“I did the victory lap,” he explains of his extra fifth year as an undergraduate. He will receive his bachelor’s degree in May.
But Bradley’s accumulation of student debt is not over. He plans to enroll in a paralegal certificate program next fall. It’s a high-demand skill, and he’s sure he’ll find work. Then, after a few years of gaining experience, he wants to enroll in law school.
So far, Bradley’s debt load is only about $12,500, lower than average, because his family was able to kick in for his first few years and because he worked an average of 32 hours a week while in school. But from here on out, he’s on his own.
He’s looking at paralegal programs at technical colleges in Madison and Milwaukee and at several online programs. The private web-based programs are convenient, especially for someone who has a job, he says, but they are more expensive. Programs at the tech schools cost about $4,000 for the one-year course. The costs for online courses that have accreditation range from $7,500 to more than $10,000. Bradley expects he will have to borrow that money on the far more expensive private student loan market, but hopes he can pay most it off before he starts law school.
That is where the really big debt will start to build. According to UW-Madison statistics, the average law school graduate in 2012 will owe almost $100,000. That number includes accumulated undergraduate debt, but law school alone leaves the average borrower some $80,000 in debt.
Still, Bradley is confident that incurring the debt will be a good investment. “I think I’ll be making enough to make [the payments] manageable. But it’s hard when I look at some of my friends who got jobs right out of high school at Chrysler or GM. They have high-paying jobs but don’t have this debt. So sometimes I wonder why I’m doing this.”
Cause for hope
Many college graduates face a sobering reality: turning 50 and still not being free of student loan payments. But there are efforts under way to ease the burden. The progressive organization One Wisconsin Now is launching an advocacy campaign that proposes the following for state residents:
- A “truth in lending” provision, similar to what’s required for a mortgage, so students understand when they take out a loan how much they will be paying back and for how long.
- Bankruptcy protection.
- The opportunity to refinance or consolidate student loans.
- Provisions for forgiving student debt.
“This is an issue that is just starting to bubble up to the surface,” says One Wisconsin Now’s deputy director, Mike Browne. “We’re in relatively early days, legislatively.”
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2012年2月24日星期五
A lesson on student loans
A lesson on student loans
Student Financial Education Services presents students with advice for dealing with loans.
Student Financial Education Services presents students with advice for dealing with loans.
by STUDENT FINANCIAL EDUCATION SERVICES
This article originally appeared in The Tiger on February 24, 2012 | PRINT
Understanding Your Student Loans
The majority of college students have them: student loans. Student loans have increased in popularity in recent years, mostly due to the increasing tuition rates seen across the country. As you near the end of your tenure here at Clemson, there are a few things to keep in mind that will better prepare you to deal with your student loans.
Where do I find my loans?
If you are like many students, you remember receiving the many pieces of mail over the past four years detailing your loans, but now you cannot seem to find the information. You most likely know your loans by the types of loans they are, like Stafford Loan, Perkins Loan and others. These loans are not all made by one company, but are sold off and serviced by a wide variety.
There is an easy-to-use resource to help locate all of your student loans and who they are owned or serviced by. The website to help you locate your student loans is http://www.nslds.ed.gov/nslds_SA/.
If you have private loans, such as those often made by banks or financial companies such as Discover, Citi, Bank of America or others, you may need to contact that financial institution directly, as their information is sometimes not located in the online database.
How do I pay my loans?
Once you graduate, you should be proactive about finding out when you need to start paying your student loans back.
Graduating from college can be a hectic time, and with all the address changes that you may be going through, it’s easy for mail to get misplaced or sent to the wrong address. It is the responsibility of the borrower, which would be you, to make contact with the owner or servicer of your loan(s) in order to find out when payments begin.
The owner or servicer of your loan will most likely offer you several options for repaying your loans, although not all companies offer these options, and some companies may offer more options. Here are a few basic options:
Standard Repayment: Think of this payment option as a standard loan, you make fixed payments that do not change from month to month for the standard repayment period (which is typically 10 years).
Extended Repayment: This payment option is similar to the standard payment option, except the payment period (which is the time it takes to pay back the loan) will be longer than the standard period. This type of repayment plan may be beneficial to those who have extremely large amounts of student loans and cannot afford the monthly payment under the standard repayment plan.
Graduated Repayment: A graduated repayment plan offers the advantage of allowing you to make lower monthly payments right when you get out of school with the monthly payment increasing every set period of time (such as every two or three years). This type of repayment plan is based on the ideal that your income will increase over time.
Income Dependent Repayment: This payment plan is available in certain government loan situations and allows the borrower to pay a certain percentage of their income toward the loan until the loan is paid off or until a time limit of 25 years is reached. If the time limit of 25 years is reached, the government will forgive the remaining balance on the debt, although tax implications may apply.
Although these are just a few of the standard payment options, it is important to keep your current situation in mind when determining which payment plan is right for you. It is also important to think of the payment plan in terms of which will cost you the most in interest, as opposed to those repayment plans that will accrue the least amount of interest. Students are responsible for verifying the information in this article prior to making financial decisions.
If you would like additional information on student loan payment plans or help understanding your student loan situation, please visit the Student Financial Education Office located in The Union, Office 805. You can set up an appointment by emailing us at sfes1@clemson.edu or calling us at (864) 656-7337.
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The majority of college students have them: student loans. Student loans have increased in popularity in recent years, mostly due to the increasing tuition rates seen across the country. As you near the end of your tenure here at Clemson, there are a few things to keep in mind that will better prepare you to deal with your student loans.
Where do I find my loans?
If you are like many students, you remember receiving the many pieces of mail over the past four years detailing your loans, but now you cannot seem to find the information. You most likely know your loans by the types of loans they are, like Stafford Loan, Perkins Loan and others. These loans are not all made by one company, but are sold off and serviced by a wide variety.
There is an easy-to-use resource to help locate all of your student loans and who they are owned or serviced by. The website to help you locate your student loans is http://www.nslds.ed.gov/nslds_SA/.
If you have private loans, such as those often made by banks or financial companies such as Discover, Citi, Bank of America or others, you may need to contact that financial institution directly, as their information is sometimes not located in the online database.
How do I pay my loans?
Once you graduate, you should be proactive about finding out when you need to start paying your student loans back.
Graduating from college can be a hectic time, and with all the address changes that you may be going through, it’s easy for mail to get misplaced or sent to the wrong address. It is the responsibility of the borrower, which would be you, to make contact with the owner or servicer of your loan(s) in order to find out when payments begin.
The owner or servicer of your loan will most likely offer you several options for repaying your loans, although not all companies offer these options, and some companies may offer more options. Here are a few basic options:
Standard Repayment: Think of this payment option as a standard loan, you make fixed payments that do not change from month to month for the standard repayment period (which is typically 10 years).
Extended Repayment: This payment option is similar to the standard payment option, except the payment period (which is the time it takes to pay back the loan) will be longer than the standard period. This type of repayment plan may be beneficial to those who have extremely large amounts of student loans and cannot afford the monthly payment under the standard repayment plan.
Graduated Repayment: A graduated repayment plan offers the advantage of allowing you to make lower monthly payments right when you get out of school with the monthly payment increasing every set period of time (such as every two or three years). This type of repayment plan is based on the ideal that your income will increase over time.
Income Dependent Repayment: This payment plan is available in certain government loan situations and allows the borrower to pay a certain percentage of their income toward the loan until the loan is paid off or until a time limit of 25 years is reached. If the time limit of 25 years is reached, the government will forgive the remaining balance on the debt, although tax implications may apply.
Although these are just a few of the standard payment options, it is important to keep your current situation in mind when determining which payment plan is right for you. It is also important to think of the payment plan in terms of which will cost you the most in interest, as opposed to those repayment plans that will accrue the least amount of interest. Students are responsible for verifying the information in this article prior to making financial decisions.
If you would like additional information on student loan payment plans or help understanding your student loan situation, please visit the Student Financial Education Office located in The Union, Office 805. You can set up an appointment by emailing us at sfes1@clemson.edu or calling us at (864) 656-7337.
Views: 32
View the discussion thread.
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2012年2月13日星期一
Student loans always are due, no matter how long overdue
By Kathy Lynn Gray
The Columbus Dispatch Monday February 13, 2012 5:24 AM
If you think the student loan you took out years ago but never repaid won’t come back to haunt you, think again.The Columbus Dispatch Monday February 13, 2012 5:24 AM
The debt could land you in federal court, pleading your case before a U.S. district judge.
“There’s no statute of limitations on student loans,” warned Assistant U.S. Attorney Deborah F. Sanders. “That debt is growing, and you still owe it.”
Sanders handles the student-loan default cases that come through the U.S. attorney’s office for the southern half of Ohio. Her office is pursuing about 400 cases.
“We get them because the (federal) Education Department has not been able to collect after many, many attempts,” Sanders said. “If it comes to our office, borrowers have had a lot of chances to pay.”
Defendants fall into two camps: those who don’t pay, and those who can’t, she said.
Usually the loans are years overdue, sometimes as long as 20 years. By that time, a large chunk of the money owed is interest that has accrued and compounded over the years.
In one case filed last year, the defendant owed $160,000, including nearly $25,000 in accrued interest on the 10-year-old loan. On another 10-year-old loan, nearly $40,000 of the $101,000 owed was interest.
If federal lawyers obtain a judgment against a debtor, the government can collect the money in a variety of ways. Wages and savings and checking accounts can be garnisheed, and tax refunds can be diverted, Sanders said. “We have a pretty good rate of collection.”
The court also can set up payment plans once a judgment has been made.
Unlike many other types of debt, student loans cannot be dismissed through bankruptcy except in rare situations, said Stephanie Dailey, a Columbus lawyer who specializes in bankruptcies.
“It’s almost impossible to get out of student-loan debt,” Dailey said. A debtor has to have a dire hardship, such as being completely disabled, she said.
About half the people who come to her with financial difficulties have student-loan debt, Dailey said. She advises them to approach the lender and try to get on a payment plan so that interest doesn’t continue to pile up.
“A lot of people will just stick their head in the sand and hope it’ll go away,” she said. “ Instead, they should let the creditor know they’re having trouble paying and ask for help.”
Dailey herself has nearly $100,000 in student-loan debt from law school. She has deferred her loans — postponed paying them with the blessing of the lender — when paychecks were lean. Interest continues to accrue during a deferral, but the lender won’t turn the loan over to collectors.
The number of student-loan defaults that went to federal court rose significantly in the late 1990s as the Justice Department pushed for collection. Nationwide, 1,142 default cases were filed in 1995; that number surged to 24,404 by 2000. But the number has fallen back since then as the Education Department has set up other ways to collect the debts, Sanders said.
At the same time, students are taking on more debt to attend college. In 2010, the average was $25,250, up 5 percent from the previous year, according to a study by the Project on Student Debt. The average in Ohio was $27,713. An estimated $1 trillion in total student loans is outstanding nationwide.
The default rate in 2009, the most-recent data available, was 8.8 percent. That includes borrowers with loan repayments due between Oct. 1, 2008, and Sept. 30, 2009. An estimate of the total amount of loan money in default is not available.
A survey released last week by the National Association of Consumer Bankruptcy Attorneys found that 81 percent of bankruptcy lawyers said the number of potential clients with student-loan debt has increased “significantly” or “somewhat” in the past three or four years.
The association thinks that student-loan debt could create an economic threat to the country as serious as the home-mortgage crisis did in the late 2000s.
kgray@dispatch.com
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2012年2月8日星期三
Mortgage Compliance and Real Estate Loss Mitigation Company, American Loan Compliance, Featured in National Business …
NEW YORK, Feb. 7, 2012 /PRNewswire/ – American Loan Compliance, America’s leading loss mitigation and commercial mortgage loan audit report experts, were recently featured in the press showcasing the advantages to having loans investigated prior to negotiating terms on restructuring real estate loans. The experts interviewed and featured are dedicated to spreading knowledge, educational products, tools and awareness in their field of expertise and making significant contributions to the mortgage loan modification, real estate finance and mortgage violation audit and analysis industry and the marketplace as a whole.
(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20120207/LA48812LOGO)
American Loan Compliance (ALC), specializes in strategic mortgage compliance analysis and audit report services and has recently opened its doors to consumers allowing homeowners seeking mortgage assistance and loan modification to obtain these services direct. Viewed as America’s most knowledgeable, proven and experienced mortgage compliance auditing firms to correspondent lending institutions, federal banking associations, law firms, wholesale lenders and direct lending institutions across the country. American Loan Compliance will concentrate their efforts on helping the general population more effectively obtain accurate investigative mortgage audit reports and ensure clarification on enforceable loans. A very effective and experienced management team that is sure to make a huge impact in an industry with an ambiguous reputation in anxious need of assistance leads the dynamic force overseeing operational management at the private held company.
American Loan Compliance has shifted momentum, acting as a national strategic investigative analysis and enforcement management firm which provides professional, advisory, and consulting services to financial institutions, consumer protection, financial and regulatory agencies, including mortgage bankers, real estate attorneys, commercial and retail lending entities, and property owners. American Loan Compliance sets the standard in mortgage compliance in the United States providing a variety of audit reports no other firm has come close to close its competitive advantage in an ambiguous industry in demand for supplemental mortgage loan analysis and homeland assistance. The quality control behind closed doors, displays strategic expertise and addresses all critical areas associated with American mortgage loan compliance regulatory matters, observance and quality control in U.S. residential and commercial real estate mortgage finance. American Loan Compliance can assist clients in meeting the oversight of regulators, fair lending mandates and maintaining internal lending integrity and validation practices through independent quality control audit reports.
American Loan Compliance will provide you with the evidence and support you can trust to help you seek better loan modification terms, restructuring of new terms via loan workouts, principal/rate reductions, or continued discovery. With the greatest potential to alleviate “normal modification” setbacks and re-occurrence of default, qualified and objective evidence helps simplify negotiations and stay using the information and support provided by American Loan Compliance.
A 2009, FDIC Office of Inspector General Report revealed:
83% of the institutions examined were cited for “significant” compliance violations
43% of those institutions were “repeat offenders”
85% of those repeat offenders were highly rated by the FDIC for their in-place compliance process
The other importance of the mortgage loan audit findings is that it may be the grounds to help move a non-judicial foreclosure action (currently in 29 states), if necessary, into jurisdiction, which can stop foreclosure in its tracks. More importantly, borrowers regardless of financial hardship and payment history now have the chance for a better position to negotiate new terms or loan settlement. Violations found in a loan audit can help place the borrower in the offense! We at American Loan Compliance help legal professionals navigate through the process with our learning channels, which we find critical for those legal advisors that are looking to make the audit solution part of their business practice. Information is only as good as the ones that know how best to use it
The driving force behind American Loan Compliance consist of executive and management teams which include best-selling authors and speakers who are regularly sought out by the media to give expert opinions. Many have been featured on NBC, CNBC, CBS, ABC and FOX affiliates as well as seen in USA Today, Newsweek, Forbes, Market watch, Ask The Experts©, Los Angeles Business Journal and the Wall Street Journal. American Loan Compliance mission is homeland assistance from business to consumers, ensuring the most intelligent solutions and accurate analysis obtained via their flagship mortgage compliance analysis reports. Audit Reports allow the ability and vision to direct arbitration on residential and commercial mortgages and through strategic analysis ensure enforcement of mortgage loan modification and payment assistance at the best results attainable.
American Loan Compliance has collaborated with other established agencies and most recently, Homeland Assistance Agency based in Washington D.C. and the Federal Relief Organization based in Los Angeles. This collaboration of powerhouse agencies has vowed to allow consumers a unique option of working with trusted and proven sources as a one stop merger of industry experts to determine and proceed with their ultimate goals related to the property in distress, in need of assistance or available for more lucrative cash flow options.
American Loan Compliance is located in New York City, New York. Their corporate address is 1330 Avenue of the Americas, Floor 23A, New York City, NY 10019. For more information about American Loan Compliance, please visit http://www.AmericanLoanCompliance.com for consumer information. Please visit www.AmericanLoanCompliance.info for general information or call (888) 929-2829.
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(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20120207/LA48812LOGO)
American Loan Compliance (ALC), specializes in strategic mortgage compliance analysis and audit report services and has recently opened its doors to consumers allowing homeowners seeking mortgage assistance and loan modification to obtain these services direct. Viewed as America’s most knowledgeable, proven and experienced mortgage compliance auditing firms to correspondent lending institutions, federal banking associations, law firms, wholesale lenders and direct lending institutions across the country. American Loan Compliance will concentrate their efforts on helping the general population more effectively obtain accurate investigative mortgage audit reports and ensure clarification on enforceable loans. A very effective and experienced management team that is sure to make a huge impact in an industry with an ambiguous reputation in anxious need of assistance leads the dynamic force overseeing operational management at the private held company.
American Loan Compliance has shifted momentum, acting as a national strategic investigative analysis and enforcement management firm which provides professional, advisory, and consulting services to financial institutions, consumer protection, financial and regulatory agencies, including mortgage bankers, real estate attorneys, commercial and retail lending entities, and property owners. American Loan Compliance sets the standard in mortgage compliance in the United States providing a variety of audit reports no other firm has come close to close its competitive advantage in an ambiguous industry in demand for supplemental mortgage loan analysis and homeland assistance. The quality control behind closed doors, displays strategic expertise and addresses all critical areas associated with American mortgage loan compliance regulatory matters, observance and quality control in U.S. residential and commercial real estate mortgage finance. American Loan Compliance can assist clients in meeting the oversight of regulators, fair lending mandates and maintaining internal lending integrity and validation practices through independent quality control audit reports.
American Loan Compliance will provide you with the evidence and support you can trust to help you seek better loan modification terms, restructuring of new terms via loan workouts, principal/rate reductions, or continued discovery. With the greatest potential to alleviate “normal modification” setbacks and re-occurrence of default, qualified and objective evidence helps simplify negotiations and stay using the information and support provided by American Loan Compliance.
A 2009, FDIC Office of Inspector General Report revealed:
83% of the institutions examined were cited for “significant” compliance violations
43% of those institutions were “repeat offenders”
85% of those repeat offenders were highly rated by the FDIC for their in-place compliance process
The other importance of the mortgage loan audit findings is that it may be the grounds to help move a non-judicial foreclosure action (currently in 29 states), if necessary, into jurisdiction, which can stop foreclosure in its tracks. More importantly, borrowers regardless of financial hardship and payment history now have the chance for a better position to negotiate new terms or loan settlement. Violations found in a loan audit can help place the borrower in the offense! We at American Loan Compliance help legal professionals navigate through the process with our learning channels, which we find critical for those legal advisors that are looking to make the audit solution part of their business practice. Information is only as good as the ones that know how best to use it
The driving force behind American Loan Compliance consist of executive and management teams which include best-selling authors and speakers who are regularly sought out by the media to give expert opinions. Many have been featured on NBC, CNBC, CBS, ABC and FOX affiliates as well as seen in USA Today, Newsweek, Forbes, Market watch, Ask The Experts©, Los Angeles Business Journal and the Wall Street Journal. American Loan Compliance mission is homeland assistance from business to consumers, ensuring the most intelligent solutions and accurate analysis obtained via their flagship mortgage compliance analysis reports. Audit Reports allow the ability and vision to direct arbitration on residential and commercial mortgages and through strategic analysis ensure enforcement of mortgage loan modification and payment assistance at the best results attainable.
American Loan Compliance has collaborated with other established agencies and most recently, Homeland Assistance Agency based in Washington D.C. and the Federal Relief Organization based in Los Angeles. This collaboration of powerhouse agencies has vowed to allow consumers a unique option of working with trusted and proven sources as a one stop merger of industry experts to determine and proceed with their ultimate goals related to the property in distress, in need of assistance or available for more lucrative cash flow options.
American Loan Compliance is located in New York City, New York. Their corporate address is 1330 Avenue of the Americas, Floor 23A, New York City, NY 10019. For more information about American Loan Compliance, please visit http://www.AmericanLoanCompliance.com for consumer information. Please visit www.AmericanLoanCompliance.info for general information or call (888) 929-2829.
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2012年1月30日星期一
Crowd waiting for Pres. Obama to speak in Ann Arbor WITH SLIDESHOW
By Erica McClain
For the Press & Guide
For the Press & Guide
ANN ARBOR — As 3,000 people wait to hear from President Barack Obama at U of M’s Al Glick Fieldhouse, there are quite a few expectations from the crowd on education. “Hopefully, the government will help with socialized loans again, and the cost of education will be affordable for all,” said 28-year-old Cooley Law student Jason Andrews.
He added education is not a bubble.
“It should be affordable for meaningful people who have a desire to better themselves,” he said.
Andrews referenced Obama’s background as the son of an immigrant and how far he has been able to come.
“I just want my children to be able to afford that, too,” he said.
With Stafford loan rates set to double in July, from 3.4 percent to 6.8 percent, due to the upcoming expiration of the College Cost Reduction and Access Act, Andrews isn’t alone in his concern.
“For some it might be worth going to a private school, but for me, personally, I agree with lowering the rates because it doesn’t seem fair for someone to pay $25,000 per year for school,” U-M freshman Alec Lessner said.
U of M’s Office of Financial Aid estimates that a school year at the university as a fulltime freshman or sophomore costs $25,204 – with $12,634 making up tuition costs alone. Continued… Continued…
He added education is not a bubble.
“It should be affordable for meaningful people who have a desire to better themselves,” he said.
Andrews referenced Obama’s background as the son of an immigrant and how far he has been able to come.
“I just want my children to be able to afford that, too,” he said.
With Stafford loan rates set to double in July, from 3.4 percent to 6.8 percent, due to the upcoming expiration of the College Cost Reduction and Access Act, Andrews isn’t alone in his concern.
“For some it might be worth going to a private school, but for me, personally, I agree with lowering the rates because it doesn’t seem fair for someone to pay $25,000 per year for school,” U-M freshman Alec Lessner said.
U of M’s Office of Financial Aid estimates that a school year at the university as a fulltime freshman or sophomore costs $25,204 – with $12,634 making up tuition costs alone. Continued… Continued…
Ethan Fitzgerald, another U of M student, hoped the president would announce plans for a new program to aid college students with financial woes. Deleise Cole Wilson said she wanted to hear what Obama had to say for college students.
“I was impressed with what he had to say in the State of the Union,” Cole Wilson said.
Others, however, were just excited to have the chance to hear the president in person.
“I’ve been very supportive of the president, and I just wanted to see him in person,” said Ann Arbor resident Nancy Stoll.
“I was impressed with what he had to say in the State of the Union,” Cole Wilson said.
Others, however, were just excited to have the chance to hear the president in person.
“I’ve been very supportive of the president, and I just wanted to see him in person,” said Ann Arbor resident Nancy Stoll.
ANN ARBOR — As 3,000 people wait to hear from President Barack Obama at U of M’s Al Glick Fieldhouse, there are quite a few expectations from the crowd on education. “Hopefully, the government will help with socialized loans again, and the cost of education will be affordable for all,” said 28-year-old Cooley Law student Jason Andrews.
He added education is not a bubble.
“It should be affordable for meaningful people who have a desire to better themselves,” he said.
Andrews referenced Obama’s background as the son of an immigrant and how far he has been able to come.
“I just want my children to be able to afford that, too,” he said.
With Stafford loan rates set to double in July, from 3.4 percent to 6.8 percent, due to the upcoming expiration of the College Cost Reduction and Access Act, Andrews isn’t alone in his concern.
“For some it might be worth going to a private school, but for me, personally, I agree with lowering the rates because it doesn’t seem fair for someone to pay $25,000 per year for school,” U-M freshman Alec Lessner said.
U of M’s Office of Financial Aid estimates that a school year at the university as a fulltime freshman or sophomore costs $25,204 – with $12,634 making up tuition costs alone. Continued…
Ethan Fitzgerald, another U of M student, hoped the president would announce plans for a new program to aid college students with financial woes.
Deleise Cole Wilson said she wanted to hear what Obama had to say for college students.
“I was impressed with what he had to say in the State of the Union,” Cole Wilson said.
Others, however, were just excited to have the chance to hear the president in person.
“I’ve been very supportive of the president, and I just wanted to see him in person,” said Ann Arbor resident Nancy Stoll.
http://tourism9.com/ http://vkins.com/
He added education is not a bubble.
“It should be affordable for meaningful people who have a desire to better themselves,” he said.
Andrews referenced Obama’s background as the son of an immigrant and how far he has been able to come.
“I just want my children to be able to afford that, too,” he said.
With Stafford loan rates set to double in July, from 3.4 percent to 6.8 percent, due to the upcoming expiration of the College Cost Reduction and Access Act, Andrews isn’t alone in his concern.
“For some it might be worth going to a private school, but for me, personally, I agree with lowering the rates because it doesn’t seem fair for someone to pay $25,000 per year for school,” U-M freshman Alec Lessner said.
U of M’s Office of Financial Aid estimates that a school year at the university as a fulltime freshman or sophomore costs $25,204 – with $12,634 making up tuition costs alone. Continued…
Ethan Fitzgerald, another U of M student, hoped the president would announce plans for a new program to aid college students with financial woes.
Deleise Cole Wilson said she wanted to hear what Obama had to say for college students.
“I was impressed with what he had to say in the State of the Union,” Cole Wilson said.
Others, however, were just excited to have the chance to hear the president in person.
“I’ve been very supportive of the president, and I just wanted to see him in person,” said Ann Arbor resident Nancy Stoll.
http://tourism9.com/ http://vkins.com/
2012年1月23日星期一
Friends of Angelo, Part 2
Four lawmakers have been referred to the House Ethics Committee for receiving special mortgage loans from the notorious “V.I.P.” program of Countrywide Financial. Ethics rules require members to accept loans only “on terms generally available to the public.” It should be of great interest for the public, particularly those mired in mortgage trouble, to see if anything comes out of the Congressional investigation.
The loans were uncovered in a three-year-long inquiry by Representative Darrell Issa, the Republican chairman of the House oversight committee. He denounced Countrywide’s program as a source of “bribery” and “public corruption” when Democrats seemed to be the beneficiaries of the mortgage company’s largess. Now that three of the four House members referred to the ethics committee are Republicans, Democrats are urging Mr. Issa to keep up the good work.
The lawmakers have been identified in news reports as Howard McKeon and Elton Gallegly, both Republicans of California; Pete Sessions, Republican of Texas and the party’s Congressional campaign chairman; and Edolphus Towns, Democrat of New York. All have denied seeking or knowing about the “Friends of Angelo” program set up by Angelo Mozilo, former head of Countrywide.
Mr. Issa is vowing to press forward with his investigation of the loans, wherever it leads, his office insisted. The public should hope for similar dedication from the Ethics Committee.
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The lawmakers have been identified in news reports as Howard McKeon and Elton Gallegly, both Republicans of California; Pete Sessions, Republican of Texas and the party’s Congressional campaign chairman; and Edolphus Towns, Democrat of New York. All have denied seeking or knowing about the “Friends of Angelo” program set up by Angelo Mozilo, former head of Countrywide.
Mr. Issa is vowing to press forward with his investigation of the loans, wherever it leads, his office insisted. The public should hope for similar dedication from the Ethics Committee.
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2012年1月10日星期二
dar Education Lending Announces an Initiative to Help Colleges Provide Private Student Loan Consolidation Options to …
Cedar Education Lending announced that it is working with College Financial Aid and Alumni Offices to help spread the word about Private Student Loan Consolidations to recent graduates.
New York, NY (PRWEB) January 10, 2012
Cedar Education Lending announced that it is working with College Financial Aid and Alumni Offices to help spread the word about Private Student Loan Consolidations to recent graduates.
“Financial Aid offices at colleges and universities throughout the country do a terrific job advising students of Federal loan programs, grant-aid, scholarships, private loan and other financial aid opportunities,” said Ms. Samantha Karageorge, Cedar’s CMO. “Prior to graduating, students often have the chance to meet with their Financial Aid Office to discuss their outstanding Federal loans and repayment responsibilities upon graduation. This often is not the case with their Private Student Loans. Furthermore, most colleges don’t provide information or advice to recent graduates about the availability of Private Student Consolidation Loans like those offered by Cedar Education Lending.”
More specifically, Cedar has already begun working with a number of Alumni offices to include information about Private Student Loan Consolidations in the services and benefits sections on their websites, including advice, consolidation loan calculators, and links that would enable graduating students or recent graduates to better understand their options in regard to Federal and Private Consolidation Loans. This initiative will enable students to better plan for their financial future and make navigating the process a lot easier.
###
Samantha Karageorge
Cedar Education Lending
201-321-9932
Email Information
http://tourism9.com/
New York, NY (PRWEB) January 10, 2012
Cedar Education Lending announced that it is working with College Financial Aid and Alumni Offices to help spread the word about Private Student Loan Consolidations to recent graduates.
“Financial Aid offices at colleges and universities throughout the country do a terrific job advising students of Federal loan programs, grant-aid, scholarships, private loan and other financial aid opportunities,” said Ms. Samantha Karageorge, Cedar’s CMO. “Prior to graduating, students often have the chance to meet with their Financial Aid Office to discuss their outstanding Federal loans and repayment responsibilities upon graduation. This often is not the case with their Private Student Loans. Furthermore, most colleges don’t provide information or advice to recent graduates about the availability of Private Student Consolidation Loans like those offered by Cedar Education Lending.”
More specifically, Cedar has already begun working with a number of Alumni offices to include information about Private Student Loan Consolidations in the services and benefits sections on their websites, including advice, consolidation loan calculators, and links that would enable graduating students or recent graduates to better understand their options in regard to Federal and Private Consolidation Loans. This initiative will enable students to better plan for their financial future and make navigating the process a lot easier.
###
Samantha Karageorge
Cedar Education Lending
201-321-9932
Email Information
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2012年1月6日星期五
UC Funding Provides $16.8 Million of Capital for Chicago Portfolio
BOSTON–(BUSINESS WIRE)– UC Funding recently closed a $16.8 million investment on a portfolio of properties located in Chicago, IL and Tennessee. The transaction was underwritten and closed in under 30 days. The Investment is secured by a variety of different collateral structures including first mortgages, mezzanine positions, and equity. UC Funding’s capital solution assisted the borrower in refinancing and acquired ten properties; nine of which are multifamily assets, located in urban and suburban Chicago with 647 units. The tenth asset is a 245-key hotel located in Memphis, TN, in close proximity to the Memphis International Airport and Graceland, requires significant capital work. The sponsor has a proven track of acquiring and renovating well-located properties with significant upside potential. UC’s loan provides the sponsor with funds to continue its successful program on this new group of assets.
Dan Palmier, CEO of UC said, “This deal represents a majority of what UC does; helping great operators create unique financial solutions to fit the most complicated deals and fund them quickly.”
UC Funding LLC (www.ucfunds.com) is a national, diversified, real estate finance company, founded in 2010 and headquartered in Boston, with offices in New York and Miami. UC Funding provides commercial real estate financing solutions throughout the United States. Nearing 1 Billion in capital and a growing staff of 50 team members, UC Funding serves as one of the nation’s fastest growing real estate financing institutions. UC Funding was nominated company of the month during 2011 by both the New York Real Estate Journal and New England Real Estate Journal. UC Funding’s core belief is that real estate ownership and real estate financing should work together as a partnership. By working together, UC Funding shares each and every client’s vision of creating innovative financial solutions.
UC Funding provides financial solutions throughout the entire capital stack, including joint venture equity. UC Funding is one of the nation’s most entrepreneurial lending institutions focused on Multi Family, Retail, Office, Hotel and Industrial/Warehouse assets nationwide. For more about the UC Funding’s commercial real estate platform, visit (http://www.ucfunds.com/).
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Dan Palmier, CEO of UC said, “This deal represents a majority of what UC does; helping great operators create unique financial solutions to fit the most complicated deals and fund them quickly.”
UC Funding LLC (www.ucfunds.com) is a national, diversified, real estate finance company, founded in 2010 and headquartered in Boston, with offices in New York and Miami. UC Funding provides commercial real estate financing solutions throughout the United States. Nearing 1 Billion in capital and a growing staff of 50 team members, UC Funding serves as one of the nation’s fastest growing real estate financing institutions. UC Funding was nominated company of the month during 2011 by both the New York Real Estate Journal and New England Real Estate Journal. UC Funding’s core belief is that real estate ownership and real estate financing should work together as a partnership. By working together, UC Funding shares each and every client’s vision of creating innovative financial solutions.
UC Funding provides financial solutions throughout the entire capital stack, including joint venture equity. UC Funding is one of the nation’s most entrepreneurial lending institutions focused on Multi Family, Retail, Office, Hotel and Industrial/Warehouse assets nationwide. For more about the UC Funding’s commercial real estate platform, visit (http://www.ucfunds.com/).
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2012年1月4日星期三
New Release of Quest Site Administrator for SharePoint Delivers Central Reporting for Microsoft SharePoint Online in …
ALISO VIEJO, Calif.–(BUSINESS WIRE)– Tweet this: New release of @QuestSharePoint tool, Site Administrator, extends centralized reporting to #SharePoint Online in #O365 http://bit.ly/rDHvPY
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About Quest Software, Inc.
Quest Software (Nasdaq: QSFT – News) simplifies and reduces the cost of managing IT for more than 100,000 customers worldwide. Our innovative solutions make solving the toughest IT management problems easier, enabling customers to save time and money across physical, virtual and cloud environments. For more information about Quest solutions for administration and automation, data protection, development and optimization, identity and access management, migration and consolidation, and performance monitoring, go to www.quest.com.
Quest, Quest Software and the Quest logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of Quest Software in the United States and certain other countries. All other trademarks and registered trademarks are property of their respective owners.
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News Facts:
- Quest Software, Inc. (NASDAQ: QSFT – News) today announced a new release of Quest® Site Administrator for SharePoint, a Microsoft SharePoint management solution, to include central reporting capabilities for SharePoint Online in Microsoft Office 365. The product helps users understand, manage and secure multiple SharePoint installations from a single product whether on-premises, in the cloud, or a hybrid of both.
- Site Administrator for SharePoint gives users an overview of their existing environment by providing metrics, trends and other insights into Office 365 usage, data growth, and storage distribution, which enables organizations to efficiently manage their SharePoint Online licenses.
- As organizations adopt this technology, one key area of focus will be maximizing efficiencies. Quest’s Site Administrator empowers SharePoint administrators to understand if that investment is being used, or needs to be expanded, by aggregating license and storage information from across all site collections and displaying it through centralized charts and reports.
- As more organizations consider moving to SharePoint Online, many will deploy proof-of-concept and pilot projects that result in hybrid environments, spanning both on-premise and cloud deployments. Site Administrator makes it easy for businesses to centrally monitor and manage their environments regardless of whether SharePoint is based on-premises, online, or both.
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Supporting Quotes:
- Bill Evans, vice president and general manager, SharePoint business unit, Quest Software
- Kristina Kerr, group product manager for SharePoint, Microsoft Corp.
Supporting Resources:
About Quest Software, Inc.
Quest Software (Nasdaq: QSFT – News) simplifies and reduces the cost of managing IT for more than 100,000 customers worldwide. Our innovative solutions make solving the toughest IT management problems easier, enabling customers to save time and money across physical, virtual and cloud environments. For more information about Quest solutions for administration and automation, data protection, development and optimization, identity and access management, migration and consolidation, and performance monitoring, go to www.quest.com.
Quest, Quest Software and the Quest logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of Quest Software in the United States and certain other countries. All other trademarks and registered trademarks are property of their respective owners.
http://tourism9.com/
2012年1月3日星期二
OPIC Records Net Income of $269 Million in FY2011, Helping Reduce U.S. Budget Deficit for 34th Consecutive Year
WASHINGTON–(BUSINESS WIRE)– The Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC), the U.S. Government’s development finance institution, generated net income of $269 million in Fiscal Year 2011, helping to reduce the federal budget deficit for the 34th consecutive year.
In addition to generating revenue for the U.S. taxpayer, OPIC recorded a three-fold increase in the amount of capital the agency’s financing mobilized, rising to $4.4 billion.
In fiscal year 2011, OPIC committed $3.2 billion to companies expanding into emerging markets and supported 92 new investment projects in the power sector, hotels and housing, telecommunications and other infrastructure, as well as many other sectors like agriculture, education and microfinance. Consistent with its focus on supporting U.S. small and medium-sized enterprises, in FY2011, 78 percent of OPIC’s projects, representing nearly $1 billion in commitments, involved American small and medium-sized businesses.
OPIC responded quickly to the events of the Arab Spring, targeting up to $3 billion in financial support for investment and job creation in the Middle East and North Africa. Since setting that goal, the agency has already approved $657 million in transactions for the region, mainly to support investments in small business.
This year, OPIC also lent powerful support to U.S. companies seeking investment opportunities in the high growth renewable resources sector in emerging markets. Its commitment of $1.1 billion in financing and insurance to the sector in FY2011 represented a roughly three-fold increase over last year’s figure. Financing was provided to companies investing in a wide range of projects and regions: solar projects in Peru, India and Thailand, hydropower in Georgia, geothermal in Kenya and biomass in Liberia, among many others. Projects supported by OPIC in FY2011 will generate nearly 728 megawatts of electricity from renewable energy sources, more than a ten-fold increase from FY2010, and help avoid nearly one million tons of CO₂ emissions annually.
“OPIC generated net income and contributed to the reduction of the budget deficit for the 34th consecutive year,” said OPIC President and CEO Elizabeth Littlefield. “We did this while out performing on our core mission of mobilizing U.S. private capital to catalyze markets and support development in developing countries. OPIC’s work tangibly and profitably advances both U.S. interests and economic development abroad.”
“OPIC projects delivered important economic, environmental and developmental benefits to local populations that will make both the partner countries and the United States more secure and prosperous,” Ms. Littlefield said.
OPIC’s earnings were generated through financing and insurance provided to support U.S. private investment overseas, as well as interest earned on reserves. Those investments helped foster economic development in new and emerging markets, advance U.S. national security, and support growth in U.S. jobs and exports.
OPIC’s financial statements were audited by an independent accounting firm in accordance with Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) as well as government audit standards specified by the Comptroller General of the United States and the Office of Management and Budget.
OPIC is the U.S. Government’s development finance institution. It mobilizes private capital to help solve critical development challenges and in doing so, advances U.S. foreign policy. Because OPIC works with the U.S. private sector, it helps U.S. businesses gain footholds in emerging markets catalyzing revenues, jobs and growth opportunities both at home and abroad. OPIC achieves its mission by providing investors with financing, guarantees, political risk insurance, and support for private equity investment funds.
Established as an agency of the U.S. Government in 1971, OPIC operates on a self-sustaining basis at no net cost to American taxpayers. OPIC services are available for new and expanding business enterprises in more than 150 countries worldwide. To date, OPIC has supported nearly $200 billion of investment in over 4,000 projects, generated $74 billion in U.S. exports and supported more than 275,000 American jobs.
http://tourism9.com/
In addition to generating revenue for the U.S. taxpayer, OPIC recorded a three-fold increase in the amount of capital the agency’s financing mobilized, rising to $4.4 billion.
In fiscal year 2011, OPIC committed $3.2 billion to companies expanding into emerging markets and supported 92 new investment projects in the power sector, hotels and housing, telecommunications and other infrastructure, as well as many other sectors like agriculture, education and microfinance. Consistent with its focus on supporting U.S. small and medium-sized enterprises, in FY2011, 78 percent of OPIC’s projects, representing nearly $1 billion in commitments, involved American small and medium-sized businesses.
OPIC responded quickly to the events of the Arab Spring, targeting up to $3 billion in financial support for investment and job creation in the Middle East and North Africa. Since setting that goal, the agency has already approved $657 million in transactions for the region, mainly to support investments in small business.
This year, OPIC also lent powerful support to U.S. companies seeking investment opportunities in the high growth renewable resources sector in emerging markets. Its commitment of $1.1 billion in financing and insurance to the sector in FY2011 represented a roughly three-fold increase over last year’s figure. Financing was provided to companies investing in a wide range of projects and regions: solar projects in Peru, India and Thailand, hydropower in Georgia, geothermal in Kenya and biomass in Liberia, among many others. Projects supported by OPIC in FY2011 will generate nearly 728 megawatts of electricity from renewable energy sources, more than a ten-fold increase from FY2010, and help avoid nearly one million tons of CO₂ emissions annually.
“OPIC generated net income and contributed to the reduction of the budget deficit for the 34th consecutive year,” said OPIC President and CEO Elizabeth Littlefield. “We did this while out performing on our core mission of mobilizing U.S. private capital to catalyze markets and support development in developing countries. OPIC’s work tangibly and profitably advances both U.S. interests and economic development abroad.”
“OPIC projects delivered important economic, environmental and developmental benefits to local populations that will make both the partner countries and the United States more secure and prosperous,” Ms. Littlefield said.
OPIC’s earnings were generated through financing and insurance provided to support U.S. private investment overseas, as well as interest earned on reserves. Those investments helped foster economic development in new and emerging markets, advance U.S. national security, and support growth in U.S. jobs and exports.
OPIC’s financial statements were audited by an independent accounting firm in accordance with Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) as well as government audit standards specified by the Comptroller General of the United States and the Office of Management and Budget.
OPIC is the U.S. Government’s development finance institution. It mobilizes private capital to help solve critical development challenges and in doing so, advances U.S. foreign policy. Because OPIC works with the U.S. private sector, it helps U.S. businesses gain footholds in emerging markets catalyzing revenues, jobs and growth opportunities both at home and abroad. OPIC achieves its mission by providing investors with financing, guarantees, political risk insurance, and support for private equity investment funds.
Established as an agency of the U.S. Government in 1971, OPIC operates on a self-sustaining basis at no net cost to American taxpayers. OPIC services are available for new and expanding business enterprises in more than 150 countries worldwide. To date, OPIC has supported nearly $200 billion of investment in over 4,000 projects, generated $74 billion in U.S. exports and supported more than 275,000 American jobs.
http://tourism9.com/
Intervale Capital Raises $63M for Private Equity Fund – cbl
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Posted January 3, 2012
Charles CheringtonBy Bill Murphy
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – Intervale Capital has raised $63 million, or about 18 percent of a $350 million private equity fund, from seven investors, according to an SEC filing.
Principals named in the filing by the Cambridge-based fund that focuses on investments in energy firms are:
· Managing partner Charles Cherington; and
· Partner Erich Horsley.
The company said it would pay an affiliate up to $2 million from the proceeds towards annual management fee. It also expects to pay a sales commission of up to $157,500.
Currently, Intervale Capital manages a $280 million private equity fund that invests in oilfield service and manufacturing companies. It has investments in 10 companies.
Reg D filing: http://tinyurl.com/6vvzyje
Also, at citybizlist see:
Intervale Capital Signs Office Lease in Cambridge, MA
Intervale Capital Promotes Erich Horsley to Partner
Bios from Intervale Capital site:
Charles Cherington
Managing Partner
Charles co-founded Intervale Capital to build on the success of Cherington Capital, a private equity firm focused on investments in middle market energy companies. Prior to founding Cherington Capital, Charles co-founded a smaller fund which also focused on middle market buyouts. Charles has over fifteen years of private equity experience.
Before launching his first fund, Charles spent several years as a vice president at the Vietnam Fund, a British private equity fund. Charles also worked for CS First Boston in New York and Vietnam.
Charles earned an M.B.A., with honors, from the University of Chicago and a B.A. in History from Wesleyan University.
Erich Horsley
Partner
Erich started his private equity career in 1998, and has focused exclusively on buyouts of middle-market companies. Erich served as a Principal at Watermill Ventures, a private equity group based in Waltham, MA. He also served as a Vice President at a Boston-based private equity firm with $1.4 billion under management. Erich has spent most of his private equity career executing transactions and overseeing growth in industrial and energy-related businesses.
Erich was a Financial Analyst in the Corporate Finance Department of Morgan Stanley in New York and in Frankfurt, Germany from 1994 to 1996.
Erich received his B.A. in Psychology and English, with honors, from Harvard College and his M.B.A. from Harvard Business School.
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Posted January 3, 2012
Charles CheringtonCAMBRIDGE, Mass. – Intervale Capital has raised $63 million, or about 18 percent of a $350 million private equity fund, from seven investors, according to an SEC filing.
Principals named in the filing by the Cambridge-based fund that focuses on investments in energy firms are:
· Managing partner Charles Cherington; and
· Partner Erich Horsley.
The company said it would pay an affiliate up to $2 million from the proceeds towards annual management fee. It also expects to pay a sales commission of up to $157,500.
Currently, Intervale Capital manages a $280 million private equity fund that invests in oilfield service and manufacturing companies. It has investments in 10 companies.
Reg D filing: http://tinyurl.com/6vvzyje
Also, at citybizlist see:
Intervale Capital Signs Office Lease in Cambridge, MA
Intervale Capital Promotes Erich Horsley to Partner
Bios from Intervale Capital site:
Charles Cherington
Managing Partner
Charles co-founded Intervale Capital to build on the success of Cherington Capital, a private equity firm focused on investments in middle market energy companies. Prior to founding Cherington Capital, Charles co-founded a smaller fund which also focused on middle market buyouts. Charles has over fifteen years of private equity experience.
Before launching his first fund, Charles spent several years as a vice president at the Vietnam Fund, a British private equity fund. Charles also worked for CS First Boston in New York and Vietnam.
Charles earned an M.B.A., with honors, from the University of Chicago and a B.A. in History from Wesleyan University.
Erich Horsley
Partner
Erich started his private equity career in 1998, and has focused exclusively on buyouts of middle-market companies. Erich served as a Principal at Watermill Ventures, a private equity group based in Waltham, MA. He also served as a Vice President at a Boston-based private equity firm with $1.4 billion under management. Erich has spent most of his private equity career executing transactions and overseeing growth in industrial and energy-related businesses.
Erich was a Financial Analyst in the Corporate Finance Department of Morgan Stanley in New York and in Frankfurt, Germany from 1994 to 1996.
Erich received his B.A. in Psychology and English, with honors, from Harvard College and his M.B.A. from Harvard Business School.
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Travel chaos as storms lash Britain
Fierce storms have battered Britain with heavy rain and winds gusting over 100mph.
The latest round of unsettled weather added more misery to the January blues as people returned to work after the Christmas and New Year holidays.
Around the country trees fell onto railway tracks and power lines, lorries toppled over on busy roads and local authorities issued flood warnings after rivers swelled.
High seas caused the Port of Dover to close, gusts of wind damaged the roof to a stand at Epsom Downs Racecourse and a power surge led to a washing machine catching fire in Wales.
Commuters faced travel chaos as the bad weather meant some East Coast main line trains between London and Scotland had to start and terminate at Newcastle upon Tyne.
Gemma Plumb, a forecaster from Meteogroup, the weather division of the Press Association, said: “Everywhere has seen strong winds today. So far we’ve seen gusts across central and southern parts of Scotland of 85 to 97mph. That’s an hourly figure, so there’s a chance there may have been stronger gusts of more than 100mph.”
Figures published by the Met Office reported wind speeds of 106mph at Great Dun Fell in the north Pennines and 102mph in Edinburgh.
A bus driver had to be freed after a large tree fell on his vehicle, trapping him inside in Witley, Surrey. The single-decker Stagecoach bus was in Petworth Road when the oak tree, measuring 6ft across, fell on to it at about 8.25am.
A Surrey Police spokesman said: “It is believed that the driver, who was freed by fire crews, has suffered serious injuries and he is being taken to St George’s Hospital in Tooting. There was only one passenger on board the bus at the time of the incident, who escaped uninjured.”
In the South West, the Environment Agency has “yellow” flood alerts active on 21 rivers from Cornwall to Wiltshire. The Tamar Bridge, which spans the river between Devon and Cornwall, has been closed to high-sided vehicles because of strong winds.
http://tourism9.com/
The latest round of unsettled weather added more misery to the January blues as people returned to work after the Christmas and New Year holidays.
Around the country trees fell onto railway tracks and power lines, lorries toppled over on busy roads and local authorities issued flood warnings after rivers swelled.
High seas caused the Port of Dover to close, gusts of wind damaged the roof to a stand at Epsom Downs Racecourse and a power surge led to a washing machine catching fire in Wales.
Commuters faced travel chaos as the bad weather meant some East Coast main line trains between London and Scotland had to start and terminate at Newcastle upon Tyne.
Gemma Plumb, a forecaster from Meteogroup, the weather division of the Press Association, said: “Everywhere has seen strong winds today. So far we’ve seen gusts across central and southern parts of Scotland of 85 to 97mph. That’s an hourly figure, so there’s a chance there may have been stronger gusts of more than 100mph.”
Figures published by the Met Office reported wind speeds of 106mph at Great Dun Fell in the north Pennines and 102mph in Edinburgh.
A bus driver had to be freed after a large tree fell on his vehicle, trapping him inside in Witley, Surrey. The single-decker Stagecoach bus was in Petworth Road when the oak tree, measuring 6ft across, fell on to it at about 8.25am.
A Surrey Police spokesman said: “It is believed that the driver, who was freed by fire crews, has suffered serious injuries and he is being taken to St George’s Hospital in Tooting. There was only one passenger on board the bus at the time of the incident, who escaped uninjured.”
In the South West, the Environment Agency has “yellow” flood alerts active on 21 rivers from Cornwall to Wiltshire. The Tamar Bridge, which spans the river between Devon and Cornwall, has been closed to high-sided vehicles because of strong winds.
http://tourism9.com/
2012年1月2日星期一
RioCan Real Estate Investment Trust Announces Completion of Sheppard Centre and Alamo Ranch Purchases
TORONTO, ONTARIO–(Marketwire -12/05/11)- RioCan Real Estate Investment Trust (“RioCan”) (TSX: REI.UN) is pleased to announce that RioCan has completed the purchase of the Sheppard Centre on a 50/50 joint venture basis with its partner KingSett Capital. RioCan also purchased Alamo Ranch in San Antonio Texas on an 80/20 joint venture basis with Inland Western Retail REIT (“Inland Western”) (80% RioCan / 20% Inland Western).
On December 1, 2011, RioCan completed the acquisition of Sheppard Centre. Sheppard Centre, located at the northeast corner of Yonge and Sheppard, is a 673,000 square foot urban mixed use centre that contains retail, office, and residential uses. RioCan purchased the property on a 50/50 joint venture basis with KingSett Capital at a purchase price of $218 million at 100% ($109 million at RioCan’s interest). $190 million has been allocated to the income producing property and $28 million has been allocated to the excess residential density. The capitalization rate on year one income is 6.11%. RioCan will manage the property, act as leasing manager for the property and will be development manager in connection with any redevelopment of the property on a market fee basis. RioCan has entered into a new US$67.5 million bank credit facility to fund part of its portion of the purchase price.
The retail portion of the property has a weighted average lease term of 5.3 years, is 96.1% leased, and contains 257,039 square feet of retail space on four levels. The major tenants in the retail portion of the property are Cineplex, Winners, Shoppers Drug Mart, Bank of Montreal, CIBC, and TD Canada Trust. The office portion of the property has a weighted average lease term of 6.8 years, is 100% leased, and contains 415,815 square feet of office space in two towers, 19 and 9 storeys, respectively. Major tenants in the office portion of the property include Bank of Montreal and Aon Hewitt, who together lease approximately 82% of the office space. The property has direct access to both the Yonge and Sheppard subway lines and has three levels of underground parking that can accommodate more than 2,100 vehicles. Beyond the current retail and office uses, this property also has the potential for additional intensification through retail expansion and the addition of a residential/condominium component.
Recent Acquisition Activities – United States
On December 2, 2011, RioCan completed the purchase of Alamo Ranch, located in San Antonio, Texas. This is RioCan’s first acquisition in the San Antonio market. RioCan’s strategy has been to focus on the four large urban markets (Dallas-Fort Worth, Houston, San Antonio, and Austin) in Texas. The 465,000 square foot property was built in 2008. The centre is 88% occupied and has a weighted average lease term of 6.6 years. The property is shadow anchored by Target, JC Penney and Lowe’s. Major tenants at the property include Best Buy, Marshalls, Ross Dress for Less, and Dick’s Sporting Goods. The property was acquired on an 80/20 joint venture basis with Inland Western (80% RioCan / 20% Inland Western) for US$93.0 million (at 100%) or US$74.4 million at RioCan’s interest, which equates to a cap rate of 7.2%. The property was acquired free and clear of financing. The joint venture is in the process of securing conventional third party financing.
About RioCan
RioCan is Canada’s largest real estate investment trust with a total capitalization of approximately $11.9 billion as at September 30, 2011. It owns and manages Canada’s largest portfolio of shopping centres with ownership interests in a portfolio of 314 retail properties, including 10 under development, containing an aggregate of over 75 million square feet. RioCan owns an interest in 38 grocery anchored and new format retail centres in the United States through various joint venture arrangements. For further information, please refer to RioCan’s website at http://www.riocan.com/.
http://tourism9.com/
On December 1, 2011, RioCan completed the acquisition of Sheppard Centre. Sheppard Centre, located at the northeast corner of Yonge and Sheppard, is a 673,000 square foot urban mixed use centre that contains retail, office, and residential uses. RioCan purchased the property on a 50/50 joint venture basis with KingSett Capital at a purchase price of $218 million at 100% ($109 million at RioCan’s interest). $190 million has been allocated to the income producing property and $28 million has been allocated to the excess residential density. The capitalization rate on year one income is 6.11%. RioCan will manage the property, act as leasing manager for the property and will be development manager in connection with any redevelopment of the property on a market fee basis. RioCan has entered into a new US$67.5 million bank credit facility to fund part of its portion of the purchase price.
The retail portion of the property has a weighted average lease term of 5.3 years, is 96.1% leased, and contains 257,039 square feet of retail space on four levels. The major tenants in the retail portion of the property are Cineplex, Winners, Shoppers Drug Mart, Bank of Montreal, CIBC, and TD Canada Trust. The office portion of the property has a weighted average lease term of 6.8 years, is 100% leased, and contains 415,815 square feet of office space in two towers, 19 and 9 storeys, respectively. Major tenants in the office portion of the property include Bank of Montreal and Aon Hewitt, who together lease approximately 82% of the office space. The property has direct access to both the Yonge and Sheppard subway lines and has three levels of underground parking that can accommodate more than 2,100 vehicles. Beyond the current retail and office uses, this property also has the potential for additional intensification through retail expansion and the addition of a residential/condominium component.
Recent Acquisition Activities – United States
On December 2, 2011, RioCan completed the purchase of Alamo Ranch, located in San Antonio, Texas. This is RioCan’s first acquisition in the San Antonio market. RioCan’s strategy has been to focus on the four large urban markets (Dallas-Fort Worth, Houston, San Antonio, and Austin) in Texas. The 465,000 square foot property was built in 2008. The centre is 88% occupied and has a weighted average lease term of 6.6 years. The property is shadow anchored by Target, JC Penney and Lowe’s. Major tenants at the property include Best Buy, Marshalls, Ross Dress for Less, and Dick’s Sporting Goods. The property was acquired on an 80/20 joint venture basis with Inland Western (80% RioCan / 20% Inland Western) for US$93.0 million (at 100%) or US$74.4 million at RioCan’s interest, which equates to a cap rate of 7.2%. The property was acquired free and clear of financing. The joint venture is in the process of securing conventional third party financing.
About RioCan
RioCan is Canada’s largest real estate investment trust with a total capitalization of approximately $11.9 billion as at September 30, 2011. It owns and manages Canada’s largest portfolio of shopping centres with ownership interests in a portfolio of 314 retail properties, including 10 under development, containing an aggregate of over 75 million square feet. RioCan owns an interest in 38 grocery anchored and new format retail centres in the United States through various joint venture arrangements. For further information, please refer to RioCan’s website at http://www.riocan.com/.
http://tourism9.com/
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