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ABA Journal:
Equifax’s June edition of its National Consumer Credit Trends Report shows a sharp decline in the number of delinquent mortgage balances. New figures released by the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network show California, Nevada and Florida to be the states with the highest incidence of debt elimination and foreclosure rescue schemes. Google announced its new Nexus 7 tablet complete with an updated version of its popular Android OS called Jelly Bean. In a new report released by data research firm Core Logic, the foreclosure rate in Phoenix has continued to fall. A Phoenix area mortgage broker is being sued over allegedly manipulating FHA down payment requirements. The Lending Company, Wells Fargo Funding and RJ Reynolds are all named as defendants in the class action suit. Homes are getting bigger. Does that mean the housing market is getting stronger? Newly released data from the U.S. Census Bureau shows homes are growing in size. In fact we may see a high water mark in 2012. According to this article, homes are typically built smaller in times of economic downturn and larger during times of prosperity. The latest data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics shows Arizona enjoyed the 3rd highest spike in construction job growth in May, trailing only Texas and California. A recent report by the U.S. Department of Commerce states a decline in housing starts due to the slowdown in the apartment and multi-family sector. However there was an increase in permits, which is an indicator of future starts, and also single family housing starts currently underway. A recent report from a Phoenix area title company shows the Phoenix housing market continues to pick up steam. The report released by Grand Canyon Title Agency, Inc. also shows a sharp decline in the number of foreclosures. If you have an existing FHA loan on your primary residence and a fairly good credit score, you may be able to take advantage of the FHA Streamlined Refinancing Program, which eliminates many of the complex steps involved in a typical FHA refinance. No appraisal is required as long as the borrower reduces their payment by 5 percent, which has caused many to liken this program to the HARP 2.0 program. Key requirements of the FHA Streamlined Program include the following:
This revamped version of the Home Affordable Refinancing Plan shows promise for helping seriously underwater homeowners in Arizona. Read more… The Arizona Housing Department awarded $20 million in tax credits to 18 projects last week and has worked out deals for the projects to be completed in almost half the time. These credits are expected to save each developer approximately $1 million on new Arizona projects and encourage additional housing development over the next decade. Read more… Between March 2011 and March 2012, U.S. homes sold to foreign buyers rose 24 percent, with 51 percent of the purchases by foreigners occurring in Arizona, California, Florida and Texas. Read more… azcentral.com: The Supreme Court is expected to rule on the constitutionality of some provisions of the “Affordable Care Act” (Obamacare). At this point, however, an article in azcentral.com explains why analysts expect that the ruling will not change the tide that will cause more employees in Arizona to pay more fees for health care. Employers are choosing plans that force employees to front the first $1000 to $10,000 of their health care before their coverage begins. As a result, an increasingly well-researched population of patients will use the internet to pick and choose which procedures they can afford just as they might pick from a cafeteria line. This seems to set up patients and doctors alike for failure. Lawyers, however, should become busier drafting waivers and releases to ensure doctors are able to perform the services patients request in these isolated circumstances. findlaw.com: Have you been hurt in an accident that wasn’t your fault? No, we’re not hawking legal services on television. We just want to let you know that you may need to bring a serious claim if you’re hoping to collect on the pain and suffering. This article details the factors that jurors may consider:
ABA Journal: “New statistics from NALP paint a bleak picture of the job market for 2011 law grads. The overall employment rate nine months after graduation was 85.6 percent, the lowest it has been since 1994, according to a NALP – The Association for Legal Career Professionals press release. But the employment rate doesn’t tell the whole, dismal story. Among law grads whose employment status was known, only 65.4 percent were in jobs requiring bar passage, the lowest percentage ever measured by NALP. The number has fallen nine percentage points since 2008. Only 60 percent were working full-time as lawyers in jobs that required bar passage.” ABA Journal: “The U.S. Supreme Court is suffering from public perception problems, as a new poll shows declining public approval and opposition to lifetime tenure. Sixty percent of those surveyed by the New York Times and CBS News said they believe that appointing Supreme Court justices for life is a bad thing because it gives them too much power. Thirty-three percent, on the other hand, said lifetime appointments were a good thing because it keeps the justices independent.” ABA Journal: “In past economic downturns, the number of law school applicants jumped as students extended their studies rather than look for jobs in a down market. But this year at least 10 law schools are cutting class sizes in an “unprecedented” nod to the changing legal profession, the Wall Street Journal (sub. req.) reports. The number of applicants is also down by 14 percent from last year.” Estate of Denial: “For a man who’s been diagnosed with diabetes, you’d never guess that about Steven Cooksey. His life choices fly directly in the face of the American Diabetes Association’s recommendations for people living with the disease. He maintains a no-grain/low-carbohydrate diet, commonly known as the Paleo diet, and as a result is in fantastic health. Incredibly, because of his dietary decisions, Cooksey no longer requires insulin injections (on his website, he states that before adopting the Paleo diet he was taking four insulin shots a day). With those kind of seemingly miraculous results, it’s no surprise that Cooksey wanted to share his story and hopefully help others with what he’s learned through his own research and experience. While trying to help others, Cooksey also has no problem making his disagreements with the ADA known. However, little did he know that by blogging about his success in maintaining his diabetes with the Paleo diet while also lambasting the ADA for its dietary policies would lead to him becoming a target for government censorship.” Algorithms could be used to make predictions based on the historical data, Law Technology News reports. “Called quantitative legal prediction, it’s basically what happens when the latest technology trend—called ‘big data’—meets the law,” the story says. “And it just might change how corporate general counsel and BigLaw manage legal matters and costs, how they craft legal arguments, and whether, how, and where they file a lawsuit.”” ABA Journal: “Arizona State University’s Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law isn’t the first to consider helping new graduates hard-hit by the dismal legal economy establish their own law firms. But it’s hoping to do so in a bigger way than others than other law schools have previously done. Dean Douglas Sylvester hopes to create an affiliated program akin to a medical residency for new graduates at what is being billed as the nation’s first large-scale nonprofit law firm for training attorneys, the National Law Journal (reg. req.) reports in an article reprinted in the New York Law Journal.” New York Times: “The economics of legal education are broken. The problem is that the cost of a law degree is now vastly out of proportion to the economic opportunities obtained by the majority of graduates. The average debt of law graduates tops $100,000, and most new lawyers do not earn salaries sufficient to make the monthly payments on this debt. More than one-third of law graduates in recent years have failed to obtain lawyer jobs. Thousands of new law graduates will enter a government-sponsored debt relief program, and many will never fully pay off their law school debt. How did we get into this mess? And how do we get out? Two factors have combined to produce this situation: the federal loan system and the American Bar Association-imposed accreditation standards for law schools. Both need to be reformed.” Philanthropy.com: “The federal government is asking big nonprofits like universities and hospitals to spend too much time and money reporting on their finances and other activities, nonprofit officials told members of Congress today at a hearing held by the House Ways and Means Committee. The wide-ranging hearing, the first in a series of sessions expected to be held by a Ways and Means subcommittee that oversees the Internal Revenue Service, also featured a call to change the standards for getting charity status so that groups would have to prove they are making a positive contribution, rather than giving them an exemption simply because they avoid things like lobbying and engaging in untaxed business activities.” New York Times: “New York City plans to enact a far-reaching ban on the sale of large sodas and other sugary drinks at restaurants, movie theaters and street carts, in the most ambitious effort yet by the Bloomberg administration to combat rising obesity. The proposed ban would affect virtually the entire menu of popular sugary drinks found in delis, fast-food franchises and even sports arenas, from energy drinks to pre-sweetened iced teas. The sale of any cup or bottle of sweetened drink larger than 16 fluid ounces — about the size of a medium coffee, and smaller than a common soda bottle — would be prohibited under the first-in-the-nation plan, which could take effect as soon as next March. The measure would not apply to diet sodas, fruit juices, dairy-based drinks like milkshakes, or alcoholic beverages; it would not extend to beverages sold in grocery or convenience stores.” U-T San Diego: “A judge ruled Wednesday that SeaWorld will have to find a way to protect its trainers during performances involving killer whales, a decision that stemmed from a trainer’s 2010 death at the Orlando park. The ruling, which followed a nine-day hearing last year before an administrative law judge, could potentially keep trainers out of the water during SeaWorld’s iconic Shamu performances at its parks, including San Diego’s. Long an integral part of the show, the water work was immediately suspended in February 2010 when Dawn Brancheau, a trainer at the Orlando park was battered and drowned by Tilikum, a 12,000-pound male orca, as spectators looked on. The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration had fined SeaWorld $75,000 and issued three safety violations, the most serious of which accused the park of exposing its employees to the possibility of being struck by or drowned by killer whales.” ABA Journal: “A federal appeals court has struck down part of the federal Defense of Marriage Act. The Boston-based 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled the law discriminates against married gay couples who are denied federal benefits, the Associated Press reports. The case is “all but certain to wind up before the U.S. Supreme Court,” AP says. Ruling on equal protection and federalism grounds, the appeals court said rationales offered in support of the federal benefit ban are not sufficient.” CNN: “Retired Justice John Paul Stevens had harsh words for his former conservative colleagues Wednesday, saying they have inconsistently applied the law two years after a sweeping ruling dealing with campaign finance reform. That controversial decision, known as Citizens United, gave corporations — individuals, unions, businesses and advocacy groups — greater power to spend unlimited amounts of money to support or oppose federal election candidates. Stevens issued a bitter dissent in that case, months before stepping down from the high court after 35 years on the bench. He said Congress had long imposed reasonable limits on corporate spending as a way to curb the potentially corrupting influence by the wealthy, whose voices would be heard above those of others in the crowded political landscape.” |
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