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Protest Delays Civil Rights Commission’s Criticism of Justice Department

admin — Fri, 29 Oct 2010 22:57:48 +0000

Tom Ramstack – AHN News Correspondent

Washington, D.C., United States (AHN) – A civil rights commission’s report that criticizes the Justice Department’s handling of a voter intimidation case was delayed Friday when one of the commissioners walked out of a meeting in protest.

He called the commission’s planned vote on whether to approve the report a “kangaroo court” against the Obama administration.

The Justice Department is accused in the report of allowing the New Black Panther Party to intimidate white witnesses during a 2008 election in Philadelphia.

The Justice Department dropped its suit against the group, a fact some political analysts say could hurt the Obama administration’s public image and jeopardize Democrats’ chances during the Nov. 2 election next week.

The heavily conservative U.S. Commission on Civil Rights was scheduled to vote on whether to approve a draft copy of the report on the Philadelphia incident. A vote of approval would mean it could be used as evidence for any follow-up investigations or hearings by Congress.

However, Commissioner Michael Yaki, a Democratic appointee, walked out of the meeting, leaving the commission without a quorum.

A quorum of five commissioners is required under U.S. Commission on Civil Rights rules to approve reports or take any other official action.

“It’s not my responsibility to make a quorum for this kangaroo court,” Yaki told reporters after he walked out of the meeting. “They want to score political points against the Obama Justice Department.”

Yaki is a former senior adviser to Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

The report accuses the Justice Department of failing to protect white voters from intimidation and being “at war with its core mission of guaranteeing equal protection (under) the laws for all Americans.”

The report was written by the majority members of the commission.

They denied political motivations for accusations in the report. They also accused the Justice Department of refusing to turn over evidence and telling witnesses not to cooperate with the investigation.

The civil rights commission is scheduled to meet again next week and try again for a quorum vote on the 131-page report.

The year-long investigation leading to the report resulted from an incident in which two New Black Panther Party members wearing paramilitary uniforms were videotaped in Philadelphia in 2008.

One of the men carried a nightstick as they stood outside the polling place on Election Day.

No voters filed complaints but conservatives were outraged when the videotape ran on a local television station’s news broadcast the next day.

The Bush administration’s Justice Department sued the two men in uniforms, the New Black Panther Party and its chairman.

The lawsuit still was pending when President Obama took office.

Shortly afterward, the Justice Department dismissed the claims against three of the defendants and obtained a narrowly-defined injunction against a fourth.

The civil rights commission’s draft report said the Justice Department engaged in “repeated attempts to obscure” the role of political appointees in the lawsuit dismissal.

It also said the lawsuit dismissal raises “questions about what the [Justice] Department is trying to hide.”

The report was compiled from media reports and testimony from two Justice Department attorneys.

A Justice Department spokeswoman denied the agency makes decisions on who to prosecute based on race. She also said the Justice Department turned over about 4,000 pages of documents to assist the civil rights commission in its investigation.

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Weekly Recap – Oct. 1: U.S. Markets

admin — Sat, 02 Oct 2010 20:35:33 +0000

Mitchell Jaworski – AHN News Reporter

New York, NY, United States (AHN) – U.S. markets finished higher Friday amidst mixed economic data. The move came a day after stocks closed out the strongest September dating back to the 1930′s.

The Dow Jones Industrial average rose 41 points or 0.4 percent, trading in positive territory the majority of the session as 22 of 30 Dow issues finished Friday’s session higher. The move puts the blue-chip index in the green to start the month following the 8 percent rise in September.

The S&P 500 added 5 points or 0.4 percent as nine of 10 major economic sectors finished higher Friday. Energy names led the way, adding 1.3 percent, while tech was the lone laggard, down 0.1 percent.

The Nasdaq Composite added 2 points or 0.1 percent as semiconductors weighed on its advance. The Philadelphia Semiconductor index shed 0.3 percent on Friday.

On the economic front, the University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment survey posted a reading of 68.2 for September, above estimates for 67. Shortly after, the Commerce Department said construction spending in August rose 0.4 percent, which was better than the 0.5 percent decline expected.

However, the Institute for Supply Management said its index for September dipped to 54.4 from 56.3 in the prior month.

Earlier in the week, the Commerce Department released its final estimate on third quarter Gross Domestic Product (GDP), reporting 1.7 percent growth in the economy, topping estimates for 1.6 percent.

Crude oil finished the week strong, adding 2.2 percent to $81.58 a barrel. The commodity rallied 7.5 percent on the week, its best performance since mid-February.

Next week’s market will see a slew of headline economic data beginning with August pending home sales on Monday and concluding with the September unemployment rate on Friday.

View full post on Economy, Business And Finance Stories

Private Lending – How to Do Group Presentations to Raise Private Money

admin — Sun, 21 Mar 2010 07:45:34 +0000

photo credit: Graffiti By Numbers

I recently wrote an article about the the best ways to raise private money for real estate Investors where I laid out the top 4 ways to raise private money to grow and develop your real estate investing business. One of the top 4 ways we use and teach to our students is to use group presentations.

A private lending group presentation involves getting 5 to 20 people into a room and doing a presentation where you lay out the details and benefits of your private lending program. This may not be for everyone depending on your comfort level of talking in front of groups, but the advantages of group meetings are very powerful. When people start to ask questions and tell positive stories, a certain level of group think starts to take effect and can be very powerful on the attendees.

We teach our students to focus on the preplanning and marketing, presentation materials and post-meeting follow up as the key to conducting a successful meeting and getting people to invest in your business.

Preplanning and Marketing – We put preplanning and marketing together because they must be done together. Make sure you have a room reserved that can fit 20 or more people comfortably. It can be a hotel conference room but they tend to be expensive. Other options might include a local library, church or civic groups that allow people to use their meeting rooms. Once you have the meeting room arrangements finalized you can then create your marketing piece with the exact address and time of the meeting.

Now you need to get people to come your meeting. And not just anyone – you need potential investors with extra cash to invest. A couple ways to promote your meeting might include posting flyers in 55%2B communities with retires who might have extra cash to invest. You can also rent a list of local people with high incomes and bank CDs and mail them a letter or post card inviting them to the meeting. You can also place small ads in your local newspaper promoting an “information only” meeting about private lending and real estate investing. Better yet do all of these to help fill the room.

Presentation Materials – In order for the meeting to be successful you need to have a well prepared PowerPoint or presentation handout. It needs to be well organized and show your professionalism. This is no time to “wing it”. Your presentation needs to come off well done and organized where you lay your business plan and why it makes sense for them to consider investing with you. Again this should be “information only” and do not make specific offers to invest or discuss actual projects to invest in at this meeting. Actual offers are done in the follow up to the meeting.

Post Meeting Follow Up – As part of the meeting be sure to gather every ones contact information so you can contact them after the meeting. I recommend a letter 2 or 3 days later thanking them and asking them to contact you if they have further questions. Keep in mind that most will not invest, but if 1 or 2 do become investors from each meeting it is a highly successful meeting.

I invite you to learn more about Private Lending and get my new FREE 20-page ebook titled “Discover the Secrets of How to Fund Your Real Estate Deals with Private Lenders!” by clicking here http://realestatewealthtoday.com/FREE-eBook.html

Mike Lautensack is a full-time real estate entrepreneur in Philadelphia, PA and creator of the Private Lending Presentation Kit. This powerful done-for-you kit is loaded with tools and techniques to attract and develop a consistent stream of private investors into your real estate business. To learn more about this kit and receive your FREE Real Estate Wealth Newsletter go to Private Lending Presentation Kit.

Private Lenders – How to Use List Brokers to Find Money For Real Estate Deals

admin — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 06:48:23 +0000

photo credit: badjonni

One of my newsletter members recently asked if using a list broker was a good source of marketing leads to attract private lenders and, if so, how is it done. The answer is yes but with several precautions.

Precautions

It is important to understand that I strongly recommend that marketing for private lenders is done on a local and low key way. I do not recommend any sort of website advertising or newspaper advertising because it can be viewed as a solicitation to an unsophisticated investor and attract calls from your state’s SEC. You do not want one of these calls!

The SEC and state authorities monitor Craig’s List and other similar bulletin boards for people doing unauthorized advertising for private lenders. When you advertise in this fashion, you can not restrict out of state people from reading your ad and as result certain authorities may deem this a solicitation across state lines. If this happens you may be required to register with the federal SEC.

List Brokers

So how do you market to potential private lenders using a list purchased from a list broker? You can start with a national list broker like InfoUSA or Melissa Data and purchase a list that is tightly defined to fit your needs. In fact, most large list brokers already have a predone list targeting high net worth investors. You may want to go with this type of list or customize to fit your needs.

I would start with people that have significant net worth over $500k and have IRA’s or CD’s investments. This fits the profile of typical private investors. You may also want to add retired people who have IRA’s over some fixed dollar amount. It is critical, however, that you only allow people with a primary residence in your Local County or state. Even once you receive your list, I would recommend you proof it once or twice to be sure you only have addresses in your county or state. I know it may be shock that someone may make a mistake, but it does happen and guess who will pay the price for the mistake. The SEC does not care that a clerical error was made.

Once you have a clean list, you can send each person a postcard or letter. Be sure that the message you use on the postcard or letter is more of an offer to provide more information or an invitation to a seminar as opposed to an offer to directly invest with you. You may even want to offer a free voice recorded message or website where they can go and get additional information about your company and investment information.

I invite you to learn more about Private Lenders and get my new FREE 20-page ebook titled “Discover the Secrets of How to Fund Your Real Estate Deals with Private Lenders!” by clicking here http://realestatewealthtoday.com/FREE-eBook.html

Real Estate Investors – “7 Step Formula” to Secure Private Money

admin — Sun, 28 Feb 2010 06:39:37 +0000

photo credit: ericskiff

First – Determine how much money you need to acquire a certain property and be sure to include the purchase price, closing cost and complete renovation costs. If you do not know the renovation cost be sure to make your best estimate so you do not leave these out.

Second – Start to market for private lenders. Make a point to tell everyone you know and meet “that you investing in discounted real estate investments and are looking for investors.” Show your potential private lenders how to start investing passively in investment real estate. You can also use other marketing strategies such as sending out post cards to wealthy people or putting up flyers in 55+ communities.

Third – You will need to create a presentation kit to educate your potential private lenders to the power and security of investing in discounted real estate. Essentially, position them as “the Bank.” Deliver your presentation to your contacts within your sphere of influence and your warm market, such as business associates, friends, family, realtors, accountants and attorneys to name a few. Some of these people may know other contacts within their own networks interested in investing.

Fourth – You will find that many potential private lenders have CD’s or money market funds that are only yielding 3% to 5%. Your presentation has to show that you can offer your investors anywhere from 9% to 15% return on their money versus the small returns they are currently getting at the bank. If they stocks or bonds they may be even more willing to invest in something as safe as good solid local investment real estate versus losing 50% or more in their stock portfolios. You need to offer them more income with a secure investment.

Fifth – Once you have a potential lender or two that has expressed some interest you need to present your proposed deal. You will need to show them what it will cost to purchase and rehab the property and what it will be worth once compete. You may want to borrow all of the money to purchase the property. Or you may go to a bank and borrow 80% and then use your private lender to fund the remaining funds.

Sixth – Make sure your private lender sends the funds (i.e., certified check or wire transfer) to your closing attorney or title clerk. Never have the funds made out to you or your company. Create a promissory note for your private lender explaining the terms of the transaction and make sure they are in either first or second lien position on the property.

Seventh – Complete the purchase of the property and rehab and be sure to invite your private lender out a couple times to see the progress so they remain comfortable the investment and build a long term relationship.

I invite you to learn more about Private Money Lending and get FREE instant access to a 60 minute audio and 20-page eBook titled “Discover the Secrets of How to Fund Your Real Estate Deals with Private Lenders!” by going to http://realestatewealthtoday.com/FREE-eBook.html

Private Lending – How to Finance Real Estate Through Private Mortgage Lenders

admin — Sat, 12 Dec 2009 12:58:39 +0000

photo credit: TheTruthAbout…

When considering financing through a private mortgage lender, you must first locate a private lender with an interest in your particular real estate venture. Private lenders are ordinary people who are willing and financially able to fund your real estate venture by means of their own assets. You can locate private lenders through networking with others in the business, asking for referrals, or making a public presentation to a group of potential private money lenders.

Assuming you have located the private mortgage lender, you will need to set up a meeting to negotiate the terms of the private mortgage loan. Keep in mind that the private lender you choose can secure funds for you through a commercial institution or through personal assets such as bonds, stocks, or cash. You will want to negotiate terms that will present a win-win situation for both you and the lender.

Financing your real estate deal through a private lender is not difficult however; it will involve some simple steps with documentation that will include a Promissory Note, Mortgage, Certificate of Insurance, and a Disclosure Statement. It is also a good idea to consider any federal or state security issues (SEC) which occasionally transpire through the private lending process.

The Promissory Note and the Mortgage document: The Promissory Note and the Mortgage document the terms you have agreed upon with the private lender. The Promissory Note explains in detail the terms in which the lender has agreed to fund your real estate venture as well as the terms you have agreed upon to borrow the money. The Mortgage outlines the terms of your performance as the borrower and generally is filed with your local county office by an attorney to insure that the filing process is done correctly.

Certificate of Insurance: The Certificate of Insurance is obtained from the insurance agency of your choice and should be provided to your private lender. The property insurance should include a title to your lender and a title to you as the borrower. It should also outline the exact terms of coverage with regard to property type and causes of loss such as flood, basic, broad, special, or earthquake.

Disclosure Statement: Use of a Disclosure Statement is always a good idea in a real estate transaction due to the fact that investing involves uncertainty and risks. The Disclosure Statement will outline the risks to your private lender, as well as your plans for use of the property and any possibilities for change during the course of the transaction. This statement acts as assurance that both you and the lender are aware of the possible risks involved before you enter into the real estate transaction.

Federal Regulations: You will want to check the federal regulations as well as those for your particular state with regard to what is termed as issuing a Security. In many cases, when you work with a private lender, it is considered issuing a Security under SEC guidelines. To avoid any problems, you may need to register with your state or federal SEC if you do not fall under certain exemptions.

I invite you to learn more about Private Money Lending and get my new FREE 20-page ebook titled “Discover the Secrets of How to Fund Your Real Estate Deals with Private Lenders!” by clicking here http://realestatewealthtoday.com/FREE-eBook.html

So You Need Money For Real Estate Investments – Here is How to Use Private Lenders For Money!

admin — Sat, 05 Dec 2009 11:10:42 +0000

photo credit: Mike Licht, NotionsCapital.com

If you have tried to get a traditional mortgage, or even a hard money loan, to finance your real estate investments you know how hard it is to get loans in today’s post-credit bubble market. It is even harder to get “no money down” loans for your real estate investing business. If you are using traditional mortgage or hard money loans they can take two or three months to close. The problem you will quickly discover is that sellers are not willing to wait that long and get angry at having to continuously extend their contracts or wait for your loan approval.

Banks and mortgage lenders view mortgage loans to real estate investors as a higher risk than loans to home owners. They believe if the home owner is not living in the property and if trouble hits an investor will opt to pay their own home mortgage first and only pay for the investment loan if they can afford to make the payments. This puts the bank in a very poor position. As a result, most banks are looking for real estate investors to put up 30% to 50% down payment to protect their interest in time of trouble. VERY few investors have this kind of cash so it is very difficult or impossible to do deals with traditional mortgage or hard money loans.

Real estate investors still are not advised to use their own money to do their deals. Even if you have 30-50% saved for a down payment on your investment property, most real estate guru’s warn, NEVER spend your own money on real estate investments. Most beginners start their investment career saving up for a down payment, but the fact is, serious real estate investors do not use their own money to do real estate deals.

So how do you buy real estate investments if it is so hard to get a loan and you do not want me to use my money to apply to a down payment?

Buying real estate without using your own money IS possible, and it’s not difficult. With the right kind of deal, investment property can be purchased without a single penny of your own money.

Enter the world of Private Lenders… Private lenders are individuals with money to lend for investment purposes. They may or may not be wealthy, but they do have excess cash or assets available over and above what they need to live on. These individuals are willing to lend for a higher return than they can get with bank CD’s or money markets. There are no limits on the number of private lenders you can have or the number of real estate deals you can do using private money.

Raising Money With Private Lenders – 4 Mistakes Made by Real Estate Investors and How to Avoid Them!

admin — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 05:42:27 +0000

photo credit: epicharmus

f you are a real estate investor and need funds to finance your real estate deals, or are looking for money to cash out of deals, there is really only ONE option in today’s market conditions. That option is a private lending program where you allow private individuals who have extra money to invest in your real estate investing business.

But with the current popularity of private lending, we are seeing our coaching students and subscribers making a number of mistakes and thought we would highlight the top 4 mistakes and what to do to avoid them when borrowing money from private lenders.

Mistake #1 – Advertising on the Internet – We have seen many investors get into big trouble with the federal or state SEC regulators by advertising for private lenders through internet sites like Craig List and other bulletin boards. SEC regulators are patrolling these boards looking for advertising violations. You can not be sure that people outside your state may be looking at these ads and that would be the same as advertising across state lines and require a federal filing. We do not recommend any internet advertising for private lenders.

Mistake #2 – Using the wrong words in Advertising – We also strongly advise that in all your written or verbal advertising that you NEVER, NEVER, NEVER us the following terms: Guarantee or Guaranteed, Low Risk, Secured, Safe or Risk-free. All of these terms will attract the attention of the federal or state SEC organizations as potentially false or misleading advertising of securities for sale.

Mistake #3 – Not Using Proper Disclosure Language – I strongly recommend you use a disclosure statement in any advertising material, letters, documents, or other marketing materials as part of your private lender program such as;

“This is not a public offering. This is not an offer or invitation to sell or a solicitation of any offer to purchase any securities in the United States or any other jurisdiction. Any securities may only be offered or sold, directly or indirectly, in the state or states in which they have been registered or may be offered under an appropriate exemption.”

Mistake #4 – Advertising Across State Lines – Most small real estate investor do not want to go to the cost and trouble to file with the federal SEC. So it is very important you only advertise and deal with potential investors from within your state and do use advertising that may cross state lines. That is why we do not use newspapers or internet advertising

As with all businesses, it is very important that you avoid as many mistakes as possible and real estate investing is no different. But with private lending a mistake can have serious and expensive consequences so be careful and avoid these mistakes.

Private Mortgage Lender – What to Expect From a Private Lender

admin — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 04:05:12 +0000

photo credit: Medmoiselle T

A private mortgage lender is essential to the success of your real estate venture and your business relationship with the lender during the life of the real estate loan. For many real estate investors, working with the right lender means the difference between a sweet deal and a deal gone bad.

Many real estate investors opt to work with private mortgage lenders to escape the bureaucracy involved with the conventional lending process. The global real estate market is competitive and often the speed of the transaction is crucial to the success and outcome of a real estate deal.

Loan-to-Value: Private mortgage lenders are concerned with loan-to-value (LTV) ratios which is the calculated percentage of the requested mortgage to the total appraised value of the property. When working with a private mortgage lender, you will want to learn what their criteria are for lending when it comes to the loan-to-value ratio. This will vary according to the type of property you are seeking to finance.

For instance, a private mortgage lender will typically lend a lower percentage on raw land and a higher percentage on a multiple unit property that produces cash flow. If the property and the borrower meet the criteria of the private lender, they will be more likely to lend the maximum percentage. If the deal is considered less than ideal, the percentage of the loan will be significantly lower.

Private Lender Property Interest: It is important to find out the property interests of the private mortgage lender with regard to the type of property they would most likely be willing to fund. Typically, the private lender would be interested in a property that is easy to sell if the borrower lands in default. This would most likely be a property that produces cash flow as opposed to a non-income producing property such as raw land.

Property Income Potential: Another consideration of private mortgage lenders is how much emphasis they place on the income potential of the property being considered for financing. Some private lenders insist on a property that provides sound collateral because this adds a great deal of security to the loan. In other instances, private mortgage lenders will also consider cash flow from other existing properties as a substitute.

Exit Strategy: The repayment strategy of the borrower is of utmost importance to most private mortgage lenders. Private lenders will evaluate whether or not the plans for repayment by the borrower are feasible or questionable. For example, if the borrower plans to satisfy the debt by obtaining another mortgage, the private lender will need to consider the credit history of the borrower.

Decision Making Process: You can expect the private mortgage lender to use a similar decision making process to a conventional lending institution when considering you as a borrower and the property you are financing. The nice part is the private lender may fund a venture that the conventional lending institution would refuse and will provide creative methods when it comes to repayment terms.

Private Lending – How One-on-One Breakfast Meetings Can Help Fund Your Real Estate Deals

admin — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 00:36:18 +0000

photo credit: lumaxart

Recently I wrote an article about the 4 Ways to Raise Private Money for Real Estate Investors where I laid out the top 4 ways to raise Private Money to grow and develop your real estate investing business. One of the 4 ways we use and teach to our students is one-on-one breakfast meetings.

If you are not comfortable with group meetings – one-on-one breakfast meetings are a great alternative. I generally recommend a breakfast meeting in a quiet restaurant where you can have 30 to 45 minutes of time with your prospect. At these meetings you need to lay out your private lending program and benefits of investing with your company.

Pre-meeting – It is important that you have a good presentation kit or creditability kit before you go into a private lender meeting. This can be a PowerPoint presentation where you lay out your business plan, your background and why it makes sense to invest with your company. You also need to have some sort of creditability kit where you lay your past deals, testimonials, educational experience or certification and any other information that lays the ground work for why you are creditable and trustworthy. Do not go into this meeting with out some sort of information and just “wing it” as you go. This looks unprepared and will not leave a professional image.

Meeting – During the meeting you need to develop a rapport with the potential lender. Without rapport nobody will do business with you. It is very simple – people do business with people they like so take the time to develop rapport before going into your presentation. At the point where you have developed rapport start going through your presentation and allow questions as they will assist the private lenders understanding and allow the rapport process to continue to develop.

It is important that this meeting is about information not an actual hard sell. You need to educate the other person first about your program and the benefits of investing with your company. I would not make an actual offer at this meeting. Wait to a couple days after the meeting to discuss a specific deal or invest opportunity.

Post Meeting – I would recommend that 2 or 3 days after the meeting that you email, call or mail something to the person to see if they have any follow up questions and start to mention a possible investment opportunity. Even if they do not invest right away continue to send follow up information as you never know when the time is right so stay in touch.