A10
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KLMNO WASHINGTON BUSINESS Group brings free mortgage help to D.C. by Sonja Ryst and Mike McPhate
More than 160 distressed homeowners lined up in down- town Washington before dawn Friday in hopes of obtaining bet- ter mortgage terms, with help from housing advocacy group Neighborhood Assistance Corp. of America. Clutching financial docu- ments, they began lining up out- side the Walter E. Washington Convention Center at 8 a.m. Thursday for a chance to meet with one of hundreds of NACA counselors on their “Save the Dream Tour,” as well as bank loan negotiators. The Boston housing advocacy group, which works with home- owners to prepare budgets and submit proposals to their lenders for lower mortgage payments, ex- pects that 30,000 people will at- tend the free D.C. event. The doors opened at 9 a.m. Friday and will stay that way 24 hours a day until July 30. NACA, which usu- ally holds such events for five days, plans to remain in Washing- ton longer to be visible to law- makers. “We’re showing the country, the politicians and the govern- ment how it’s done,” NACA chief executive Bruce Marks said. Marks said he used “nonvio- lent bank terrorism” to get lend- ers to sign agreements that they would show up at events and ne- gotiate with their debtors face to face. He said his team went into communities and knocked on
bank executives’ doors, insisting that they listen to those who had borrowed money from them. Loan negotiators from major
firms including Wells Fargo, GMAC and SunTrust sat at tables in rows, discussing mortgage- payment terms with troubled borrowers. Homeowners waiting in the stifling heat before the event be- gan were surrounded by portable fans, coolers, camping chairs — and suitcases. Some had flown from as far away as Connecticut, Massachusetts, Florida and Cali- fornia to seek help. Those in line had harsh words for their banks. Nadia Morales and her husband traveled from Miami, taking their places near the front of the line Thursday at
about 8:30 a.m. Morales said the couple had filed paperwork for a loan modification eight times, with no response.
Ophelia Willis said she sent
pages of faxes to her lender and is still waiting for a palatable new repayment plan. She bought her home in District Heights, Md., for $112,000 in February 2009. Now its value is closer to $60,000, and she wants to cut down the amount she has to pay back on the mortgage. “I don’t know what’s taking so long,” Willis said. Her church told her about NACA’s event last Sunday, so she came hoping for a solution. Charlene Twitty found out about NACA from her sister. She inherited her parents’ house in Capitol Hill 40 years ago and said
lenders persuaded her to take on debt to pay for repairs and main- tenance. “The banks don’t want to give you anything,” she said. Bob Davis, executive vice presi- dent of the American Bankers As- sociation, said there are probably circumstances in which the bor- rower hasn’t presented the right information to the lender, and needs counseling. “Others could have fallen through the cracks,” he said, adding that major lend- ers have contracts with NACA and groups like it so that they can find such borrowers. Sara Brown started talking to
NACA before she missed her first mortgage payment this month, in an effort to obtain the informa- tion she needed to fight her lend- er. She wants her bank to reduce the mortgage on her home in Vi- enna, Va., and needs to buy time while she looks for a job. “My house isn’t going to foreclosure,” she said. NACA is visiting the District for its second time. Since holding its first such D.C. event in July 2008, NACA has held 20 nation- wide and repeat visits to cities such as Atlanta and Chicago. A man walked up to Marks on
BILL O’LEARY/THE WASHINGTON POST
More than 160 distressed homeowners were lined up outside the convention center Friday for the NACA “Save the Dream Tour.”
Cellphone industry sues over radiation law by Cecilia Kang
First, the cellphone industry told San Francisco it wouldn’t host its annual trade show there again. Now, it’s suing. CTIA, the trade group repre- senting Apple, AT&T, Motorola and Verizon, is fuming over San Francisco’s law that requires re- tailers to display radiation levels emitted by wireless gadgets. The ordinance, passed last month and the first of its kind in the na- tion, was intended to alert con- sumers to the body absorption rates of certain devices as scien- tists continue to debate whether users of the world’s 4.5 billion phones could face an increased
risk of cancer. In its suit, filed in U.S. District
Court in San Francisco, CTIA seeks to block enforcement of the city’s cellphone “Right-to- Know” ordinance. CTIA argues that the ordinance goes against Federal Communications Com- mission oversight of standards that keep phones safe.
Some scientists and public ad-
vocacy groups have questioned the limits set by the FCC on how much radiation can be absorbed by body tissue. They say the rules, put into place in 1997, are outdated and geared toward adult males. Long-term users and children, with thinner skulls, could be at greater risk, according to a 13-nation epide-
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Mon. Tue.
Dow Jones 30 Industrials Company Close Alcoa
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Cisco Systems 23.35 Coca-Cola DuPont
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46.15
6.4 6.1 8.2 3.4
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–0.1
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1 Year %Chg
24.1 2.3
52.1 0.2 8.3
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31.5 11.7 10.8
Close
DJ Total Stock Market Index 11,507.73 Russell 2000
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23.47 Wed. Thur.
Company Close IBM
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Microsoft P&G Co Pfizer
Travelers
United Tech Verizon
Wal-Mart Walt Disney Fri.
Weekly %Chg
128.38 21.69 57.63 39.83 29.62 69.90 34.87 25.81 61.91 14.58 50.14 70.90 28.02 51.67 34.13
0.3 3.2
–3.0 2.1 2.8
–0.1 –2.9 3.7
–0.1 0.1 1.0 7.4 5.0 4.0 3.3
1 Year %Chg
9.7 11.3
–4.3 4.4 4.4
24.6 15.3 1.0
12.2 –9.7 17.7 32.8 –4.1 6.0
27.4
Interest Rates Consumer Rates
Weekly%Chg 1 Year%Chg 4.0 6.6 4.0
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14.8 19.2 13.7 0.2
Money market funds 6-Month CDs 1-Year CDs 5-Year CDs New car loan Home-equity loan
0.75 0.81 1.14 2.46 6.17 7.37
0.49% 0.25% 3.25%
Bank Prime Federal Funds LIBOR 3-Month
3.19% 4.02% 4.61%
30-Year fixed mortgage 15-Year fixed mortgage 1-Year ARM
1102.66 +3.5 +12.9 2269.47 +4.1 +15.0
miological study released in May.
But there is no conclusive sci-
entific evidence that cellphone use can lead to cancer. Law- makers and scientists around the globe have called for further research to understand the long- term health effects of cellphones on users.
Cellphone makers and wire- less service providers said the San Francisco ordinance causes confusion and misleads con- sumers into thinking some phones are safer than others. “CTIA’s objection to the ordi- nance is that displaying a phone’s
[specific absorption
rate] value at the point-of-sale suggests to the consumer that
Friday and hugged him. “Mira- cle!” the man said. Minutes later, a young woman did the same. Marks shrugged sheepishly and smiled. “I have the best job in the world,” he said. And yet, he said, too many Americans don’t get the help that they should with their mortgages. “If we didn’t do it, nobody would,” he said.
rysts@washpost.com
michael.mcphate@
wpost.com
there is a meaningful safety dis- tinction between FCC-compliant devices with different SAR lev- els,” John Walls, a spokesman for the group, said in a news release. “The FCC has determined that all wireless phones legally sold in the United States are ‘safe.’ ” San Francisco Mayor Gavin
Newsom said the ordinance was not an attack on the cellphone industry but an effort to better inform consumers upon pur- chase of a device. “I’m surprised these industry representatives would choose to spend untold sums of money fighting this in courtrooms in- stead of cooperatively working with our city and county to com- ply with a reasonable law provid- ing greater transparency,” New- som said in a statement.
kangc@washpost.com
THE MARKETS
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Industry Group Automobiles
S&P 500 Industry Group Snapshot –15%
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Office Electronics Electrical Equipment Real Estate Mgmt & Dev Metals & Mining
Thrifts &Mtge Finance Distributors
Health Care Eqp & Suppl Pharmaceuticals
Health Care Providers
13.2 11.4 10.9 10.9 10.1 0.1
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4458.40 2793.08
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Cross Currency Rates EU €
US $
US $ per EU € per
Japan ¥ per Britain £ per Brazil R$ per
Canada $ per Mexico $ per
0.7744 87.3700 112.8400
0.6484 0.8373 0.0074 1.7557 1.0361
2.2671 0.0201 1.3379 0.0119
12.7298 16.4376 0.1460 Japan ¥
1.2913 0.0114 0.0089
0.8 6.8 2.8 0.2
Britain £
1.5423 0.5699 1.1944
0.4411
Brazil R$ Canada $ Mexico $ 0.9652 0.0786 0.7474 0.0608
134.7700 49.7808 84.3400 6.8640 0.3692
2.7088 1.5980 0.5900
0.6258 0.0509 1.6940 0.1379 0.0814
19.6334 7.2510 12.2870 Treasury Performance Over Past Three Months
10-year note Yield:
5-year note Yield:
2.99 1.73
4:30 p.m. New York time.
2-year note Yield:
6-month bill Yield:
0.58 0.19
Note: Bank prime is from 10 major banks. Federal Funds rate is the market rate, which can vary from the federal target rate. LIBOR is the London Interbank Offered Rate. Consumer rates are from Bankrate. All figures as of
66,322.99 11,714.21
32,806.03 255.97
3607.05 6166.34 5312.62
Weekly %Chg
6.4 1.2 3.2
3.2 3.1 2.1 3.0
1Year%Chg –25%
0% +15%
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SATURDAY, JULY 24, 2010
KEVIN CLARK/THE WASHINGTON POST
Sunrise Senior Living, a McLean-based retirement community operator, had faced an SEC probe into its financial reporting.
REGULATORS
Sunrise settles SEC investigation Sunrise Senior Living said Fri-
day that it has agreed to settle with the Securities and Exchange Commission over an investiga- tion into the McLean company’s financial reporting from 2003 to 2005. The SEC is not fining the resi- dential living facilities operator but is entering a judgment that prohibits the company from vio- lating certain financial reporting acts. Sunrise neither admits nor denies the SEC’s allegations. Two former company execu- tives, Larry E. Hulse and Ken- neth J. Abod, agreed to settle with the SEC without admitting or denying the allegations against them. Sunrise does not expect the SEC to take action against any other directors, offi- cers or employees.
Shares of Sunrise rose 10 cents, to 3.8 percent, to close at $2.75. —Associated Press
STOCKS
Capital One slides on revenue concerns
Shares of Capital One Finan- cial fell Friday after the McLean- based credit card issuer warned that revenue could decline in the next few quarters. The bleak outlook came de- spite a quarterly profit that easily beat Wall Street expectations. But the strong performance came because the company had
to set aside far less money for loan losses than it did a year ago. Charge-offs across the industry remain near record levels, and credit card companies are also adjusting to new regulations that limit their ability to charge fees and raise interest rates. Capital One stock closed at $40.84, down 2.9 percent. —Associated Press
HEALTH CARE
Analyst downgrades Omega Healthcare
Omega Healthcare Investors’ stock slipped Friday after an ana- lyst lowered his rating on the firm, but by day’s end, shares had recovered to post a 0.9 percent gain. Jefferies analyst Omotayo
Okusanya said second-quarter results are unlikely to reveal any new catalysts that could drive growth in the health-care real es- tate investment trust, which fo- cuses on nursing facilities and other specialty hospitals. The Hunt Valley, Md.-based company is scheduled to report its quar- terly results Monday. Okusanya downgraded the
firm’s stock to “hold” from “buy,” saying he was concerned about the company’s skilled nursing home exposure because of the outlook for Medicaid over the next year. “Most states remain fi- nancially strapped, and we worry these states will cut Medicaid in order to balance their budgets,” the analyst wrote in a note to cli- ents.
—Associated Press
On Mondays, The Washington Post offers Capital Business, a weekly publication covering the region’s business community. A one-year subscription costs $49 and is available only to Post subscribers.
Visit
washingtonpost.com/capitalbusiness for more details. Data and graphics by
Weekly Close %Chg
$3.1850 $3.7125 $78.98
$1187.80 $4.58
+8.9 –6.0 +3.9 0.0
+1.3
Value of $1000 invested for the past: Exchange-Traded (Ticker)
Weekly %Chg
0% +25%
Coffee (COFF.L) Copper (COPA.L) Corn (CORN.L) Cotton (COTN.L) Crude Oil (CRUD.L) Gasoline (UGAS.L) Gold (BULL.L)
Natural Gas (NGAS.L) Silver (SLVR.L)
–0.4 8.2
–3.7 3.3 3.5 3.9 0.2 1.3 2.1
Local Gainers and Losers Value of $1000 invested for the past: Company
Osiris Therapeutics Intersections Inc Arbitron
WR Grace
SandySpringBancorp VSE Corp
Cardinal Fin Corp
WSB Holdings Inc PharmAthene Inc
Glen Burnie Bancorp Virginia Commerce Lightbridge Corp Millennium Bnks
$7.79 $5.00
$30.26 $25.38 $16.20 $35.73 $10.23
ComstockHomebuildng $1.57 Orbital Sciences Radio One
$14.46 week
Weekly Close %Chg
21.5 19.0 15.3 15.1 14.9 14.5 14.2 13.0 –8.5
$1.00 –10.7 $3.00 –11.0 $1.45 –11.6 $8.02 –17.2 $5.50 –18.4 $6.50 –19.1 $4.50 –30.8
$1000
year $7200
Orange Juice Silver
Soybeans Sugar Wheat
$600
Weekly Close %Chg
$1.4565 $18.10
+3.9 +1.8
$10.1700 –0.2 $0.1826 $5.9625
+6.7 +1.5
week $1000 year $1400
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