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IN: AG Carter’s Pick for Successor Fights On to the General
Last Updated on Monday, 9 June 2008 10:36 Written by rslcpol Friday, 6 June 2008 01:45
From the Post Tribune:
Valparaiso Mayor Jon Costas’ campaign for state attorney general came to a screeching stop Monday on the floor of the State Republican Convention.
Costas lost 1,061 to 707 to Deputy Attorney General Greg Zoeller in a vote by Republican Party delegates to name the party’s nominee for the general election.
Costas lost despite the endorsement of Gov. Mitch Daniels, which the mayor said carries only so much weight in a vote by party regulars.
“These delegates are independent thinkers,” Costas said. “While (the governor’s support) helps, they will make up their own minds.”
Costas said he faced an uphill battle to gain statewide name recognition in a short time after Attorney General Steve Carter announced this spring he would not seek re-election. “I’ve got to sell my own self,” he said.
Carter endorsement cited
Carter’s endorsement of his deputy was a big aid to Zoeller’s campaign, Costas said.
“Steve Carter is very well-respected and he was out campaigning hard for Greg,” Costas said.
The respect was apparent at the convention. When Carter mentioned in his farewell speech the Lake County vote fraud investigation he has made a cornerstone of his administration, a cheer erupted from the Lake County delegation on the convention floor.
Zoeller said he made a point to tell as many Lake County Republican delegates as he could find that he will continue Carter’s political corruption initiatives.
Meanwhile, Linda Pence officially declared her intentions to run – let the hyperbole fest begin:
Pence is the first Democratic candidate to step forward since former U.S. Rep. Jill Long Thompson won the nomination to run for governor in Indiana’s May 6 primary election.
In past years, Democrats have scrambled to find candidates for statewide office, so party leaders were delighted when Pence announced .
Thursday, in a series of news conferences around the state, Pence promised to use the office to investigate such issues as mortgage and consumer fraud; methamphetamine and drug abuse; the abuse of children by sexual predators; and potential price-gouging by oil companies.
She cited her experience in the U.S. Department of Justice, where she worked from 1974 to 1983, prosecuting “executives who were stealing from Americans and committing corporate crimes.”
“I put them behind bars,” said Pence, who is in private practice with the law firm of Taft Stettinius & Hollister. “I am tireless. I am relentless. For 34 years I have practiced law, concentrating on protecting those who need it most. I have prosecuted criminals. I have made Big Oil pay. I have punished polluters.”
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States Act to stem Foreclosure Scams
Last Updated on Wednesday, 28 May 2008 01:47 Written by rslcpol Wednesday, 28 May 2008 01:47
From Stateline.org:
These so-called mortgage-rescue companies promise that for fees of about $1,000 to $2,500, they can negotiate loans with providers to get owners lower monthly payments. Or they offer deals that suggest homeowners temporarily deed their homes to the company or a third party, theoretically to allow the homeowners time to get back on their feet financially.
But in some cases, these “solutions” have turned out to be far worse than the problem.At a time when the subprime mortgage crisis has caused a record number of homeowners to enter foreclosure, scam artists have made a bustling industry of preying on people’s desperation to save their homes.
States are leading the effort to help homeowners avoid these scams; at least 18 states have laws banning foreclosure-rescue scams by limiting some of practices that lead to them, and six of them — Idaho, Maine, Nebraska, Oregon, Virginia and Washington — enacted laws just this year, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. A similar bill is now on the desk of Florida Gov. Charlie Crist (R).
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MN: AG Fires Whistleblower
Last Updated on Wednesday, 28 May 2008 12:40 Written by rslcpol Wednesday, 28 May 2008 12:40
From the AP:
A government lawyer who accused Attorney General Lori Swanson of pushing ethical boundaries was fired Tuesday, coinciding with the release of a report discrediting claims that two lawsuits related to mortgage foreclosures were crafted to suit a public-relations strategy.
Assistant Attorney General Amy Lawler, who had been on administrative leave for two months, was officially terminated, a spokesman for Swanson said. Lawler didn’t immediately return two phone messages.
Lawler had been among the most vocal critics of Swanson’s management and was part of a long-shot effort to unionize attorneys. Lawler, a Harvard graduate who was relatively new to her job, said she and others faced pressure to prematurely file lawsuits and make other ethically questionable moves to further an office agenda.
Posted under Attorney General News, Dems Behaving Badly | No Comments
MN: Dem AG – Awkward Politician?
Last Updated on Monday, 12 May 2008 01:47 Written by rslcpol Monday, 12 May 2008 11:31
It seems that Democrat state and local elected officials are more often defined with how they conduct the inner affairs of their offices, instead of how they conduct the actual business of their offices – relax, there’s no Marc Dann type thing in Ms. Swanson’s closet – we’re just saying the bickering seems to trump policy. From the Star Tribune:
To some, she’s a consumer champion who has targeted alleged scams against the elderly, mortgage fraud, cell-phone billing practices and dangerous Chinese toys.
To others, she’s an awkward politician and micromanager who has driven off much of her staff and alienated part of a key DFL constituency, organized labor.
Swanson, 41, has assumed much of the agenda, some of the baggage and none of the public swagger of her predecessor and former boss, Mike Hatch. While Hatch relished announcing consumer lawsuits with fanfare, Swanson conducts business with little drama. Hatch often called reporters and sometimes called them bad names. Swanson seldom calls at all.
“Mike Hatch was always seeking publicity because he always had his eyes on higher office,” said Carleton College political scientist Steven Schier. Swanson shuns the limelight because “she is personally uncomfortable with it and doesn’t see a career need to do it.”
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CT: Lawmakers Fight Credit Card Fees
Last Updated on Wednesday, 30 April 2008 09:31 Written by rslcpol Wednesday, 30 April 2008 09:31
The Florida-based Bankrate.com, which tracks interest rate trends, says the average fixed-rate credit card carries an interest rate of 13 percent, while cards with a variable rate have an average 12 percent rate. But consumers often can pay double those rates because of late payments or other violations of credit-card terms.
”We receive literally hundreds of these complaints every year, and we fight for every individual as best we can,” said Attorney General Richard Blumenthal. But he says his office is limited by current federal laws, which he says pre-empt many of Connecticut’s consumer-protection provisions.
”And we’re dealing with some of the biggest, wealthiest most powerful, institutions in the country,” Blumenthal said.
Dodd said that abuses by some credit card companies are worse than those found with the worst subprime mortgages. He said most people’s salaries have not kept up with inflation, and high energy and gas costs, so they’re using credit cards to get by.
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ID: GOP AG Hosts Energy Conference
Last Updated on Tuesday, 15 April 2008 02:39 Written by rslcpol Tuesday, 15 April 2008 11:05
Biggest issue of the 2008 elections will be what? Energy? Mortgage crisis? Health care? Immigration? Pick one – heck pick all four!
Idaho Attorney General Lawrence Wasden will host a two day summit on energy issues May 5-7, in Coeur d’Alene. According to a press release, Wasden will host discussions with the states’ chief legal officers, energy industry representatives, federal regulators, environmentalists and other advocacy groups to address growing consumer concerns and the impact on state resources.
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MN: Number 2 Employer; Number 1 in High Cost Loans
Last Updated on Monday, 7 April 2008 11:56 Written by rslcpol Monday, 7 April 2008 11:31
Wells Fargo, Minnesota’s second-largest employer, holds the title of the largest financial institution in the state. The banking giant has what it calls banking stores (180 in Minnesota), mortgage stores and financial stores dotting every area of the Land of 10,000 Lakes. But Wells Fargo also holds another title: the institution most likely to target minorities with high-cost (subprime) loans, regardless of income.
In fact, in a multi-state study last year by a variety of nonpartisan organizations, data indicated that Wells Fargo was 10 times more likely to sell a high-cost loan to African-American borrowers than whites. In Chicago, the city to suffer from the biggest racial disparities, 35 percent of African-Americans received high-cost loans (again, regardless of income) versus only 2.5 percent of whites. And how did the nefarious Countrywide Financial fare in this study? That financial institution had an African-American/white disparity ratio of 4.9, or half of that of Wells Fargo.
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Mortage Bailout Company Banned From Idaho
Last Updated on Thursday, 27 March 2008 11:21 Written by rslcpol Thursday, 27 March 2008 11:21
A Florida company that claimed it could bail Idahoans out of foreclosure is no longer allowed to do business in Idaho, according to Idaho Attorney General Lawrence Wasden.Wasden’s office reached an agreement with the company to cease advertising in Idaho after consumers complained about advertisements the company had sent to their homes.
Idahoans filed complaints against Mortgage Assistance Solutions alleging that they were sent a direct-mail advertisement that stated, in bold, red letters: “FORECLOSURE COMPLAINT NOTICE.” The advertisement stated that the consumers’ homes were “scheduled to be sold at auction.”
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CT: State Seeks Millions From Bankrupt Firm
Last Updated on Tuesday, 26 February 2008 11:10 Written by rslcpol Tuesday, 26 February 2008 11:10
The state has filed a claim in U.S. Bankruptcy Court seeking to recover more than $2.6 million the state says Mortgage Lenders Network USA Inc. owes its former employees.
Attorney General Richard Blumenthal and the state Department of Labor filed the claim Monday in bankruptcy court in Delaware. MLN, a subprime lender based in Middletown, filed for bankruptcy more than a year ago.
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New York Dem AG Cuomo Nearing Deal With Fannie, Freddie
Last Updated on Tuesday, 26 February 2008 10:48 Written by rslcpol Tuesday, 26 February 2008 10:48
BOSTON (MarketWatch) — New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo is working on a deal with mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac that would call for their lending partners to have independent home appraisals, according to published reports Tuesday.
Under the agreement being hashed out, home appraisals would be required to be performed by assessors that don’t have connections with a lender or mortgage broker, Reuters reported, citing sources familiar with the matter. The deal could be completed as soon as Tuesday, according to the report.
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