Lorraine or Loretta Kratz-Certified Negotiation Experts,

The U.S. Department of Justice has obtained a record $2.725 million settlement against Los Angeles apartment owners for alleged rental discrimination. In a lawsuit brought in August 2006, the Justice Department claimed that Donald T. Sterling and others engaged in discriminatory practices, such as refusing to rent to African-Americans, Hispanics, and families with children, refusing to rent to non-Koreans in Koreatown buildings, misrepresenting the availability of rental units, and preparing internal reports of tenants' racial profiles.

Under the name of Beverly Hills Properties, the defendants in this lawsuit own and manage about 119 apartment buildings containing over 5,000 apartment units in Los Angeles County. Their agreement to pay $2.725 million is the largest monetary settlement the Justice Department has ever obtained for rental housing discrimination. The bulk of the money will be placed in a fund to pay tenants harmed by the defendants' discriminatory practices. The defendants must also take certain measures to ensure non-discriminatory practices, such as obtain fair housing training and monitor their employees' compliance with fair housing laws over the next three years.

A free foreclosure prevention seminar will be held on 11/10/2009 @ 5PM in Descanso. Please contact the number below for insturction on how to locate this branch of the public library.

Housing Opportunities Collaborative, a non-profit housing advocacy organization is holding a free HOME workshop, providing homeowners with information from experts like housing counselors, mortgage counselors and real estate and bankruptcy attorneys.

Library: Descanso
Contact: Branch Staff
Contact Number: 619-445-5279

•§ Cover your nose and mouth with a tissue when you cough or sneeze. Throw the tissue in the trash after you use it.

•§ Wash your hands often with soap and water, especially after you cough or sneeze. Alcohol-based hand cleaners are also effective.

•§ Avoid touching your eyes, nose or mouth. Germs spread this way.

•§ Try to avoid close contact with sick people.

•§ Stay home if you are sick until at least 24 hours after you no longer have a fever (100°F or 37.8 C) or signs of a fever (without the use of a fever-reducing medicine, such as Tylenol® Aspirin or ?)..

•§ Follow public health advice regarding school closures, avoiding crowds and other social distancing measures.

Getting a flu shot can be helpful, so be on the look out for locations that may offer than for free or for a minimal fee.

Get ready to get your food served to you by carhops on skates at the new Sonic Drive-In Opening on 11-2-2009 in Vista.. This is the second Sonic to open the other is located in Santee, Ca. Sonic is know for its Lineade, Tots, and Extra Long Chili Cheese Coney's.

Sonic customers drive into a stall and push a red button on the menu board to place orders from their car. Carhops on skates deliver orders to customers in their cars or sitting on the patio.

The restaurant opens at 5:30AM and will close at 12 midnight. Located at 101 Main Street, Vista, Ca.

Some consumers with exceptional credit reports and high FICO scores are being denied mortgages by Fannie Mae's automated underwriting system because there is a notation in the credit report that the consumer has disputed an item.

Under the Fair Credit Reporting Act, consumers are guaranteed the right to dispute inaccurate information on any account in their credit files. Once a consumer disputes an item in their credit report, a notation to this effect is made in the file. Until the notation is removed, most credit-scoring system generally will not factor the disputed item into the computation of the consumer's score.

However, with the recent surge in companies claiming to "clean up" and "erase" blemishes on consumers' credit reports, some lenders are finding that these credit companies are disputing accurate, but negative items, hoping the consumer will qualify for a loan before the dispute is resolved.

Applications that are denied through Fannie Mae's automated underwriting system, which is used by virtually all lenders doing business with Fannie Mae, are sent back to the lender for manual underwriting. It is then up to the lender to determine and document whether the disputed information is accurate and underwrite the borrower's credit accordingly.