Author: Brad Beckett

It seems like everyday we hear about another cyber attack where customer data are stolen and/or a machine gets locked down until a ransom is paid to some unknown hacker, on the other side of the planet.  Recently, IT management site ManageEngine posted an interesting article on their PitStop blog entitled “What you ought to know about the common cybercrime techniques of 2016” that does a great job spelling out the cyber threats we face and how to address them.  The article was written by an Australian, so don’t let the Aussi references throw you off – they’re relevant for…

The Bipartisan Policy Center’s Senior Health and Housing Task Force, chaired by two former Secretaries of Housing & Urban Development (Mel Martinez & Henry Cisneros), released a report this week with a set of recommendations that Washington and the states could implement that “would enhance the lives of America’s seniors.”  The report says that millions of older adults will struggle to find housing that is both affordable and physically suitable. By 2030, 74 million Americans, representing more than 20% of the overall population, will be 65 years of age or more. Those 85 and above constitute the nation’s fastest-growing demographic…

This week the U.S. Department of Labor issued its final set of rules revising the overtime exemption regulations of the Fair Labor Stands Act.  Today’s infographic briefly explains the key aspect of those provisions.  Happy Friday! Click here for more information about the new rules.

This week real estate data powerhouse RealtyTrac released their 2016 2nd quarter U.S. Residential Property Vacancy and Zombie Foreclosure Report that shows nearly 1.4 million residential properties (1 to 4 units) representing 1.6% of all residential properties were vacant as of May 2016, up 2.7% from the previous quarter when 1,361,628 U.S. residential properties were vacant.  The report also shows that 19,187 U.S. residential properties actively in the foreclosure process were vacant (zombie foreclosures), representing 4.7% of all residential properties in foreclosure — down 3.1 percent from the previous quarter and down 30.1%  from a year ago. States with the…

On this site last Fall, we reported that The U.S. Department of Labor  issued a notice of proposed rule-making and request for comments to regulations issued under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) that covered who is exempt from overtime pay within certain categories of employees.   Well, the day of reckoning has finally arrived. Today President Obama and the U.S. Department of Labor announced the publication of the Department’s final rule updating overtime regulations.  The new rules go into effect December 1, 2016. The text below was taken directly from the DOL’s website. Final Rule: Overtime Defining and Delimiting…

A recent editorial in the Eugene, Oregon Register-Guard newspaper spells out the perils of a fraudulent property manager who defrauded over 350 real estate investors who trusted him with managing their properties while he absconded their money.  He is currently awaiting sentencing on two counts of federal wire fraud, however according to the article the lawsuits are piling up. “Shockley has admitted that for years he defrauded and lied to clients who paid him to manage their rental properties. Many of his 350 clients were small investors, holders of at most a few rental units that offered some financial security.  Shockley…

According to new data released today by the U.S. federal government, housing starts were up 6.6% in April compared to March.  However, April’s number is 1.7% less than one year ago.  April’s starts stood at a seasonally adjusted rate of 1,172,000.  Building permits for April were 3.6% higher than March coming in at 1,116,000.  However this number is 5.3% lower than one year ago. Click here to read the full release.

Today, May 16th, marks the day when the new rules for equity crowdfunding go into effect.  So, Entrepreneur.com decided to kick off the event with a new video series called “Crowdfund with Cat” – featuring Cat Clifford.  In this first episode Cat speaks Alon Hillel-Tuch, one of co-founders of crowdfunding platform RocketHub, where they discuss why equity crowdfunding is much different than donation-based crowdfunding. Click here to read more on Entrepreneur.com

The New York Times recently reported that NY state regulators subpoenaed several investment NY firms involved with seller-financing.   The paper suggested that a “revival in seller-financed deals for marketing inexpensive homes to lower-income people” drew the attention of the New York State Department of Financial Services and the investigation is preliminary. In addition, the NY Times article also noted that the Consumer Protection Financial Bureau (CFPB) recently “began an informal inquiry into seller-financing arrangements” and has assigned two lawyers to “research the seller-financing market and determine whether the terms of some deals violate federal truth-in-lending laws.” Click here to…

The Mortgage Bankers Association is reporting that the percentage of loans on which foreclosure actions were initiated was .35%, down one basis point from last quarter and 10 basis points lower than this time last year.  In addition, the data reveal that the foreclosure starts rate were at their lowest level since Q2 of 2000.  The delinquency rate for mortgages on 1-4 unit properties remained unchanged from last quarter at 4.77% of all outstanding loans.  This is the lowest rate since Q3 of 2006 and 77 basis points lower than one year ago. “The delinquency rate of 4.77 percent has…