Making Money Marketing

When profits are down business owners tend to dwell on formulating the next big idea, a new marketing strategy, and, of course, on what they are doing wrong. But there are other areas that many people don’t think of exploring - or avoid all together. These are the emotional blocks to money, success and happiness.

Money, or the lack of, stimulates fear. Survival instincts are threatened and negative emotions that may have been stored deep inside will often surface, only to aggravate the situation and lessen the ability to succeed.

Let’s take a look at three areas that you can explore to free yourself of the emotional barriers that will keep you from the success and profits that you deserve.

Forgiveness – If you are an entrepreneur then you have most likely suffered your share of financial trauma. After all, entrepreneurs are risk takers and money is one of the first things we put at risk when we have an idea that we belief in. Money loss is a trauma that we tend to minimize because it’s “just money”.   But financial security is an important value to nearly everyone because it dictates our ability to survive in this world. For men, who our ancestors labeled as the providers, financial security is often a very important core value. Therefore, losing money can affect them to the core and the guilt, shame and worry may remain embedded within them for a very long time.

It’s time to forgive yourself. Plain and simple; being an entrepreneur isn’t always a choice – it’s who you are. Taking risk is a part of the learning and the experience that takes you toward success. If that means that you “fail” from time to time, so be it. Releasing this emotion and pain is critical to your future success. Guilt and shame create a heavy burden, how can you let it go?

Consider some less conventional techniques like hypnosis or the emotional freedom techniques. Sometimes talking about it and rationalizing it isn’t enough. Take another risk and find a new way to let go so that you can let success into your life.

Feeling – If you can’t feel wealth, you won’t attract wealth. How much do you believe that you were born to achieve success? Can you close your eyes and feel, smell – truly experience wealth? This is something to practice on a daily basis. The more you believe it and experience it, the more your behavior and thinking will shift to allow for wealth. Begin with only 30-60 seconds of imagining your life of success. Create a snapshot of your successful future and practice stepping into the feeling of it. You might notice a swelling of the heart, the sensation of excitement and expectation, or a sense of overall peace. Hold this positive feeling in place and get used to it. Increase the time of your visualization as you become more adept at it. Before long you will begin to notice opportunities coming into your life or things may just begin falling into place for you. It’s a simple attitude adjustment that will make a difference.

Fearlessness – Fear has a paralyzing effect on our creativity and ability to act. If you are living in fear you are less likely to have a clear picture of your next action steps. You may find that procrastination and overwhelm are your daily companions and at the end of the day it seems nothing notable has been achieved. Sound familiar? It’s time to let go of the fear and step into your fearless state. I’m not suggesting that you become reckless, but that you find creative ways to rectify your situation and act from a collected, rational, and confident place.

If money is an issue you’ve probably run circles in your mind trying to think of solutions but haven’t acted on any of them. Is it time for a part time job? This doesn’t mean you are quitting your dream, just allowing it to become a bit more accessible. Do you have another skill that you can put to work while you build your business? Can you market to past customers to create a boost in sales? Think outside of the box and act on your solution.

Do you have a fear of success or failure? If you perceive that there are any negative consequences to success it's time to explore this limiting belief. Again, try something that may be considered “unconventional” to explore if these fears exist so that you can let them go. Ask someone who you see as successful what they’ve done to combat their fears – believe me, they’ve had them too! And try stepping out of the box to experience a different type of risk and reignite your energy. Is there something adventurous that you’ve always wanted to try but never have? What will “shake it up” a bit to unearth your courage and commitment to moving forward? How can you break the pattern and step into your fearless state?

These may sound like simple steps, but this type of change is a tall order. Surround yourself with support as you make create change; a coach, mentor and mastermind group are all a tremendous source of support and fresh ideas.

Have you found your way to a “Million Dollar Mindset?” Share your experience and tips with us here!

I think we are all in agreement that Google has a lot of really good points and equal amounts of bad ones, right? I chalk it up to no one is perfect especially when you are cutting a new path.

Well, I would like to take the time to congratulate Google on using their technology for something more than just marketing and making a buck (although they may make money from this but how is beyond me). A post from the Google LatLong blog this past week tells how they are using maps to bring to life the reality, the horror and the important history of World War II.

Few events in human history have the scale of World War II. It’s spatial breadth and temporal extent make it difficult to comprehend by those of us too young to have lived it. There are history books, movies, and photographs, but they portray isolated places and events more than the connected whole. So we’ve addressed this by launching historical imagery in Google Earth in a number of new areas, including London in 1945, in coordination with archivists in these countries.

Here is a picture of London from then and now

Warsaw. Poland. In 1935 on the left and 1945 on the right when 85% of the structures had been wiped out by war.

If you are interested in seeing this in action here’s how

Nearly all of 1945 London awaits your exploration. Enjoying it is easy. Just start Google Earth (install it here if you’re not one of the 700 million who already have) and type London as your destination in the upper left. Then, click on the clock icon to enable historic imagery.

If you are in the US and are at least awake on a daily basis you know that there are critical elections coming up on November 2. We sit on two sides of a broken fence and take shots at each other for ideology and more personal things. We complain. We bitch. We moan. Also, we take it all for granted.

On my opinion, a more important day is Veteran’s Day on November 11th which will come and go with little fanfare. Why? Because people forget that others have sacrificed for our current way of life. Google is helping to remind us of the history and its importance by showing just what happened in World War II through their maps function.

So what does this have to do with marketing? Nothing and everything all at once. Nothing because it’s not the usual information we discuss about Internet marketing and its impact etc, etc. here at Marketing Pilgrim. It is, however, very much about the freedoms that have been preserved through time that allow us to make things like Internet marketing important, even when in the end they really are not.

Oh and by the way. Another reason I truly appreciate what Google is doing here is that in January of 1945 my mom lost her father and I lost my grandfather (long before I was even born) at the Battle of the Bulge. On the good days when I am in a ticked-off mood and I write something mean-spirited, I think about whether the sacrifice of my grandfather’s life is honored by that activity. Many days, it keeps me in check.

This history that Google is preserving is part of my history and still very much a part of my present. War and its impact is powerful and we must never forget what has been done so we can live a life today that, even with its troubles, is far better than even just 100 short years ago. Thinking from time to time about what people have done for us may keep us all in check and maybe even interested in greater things than just business, profit, power etc.

Thanks Google for making this happen. It may not be marketing but it’s so much more.

Social Media Monitoring in Just 60-Seconds. Guaranteed!

Arrowheadlines: Chiefs <b>News</b> 10/27 - Arrowhead Pride

Good morning Chiefs fans! There's some interesting Kansas City Chiefs news today. A great piece from Cory Greenwood's hometown newspaper, and more on Chambers' playing time start us off. Enjoy.

Juan Williams: Fox <b>News</b> Lets &#39;Black Guy With A Hispanic Name&#39; Host <b>...</b>

Juan Williams said Tuesday that he's still upset about his firing from NPR, and added that NPR does not understand the Fox News culture or audience. In an interview with Baltimore Sun columnist David Zurawik, Williams said he remains ...

PalmAddicts: Traffic jam <b>news</b>

[From Mauricio Tanzi, Costa Rica] Hi Sammy! Just wanted to let you know that I'm stuck in traffic and in need for enerteinment.... What can I so? Just pop out my Palm Pre Plus and enjoy the rush hour with...

bench craft company complaints
bench craft company complaints

Arrowheadlines: Chiefs <b>News</b> 10/27 - Arrowhead Pride

Good morning Chiefs fans! There's some interesting Kansas City Chiefs news today. A great piece from Cory Greenwood's hometown newspaper, and more on Chambers' playing time start us off. Enjoy.

Juan Williams: Fox <b>News</b> Lets &#39;Black Guy With A Hispanic Name&#39; Host <b>...</b>

Juan Williams said Tuesday that he's still upset about his firing from NPR, and added that NPR does not understand the Fox News culture or audience. In an interview with Baltimore Sun columnist David Zurawik, Williams said he remains ...

PalmAddicts: Traffic jam <b>news</b>

[From Mauricio Tanzi, Costa Rica] Hi Sammy! Just wanted to let you know that I'm stuck in traffic and in need for enerteinment.... What can I so? Just pop out my Palm Pre Plus and enjoy the rush hour with...

bench craft company complaints bench craft company complaints

When profits are down business owners tend to dwell on formulating the next big idea, a new marketing strategy, and, of course, on what they are doing wrong. But there are other areas that many people don’t think of exploring - or avoid all together. These are the emotional blocks to money, success and happiness.

Money, or the lack of, stimulates fear. Survival instincts are threatened and negative emotions that may have been stored deep inside will often surface, only to aggravate the situation and lessen the ability to succeed.

Let’s take a look at three areas that you can explore to free yourself of the emotional barriers that will keep you from the success and profits that you deserve.

Forgiveness – If you are an entrepreneur then you have most likely suffered your share of financial trauma. After all, entrepreneurs are risk takers and money is one of the first things we put at risk when we have an idea that we belief in. Money loss is a trauma that we tend to minimize because it’s “just money”.   But financial security is an important value to nearly everyone because it dictates our ability to survive in this world. For men, who our ancestors labeled as the providers, financial security is often a very important core value. Therefore, losing money can affect them to the core and the guilt, shame and worry may remain embedded within them for a very long time.

It’s time to forgive yourself. Plain and simple; being an entrepreneur isn’t always a choice – it’s who you are. Taking risk is a part of the learning and the experience that takes you toward success. If that means that you “fail” from time to time, so be it. Releasing this emotion and pain is critical to your future success. Guilt and shame create a heavy burden, how can you let it go?

Consider some less conventional techniques like hypnosis or the emotional freedom techniques. Sometimes talking about it and rationalizing it isn’t enough. Take another risk and find a new way to let go so that you can let success into your life.

Feeling – If you can’t feel wealth, you won’t attract wealth. How much do you believe that you were born to achieve success? Can you close your eyes and feel, smell – truly experience wealth? This is something to practice on a daily basis. The more you believe it and experience it, the more your behavior and thinking will shift to allow for wealth. Begin with only 30-60 seconds of imagining your life of success. Create a snapshot of your successful future and practice stepping into the feeling of it. You might notice a swelling of the heart, the sensation of excitement and expectation, or a sense of overall peace. Hold this positive feeling in place and get used to it. Increase the time of your visualization as you become more adept at it. Before long you will begin to notice opportunities coming into your life or things may just begin falling into place for you. It’s a simple attitude adjustment that will make a difference.

Fearlessness – Fear has a paralyzing effect on our creativity and ability to act. If you are living in fear you are less likely to have a clear picture of your next action steps. You may find that procrastination and overwhelm are your daily companions and at the end of the day it seems nothing notable has been achieved. Sound familiar? It’s time to let go of the fear and step into your fearless state. I’m not suggesting that you become reckless, but that you find creative ways to rectify your situation and act from a collected, rational, and confident place.

If money is an issue you’ve probably run circles in your mind trying to think of solutions but haven’t acted on any of them. Is it time for a part time job? This doesn’t mean you are quitting your dream, just allowing it to become a bit more accessible. Do you have another skill that you can put to work while you build your business? Can you market to past customers to create a boost in sales? Think outside of the box and act on your solution.

Do you have a fear of success or failure? If you perceive that there are any negative consequences to success it's time to explore this limiting belief. Again, try something that may be considered “unconventional” to explore if these fears exist so that you can let them go. Ask someone who you see as successful what they’ve done to combat their fears – believe me, they’ve had them too! And try stepping out of the box to experience a different type of risk and reignite your energy. Is there something adventurous that you’ve always wanted to try but never have? What will “shake it up” a bit to unearth your courage and commitment to moving forward? How can you break the pattern and step into your fearless state?

These may sound like simple steps, but this type of change is a tall order. Surround yourself with support as you make create change; a coach, mentor and mastermind group are all a tremendous source of support and fresh ideas.

Have you found your way to a “Million Dollar Mindset?” Share your experience and tips with us here!

I think we are all in agreement that Google has a lot of really good points and equal amounts of bad ones, right? I chalk it up to no one is perfect especially when you are cutting a new path.

Well, I would like to take the time to congratulate Google on using their technology for something more than just marketing and making a buck (although they may make money from this but how is beyond me). A post from the Google LatLong blog this past week tells how they are using maps to bring to life the reality, the horror and the important history of World War II.

Few events in human history have the scale of World War II. It’s spatial breadth and temporal extent make it difficult to comprehend by those of us too young to have lived it. There are history books, movies, and photographs, but they portray isolated places and events more than the connected whole. So we’ve addressed this by launching historical imagery in Google Earth in a number of new areas, including London in 1945, in coordination with archivists in these countries.

Here is a picture of London from then and now

Warsaw. Poland. In 1935 on the left and 1945 on the right when 85% of the structures had been wiped out by war.

If you are interested in seeing this in action here’s how

Nearly all of 1945 London awaits your exploration. Enjoying it is easy. Just start Google Earth (install it here if you’re not one of the 700 million who already have) and type London as your destination in the upper left. Then, click on the clock icon to enable historic imagery.

If you are in the US and are at least awake on a daily basis you know that there are critical elections coming up on November 2. We sit on two sides of a broken fence and take shots at each other for ideology and more personal things. We complain. We bitch. We moan. Also, we take it all for granted.

On my opinion, a more important day is Veteran’s Day on November 11th which will come and go with little fanfare. Why? Because people forget that others have sacrificed for our current way of life. Google is helping to remind us of the history and its importance by showing just what happened in World War II through their maps function.

So what does this have to do with marketing? Nothing and everything all at once. Nothing because it’s not the usual information we discuss about Internet marketing and its impact etc, etc. here at Marketing Pilgrim. It is, however, very much about the freedoms that have been preserved through time that allow us to make things like Internet marketing important, even when in the end they really are not.

Oh and by the way. Another reason I truly appreciate what Google is doing here is that in January of 1945 my mom lost her father and I lost my grandfather (long before I was even born) at the Battle of the Bulge. On the good days when I am in a ticked-off mood and I write something mean-spirited, I think about whether the sacrifice of my grandfather’s life is honored by that activity. Many days, it keeps me in check.

This history that Google is preserving is part of my history and still very much a part of my present. War and its impact is powerful and we must never forget what has been done so we can live a life today that, even with its troubles, is far better than even just 100 short years ago. Thinking from time to time about what people have done for us may keep us all in check and maybe even interested in greater things than just business, profit, power etc.

Thanks Google for making this happen. It may not be marketing but it’s so much more.

Social Media Monitoring in Just 60-Seconds. Guaranteed!

bench craft company complaints

Arrowheadlines: Chiefs <b>News</b> 10/27 - Arrowhead Pride

Good morning Chiefs fans! There's some interesting Kansas City Chiefs news today. A great piece from Cory Greenwood's hometown newspaper, and more on Chambers' playing time start us off. Enjoy.

Juan Williams: Fox <b>News</b> Lets &#39;Black Guy With A Hispanic Name&#39; Host <b>...</b>

Juan Williams said Tuesday that he's still upset about his firing from NPR, and added that NPR does not understand the Fox News culture or audience. In an interview with Baltimore Sun columnist David Zurawik, Williams said he remains ...

PalmAddicts: Traffic jam <b>news</b>

[From Mauricio Tanzi, Costa Rica] Hi Sammy! Just wanted to let you know that I'm stuck in traffic and in need for enerteinment.... What can I so? Just pop out my Palm Pre Plus and enjoy the rush hour with...

bench craft company complaints bench craft company complaints

Arrowheadlines: Chiefs <b>News</b> 10/27 - Arrowhead Pride

Good morning Chiefs fans! There's some interesting Kansas City Chiefs news today. A great piece from Cory Greenwood's hometown newspaper, and more on Chambers' playing time start us off. Enjoy.

Juan Williams: Fox <b>News</b> Lets &#39;Black Guy With A Hispanic Name&#39; Host <b>...</b>

Juan Williams said Tuesday that he's still upset about his firing from NPR, and added that NPR does not understand the Fox News culture or audience. In an interview with Baltimore Sun columnist David Zurawik, Williams said he remains ...

PalmAddicts: Traffic jam <b>news</b>

[From Mauricio Tanzi, Costa Rica] Hi Sammy! Just wanted to let you know that I'm stuck in traffic and in need for enerteinment.... What can I so? Just pop out my Palm Pre Plus and enjoy the rush hour with...

bench craft company complaints bench craft company complaints

Arrowheadlines: Chiefs <b>News</b> 10/27 - Arrowhead Pride

Good morning Chiefs fans! There's some interesting Kansas City Chiefs news today. A great piece from Cory Greenwood's hometown newspaper, and more on Chambers' playing time start us off. Enjoy.

Juan Williams: Fox <b>News</b> Lets &#39;Black Guy With A Hispanic Name&#39; Host <b>...</b>

Juan Williams said Tuesday that he's still upset about his firing from NPR, and added that NPR does not understand the Fox News culture or audience. In an interview with Baltimore Sun columnist David Zurawik, Williams said he remains ...

PalmAddicts: Traffic jam <b>news</b>

[From Mauricio Tanzi, Costa Rica] Hi Sammy! Just wanted to let you know that I'm stuck in traffic and in need for enerteinment.... What can I so? Just pop out my Palm Pre Plus and enjoy the rush hour with...

bench craft company complaints bench craft company complaints

foreclosure law

This is a difficult topic to write about because of all the hysteria, emotion and misinformation, but here goes ...



One of the interesting questions with "Foreclosure-Gate" is why several (but not all) mortgage servicers used "robo-signers". This includes GMAC, JPMorganChase, and several other servicers.



First, we have to remember that every foreclosure is a personal tragedy. I support alternatives to foreclosure including modifications, cram-downs, and even short sales. And before another person claims that I support the banks, I fully support fines, sanctions, disbarment, and the investigations by the 50 future governors (the state attorney generals) into "Foreclosure-Gate".



Second, "Foreclosure-Gate" is primarily about "robo-signers". Some people are trying to conflate other sloppy procedures, cost cutting and even MERS (Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems) into "Foreclosure-Gate". This is just confusing readers. All of the servicers who have put foreclosures on hold have done so either because they had "robo-signers" or because they wanted to verify that their processes did not use "robo-signers" (or anything similar). There are valid questions about MERS and other "cost cutting" measures - although most reports I've seen are grossly misinformed - but unfortunately it takes time to get that right (I'll write about that at a later date).



A review: "Robo-signers" are individuals who signed affidavits stating that they had "personal knowledge" of the facts in a foreclosure case, when in fact they did not.



JPM admitted as much this week: "We've identified issues relating to the mortgage foreclosure affidavits and those include signers not having personally reviewed the underlying loan files but instead having relied upon the work of others."



There were also situations of questionable notarization of the affidavits.



Here is an excerpt that I posted earlier from an affidavit signed by alleged "robo-signer" Jeffrey Stephen of GMAC:



Click on image for larger image in new window.



I've highlighted a couple of sentences in yellow. Source: Stopa Law Blog



According to the affidavit the affiant claims to have "examined" the details of the transactions in the complaint, and that he has "personal knowledge of the facts contained in the affidavit". In a deposition - according to media reports - the affiant admitted to just signing the documents without verifying the details.



So back to the original question: why did some servicers use "robo-signers"?



I think there are several reasons: the flood of foreclosures, the lack of experienced staff, cost cutting - and also because several of the servicers seemed to use the same service providers to set up their processes (probably the lowest bidder).



Way back in February 2007, Tanta wrote: Mortgage Servicing for UberNerds. Tanta made it clear there are times when servicers are really hurting:



1) When rates are falling and borrowers are refinancing. The servicers get paid a slice of each monthly payment, however their fixed costs are front-loaded. So if people are refinancing too quickly, the servicer doesn't receive enough payments to recoup their fixed costs, and ...



2) When the 90+ day delinquency bucket is increasing rapidly. Although the servicer will eventually recoup the costs for foreclosure, the servicers are usually required to pay property taxes, insurance and all the expenses of foreclosure until the REO is sold.



And right now mortgage rates are falling, and many borrowers are refinancing. And at the same time the 90+ day bucket is at record levels and the servicers are swamped with foreclosure activity. So these are the worst of economic times for servicers.



So, to cut costs and control cash flow, some servicers outsourced foreclosures to the lowest bidders. Here is a possible example from Barry Meir at the NY Times: Foreclosure Mess Draws in the Lawyers Who Handled Them.



And this brings us to another key point that Tanta made in 2007:

hen recovery values in a foreclosure are high (in an RE boom), servicers can noodle along and rack up expenses you didn’t know existed—i.e., shove as much of your “overhead” into FC expenses as you can get away with, since someone else will eventually pay the tab. That’s what we mean when we say that you used to be able to make money off a foreclosure. When the liquidation value starts to approach or drop under the loan amount, on the other hand, investors and insurers start going over those expense reports with a fine-toothed comb, and it can end up in “war”.

To no ones surprise, most liquidation values are far below the loan amounts, and investors and insurers are fighting over every servicer expense. This has pushed the servicers to do foreclosures as cheaply as possible (along with the cash flow reasons).



So my guess is a combination of getting swamped with foreclosures, lack of experienced staff, the poor economic environment for servicers, and outsourcing to the lowest bidder, all contributed to the servicers using "robo-signers". This doesn't excuse their behavior - I'm just trying to understand why this happened - and why it happened at more than one servicer.



Of course using the lowest bidders, and ending up with a flawed legal process, is going to lead to even larger battles over expenses between the investors and servicers. So instead of saving money, this is going to be far more expensive for certain servicers.

Florida foreclosure mill owner who chucked out 70,000 families in 2009 is unspeakably rich

Cory Doctorow at 10:28 PM Tuesday, Oct 19, 2010 

David J. Stern is a Florida lawyer who operates a foreclosure mill, a firm that foreclosed on more than 70,000 homes last year. According to a deposition from Tammie Mae Kapusta, a former employee, Stern's firm cut many corners, foreclosing on homes without serving notice, ignoring mortgage payments that would have prevented foreclosure, and "yelling at" employees who talked to homeowners on the phone, because that was "giving them too much time."

Apparently, it's working for Stern, who just bought the mega-mansion next to his mega-mega-mansion on a private island so he could tear it down and install a tennis court. Seriously, this guy sounds like the villain in a Carl Hiaassen novel, except Hiaassen's villains are more believable and less evil.

But while the banks are ultimately responsible, the root of the problem appears to lie with "foreclosure mill" law firms like Stern's. These operations process foreclosure cases on behalf of lenders, and their business model is based on moving the paperwork through as quickly as possible. That's why such firms have pioneered practices like "robo-signing" -- whereby their employees process thousands of court documents in pending foreclosures without ever actually reviewing them, as the law requires. Of course, it's in the banks' interest for their contractors to move quickly, because the faster a foreclosure moves, the less time a struggling borrower has to fight it...

And from Mother Jones:

His $15 million, 16,000-square-foot mansion occupies a corner lot in a private island community on the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway. It is featured on a water-taxi tour of the area's grandest estates, along with the abodes of Jay Leno and billionaire Blockbuster founder Wayne Huizenga, as well as the former residence of Desi Arnaz and Lucille Ball. (Last year, Stern snapped up his next-door neighbor's property for $8 million and tore down the house to make way for a tennis court.) Docked outside is Misunderstood, Stern's 130-foot, jet-propelled Mangusta yacht -- a $20 million-plus replacement for his previous 108-foot Mangusta. He also owns four Ferraris, four Porsches, two Mercedes-Benzes, and a Bugatti -- a high-end Italian brand with models costing north of $1 million a pop.

Is David J. Stern the poster boy for the foreclosure mess?

(via Lowering the Bar)

(Image: Sign Of The Times - Foreclosure, a Creative Commons Attribution (2.0) image from respres's photostream)

Exclusive: Yahoo Courts Former <b>News</b> Corp. Digital Exec Ross <b>...</b>

He's baaaaaack. Former Fox Interactive Media President Ross Levinsohn, that is, who is the top candidate to replace Hilary Schneider as Yahoo's US head, according to several sources close to the situation.

Arrowheadlines: Chiefs <b>News</b> 10/26 - Arrowhead Pride

Good morning! We have a full day of Kansas City Chiefs news. O-line love and praise for the running game and a shout out to DJ are ahead. There are also a few articles on the Buffalo offense and how productive they've been recently.

RDR standalone DLC disc dated <b>News</b> - Page 1 | Eurogamer.net

Read our news of RDR standalone DLC disc dated. ... Red Dead Redemption Review . Latest Videos. RDR: Undead Nightmare trailer 1 October, 2010. RDR: Legends & Killers DLC 6 August, 2010. Latest News ...

bench craft company complaints
bench craft company complaints

Exclusive: Yahoo Courts Former <b>News</b> Corp. Digital Exec Ross <b>...</b>

He's baaaaaack. Former Fox Interactive Media President Ross Levinsohn, that is, who is the top candidate to replace Hilary Schneider as Yahoo's US head, according to several sources close to the situation.

Arrowheadlines: Chiefs <b>News</b> 10/26 - Arrowhead Pride

Good morning! We have a full day of Kansas City Chiefs news. O-line love and praise for the running game and a shout out to DJ are ahead. There are also a few articles on the Buffalo offense and how productive they've been recently.

RDR standalone DLC disc dated <b>News</b> - Page 1 | Eurogamer.net

Read our news of RDR standalone DLC disc dated. ... Red Dead Redemption Review . Latest Videos. RDR: Undead Nightmare trailer 1 October, 2010. RDR: Legends & Killers DLC 6 August, 2010. Latest News ...

bench craft company complaints bench craft company complaints

This is a difficult topic to write about because of all the hysteria, emotion and misinformation, but here goes ...



One of the interesting questions with "Foreclosure-Gate" is why several (but not all) mortgage servicers used "robo-signers". This includes GMAC, JPMorganChase, and several other servicers.



First, we have to remember that every foreclosure is a personal tragedy. I support alternatives to foreclosure including modifications, cram-downs, and even short sales. And before another person claims that I support the banks, I fully support fines, sanctions, disbarment, and the investigations by the 50 future governors (the state attorney generals) into "Foreclosure-Gate".



Second, "Foreclosure-Gate" is primarily about "robo-signers". Some people are trying to conflate other sloppy procedures, cost cutting and even MERS (Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems) into "Foreclosure-Gate". This is just confusing readers. All of the servicers who have put foreclosures on hold have done so either because they had "robo-signers" or because they wanted to verify that their processes did not use "robo-signers" (or anything similar). There are valid questions about MERS and other "cost cutting" measures - although most reports I've seen are grossly misinformed - but unfortunately it takes time to get that right (I'll write about that at a later date).



A review: "Robo-signers" are individuals who signed affidavits stating that they had "personal knowledge" of the facts in a foreclosure case, when in fact they did not.



JPM admitted as much this week: "We've identified issues relating to the mortgage foreclosure affidavits and those include signers not having personally reviewed the underlying loan files but instead having relied upon the work of others."



There were also situations of questionable notarization of the affidavits.



Here is an excerpt that I posted earlier from an affidavit signed by alleged "robo-signer" Jeffrey Stephen of GMAC:



Click on image for larger image in new window.



I've highlighted a couple of sentences in yellow. Source: Stopa Law Blog



According to the affidavit the affiant claims to have "examined" the details of the transactions in the complaint, and that he has "personal knowledge of the facts contained in the affidavit". In a deposition - according to media reports - the affiant admitted to just signing the documents without verifying the details.



So back to the original question: why did some servicers use "robo-signers"?



I think there are several reasons: the flood of foreclosures, the lack of experienced staff, cost cutting - and also because several of the servicers seemed to use the same service providers to set up their processes (probably the lowest bidder).



Way back in February 2007, Tanta wrote: Mortgage Servicing for UberNerds. Tanta made it clear there are times when servicers are really hurting:



1) When rates are falling and borrowers are refinancing. The servicers get paid a slice of each monthly payment, however their fixed costs are front-loaded. So if people are refinancing too quickly, the servicer doesn't receive enough payments to recoup their fixed costs, and ...



2) When the 90+ day delinquency bucket is increasing rapidly. Although the servicer will eventually recoup the costs for foreclosure, the servicers are usually required to pay property taxes, insurance and all the expenses of foreclosure until the REO is sold.



And right now mortgage rates are falling, and many borrowers are refinancing. And at the same time the 90+ day bucket is at record levels and the servicers are swamped with foreclosure activity. So these are the worst of economic times for servicers.



So, to cut costs and control cash flow, some servicers outsourced foreclosures to the lowest bidders. Here is a possible example from Barry Meir at the NY Times: Foreclosure Mess Draws in the Lawyers Who Handled Them.



And this brings us to another key point that Tanta made in 2007:

hen recovery values in a foreclosure are high (in an RE boom), servicers can noodle along and rack up expenses you didn’t know existed—i.e., shove as much of your “overhead” into FC expenses as you can get away with, since someone else will eventually pay the tab. That’s what we mean when we say that you used to be able to make money off a foreclosure. When the liquidation value starts to approach or drop under the loan amount, on the other hand, investors and insurers start going over those expense reports with a fine-toothed comb, and it can end up in “war”.

To no ones surprise, most liquidation values are far below the loan amounts, and investors and insurers are fighting over every servicer expense. This has pushed the servicers to do foreclosures as cheaply as possible (along with the cash flow reasons).



So my guess is a combination of getting swamped with foreclosures, lack of experienced staff, the poor economic environment for servicers, and outsourcing to the lowest bidder, all contributed to the servicers using "robo-signers". This doesn't excuse their behavior - I'm just trying to understand why this happened - and why it happened at more than one servicer.



Of course using the lowest bidders, and ending up with a flawed legal process, is going to lead to even larger battles over expenses between the investors and servicers. So instead of saving money, this is going to be far more expensive for certain servicers.

Florida foreclosure mill owner who chucked out 70,000 families in 2009 is unspeakably rich

Cory Doctorow at 10:28 PM Tuesday, Oct 19, 2010 

David J. Stern is a Florida lawyer who operates a foreclosure mill, a firm that foreclosed on more than 70,000 homes last year. According to a deposition from Tammie Mae Kapusta, a former employee, Stern's firm cut many corners, foreclosing on homes without serving notice, ignoring mortgage payments that would have prevented foreclosure, and "yelling at" employees who talked to homeowners on the phone, because that was "giving them too much time."

Apparently, it's working for Stern, who just bought the mega-mansion next to his mega-mega-mansion on a private island so he could tear it down and install a tennis court. Seriously, this guy sounds like the villain in a Carl Hiaassen novel, except Hiaassen's villains are more believable and less evil.

But while the banks are ultimately responsible, the root of the problem appears to lie with "foreclosure mill" law firms like Stern's. These operations process foreclosure cases on behalf of lenders, and their business model is based on moving the paperwork through as quickly as possible. That's why such firms have pioneered practices like "robo-signing" -- whereby their employees process thousands of court documents in pending foreclosures without ever actually reviewing them, as the law requires. Of course, it's in the banks' interest for their contractors to move quickly, because the faster a foreclosure moves, the less time a struggling borrower has to fight it...

And from Mother Jones:

His $15 million, 16,000-square-foot mansion occupies a corner lot in a private island community on the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway. It is featured on a water-taxi tour of the area's grandest estates, along with the abodes of Jay Leno and billionaire Blockbuster founder Wayne Huizenga, as well as the former residence of Desi Arnaz and Lucille Ball. (Last year, Stern snapped up his next-door neighbor's property for $8 million and tore down the house to make way for a tennis court.) Docked outside is Misunderstood, Stern's 130-foot, jet-propelled Mangusta yacht -- a $20 million-plus replacement for his previous 108-foot Mangusta. He also owns four Ferraris, four Porsches, two Mercedes-Benzes, and a Bugatti -- a high-end Italian brand with models costing north of $1 million a pop.

Is David J. Stern the poster boy for the foreclosure mess?

(via Lowering the Bar)

(Image: Sign Of The Times - Foreclosure, a Creative Commons Attribution (2.0) image from respres's photostream)

bench craft company complaints

Exclusive: Yahoo Courts Former <b>News</b> Corp. Digital Exec Ross <b>...</b>

He's baaaaaack. Former Fox Interactive Media President Ross Levinsohn, that is, who is the top candidate to replace Hilary Schneider as Yahoo's US head, according to several sources close to the situation.

Arrowheadlines: Chiefs <b>News</b> 10/26 - Arrowhead Pride

Good morning! We have a full day of Kansas City Chiefs news. O-line love and praise for the running game and a shout out to DJ are ahead. There are also a few articles on the Buffalo offense and how productive they've been recently.

RDR standalone DLC disc dated <b>News</b> - Page 1 | Eurogamer.net

Read our news of RDR standalone DLC disc dated. ... Red Dead Redemption Review . Latest Videos. RDR: Undead Nightmare trailer 1 October, 2010. RDR: Legends & Killers DLC 6 August, 2010. Latest News ...

bench craft company complaints bench craft company complaints

Exclusive: Yahoo Courts Former <b>News</b> Corp. Digital Exec Ross <b>...</b>

He's baaaaaack. Former Fox Interactive Media President Ross Levinsohn, that is, who is the top candidate to replace Hilary Schneider as Yahoo's US head, according to several sources close to the situation.

Arrowheadlines: Chiefs <b>News</b> 10/26 - Arrowhead Pride

Good morning! We have a full day of Kansas City Chiefs news. O-line love and praise for the running game and a shout out to DJ are ahead. There are also a few articles on the Buffalo offense and how productive they've been recently.

RDR standalone DLC disc dated <b>News</b> - Page 1 | Eurogamer.net

Read our news of RDR standalone DLC disc dated. ... Red Dead Redemption Review . Latest Videos. RDR: Undead Nightmare trailer 1 October, 2010. RDR: Legends & Killers DLC 6 August, 2010. Latest News ...

bench craft company complaints bench craft company complaints

Exclusive: Yahoo Courts Former <b>News</b> Corp. Digital Exec Ross <b>...</b>

He's baaaaaack. Former Fox Interactive Media President Ross Levinsohn, that is, who is the top candidate to replace Hilary Schneider as Yahoo's US head, according to several sources close to the situation.

Arrowheadlines: Chiefs <b>News</b> 10/26 - Arrowhead Pride

Good morning! We have a full day of Kansas City Chiefs news. O-line love and praise for the running game and a shout out to DJ are ahead. There are also a few articles on the Buffalo offense and how productive they've been recently.

RDR standalone DLC disc dated <b>News</b> - Page 1 | Eurogamer.net

Read our news of RDR standalone DLC disc dated. ... Red Dead Redemption Review . Latest Videos. RDR: Undead Nightmare trailer 1 October, 2010. RDR: Legends & Killers DLC 6 August, 2010. Latest News ...

bench craft company complaints bench craft company complaints

Money Making Schemes

Tony Boeckh has issued his most recent investment letter, which, at 15 pages, discusses an outlook that can be summarized best as "we really have no clue what will happen" and may have been about 14.5 pages too long. On the other hand, with everyone having surefire money making schemes up their sleeve, and peddling a guaranteed economic outcome, perhaps some outlook humility is precisely what is needed. "Some believe the bull market in gold has just begun. Others believe we are headed for a deflationary depression in which high quality bonds would continue to thrive. Another view is that we are heading into high inflation and a dollar collapse. Yet others believe there will be a return to the good old days of stability and growth. In the time frame of most investors, we are in none of those camps. With bonds significantly overvalued, investors hardly have an edge in that area, except perhaps to go short. High yield bonds are fair value but the weak economic picture suggests growing risk for those companies with poor balance sheets and poor cash flow prospects. Gold as insurance at 5-10% of the portfolio makes sense but only for the long run and only if volatility can be ignored." All in all, some good observations.

From Tony Boeckh, U.S. Government Debt: The Upward Spiral Continues

 

h/t Chips4Pips

A New Jersey investment adviser who allegedly defrauded numerous clients of more than $2 million used the money to fund a lavish lifestyle while claiming to be investing the funds in conservative securities, the federal government said Tuesday.

Country club fees totaling over $75,000, lease payments for a Porsche 911 Carrera, and Audi Q7 and a Land Rover, at least $23,000 in home audio equipment and over $32,000 in landscaping are just some of the personal expenses the feds allege 38-year-old Carlo Chiaese of Springfield, NJ racked up. He allegedly transferred at least $800,000 to his wife and members of her family, withdrew at least $185,000 in cash and made over $65,000 in mortgage payments with his clients' money.

Chiaese, whose alleged victims include a union pension fund, surrendered to FBI agents on early Tuesday, said the New Jersey U.S. Attorney's office.

Other alleged expenses included stays at luxury hotels in New York, Florida and the U.S. Virgin Islands; at least $25,000 in purchases at high-end retailers like Hermes, Salvatore Ferragamo, Bergdorf Goodman and Saks Fifth Avenue; and $16,000 in rugs.

Chiaese admitted in a conversation with two of his close friends on Sept. 18 that he had misappropriated money, according to an affidavit from FBI Special Agent Jeffrey R. Clark.

He had been working in the financial industry since 1999 and began soliciting a number of new clients through his independent investment firm CGC Advisors LLC as early as 2008, the Justice Department said. They allege that, between November 2008 and September 2010, he raised more than $2.4 million from individuals and entities in New Jersey and New York.

One of those investments -- to the tune of around $1.71 million -- came from a pension fund managing the pensions of over 850 current and former unionized New York City public sector employees, said DOJ.

"As charged in the complaint, when Carlo Chiaese claimed to be making secure investments, he was really securing his own access to pricey diversions and ready cash," said U.S. Attorney Paul Fishman. "Although we see far too many of these schemes, we cannot become desensitized to them. Each such allegation shows that there are many out there who would steal from the unsuspecting, and we are committed to exposing their frauds for what they are."

Chiaese's case was brought in coordination with the Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force formed by President Barack Obama.

"People invested their money with Mr. Chiaese with the hope of having a comfortable retirement," said Michael Ward, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI's Newark Field Office. "But based on the allegations in the criminal complaint, it seems those retirement plans for tomorrow did not fit into Mr. Chiaese's plan for his own comfortable lifestyle today."

Surprise: Fox <b>News</b> signs Juan Williams to new $2 million deal <b>...</b>

Fox News Chief Executive Roger Ailes handed Williams a new three-year contract Thursday morning, in a deal that amounts to nearly $2 million, a considerable bump up from his previous salary, the Tribune Washington Bureau has learned. ...

Nuclear submarine runs aground off Skye | Scotland | STV <b>News</b>

Royal Navy submarine HMS Astute stranded after accident near Skye Bridge.

Is Fox <b>News</b> more tolerant than NPR? « Hot Air

The right-wing intolerants of Fox News' audience didn't complain as much about an explicitly liberal commentator on Fox as the tolerant, diverse audience at NPR did? Barone has to be joking, right? Not according to NPR, where omsbud ...

eric seiger eric seiger

Tony Boeckh has issued his most recent investment letter, which, at 15 pages, discusses an outlook that can be summarized best as "we really have no clue what will happen" and may have been about 14.5 pages too long. On the other hand, with everyone having surefire money making schemes up their sleeve, and peddling a guaranteed economic outcome, perhaps some outlook humility is precisely what is needed. "Some believe the bull market in gold has just begun. Others believe we are headed for a deflationary depression in which high quality bonds would continue to thrive. Another view is that we are heading into high inflation and a dollar collapse. Yet others believe there will be a return to the good old days of stability and growth. In the time frame of most investors, we are in none of those camps. With bonds significantly overvalued, investors hardly have an edge in that area, except perhaps to go short. High yield bonds are fair value but the weak economic picture suggests growing risk for those companies with poor balance sheets and poor cash flow prospects. Gold as insurance at 5-10% of the portfolio makes sense but only for the long run and only if volatility can be ignored." All in all, some good observations.

From Tony Boeckh, U.S. Government Debt: The Upward Spiral Continues

 

h/t Chips4Pips

A New Jersey investment adviser who allegedly defrauded numerous clients of more than $2 million used the money to fund a lavish lifestyle while claiming to be investing the funds in conservative securities, the federal government said Tuesday.

Country club fees totaling over $75,000, lease payments for a Porsche 911 Carrera, and Audi Q7 and a Land Rover, at least $23,000 in home audio equipment and over $32,000 in landscaping are just some of the personal expenses the feds allege 38-year-old Carlo Chiaese of Springfield, NJ racked up. He allegedly transferred at least $800,000 to his wife and members of her family, withdrew at least $185,000 in cash and made over $65,000 in mortgage payments with his clients' money.

Chiaese, whose alleged victims include a union pension fund, surrendered to FBI agents on early Tuesday, said the New Jersey U.S. Attorney's office.

Other alleged expenses included stays at luxury hotels in New York, Florida and the U.S. Virgin Islands; at least $25,000 in purchases at high-end retailers like Hermes, Salvatore Ferragamo, Bergdorf Goodman and Saks Fifth Avenue; and $16,000 in rugs.

Chiaese admitted in a conversation with two of his close friends on Sept. 18 that he had misappropriated money, according to an affidavit from FBI Special Agent Jeffrey R. Clark.

He had been working in the financial industry since 1999 and began soliciting a number of new clients through his independent investment firm CGC Advisors LLC as early as 2008, the Justice Department said. They allege that, between November 2008 and September 2010, he raised more than $2.4 million from individuals and entities in New Jersey and New York.

One of those investments -- to the tune of around $1.71 million -- came from a pension fund managing the pensions of over 850 current and former unionized New York City public sector employees, said DOJ.

"As charged in the complaint, when Carlo Chiaese claimed to be making secure investments, he was really securing his own access to pricey diversions and ready cash," said U.S. Attorney Paul Fishman. "Although we see far too many of these schemes, we cannot become desensitized to them. Each such allegation shows that there are many out there who would steal from the unsuspecting, and we are committed to exposing their frauds for what they are."

Chiaese's case was brought in coordination with the Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force formed by President Barack Obama.

"People invested their money with Mr. Chiaese with the hope of having a comfortable retirement," said Michael Ward, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI's Newark Field Office. "But based on the allegations in the criminal complaint, it seems those retirement plans for tomorrow did not fit into Mr. Chiaese's plan for his own comfortable lifestyle today."

Surprise: Fox <b>News</b> signs Juan Williams to new $2 million deal <b>...</b>

Fox News Chief Executive Roger Ailes handed Williams a new three-year contract Thursday morning, in a deal that amounts to nearly $2 million, a considerable bump up from his previous salary, the Tribune Washington Bureau has learned. ...

Nuclear submarine runs aground off Skye | Scotland | STV <b>News</b>

Royal Navy submarine HMS Astute stranded after accident near Skye Bridge.

Is Fox <b>News</b> more tolerant than NPR? « Hot Air

The right-wing intolerants of Fox News' audience didn't complain as much about an explicitly liberal commentator on Fox as the tolerant, diverse audience at NPR did? Barone has to be joking, right? Not according to NPR, where omsbud ...

eric seiger eric seiger

Making Money Without

Didn’t he once say he’d rather be a really good one-term president than a mediocre two-termer? Well, the chances of a “really good” first term are pretty much shot, so I guess now it’s mediocrity or bust. Shoot for the stars, champ!

President Obama signaled today that he will seek reelection and dismissed as “completely unfounded” reports that he might replace Vice President Joe Biden on his 2012 ticket with Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton.

“Obviously, I haven’t made any formal decision” on reelection, the president told National Journal in an exclusive 45-minute interview, “but I feel like I’ve got a lot of work left to do.”

Told that his answer sounded like he was saying “yes,” Obama nodded, then broadly smiled. “Take it as you will,” he said, laughing.

Obama bluntly dismissed suggestions, first raised by author Bob Woodward, that he might replace Biden with Clinton for the 2012 race.

Lest you think he’s bluffing, Axelrod is already starting to inch away from The One’s stance against Democratic outside groups with anonymous donors spending big money on elections. The old rule: No outside groups, please. The soon-to-be new rule: Yes, outside groups, please, but kindly disclose your contributors. As I said a few days ago, surely no one (including Harry Reid) found Sharron Angle’s mammoth third-quarter fundraising haul as frightening as the White House did, simply because it’s an early sign of how much money the conservative base will cough up in 2012 to knock Obama out of office. Axelrod will need all hands on deck to keep up, notwithstanding The One’s already legendary fundraising powers from 2008. So here’s his signal to lefty PACs to get in the game.

Even so, will it be enough? Mickey Kaus:

What comments [about voters being "scared"] suggest isn’t just that Obama will get clobbered in the midterms. It suggests that after he gets clobbered he won’t be able to adjust and turn the setback into a longterm victory the way Bill Clinton did. Clinton reacted to his 1994 midterm loss by acknowledging his opponents’ strongest arguments and pursuing a balanced budget and welfare reform. Obama seems more inclined to just tough it out until the economy recovers and the scared, confused voters become unscared and see the light. Meanwhile, he’ll spend his time in a protective cocoon.

A few weeks ago a right-wing reporter told me that worried Dem congresspersons who met with Obama left their meetings more worried than when they went in. I discounted the gossip, but now it’s beginning to ring true. We thought he was a great salesman. He turned out to be a lousy salesman. We thought he was a great politician. Instead he makes elementary mistakes and doesn’t learn from them. He didn’t know “shovel-ready” from a hole in the ground, and then somehow thinks admitting this ignorance without apology will add to his appeal.

I’d still defend most of the decisions Obama’s made, especially on health care refom. I’d rather have him making those decisions than 85% of the likely Republican candidates. But for the first time, he’s looking like a one-termer, even if the jobs start to come back.

It’s hard to imagine any incumbent losing if unemployment is trending downwards, especially after a sustained economic crisis, and it’s hard to imagine The One being so stupid as to stay in his liberal cocoon knowing that it would put the center of the electorate in play for 2012. Peter Beinart predicted a few weeks ago that Obama will actually tack left after the election on the theory that presidents tend to revert to campaign form when they get in trouble, but of course to hear David Brooks or Peggy Noonan or Kathleen Parker or Christopher Buckley tell it, Obama wasn’t a hard leftist during the campaign at all. He was an omnicompetent post-partisan pragmatist, eager to solve America’s problems by trying whatever would work. If he does revert to form, that’s the form he’ll revert to — which means he’ll try to make whatever deals he can with the new GOP House to push some compromise legislation through to pander to centrists. And then, if he gets reelected, he’ll govern as an even harder-left liberal in his second term. Good luck in 2012, moderate voters!

Exit question: If you were a lefty president terrified that your base of young voters will stay home on election day, which show would you appear on a few nights before to plead with them to go to the polls? Bingo.

This was probably inevitable: the minute that Dodd-Frank cracked down on the fees charged by credit cards aimed at students, some other bright financial innovation would crop up. This time, a debit card aimed at students. Which carries lots of fees. Ylan Mui reports that a company called Higher One has started signing up colleges around the country, taking on the burden of providing cash to students. In return, it gets lots of fees:

Students say several of the fees associated with Higher One’s card are particularly irksome, including the $19 inactivity fee, a 50-cent charge for using a PIN to make a purchase rather than a signature, and a $2.50 fee for using other banks’ ATMs…

Higher One said that only 1 percent of customers have been charged an inactivity fee and that more than half are charged the 50-cent fee only once. All fees are listed on Higher One’s Web site, along with tips on avoiding them.

“We have a big effort with educating students on how to use the account,” Smith said. “We’re very passionate about financial literacy.”

If the fees are listed on Higher One’s website, they’re not exactly prominent. I did find this page, eventually, via this blog entry, but it just says that “when you swipe & sign, you won’t be charged the PIN-based transaction fee”. I haven’t been able to find a page showing a 50-cent transaction fee anywhere*, although I did manage to find this page, showing a $25 fee for domestic wire transfers and a $50 fee for international wire transfers. “Higher One offers less costly alternatives for transferring funds”, it says, without giving any indication what they might be; I suspect that what they’re talking about is transfers to or from people who have already registered somehow with Higher One.

It should go without saying that any firm which is “very passionate about financial literacy” would encourage, rather than penalize, simple, cheap and safe PIN-debit transactions. It would not give students a debit card and then tell them that if they want to avoid fees they should select the “credit” option rather than the “debit” option when they come to pay.

And I can’t think of any good reason to charge a $19 inactivity fee to people who haven’t used their cards in 9 months.

The fact is that students are often very naive when it comes to money, and it’s easy to gouge them once or twice before they learn that banks are not necessarily on their side. If you can get your card accepted by a majority of freshmen every year, and then come up with all manner of weird fees to hit them with, that’s a great way of making money out of ignorance.

Meanwhile, all students should have a bank account: giving them a debit card instead only serves to maximize the number of unbanked students. So while I’m sure cards like this are attractive to colleges, it would be great if either the colleges or else the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau started being a lot more critical of them. Prepaid cards only ever make sense if the alternative is being completely unbanked; that should not ever be the case for students.

*At Southern Oregon University, Higher One agreed to waive the 50-cent PIN-debit charge, but only if there was a simultaneous “swipe-and-sign” campaign. If the campaign is unsuccessful and students do the sensible thing by using PIN debit, then the university can be charged $2 per student for “PIN fee elimination”.

Update: Higher One’s Donald Smith responds:

Higher One was founded 10 years ago by three college students (undergraduates at the time) who were looking for streamlining the way financial aid refunds were distributed to students. Today we work with more than 675 campuses across the country, have a 97% client retention rating, and an A+ rating with the BBB.

The OneAccount is Higher One’s optional, no minimum balance, no monthly fee, FDIC-Insured checking account created by students for students. We do not offer a stored value card. We are very open with our fee schedule. We post it on every program website for all to access, explain each fee, discuss how to avoid each fee, and provide students with a web page that tells them how to use the account for free (which you’ve already found). Because of this, we believe that our customers pay less than half the amount in fees that the average bank checking account customer pays per year.

Two of the fees you referenced in your blog are the PIN fee and the Abandoned Account Fee. The PIN fee is easily avoided by choosing a signature based transaction at the checkout. The majority of students uses it in this manner and is in turn protected by MasterCard’s Zero Liability Policy against fraudulent charges (a safer way of purchasing than a PIN based transaction). We do not have an inactivity fee on our fee schedule – we don’t penalize students who do not use their accounts. We do have an Abandoned Account Fee of up to $19, for those who have abandoned their accounts, but this has been charged to less than 1% of all OneAccount holders in our company’s history because of our proactive outreach plan.

Higher One offers no instruments of credit. As a matter of fact, we’re generally in favor of initiatives restricting students’ access to credit cards and promoting financial literacy. This is why we offer a full range of financial literacy resources along with the services we provide.

I particularly dislike the implication, here, that PIN-based transactions are unsafe. They’re not; they’re just less lucrative, in terms of interchange fees, than signature-based transactions.

robert shumake twitter

The openSUSE Build Service 2.1 released - openSUSE <b>News</b>

This iteration has enhanced the web user interface of openSUSE Build Service with features that were previously only in the osc command line client. It now allows submitting of packages to other projects, showing a history of changes ...

10-10-10: Goal to plant 350 trees by this Sunday -- Port Angeles <b>...</b>

Your #1 News Source for the Olympic Peninsula, Port Angeles, Sequim, Port Townsend and beyond.

ABC <b>News</b> Exclusive: Tea Party Candidate in Nevada Senate May Tip <b>...</b>

Scott Ashjian calls himself the “Tea Party of Nevada” candidate for US Senate, but he tells ABC News that he would be “at peace” knowing he helped re-elect Harry Reid by siphoning votes away from Sharron Angle. The Note, authored by ABC ...

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Didn’t he once say he’d rather be a really good one-term president than a mediocre two-termer? Well, the chances of a “really good” first term are pretty much shot, so I guess now it’s mediocrity or bust. Shoot for the stars, champ!

President Obama signaled today that he will seek reelection and dismissed as “completely unfounded” reports that he might replace Vice President Joe Biden on his 2012 ticket with Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton.

“Obviously, I haven’t made any formal decision” on reelection, the president told National Journal in an exclusive 45-minute interview, “but I feel like I’ve got a lot of work left to do.”

Told that his answer sounded like he was saying “yes,” Obama nodded, then broadly smiled. “Take it as you will,” he said, laughing.

Obama bluntly dismissed suggestions, first raised by author Bob Woodward, that he might replace Biden with Clinton for the 2012 race.

Lest you think he’s bluffing, Axelrod is already starting to inch away from The One’s stance against Democratic outside groups with anonymous donors spending big money on elections. The old rule: No outside groups, please. The soon-to-be new rule: Yes, outside groups, please, but kindly disclose your contributors. As I said a few days ago, surely no one (including Harry Reid) found Sharron Angle’s mammoth third-quarter fundraising haul as frightening as the White House did, simply because it’s an early sign of how much money the conservative base will cough up in 2012 to knock Obama out of office. Axelrod will need all hands on deck to keep up, notwithstanding The One’s already legendary fundraising powers from 2008. So here’s his signal to lefty PACs to get in the game.

Even so, will it be enough? Mickey Kaus:

What comments [about voters being "scared"] suggest isn’t just that Obama will get clobbered in the midterms. It suggests that after he gets clobbered he won’t be able to adjust and turn the setback into a longterm victory the way Bill Clinton did. Clinton reacted to his 1994 midterm loss by acknowledging his opponents’ strongest arguments and pursuing a balanced budget and welfare reform. Obama seems more inclined to just tough it out until the economy recovers and the scared, confused voters become unscared and see the light. Meanwhile, he’ll spend his time in a protective cocoon.

A few weeks ago a right-wing reporter told me that worried Dem congresspersons who met with Obama left their meetings more worried than when they went in. I discounted the gossip, but now it’s beginning to ring true. We thought he was a great salesman. He turned out to be a lousy salesman. We thought he was a great politician. Instead he makes elementary mistakes and doesn’t learn from them. He didn’t know “shovel-ready” from a hole in the ground, and then somehow thinks admitting this ignorance without apology will add to his appeal.

I’d still defend most of the decisions Obama’s made, especially on health care refom. I’d rather have him making those decisions than 85% of the likely Republican candidates. But for the first time, he’s looking like a one-termer, even if the jobs start to come back.

It’s hard to imagine any incumbent losing if unemployment is trending downwards, especially after a sustained economic crisis, and it’s hard to imagine The One being so stupid as to stay in his liberal cocoon knowing that it would put the center of the electorate in play for 2012. Peter Beinart predicted a few weeks ago that Obama will actually tack left after the election on the theory that presidents tend to revert to campaign form when they get in trouble, but of course to hear David Brooks or Peggy Noonan or Kathleen Parker or Christopher Buckley tell it, Obama wasn’t a hard leftist during the campaign at all. He was an omnicompetent post-partisan pragmatist, eager to solve America’s problems by trying whatever would work. If he does revert to form, that’s the form he’ll revert to — which means he’ll try to make whatever deals he can with the new GOP House to push some compromise legislation through to pander to centrists. And then, if he gets reelected, he’ll govern as an even harder-left liberal in his second term. Good luck in 2012, moderate voters!

Exit question: If you were a lefty president terrified that your base of young voters will stay home on election day, which show would you appear on a few nights before to plead with them to go to the polls? Bingo.

This was probably inevitable: the minute that Dodd-Frank cracked down on the fees charged by credit cards aimed at students, some other bright financial innovation would crop up. This time, a debit card aimed at students. Which carries lots of fees. Ylan Mui reports that a company called Higher One has started signing up colleges around the country, taking on the burden of providing cash to students. In return, it gets lots of fees:

Students say several of the fees associated with Higher One’s card are particularly irksome, including the $19 inactivity fee, a 50-cent charge for using a PIN to make a purchase rather than a signature, and a $2.50 fee for using other banks’ ATMs…

Higher One said that only 1 percent of customers have been charged an inactivity fee and that more than half are charged the 50-cent fee only once. All fees are listed on Higher One’s Web site, along with tips on avoiding them.

“We have a big effort with educating students on how to use the account,” Smith said. “We’re very passionate about financial literacy.”

If the fees are listed on Higher One’s website, they’re not exactly prominent. I did find this page, eventually, via this blog entry, but it just says that “when you swipe & sign, you won’t be charged the PIN-based transaction fee”. I haven’t been able to find a page showing a 50-cent transaction fee anywhere*, although I did manage to find this page, showing a $25 fee for domestic wire transfers and a $50 fee for international wire transfers. “Higher One offers less costly alternatives for transferring funds”, it says, without giving any indication what they might be; I suspect that what they’re talking about is transfers to or from people who have already registered somehow with Higher One.

It should go without saying that any firm which is “very passionate about financial literacy” would encourage, rather than penalize, simple, cheap and safe PIN-debit transactions. It would not give students a debit card and then tell them that if they want to avoid fees they should select the “credit” option rather than the “debit” option when they come to pay.

And I can’t think of any good reason to charge a $19 inactivity fee to people who haven’t used their cards in 9 months.

The fact is that students are often very naive when it comes to money, and it’s easy to gouge them once or twice before they learn that banks are not necessarily on their side. If you can get your card accepted by a majority of freshmen every year, and then come up with all manner of weird fees to hit them with, that’s a great way of making money out of ignorance.

Meanwhile, all students should have a bank account: giving them a debit card instead only serves to maximize the number of unbanked students. So while I’m sure cards like this are attractive to colleges, it would be great if either the colleges or else the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau started being a lot more critical of them. Prepaid cards only ever make sense if the alternative is being completely unbanked; that should not ever be the case for students.

*At Southern Oregon University, Higher One agreed to waive the 50-cent PIN-debit charge, but only if there was a simultaneous “swipe-and-sign” campaign. If the campaign is unsuccessful and students do the sensible thing by using PIN debit, then the university can be charged $2 per student for “PIN fee elimination”.

Update: Higher One’s Donald Smith responds:

Higher One was founded 10 years ago by three college students (undergraduates at the time) who were looking for streamlining the way financial aid refunds were distributed to students. Today we work with more than 675 campuses across the country, have a 97% client retention rating, and an A+ rating with the BBB.

The OneAccount is Higher One’s optional, no minimum balance, no monthly fee, FDIC-Insured checking account created by students for students. We do not offer a stored value card. We are very open with our fee schedule. We post it on every program website for all to access, explain each fee, discuss how to avoid each fee, and provide students with a web page that tells them how to use the account for free (which you’ve already found). Because of this, we believe that our customers pay less than half the amount in fees that the average bank checking account customer pays per year.

Two of the fees you referenced in your blog are the PIN fee and the Abandoned Account Fee. The PIN fee is easily avoided by choosing a signature based transaction at the checkout. The majority of students uses it in this manner and is in turn protected by MasterCard’s Zero Liability Policy against fraudulent charges (a safer way of purchasing than a PIN based transaction). We do not have an inactivity fee on our fee schedule – we don’t penalize students who do not use their accounts. We do have an Abandoned Account Fee of up to $19, for those who have abandoned their accounts, but this has been charged to less than 1% of all OneAccount holders in our company’s history because of our proactive outreach plan.

Higher One offers no instruments of credit. As a matter of fact, we’re generally in favor of initiatives restricting students’ access to credit cards and promoting financial literacy. This is why we offer a full range of financial literacy resources along with the services we provide.

I particularly dislike the implication, here, that PIN-based transactions are unsafe. They’re not; they’re just less lucrative, in terms of interchange fees, than signature-based transactions.

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Didn’t he once say he’d rather be a really good one-term president than a mediocre two-termer? Well, the chances of a “really good” first term are pretty much shot, so I guess now it’s mediocrity or bust. Shoot for the stars, champ!

President Obama signaled today that he will seek reelection and dismissed as “completely unfounded” reports that he might replace Vice President Joe Biden on his 2012 ticket with Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton.

“Obviously, I haven’t made any formal decision” on reelection, the president told National Journal in an exclusive 45-minute interview, “but I feel like I’ve got a lot of work left to do.”

Told that his answer sounded like he was saying “yes,” Obama nodded, then broadly smiled. “Take it as you will,” he said, laughing.

Obama bluntly dismissed suggestions, first raised by author Bob Woodward, that he might replace Biden with Clinton for the 2012 race.

Lest you think he’s bluffing, Axelrod is already starting to inch away from The One’s stance against Democratic outside groups with anonymous donors spending big money on elections. The old rule: No outside groups, please. The soon-to-be new rule: Yes, outside groups, please, but kindly disclose your contributors. As I said a few days ago, surely no one (including Harry Reid) found Sharron Angle’s mammoth third-quarter fundraising haul as frightening as the White House did, simply because it’s an early sign of how much money the conservative base will cough up in 2012 to knock Obama out of office. Axelrod will need all hands on deck to keep up, notwithstanding The One’s already legendary fundraising powers from 2008. So here’s his signal to lefty PACs to get in the game.

Even so, will it be enough? Mickey Kaus:

What comments [about voters being "scared"] suggest isn’t just that Obama will get clobbered in the midterms. It suggests that after he gets clobbered he won’t be able to adjust and turn the setback into a longterm victory the way Bill Clinton did. Clinton reacted to his 1994 midterm loss by acknowledging his opponents’ strongest arguments and pursuing a balanced budget and welfare reform. Obama seems more inclined to just tough it out until the economy recovers and the scared, confused voters become unscared and see the light. Meanwhile, he’ll spend his time in a protective cocoon.

A few weeks ago a right-wing reporter told me that worried Dem congresspersons who met with Obama left their meetings more worried than when they went in. I discounted the gossip, but now it’s beginning to ring true. We thought he was a great salesman. He turned out to be a lousy salesman. We thought he was a great politician. Instead he makes elementary mistakes and doesn’t learn from them. He didn’t know “shovel-ready” from a hole in the ground, and then somehow thinks admitting this ignorance without apology will add to his appeal.

I’d still defend most of the decisions Obama’s made, especially on health care refom. I’d rather have him making those decisions than 85% of the likely Republican candidates. But for the first time, he’s looking like a one-termer, even if the jobs start to come back.

It’s hard to imagine any incumbent losing if unemployment is trending downwards, especially after a sustained economic crisis, and it’s hard to imagine The One being so stupid as to stay in his liberal cocoon knowing that it would put the center of the electorate in play for 2012. Peter Beinart predicted a few weeks ago that Obama will actually tack left after the election on the theory that presidents tend to revert to campaign form when they get in trouble, but of course to hear David Brooks or Peggy Noonan or Kathleen Parker or Christopher Buckley tell it, Obama wasn’t a hard leftist during the campaign at all. He was an omnicompetent post-partisan pragmatist, eager to solve America’s problems by trying whatever would work. If he does revert to form, that’s the form he’ll revert to — which means he’ll try to make whatever deals he can with the new GOP House to push some compromise legislation through to pander to centrists. And then, if he gets reelected, he’ll govern as an even harder-left liberal in his second term. Good luck in 2012, moderate voters!

Exit question: If you were a lefty president terrified that your base of young voters will stay home on election day, which show would you appear on a few nights before to plead with them to go to the polls? Bingo.

This was probably inevitable: the minute that Dodd-Frank cracked down on the fees charged by credit cards aimed at students, some other bright financial innovation would crop up. This time, a debit card aimed at students. Which carries lots of fees. Ylan Mui reports that a company called Higher One has started signing up colleges around the country, taking on the burden of providing cash to students. In return, it gets lots of fees:

Students say several of the fees associated with Higher One’s card are particularly irksome, including the $19 inactivity fee, a 50-cent charge for using a PIN to make a purchase rather than a signature, and a $2.50 fee for using other banks’ ATMs…

Higher One said that only 1 percent of customers have been charged an inactivity fee and that more than half are charged the 50-cent fee only once. All fees are listed on Higher One’s Web site, along with tips on avoiding them.

“We have a big effort with educating students on how to use the account,” Smith said. “We’re very passionate about financial literacy.”

If the fees are listed on Higher One’s website, they’re not exactly prominent. I did find this page, eventually, via this blog entry, but it just says that “when you swipe & sign, you won’t be charged the PIN-based transaction fee”. I haven’t been able to find a page showing a 50-cent transaction fee anywhere*, although I did manage to find this page, showing a $25 fee for domestic wire transfers and a $50 fee for international wire transfers. “Higher One offers less costly alternatives for transferring funds”, it says, without giving any indication what they might be; I suspect that what they’re talking about is transfers to or from people who have already registered somehow with Higher One.

It should go without saying that any firm which is “very passionate about financial literacy” would encourage, rather than penalize, simple, cheap and safe PIN-debit transactions. It would not give students a debit card and then tell them that if they want to avoid fees they should select the “credit” option rather than the “debit” option when they come to pay.

And I can’t think of any good reason to charge a $19 inactivity fee to people who haven’t used their cards in 9 months.

The fact is that students are often very naive when it comes to money, and it’s easy to gouge them once or twice before they learn that banks are not necessarily on their side. If you can get your card accepted by a majority of freshmen every year, and then come up with all manner of weird fees to hit them with, that’s a great way of making money out of ignorance.

Meanwhile, all students should have a bank account: giving them a debit card instead only serves to maximize the number of unbanked students. So while I’m sure cards like this are attractive to colleges, it would be great if either the colleges or else the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau started being a lot more critical of them. Prepaid cards only ever make sense if the alternative is being completely unbanked; that should not ever be the case for students.

*At Southern Oregon University, Higher One agreed to waive the 50-cent PIN-debit charge, but only if there was a simultaneous “swipe-and-sign” campaign. If the campaign is unsuccessful and students do the sensible thing by using PIN debit, then the university can be charged $2 per student for “PIN fee elimination”.

Update: Higher One’s Donald Smith responds:

Higher One was founded 10 years ago by three college students (undergraduates at the time) who were looking for streamlining the way financial aid refunds were distributed to students. Today we work with more than 675 campuses across the country, have a 97% client retention rating, and an A+ rating with the BBB.

The OneAccount is Higher One’s optional, no minimum balance, no monthly fee, FDIC-Insured checking account created by students for students. We do not offer a stored value card. We are very open with our fee schedule. We post it on every program website for all to access, explain each fee, discuss how to avoid each fee, and provide students with a web page that tells them how to use the account for free (which you’ve already found). Because of this, we believe that our customers pay less than half the amount in fees that the average bank checking account customer pays per year.

Two of the fees you referenced in your blog are the PIN fee and the Abandoned Account Fee. The PIN fee is easily avoided by choosing a signature based transaction at the checkout. The majority of students uses it in this manner and is in turn protected by MasterCard’s Zero Liability Policy against fraudulent charges (a safer way of purchasing than a PIN based transaction). We do not have an inactivity fee on our fee schedule – we don’t penalize students who do not use their accounts. We do have an Abandoned Account Fee of up to $19, for those who have abandoned their accounts, but this has been charged to less than 1% of all OneAccount holders in our company’s history because of our proactive outreach plan.

Higher One offers no instruments of credit. As a matter of fact, we’re generally in favor of initiatives restricting students’ access to credit cards and promoting financial literacy. This is why we offer a full range of financial literacy resources along with the services we provide.

I particularly dislike the implication, here, that PIN-based transactions are unsafe. They’re not; they’re just less lucrative, in terms of interchange fees, than signature-based transactions.

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Scott Ashjian calls himself the “Tea Party of Nevada” candidate for US Senate, but he tells ABC News that he would be “at peace” knowing he helped re-elect Harry Reid by siphoning votes away from Sharron Angle. The Note, authored by ABC ...

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There are hundreds, if not thousands, of ways to make money without a job. It wasn't always necessary to have a job to get by in this world. Only in the last century or so, has working away from home been seen as the normal situation for those in the workforce.

Until the Industrial Revolution a couple of centuries ago, there were many more people making a living at home doing whatever needed to be done, than those who had employment. Blacksmithing, accounting, banking, tailoring, shopkeeping and more, were common employment, but more were engaged in farming in a way that's obsolete in today's economy. Growing and making most of the things they needed, they bartered or sold their excess for other things. Cash from these sales brought money to buy what wasn't available otherwise, like salt, sugar and tobacco.

Today, every thing we need and use, own and borrow, is measured in money, so it would be difficult to go back to that way of living. Not many of us have the room or the knowledge necessary to raise our vegetables, meat, wool and wood for heat.

If you've lost your job or need to increase your income, that old fashioned way of thinking can make a difference. A quest to make money rather than find a job can help.

Here are thirteen ways to make money without a job. Your situation may be different so not all of them will work for you, but something will, or will jumpstart your creativity.

Do you do needlework? Offer to do custom work. For instance, knitted or crocheted items can be marketed to grandparents for their grandchildren. Craft or yarn shops need people to knit and/or crochet swatches of yarns so the customers can see what they look like. Creating for consignment shops near the holidays can be quite lucrative.

Sell what you can grow. Whether that's herbs or Christmas trees or tomatoes or native hay, plan to have an excess and sell what you don't need for yourself. The more the excess, the more you have to sell. Be sure to check local laws. Selling or exchanging a few pounds of apples or a dozen decorative ears of corn won't be a problem most of the time, but be sure first.

Recycle in seriousness. Not just aluminum cans (although do include those!) but copper, aluminum, brass and so on. You may have some on hand already, in the form of old copper wiring or aluminum wheel covers or gadgets. Keep an eye out at garage sales for things like brass lamps and ashtrays, beaten copper decorations, aluminum pots and pans. Familiarize yourself with the way these metals look so you can spot them. Stay up to date on prices so you won't buy an item then find out you can't sell it for as much as you paid.

Offer your services to others. This can include pet sitting, shoveling snow, raking leaves, washing windows, ironing, detailing car interiors, watering a garden or houseplants when the owner is on vacation, and so on. People who work all day are often glad to pay someone else to do some of these things for them. Be that someone.

Do odd jobs for businesses. Stores need people to offer samples, usually a couple of days a week. Some stores need someone to clean the parking lot once or twice a week, or to shovel snow from the sidewalks in front of office buildings. Set up displays or clean the office.

Be a garage sale. That's not a typo. You have things that you don't need any more and you probably can find a lot more than you think. Resell, too. Go to garage sales and be very picky about what you buy at what price. Some things don't sell because it's the wrong time of year, or because they need to be cleaned up or minor repairs need to be done. If it's legal in your area, dumpster dive or "sidewalk shop" (go through neighborhoods the night before trash pickup). There are many good items bound for the landfill. Rescue them; someone wants them and will pay you for them.

Work on commission selling things for others. EBay comes to mind, but there are other options. Craigslist, a local swap shop or friends and family can be the buyers for things that someone else wants to sell but doesn't want to deal with the details. Charge a commission based on a percentage agreed upon ahead of time.

Care for children. You must be trustworthy and probably only people who know you will hire you for this. Pick up children after school and keep them until their parents get home from work, or take them to school in the mornings. Parents whose schedules don't mesh with school will appreciate this service. Also, be free for babysitting at odd times, overnight or whenever needed. Again, check the local laws to make sure you're not offering anything illegal. In some states, you're allowed to babysit regularly for a certain number of children without a license.

Seasonal opportunities: Crafts of all kinds sell when people are looking for gifts. Woodwork, needlework, paper crafts like handmade cards and gift tags, quilts large and small, leatherwork and on and on. Look for craft shows, but don't overlook selling by word of mouth. Your costs will be lower and you could sell just as much. Other seasonal opportunities include decorating (and undecorating afterwards) houses for a holiday, delivering gifts, making costumes and wrapping gifts, delivering phone books or flyers, taking polls or working elections.

Running errands and driving services can bring in some money. You can take elderly people shopping, do the shopping for them and deliver the goods and run other errands for, not only the elderly, but busy moms and dads.

If you have a digital camera, you may be able to sell photographs to microstock agencies. You don't have to be a professional photographer to have a good eye for unique or interesting scenes. After agreeing to their terms of service, upload your pictures, specifying keywords so that potential customers can find them.

If you're musically inclined, sing or play for functions and gatherings for a fee. Make a tape, put out the word to caterers, party and local events planners. Don't forget family reunions, birthdays, anniversaries, graduation parties, wedding receptions and even funerals. Make yourself known anywhere you can.

Write. Here on Associated Content and many other places on the internet are opportunities to write. If you know a topic well, write about it. If you're interested in a topic, research it then write about it. As you search for writing opportunities, you'll find more and more places that need content. Don't give up if you don't succeed at first. It takes a little experience to know what to write about and how to write it for the internet.

And there you have it - the first few hundred ideas on how to make money without a job. The rest is up to you.


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Scott Ashjian calls himself the “Tea Party of Nevada” candidate for US Senate, but he tells ABC News that he would be “at peace” knowing he helped re-elect Harry Reid by siphoning votes away from Sharron Angle. The Note, authored by ABC ...

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The openSUSE Build Service 2.1 released - openSUSE <b>News</b>

This iteration has enhanced the web user interface of openSUSE Build Service with features that were previously only in the osc command line client. It now allows submitting of packages to other projects, showing a history of changes ...

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ABC <b>News</b> Exclusive: Tea Party Candidate in Nevada Senate May Tip <b>...</b>

Scott Ashjian calls himself the “Tea Party of Nevada” candidate for US Senate, but he tells ABC News that he would be “at peace” knowing he helped re-elect Harry Reid by siphoning votes away from Sharron Angle. The Note, authored by ABC ...