Witness: Sal DiMasi credit quashed refinance loan - Boston Herald

By Laurel J. Sweet
Tuesday, May 17, 2011 - Updated 2 weeks ago
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A wonky credit score undercut Salvatore F. DiMasi’s 2006 attempt to refinance the $500,000 Needham home his wife inherited from her parents, a former loan officer who was asked to help ease the ex-House speaker’s cash-flow problems testified yesterday.

“We could not come up with a loan scenario that was suitable,” Michael Codair, a former sales manager for Patriot Funding, said at the Democrat’s corruption trial in Boston’s U.S. District Court.

DiMasi is defending against charges he took $65,000 to steer a Canadian software company, Cognos, state contracts that earned its local sales rep — and his close friend — Joseph P. Lally Jr. nearly $4 million in commissions. Federal prosecutors have attributed DiMasi’s money woes to a lavish lifestyle that rang up $50,000 in credit card debt alone.

Codair, 44, of North Andover said he could not recall what DiMasi’s credit score was or how large a loan he hoped to secure — even after assistant U.S. Attorney Anthony Fuller showed him a related e-mail to refresh his memory. Its contents were not shared with the jury.

In what never progressed beyond an informal inquiry, Codair said he dealt with DiMasi’s accountant and co-defendant, Richard Vitale, and Vitale’s employee Barbara Martin, who is expected to questioned about why DiMasi was deemed a poor credit risk.

Codair said when he suggested DiMasi add his bride Debbie, 46, to an application as a co-borrower, all communication with Vitale and Martin stopped.

“There was a pause, like (Vitale) understood, and we were just awaiting feedback on how they wanted to proceed,” Codair said. “That was the last information I had on that.”

Soon afterward, Vitale extended DiMasi a $250,000 third mortgage on his North End condo. Prosecutors have said that as part of a bid-rigging scheme, DiMasi helped orchestrate a sham tax-consulting contract between Vitale and Cognos that paid Vitale $600,000, but never called on him to do a day’s work. For the money reviews >> Mortgage Refinance Online Reviews .

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Property group refinancing hit by errors - Financial Times

FT.com / Companies / Property - Refinance woes deal fresh blow for Hands .arrow-colour {background-image: url(https://registration.ft.com/FTCOM/Images/nidDefaultArrow.gif);} .primary-text-colour {color: #ffffff;} .secondary-text-colour {color: #ffffff;} .tertiary-text-colour {color: #003399;} .nav-highlight-colour {color:#990000 !important;background-image:url(https://registration.ft.com/FTCOM/Images/arrow_right_red_sml.gif) !important;} .primary-bg-colour {background-color: #666666;} .secondary-bg-colour {background-color: #999691;} .tertiary-bg-colour {background-color: #f6f2ee;} .nav-border-colour {border-color: #d4ccc0 !important;} .nav-briefing-text-colour {color: #003399;}Skip to main content, accesskey 's'Homepage, accesskey '1'Financial Times FT.com Search FT.com
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By Daniel Thomas in London and Daniel Schäfer in Frankfurt

Published: May 26 2011 20:53 | Last updated: May 26 2011 20:53

Attempts to refinance Europe’s largest single securitised loan backing a German residential property company controlled by Guy Hands’ Terra Firma are being stalled by flaws in the debt’s documentation.

Deutsche Annington, acquired by Terra Firma 11 years ago, has just over two years to refinance €5.1bn ($7.2bn) of debt set to mature against a backdrop of credit-starved property markets across Europe. See also - Mortgage Refinance Online Reviews .

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Ireland's National Asset Management Agency to cash in its UK loan portfolio - The Guardian

The Citigroup tower has been put up for sale with a £1bn price tag by cash-strapped Irish developer, Derek Quinlan.

Ireland's "bad bank", the National Asset Management Agency (Nama), is to ditch all its London property by 2013 in what could be the biggest ever fire sale of trophy buildings in the UK capital.

It will sell or refinance the entire portfolio of properties it controls after being charged with getting rid of the debt mountain amassed by developers during Ireland's disastrous property boom. Among the buildings set for disposal or for refinancing are the Citigroup Tower in Canary Wharf, the Louis Vuitton shop on Bond Street and the landmark 23 Savile Row office block in Mayfair.

With some €19bn (£16.5bn) in its charge, Nama is now one of the key property owners in London with assets throughout the city. Its property portfolio includes the Odeon Cinema site in Leicester Square, the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Shoreditch, a shopping centre in Ealing and at least half a dozen blocks of flats in Docklands.

Graham Emmett, head of lending and corporate finance at the agency, told Property Week: "The UK is a more liquid real estate market structurally than Ireland and, with 27% of the loan portfolio here, this is where we can achieve our near-term aim of repaying 25% of the Nama bonds by 2013. Thus we plan to try and exit the UK exposures in the next two to three years, through borrower-led asset sales and refinancing."

The trade paper described the development as "one of the most dramatic sales the market has ever seen".

The decision to quit London is a U-turn for the agency, which hitherto indicated it would hold on to London properties and go for an orderly sale over seven to 10 years to benefit from the rising market. The agency's chief executive, Brendan McDonagh, said last month it would seek to dispose of just 25% of its UK portfolio by 2013.

But the leading commercial property firm DTZ said Nama was making a wise move amid fears that the value of its Irish portfolio, down by 50% in places, could be battered even further.

"You've got to remember Nama has a duty to the taxpayer and it has to get a return. There has been a lot of uncertainty over the last two or three years and I think they've said quite rightly, let's get on with it and get some loot in. Their view is the UK market is strong," he said. There is a drought of good quality property in the market and NAMA would do well, he said.

Fergus Keane, head of West End investment at DTZ, said: "There's no such thing as a fire sale in London, nothing's cheap. The story isn't everything must go, but everything will go and at top price."

Nama bought the properties at a discounted price of about €9bn and has recouped €3.3bn from sale or refinancing deals that include Claridge's hotel and Battersea power station which was refinanced this month in a debt-for-equity swap. Much of the property was bought on the back of cheap credit from Irish banks, and now the property developers and investors who once enjoyed a high life of private jets, helicopters and second, third and fourth homes are under pressure.

Nama refuses to specify which properties it has but it is understood that the owner of the block housing Louis Vuitton is David Daly, a low-profile Dublin developer. David Daly. David Arnold, another Dubliner, has also had his business, D2 Private, absorbed into Nama. It is behind four prize London assets including 23 Savile Row, Paddington Waterside, Woolgate Exchange in the East End and 12 St James's Square.

The developer who took the most spectacular fall is the tax inspector turned property investor Derek Quinlan. He was forced to sell the "style mile" of shop space between Harrods and Harvey Nichols in Knightsbridge, which houses several top fashion chains. Elsewhere, he has also been forced to put his Citigroup tower in Canary Wharf up for sale with a £1bn price tag . Another high-profile Nama developer is Ray Grehan, who this month saw his London portfolio put into administration. The for-sale sign will go up on his assets, which include the 196-bed Crowne Plaza hotel in Shoreditch and two developments in the Docklands including a 128-flat block called the Forge in Canary Wharf and a proposed 62-storey residential and hotel tower, designed by Foster & Partners on the site of the City Pride pub near South Quay. Another property owned by Grehanis Ealing Arcadia, a retail park in Ealing Broadway.

Others that will be affected are Ballymore, which has about 60 sites around the capital, with half a dozen residential towers in Docklands including Pan Peninsula and Baltimore Wharf. It has recently sold £350m worth of land to reduce debt and is believed to have more than £500m in Nama. It has agreed with Nama to cut its borrowings through debt for equity deals. Also > Mortgage Refinance Online Reviews

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Warning Regarding Mortgage Loan Modification Activity - LoanSafe

(Source: State of new Jersey Department of Banking and Insurance) - A recent development in the ongoing mortgage and foreclosure crisis is the emergence of a new type of business which purports to offer “loss mitigation consulting,” “foreclosure prevention,” “mortgage loan modification,” and similar services.  The Department of Banking and Insurance has seen an increasing number of advertisements, direct-mail solicitations and other marketing materials offering New Jersey consumers assistance in negotiating resolutions of their delinquent residential mortgage loans with lenders and servicers in exchange for up-front fees. The Department has also seen solicitations to licensees and to attorneys to partner with companies that purport to offer such services.  These marketing materials suggest that these businesses will help delinquent borrowers obtain payment plans, loan modifications, short sales and deeds in lieu of foreclosure.  Mortgage bankers, brokers and solicitors have been targeted by these businesses in hopes of obtaining referrals.

The Department has begun to receive consumer complaints regarding fees paid to parties providing these services.  The Department has also received inquiries from persons interested in entering such a business.  As a result, the Department is providing answers to some of the most frequently asked questions below:

Frequently Asked Questions
1. What is a Loan Modification?

A loan modification involves modifying the terms of an existing loan, typically to make it more immediately affordable for a borrower in default or in imminent danger of default, for instance because of a scheduled rate increase.  The terms commonly modified are the interest rate and/or the term of loan.  A loan modification is not a form of mortgage loan refinance or second mortgage activity.

Typically, loan modification activity falls into the category of “debt adjustment” as defined in New Jersey’s Debt Adjuster Act.

A “debt adjuster” is a person who either (a) acts or offers to act for a consideration as an intermediary between a debtor and his creditors for the purpose of settling, compounding, or otherwise altering the terms of payment of any debts of the debtor, or (b) who, to that end, receives money or other property from the debtor, or on behalf of the debtor, for payment to, or distribution among, the creditors of the debtor. [N.J.S.A. 17:16G-1c(1)].

2. What businesses may legally engage in loan modification activity that involves debt adjustment?

a) The lender or owner of the loan;

b) The mortgage servicing company, acting as an agent for the loan’s owner;

c) An entity licensed by the Department as a Debt Adjuster under the Debt Adjuster Act; and

d) Other entities that are exempt from Debt Adjuster licensure, as set forth at N.J.S.A. 17:16G-1c(2):

The following persons shall not be deemed debt adjusters: (a) an attorney-at-law of this State who is not principally engaged as a debt adjuster; (b) a person who is a regular, full-time employee of a debtor, and who acts as an adjuster of his employer’s debts; (c) a person acting pursuant to any order or judgment of court, or pursuant to authority conferred by any law of this State or the United States; (d) a person who is a creditor of the debtor, or an agent of one or more creditors of the debtor, and whose services in adjusting the debtor’s debts are rendered without cost to the debtor; or (e) a person who, at the request of a debtor, arranges for or makes a loan to the debtor, and who, at the authorization of the debtor, acts as an adjuster of the debtor’s debts in the disbursement of the proceeds of the loan, without compensation for the services rendered in adjusting those debts.

3. What businesses may not legally engage in loan modification activity that involves debt adjustment?

a) Any person or entity not exempt from the Debt Adjuster Act licensing requirement, and not licensed as a debt adjuster; and

b) Any mortgage banker, correspondent mortgage banker, mortgage broker, or mortgage solicitor licensed or registered under the Licensed Lenders Act, who is not the owner or agent of the owner of the loan being modified.

4. What do consumers risk by seeking help from entities offering loan modification services who do not have a debt adjuster license or exemption?

a) Payment of exorbitant upfront fees for services available from a proper source for free or at minimal cost;

b) Loss of fees paid, with no services rendered, and/or no protection from financial loss under a surety bond (Debt Adjuster licensees are required to be bonded in the minimum amount of $50,000.);

c) Loss of precious time in the midst of a default or foreclosure process;

d) Loss of title to the home without any real benefit, under certain scams; and

e) Further damage to credit profile.

The Department will investigate complaints relating to unlicensed persons offering loss mitigation consulting, foreclosure prevention, loan modification and similar services and will pursue appropriate remedies.  Consumers who wish to file a complaint with the Department may go to the appropriate form on this site:

* File a complaint with the Department

5. What business risks are involved in conducting loan modification activity without a license or exemption?

a) State of New Jersey enforcement action for fines and injunctive relief under the Debt Adjuster Act;

b) Criminal prosecution; and

c) Actions by individual consumers or the NJ Attorney General under the Consumer Fraud Act and other civil law suits for money damages sustained by consumers.

All persons who may provide or seek to provide loss mitigation consulting, foreclosure prevention, mortgage loan modification, or similar services are urged to carefully review the Debt Adjusters Act with their counsel to assure compliance.

Source: State of new Jersey Department of Banking and Insurance. Also see http://mortgagerefinanceonline.co.uk/ .

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