Torsten Kjellstrand/The OregonianOregon drivers who hold their cell phones to talk now a $142 traffic ticket. But a new study says handsfree laws don’t do much to reduce crashes.

As Oregon motorists continue adjusting to the state’s month-old ban on handheld cell phones, a surprising new study says hands-free phone laws don’t reduce crashes.

“Obviously, it runs counter to a lot of predictions about cell phones and crashes,” said Russ Radar, a spokesman for the Highway Loss Data Institute, which conducted the study, “but this is the first study in which have been able to look at what’s happening in the real world.”

A recent Insurance Institute for Highway Safety study in two states and the District of Columbia, focusing on handheld cell phone use, found that bans have reduced the activity significantly.

Just last week, a National Safety Council study found that 28 percent of all crashes nationwide involved drivers talking on their phones or texting — an increase to 1.6 million collisions in 2008 compared with 1 million in an earlier review.

But the Highway Loss Data Institute for the first time looked at actual insurance collision claims in California, New York, Connecticut and Washington, D.C., all of which ban drivers from using handheld phones while behind the wheel.

The study compared data from surrounding states without cell phone bans at the time. The study, for example, says the frequency of collision claims in California before and after its hands-free law passed were no different from those in Nevada, Arizona and Oregon, where the handsfree law didn’t go into effect until Jan. 1.

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When John King stopped making payments on his home in Coral Gables, Florida, two years ago, he assumed the foreclosure ended his mortgage contract, he said. Last month, a Miami-Dade County court gave collectors permission to pursue him for $44,000 stemming from the default.

King is among a rising number of borrowers who are learning that they can be on the hook for years after losing their homes. Amid a crisis that stripped $6.4 trillion, or 28 percent, from the value of U.S. residential real estate since the 2006 peak, lenders are exercising their rights to pursue unpaid mortgage balances. To get their money, they can seize wages, tap bank accounts and put liens on other assets held by debtors.

“The big dogs get a bailout, and the little man gets no mercy,” said King, 39, referring to the U.S. government’s rescue of banks and other financial institutions.

While there are no statistics on the number of deficiency judgments approved by courts, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. tracks the amount banks collect after defaulted loans were written off.

These mortgage recoveries rose 48 percent to a record $1.01 billion in the first nine months of last year compared with the year-earlier period, according to the Washington-based regulator. Recoveries on defaulted home-equity loans almost doubled to $392 million, the FDIC data shows.

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In his years as a mortgage broker, Bill Enfinger didn’t consider it his job to assure a home loan made sense. The banks decided who qualified and who didn’t. He simply brought borrower and lender together.

Johnnie M. Perkins, 63, who lives on Social Security disability payments, laments the refinancing she obtained in 2007 hoping to shed credit card debt. “It was just a bad, bad business deal I made, thinking I was doing something to set myself free.”

Bita Honarvar, bhonarvar@ajc.com Johnnie M. Perkins, 63, who lives on Social Security disability payments, laments the refinancing she obtained in 2007 hoping to shed credit card debt. “It was just a bad, bad business deal I made, thinking I was doing something to set myself free.”

Johnnie M. Perkins bought her Ellenwood house in 1994. In 2007 when she refinanced it, her monthly gross income was $1,168. Her new house payment, including taxes and insurance, is $971.50.

Bita Honarvar, bhonarvar@ajc.comJohnnie M. Perkins bought her Ellenwood house in 1994. In 2007 when she refinanced it, her monthly gross income was $1,168. Her new house payment, including taxes and insurance, is $971.50.

In fact, Enfinger marveled at the deals banks approved for some of his clients during the heyday of subprime lending. “I knew it was risky,” he said.

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Louisiana Citizens Property Insurance Corp., the state-run insurer of last resort for about 130,000 policyholders, failed to control access to its computer systems and may have violated state law by not having contracts in place when it hired two information technology consultants in 2008, according to a state audit.

The findings are contained in a 107-page audit of Citizens procedures and books for 2008 released on Monday. The audit is expected to be discussed at the Legislative Audit Advisory Council’s February meeting, said temporary Legislative Auditor Daryl Purpera.

The council is made up of House and Senate members who oversee enforcement and compliance of audits.

“This was in 2008 and now this is 2010,” Citizens President John Wortman said. He said many management changes have been instituted since auditors’ findings for 2008 were compiled.

Purpera and his staff of auditors said internal controls of Citizens information systems and accounting records “contained major inadequacies. . .(and) made it impractical to apply sufficient auditing procedures to enable us to express an opinion on the fair representation” of Citizens financial condition.

Wortman said things have improved since auditors looked at the books and practices of the company two years ago.

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A Stamford accountant accused of profiting off the misery that’s playing out in state courtrooms overrun by foreclosure cases has pleaded guilty to involvement in an alleged mortgage fraud ring.

Accountant Jose I. Flores, 50 of Fairfield Avenue in Stamford, waived his right to indictment and pleaded guilty last week to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud in U.S. District Court in Hartford. He faces up to five years in prison and a fine of $250,000, or twice the gross gain or loss from the offense.

Flores’ attorney, Shelley Marcus, said Friday she could not comment on the matter, as it is still pending.

Flores’ sentencing is scheduled for April 9.

U.S. Attorney Nora R. Dannehy said Flores, who ran a tax preparation firm called Harvard Financial Services, admitted that, from 2004 to 2008, he conspired with others to defraud mortgage lenders by providing fraudulent “accountant letters” as proof of income for people buying homes. Dannehy’s office cited three instances in which Flores provided letters that falsely indicated how long mortgage applicants had been self-employed, working as landscapers and cleaners.

Accountant letters are needed when people take out “stated-income loans.” These loans were created for the self-employed or those who work on commissions. It allows lenders to consider the potential borrowers’ work and earning history, rather than just the most recent income tax returns.

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West Virginia may be on the path to helping municipalities pay for debris removal of abandoned buildings with insurance payments in a way that insurers can live with.

The issue of how to pay for the cleanup has irked property insurers since last year when one city, Huntington, initiated its own process of requiring insurers to place funds in escrow. Insurer members of the West Virginia Insurance Federation (WVIF) went to court to block that ordinance because they said it conflicted with state insurance law.

Gov. Joseph Manchin, insurers and the West Virginia Municipal League, as well as the city of Huntington, are now embracing legislation that will allow any city or county to obtain a lien on insurance proceeds for a total fire loss if the municipality has reason to believe the owner will abandon the property and not take care of cleaning up after the fire.

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A funny thing happened quietly at the stroke of midnight on January 1, 2010—the new RESPA (Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act) regulatory changes came into effect, turning all the mortgage lenders upside down and inside out as they try to figure out how to implement the regulations in a correct manner without making consumers and themselves insane.

The solution so far seems illusory, since no matter how many times mortgage lenders review the procedures and try to figure out how the HUD regulators expect them to be put into play, actual implementation of these procedures is geared to cause more havoc than protection for the consumer looking for a mortgage.

HUD is essentially requiring that mortgage originators provide borrowers with a completely reformulated GFE (good-faith estimate) that they feel will clearly disclose key loan terms and closing costs for a potential borrower, and is also requiring that all closing agents associated with providing the borrower with representation at closing provide exact costs in advance. The new GFE will now be a three-page document as opposed to a simple one-page itemized disclosure.

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NORFOLK, Va. — Last year was the worst Don Miller had seen in more than 20 years of running a graphic printing business here.

Business slumped 15%, and he had to lay off two of the three workers who helped him print stickers and signs for Navy ships.

Miller hopes to bring them back, but hiring will be more expensive for all Virginia business owners this year. The recession has emptied Virginia’s unemployment insurance trust fund, and the state is making up for it by raising taxes on employers and cutting jobless benefits for seniors.

In 2009, the average business owner paid $95 per employee. This year, the tax will be $171, according to estimates by the state workforce agency. “It’s another added expense to hiring somebody,” Miller says. “Everything’s going up, and business is going down.”

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NEW DELHI: Foreign investors in real estate continue to repose their faith in US markets as they believe the country provides the best opportunity for capital appreciation, while India is among the top five emerging market in this space, a survey says.

According to a survey conducted among the members of the Association of Foreign Investors in Real Estate (AFIRE) “In 2009, foreign investors in real estate say they remain committed to the US as their preferred real estate investment opportunity.”

The United Kingdom emerged as the second-best country for capital appreciation, receiving 30 per cent of respondents’ votes followed by China which received 10 per cent.

The survey further said the top five emerging markets are China, Brazil, India, Mexico and Turkey. China was considered as the top emerging market, followed by Brazil and India.

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Q: This past February we obtained a loan modification with our current mortgage lender, and I was now wondering (almost a whole year later) if it would be a good idea to try and refinance with them?

I am considering a refinance because there were about $3,000 worth of fees that we weren’t able to be put into the modification. Could the mortgage company, just make the $3,000 become due at any time?

A: You’ve obtained a permanent loan modification? Good for you. You’re part of a tiny minority of homeowners that have successfully obtained a loan modification from their current lender.

The real question to ask is whether you are better off with the loan modification or with a new loan: Will your monthly payments be lower with a new loan? How much will you pay to refinance your loan? What is your current loan balance and how many years do you have left on your current loan? Will refinancing cause you to pay more over the long run?

These are just some of the many questions you should be asking yourself before calling a lender to inquire about a refinance.

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