I wanted to take a minute to wish all of the dads out there a fantastic Father's Day!
It's not even noon yet, and so far I've had a great Father's Day. After being allowed to sleep in (a very rare treat), my wife and two little girls greeted me with breakfast in bed and some wonderful cards. We're off in a few minutes for lunch at Buffalo Wild Wings, followed by playtime at the park. I couldn't ask for a better day!
I hope you all of you other dads out there have a great day yourselves!
Here is another example of a recent legal case involving a fraudulent real estate scheme, this time committed by a mortgage lender. I try to post case summaries in order to provide timely updates to real estate professionals on important issues.
Yesterday afternoon (Tuesday, June 9, 2009), the United States Department of Justice ("DOJ") filed a lawsuit against California mortgage lender Capmark Finance Inc., charging that Capmark violated the federal False Claims Act by making false statements on applications for federal mortgage insurance covering residential nursing homes. The lawsuit relates to a federal program under which the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (“HUD”) guarantees mortgage loans used to acquire healthcare facilities such as hospitals and nursing homes.
The lawsuit alleges that Capmark made false statements in HUD applications to guarantee mortgage loans made to acquire the Canoga Care Center, a residential nursing home facility in California, and the Hudson Valley Care Center, located in New York. After accepting Capmark’s applications for mortgage insurance, HUD was forced to pay $25,895,701.21 when both the Canoga Care Center and Hudson Valley Care Center defaulted on their loans. Pursuant to the False Claims Act, the DOJ is seeking treble (triple) damages and penalties.
The lawsuit is an allegation of unlawful conduct. The allegations must still be proven in federal court. I will try to follow this case and provide an update when the case is resolved.
********************************************
To learn more about a variety of real estate topics, please visit us at www.123ConEd.com. We are the leading online provider of Michigan real estate continuing education. All of our courses are fully approved and properly certified by the State of Michigan, and are offered online.
Copyright © 123 ConEd LLC 2009. All rights reserved.
We are offering a 10% discount on the purchase of all of our online Michigan real estate continuing education courses. Simply type activerain10 in the "Discount Code" field at the top of the checkout page. You must purchase your courses by June 30, 2009 to take advantage of this offer. Even though you need to purchase the courses by that date to take advantage of the discount, you can take the courses for up to one year after the purchase date. Please feel free to share that discount code with your friends and colleagues (even if not ActiveRain members).
ACT NOW!! Don't forget that all licensed Michigan real estate professionals must complete 18 credit hours of continuing education by October 31, 2009, in order to renew their licenses. Don't wait to the last minute to get this done. All of our courses are fully approved and certified by the State of Michigan, and we offer one of the cheapest prices out there. Even without the 10% discount, we offer 6 credits for only $35!
Try online continuing education!
You won't go back! It's convenient, economical, and fast!
It's Continuing Education as Easy as 1-2-3!™
www.123ConEd.com offers a simple, convenient and easy way to get your credits.
We are offering a 10% discount on the purchase of all of our online Michigan real estate continuing education courses. Simply type activerain10 in the "Discount Code" field at the top of the checkout page. You must purchase your courses by June 30, 2009 to take advantage of this offer. Even though you need to purchase the courses by that date to take advantage of the discount, you can take the courses for up to one year after the purchase date. Please feel free to share that discount code with your friends and colleagues (even if not ActiveRain members).
ACT NOW!! Don't forget that all licensed Michigan real estate professionals must complete 18 credit hours of continuing education by October 31, 2009, in order to renew their licenses. Don't wait to the last minute to get this done. All of our courses are fully approved and certified by the State of Michigan, and we offer one of the cheapest prices out there. Even without the 10% discount, we offer 6 credits for only $35!
Try online continuing education!
You won't go back! It's convenient, economical, and fast!
It's Continuing Education as Easy as 1-2-3!™
www.123ConEd.com offers a simple, convenient and easy way to get your credits.
Stanley J. Watras was a construction engineer at the Limerick nuclear power plant in Pottstown, Pennsylvania. A monitor was installed at the plant to check workers to make sure they did not accidentally accumulate an unsafe dose of radiation at work.
One day, on his way to work, Mr. Watras entered the plant and set off the radiation monitor alarms that help protect workers by detecting exposure to radiation. Safety personnel checked him out, but could not find the source of the radiation. Interestingly, because the plant was under construction at the time, there was no nuclear fuel at the plant, so there was no way for Mr. Watras to have been exposed to any radiation at work.
Eventually, they discovered that Mr. Watras was not picking up the radiation at work, but rather was bringing it to work from home! A team of specialists was sent to the Mr. Watras' home to investigate. There, they measured radiation levels about 700 times higher than the maximum level considered safe for human exposure (the home tested at 2,700 pCi/L and a safe level is at or below 4 pCi/L). The source of this enormous amount of radiation turned out to be radon, a naturally-occurring gas that made its way into the Watras home from underground. It had nothing to do with Mr. Watras’ job. The entire family was living in an environment roughly equivalent to smoking a couple of hundred packs of cigarettes per day. They moved out of the house immediately, while the problem was being fixed.
After Mr. Watras and his family evacuated their house, the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Pennsylvania officials turned it into a laboratory for long-term measurement of radon and radon decay products and evaluation of radon mitigation techniques. After many months, they reduced the radon concentration to an acceptable level, and the family was able to return. After installing a radon-reduction system, radon levels in the home tested below 4 pCi/L.
Although this case occurred in 1984, residential indoor radon exposure as a health hazard flies below the radar of many real estate professionals. Radon is a Class A carcinogen, which means it is known to cause cancer in humans. Most people do not know that radon is the second leading cause of lung cancer in the United States, resulting in approximately 21,000 lung cancer deaths each year. Only smoking causes more lung cancers.
The U.S. Surgeon General and the EPA recommend that all homes in the United States be tested for radon. In fact, in May 1993, the National Association of Realtors (NAR) joined the EPA in urging all Americans to test their homes for radon. The NAR encouraged state associations to develop and support legislation or regulation requiring mandatory property condition disclosure, including radon, by the seller.
*********************************************
123 ConEd LLC offers online real estate continuing education to Michigan agents and brokers. We offer numerous different course titles on our easy to use and easy to navigate website (www.123ConEd.com). All of our courses have been approved and certified by the State of Michigan.
Copyright © 123 ConEd LLC 2009. All rights reserved.
123 ConEd LLC is a leading provider of online continuing education real estate courses in Michigan. All of our courses are convenient, economical, fast, and fully approved by the State of Michigan.
123 ConEd LLC (www.123ConEd.com) is a leading online provider of continuing education courses to real estate professionals in Michigan. Our courses are fully approved and properly certified by the Michigan Department of Labor & Economic Growth. All of our online Michigan real estate con ed courses are designed to offer our students the most information, as quickly and economically as possible.
We take pride in the fact that all of our courses are completely our own -- developed by experienced, practicing attorneys/real estate professionals who have the same needs and goals as you. Our courses are also specifically designed for Michigan real estate professionals. That means we do not resell generic courses from national education vendors, as many of our competitors do. From our experience, those "generic" courses -- courses not written specifically for Michigan licensees -- often contain misinformation and irrelevant material because they were written using the laws and regulations of another state (not Michigan).
We started this company because we were motivated to create something better. As attorneys and real estate brokers ourselves, we knew we could provide interesting, accurate courses and present them in a user-friendly way. We also believe that real estate continuing education should be easy as 1-2-3, which is why we offer the ultimate in flexibility. Our courses are online, so your home or office is your classroom. You can start, stop and restart a class at anytime and you can even put together your own package of courses that interest you.
With 123 ConEd LLC, it's all about time management. We know your time is precious. We know you have a busy schedule that makes taking time off for a six hour continuing education class each year a practical hardship. We've got the solution. 123 ConEd LLC is the most time and cost effective way to meet your real estate continuing education needs. With 123 ConEd LLC, you are in control.
Rest easy knowing that 123 ConEd LLC courses are prepared and offered by two extremely qualified licensed attorneys and real estate brokers. 123 ConEd LLC courses are interesting, informative, reliable and cutting-edge!
123 ConEd LLC (www.123ConEd.com) was started by two highly-motivated people, both whom are attorneys and real estate brokers. They use their combined expertise and experience to author all of their own courses, and they ensure that the course material is both accurate and current.
Jason S. Rose is an attorney, real estate broker, and co-owner/instructor of 123 ConEd LLC. He graduated from the University of California, Davis, in 1989, and obtained his law degree magna cum laude from Gonzaga University School of Law in 1993. He is a member in good standing of the State Bar of Michigan and the State Bar of Arizona. Jason has been a licensed Michigan real estate professional since 2006. He is also an approved continuing education instructor by the State of Michigan.
Danielle Gee Gutierrez is an attorney, real estate broker, and co-owner/instructor of 123 ConEd LLC. She graduated magna cum laude from Hillsdale College in Michigan in 1992, and obtained her law degree from University of Detroit Mercy School of Law in 1995, graduating at the top of her law school class. She is a member in good standing of the State Bar of Michigan. Danielle has been a licensed Michigan real estate professional since 1990. She is also an approved continuing education instructor by the State of Michigan.
ActiveRain Corp. is not responsible for the accuracy of the site's content (which is written by members of the ActiveRain Real Estate Network) and does not endorse the views of the real estate agents, mortgage brokers, and others listed here.
Powered by the ActiveRain Real Estate Network
© 2009 ActiveRain Corp. All Rights Reserved
