Enclosed is a front page article from my local Scranton Times newspaper. I just had to take action. You should too. Thanks, John Topa.

Coziness returns to the Dunmore Senior Center

BY MEGAN REITER, STAFF WRITER

DUNMORE — The heat is on.

One day after Dunmore Senior Citizens Center clients were sent home early because the temperature at the Dunmore Community Center was below state safety standards, seniors abandoned their coats to enjoy lunch Thursday.

“It was definitely warmer,” Jeanne Hugenbruch, senior center executive director, said. “C’mon back out. It’s safe to come back to the Dunmore center.”

Under state Department of Aging requirements, the temperature in the seniors’ room must be a minimum of 70 degrees, Ms. Hugenbruch said. When she arrived at the community center Wednesday, the temperature was 63 degrees. Council President Melanie Naro said Wednesday she requested the thermostats be set at 68 degrees, after the borough received a $1,469 gas bill for the community center in October. Efforts to reach her were unsuccessful Thursday.

“Our yoga class did arrive with sweaters and jackets and scarves just in case ... (but the borough) definitely did turn (the heat) up,” she said.

Borough Manager Joseph Patchcoski paid a visit to the seniors as well, Ms. Hugenbruch said, and a borough employee placed a free-standing thermometer on a table in the middle of the seniors’ room.

“I really do feel that they’re absolutely working on it,” Ms. Hugenbruch said of the borough. “I know they put a call into the (heating) company to come and look at the system.”

In one corner of the room, senior Pat Berkery wore an oversized sweatshirt as she played a game of Nintendo Wii bowling.

“It’s a smidgen cold today,” she said. “They’re trying to fix it, but I don’t know.”

In addition to informing seniors about the heat, Ms. Hugenbruch wants them to know she’ll never charge them to attend the center.

“I did make the announcement (Thursday), absolutely not, under any circumstances, will we charge,” she said.

At Monday’s special budget meeting, council discussed possibly charging the senior center for use of the community center.

Ms. Naro has pointed out the seniors have used the community center rent free for about two years — unlike tenants state Rep. Ken Smith and Head Start. The seniors, she’s said, also don’t make a donation to the borough as Dunmore Biddy Basketball does.

One local businessman is taking matters into his own hands.

John Topa, owner of First Sunrise Mortgage of Dunmore, is hoping to raise $10,000 for the senior center’s activity fund.

“I don’t want the senior center to incur any costs whatsoever,” Mr. Topa said. “My heart goes out to those people.”

After learning of the recent issues there, he organized a fundraiser in one day.

“He said, ‘I was so upset, I couldn’t even eat my breakfast,’” said Carmel Arnone, 83, the senior center’s fundraiser chairwoman.

Mr. Topa is sponsoring a seven-day cruise to the Caribbean for two, and raffle tickets will be available for sale starting next week.

“It just sickened me,” he said. “I think, that could be my grandma down there.”

Contact the writer: mreiter@timesshamrock.com

Help seniors; win a cruise

John Topa, owner of First Sunrise Mortgage, is donating a seven-night Caribbean cruise for two to help raise money for the Dunmore Senior Citizens Center activity fund. The drawing will be Dec. 18. Raffle tickets, at $5 each, go on sale Wednesday at the following Dunmore locations:

First Sunrise Mortgage, 124 S. Blakely St.

The UPS Store, 201 S. Blakely St.,

Riccardo’s Market, 320 S. Blakley St.

Dunmore Senior Center, 1414 Monroe Ave.

John Topa

First Sunrise Mortgage

570-344-6091

jtopa at firstsunrisemortgage.com

www.FirstSunriseMortgage.com

FHA, A Change Did You Good

In the old days FHA loans had a stigma. A stigma of a hard to close loan where the seller had to help pay for alot of the buyers closing costs, make unnecessary cosmetic repairs, and just be a real pain to deal with. Well those days are gone.

Effective 1/27/06 (Mortgagee Letter 2006-04), it is no longer necessary for the seller to pay for any of the buyers closing costs. A 6% seller assist is still allowed but not necessary if the seller chooses to do so. This fact alone makes FHA financing more attractive to the seller.

Effective 1/1/2006 (Mortgagee Letter 2005-48), FHA appraisal rules were overhauled. Termite, well, septic, and flat roof inspections are no longer automatically required to get an FHA mortgage. The only time they are required is when it appears there is an existing problem.

Unessessary Cosmetic Repairs Are A Thing Of The Past

Here are some instances of conditions that do not automatically require repair: cracked windows, cracked plaster, minor leaks, worn/soiled carpeting, bare floors, no handrails, and more. HUD is still enforcing the chipped/peeling paint requirement due to lead paint concerns and still wants the mechanical systems to be in working order.

Take advantage of an FHA loan for your next client, the time couldn't be better.

More than a handful would-be home buyers stayed on the sidelines this year, waiting for Election Day to pass.

The prevailing thought was that once the new President-Elect was identified, credit markets will systemically unfreeze and housing markets will return to normal.

If history is a guide, this is an unlikely scenario.

Election Day doesn't figure to alter markets any more in 2008 than it did after the four previous presidential elections.

If anything, post-Election Day market reaction has been muted:

• 1992 : Dow closes down 0.9 percent the day after Election Day
• 1996 : Dow closes up 1.6 percent the day after Election Day
• 2000 : Dow closes down 0.4 percent the day after Election Day
• 2004 : Dow closes up 1.0 percent the day after Election Day

But just because the stock market has a history of idling on the day after the election doesn't mean that mortgage rates will rest easy this week. The likely outcome is the opposite, actually.

If investors believe the President-elect will successfully stimulate the economy, stock markets would likely rally, causing mortgage bonds to sell off and mortgage rates to rise.

Or, if investors think the winning candidate will fail to revive the economy, money would flock to government bonds as a place of safety. This dollar flow would occur at the expense of the mortgage market, causing rates to rise in this scenario, too.

Of course, it's as difficult to predict post-Election market conditions as it is to predict the election itself but one thing is for certain -- rates may rise and fall before the week is out, but credit guidelines will remain extra-tight. Getting approved for a mortgage won't be any easier -- no matter which party wins the Presidential Election.

Source
Will the election drive the Dow?
Eamon Javers
Politico
http://news.yahoo.com/s/politico/20081022/pl_politico/14826

John

WEICHERT, REALTORS® - Paupack Group Independently Owned and Operated

Scranton PA Toilet Lawsuit, © 2008 by Karen E. Rice. All rights reserved. Originally published by the author on PikeWaynePABlog.com - "Curse Your Toilet in Scranton PA and Get $19,000"

Thursday, federal regulators seized mortgage lender Washington Mutual. The Seattle-based thrift became the third "big name" lender to close its doors since July, joining IndyMac and Lehman Brothers.

In 2007, these 3 lenders represented about 10 percent of the mortgage market and their subsequent failures are confusing American homeowners.

The most prevalent question:

If my mortgage lender fails, are my payments still due?

And the answer is an unequivocal "yes". If a mortgage lender is seized, goes bankrupt, or is otherwise closed, it doesn't change the terms of the bank's mortgages whatsoever -- just maybe the mailing address.

This is because a mortgage (and its corresponding note) is a legal contract between the lender and the lendee, signed on the date of closing. It is binding and cannot be altered by either party. The only way to "end" the contract is to pay the loan in full.

This can happen in one of 3 ways:

1. The home is sold and the mortgage is repaid
2. The home is refinanced and the mortgage is repaid
3. The home loan is paid down to $0 balance by the homeowners

So, if a mortgage company fails, its doesn't cause the loan to be paid-off and, therefore, the mortgage contracts is still valid. Payments are still due.

However, because its mortgages are an asset, the failed lender will usually transfer them to a new lender's servicing department. This means that homeowners will write the same check for the same mortgage but to a different company.

To reduce confusion around transactions like this, the government puts two safeguards in place. First, it requires the former lender to send a 15-day advance notice of the change to the homeowner. And second, it requires the new lender to do the same.

In situations like this, the onus is ultimately on the homeowner to open and read his mail, and make changes accordingly. It's especially important for people who pay their bills online as opposed by paying them manually; you likely won't get notified if you're sending payments to the wrong place.

www.firstsunrisemortgage.com