Two men have been charged in an alleged $200 million real-estate fraud that targeted Orthodox Jews in four states and overseas.

Eliyahu Weinstein, who represented himself as a real-estate investor based in New Jersey, allegedly exploited the social and business customs of the Orthodox Jewish community to carry out the scheme, according to a criminal complaint made public Thursday. The scam allegedly began in September 2005.

Weinstein and Vladimir Siforov, of New York, have been charged with fraud in the matter. They’re expected to appear in federal court in Newark later Thursday.

Some of his victims’ money was used by Weinstein to amass a substantial collection of art, jewelry and Judaica, prosecutors from the U.S. Attorney’s office in Newark alleged in the criminal complaint. The collection includes manuscripts and antique Judaica items worth about $6.2 million; a jewelry and clock collection that Weinstein allegedly spent $7.6 million to acquire; jewelry and watches valued at $6.2 million, including items from Bulgari, Cartier, Omega and Harry Winston, according to the complaint.

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Mortgage rates have fallen to their lowest point in five decades, but local Realtors and economists don’t expect that to trigger an avalanche of homebuying or refinancing.

One reason they don’t expect the housing market or the broader economy to benefit much from the low rates is that lenders are still hypercautious.

“The big hurdle is qualifying for a mortgage, regardless of the rate,” said Jack Kyser, chief economist with the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corp. “It’s a huge hurdle.”

Furthermore, it’s likely that new borrowers already took advantage of the low rates this year.

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Toll Brothers Inc., the largest luxury U.S. homebuilder, formed a subsidiary to invest in distressed real estate.

Toll created Gibraltar Capital and Asset Management LLC to “pursue a broad range of real estate acquisition and investment opportunities,” the Horsham, Pennsylvania-based company said today in a statement.

The unit’s businesses may include the acquisition and disposition of loan and property portfolios, the development of sites for sale to other builders, and providing assistance to banks and developers in the workout of troubled real estate, Douglas Yearley, Toll’s chief executive officer, said in the statement.

Toll joins Lennar Corp. in investing in distressed real estate and loans to move beyond its traditional homebuilding business. In February, Miami-based Lennar bought part of a $3.05 billion portfolio of loans acquired by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. from failed banks.

Toll fell $1.05, or 6 percent, to $16.43 in New York Stock Exchange composite trading July 16. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. cut U.S. homebuilders to “neutral” from “attractive” last week on prospects for sluggish property sales.

Found here.

While American flags across the country will be proudly displayed this holiday weekend as a tribute to those who gave their lives while serving their country, one Oshkosh couple is being told they must take their flag down.

Dawn and Charlie Price have been told by their apartment’s management company that they must take down an American flag they have hanging in the dining room window of their west-side apartment by Saturday or face eviction.

For Charlie Price, a 28-year-old veteran who served tours of duty in Kosovo and Iraq, and his wife Dawn, the flag is a way to honor Charlie Price’s military service along with those he served alongside.

“This is the time we will be looking at the flag and Charlie will be looking at the family he lost,” Dawn Price, 27, said. “This is his way to remember them and honor the people served and the ones that made the ultimate sacrifice.”

On Friday the Prices learned the American flag that has been hanging in their dining room window since November violated a management company rule prohibiting the display of flags, banners and political or religious material.

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The darkest cloud over the economic recovery — the troubled commercial real estate market — may be clearing a bit.

Prices of commercial property are up slightly compared with last fall. Loan modifications have risen sharply the past six months. Commercial mortgage-backed securities (CMBS), a big funding source that was comatose for two years, has come to life recently.

The developments won’t alleviate the sector’s biggest problem: the rising pace of defaults. But they should contain the damage and provide a lifeline to better-performing properties, analysts say.

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Under pressure by Massachusetts prosecutors, Bank of America Corp. said Wednesday it would reduce mortgage-loan balances as much as 30% for thousands of troubled borrowers, in what could presage a wider government effort to encourage banks to offer debt reduction to ease the mortgage crisis.

The plan is one of the boldest moves yet to address the plight of millions of U.S. homeowners who are “under water,” owing more on their homes than they’re worth. It could make it easier for the Obama administration to move in a similar direction with its existing loan-modification program, although senior government officials and many bankers remain very wary of offering to cut loan balances as the main way of helping distressed borrowers.

So far, most modifications, including those under the government-subsidized Home Affordable Modification Program, involve reducing interest rates. Some also extend terms to 40 years, to shrink monthly payments.

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Commercial real estate owners are walking away from properties that have become untenable as investments, just as homeowners have walked away from houses they can no longer afford to pay off or sell.

The latest commercial property owner to do this is Vornado Realty Trust (VNO), the $13 billion real estate investment trust, which warned last week that it would walk away from two loans totaling $235 million.

The trend is likely to escalate in coming months as more loans mature and refinancing remains difficult and costly. As with residential properties, there is less incentive for owners to hold on to properties when the buildings are worth less than what is owed on their mortgages.

“Frankly, I am surprised that we have not seen a lot more,” said Rob Little, chief investment officer of Cornerstone Real Estate Advisers LLC, with $32 billion under his management.

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Local real estate investor Mark Ayer got himself a $400,000 deal in December 2009: a 22,000-square-foot vacant furniture store that a California investor paid $3.8 million for in 2006.

It’s a scenario telling of today’s struggling commercial real estate world. The California buyer paid a premium for the Springdale building using the attractive financing tools at the time, and then Arhaus Furniture unexpectedly moved out. Wrapped in debt and desperate to avoid foreclosure, his only choice was a fire sale.

Nearly four years have passed since the rate of residential foreclosures started its climb. In comparison, the local commercial real estate industry is in year two of rising defaults.

Our region ranks 20th out of the 100 largest metro areas for its commercial mortgage delinquency rate of 5.8 percent and 23rd in delinquency for construction loans at 20.5 percent, according to Foresight Analytics’ fourth-quarter 2009 report. Both figures skyrocketed last year as loans fell out of balance, property values dropped, vacancy increased and it became difficult to refinance.

High-profile local properties like Northgate Mall, Kenwood Towne Place, Hyatt Regency Cincinnati, Bridgewater Falls and the Williamsburg of Cincinnati Apartments have fallen victim. Tri-County Mall is among a list of at least 63 distressed local properties that had been financed with securitized loans in the mid-2000s. There could be dozens more on banks’ balance sheets.

With these statistics, those in the industry don’t expect things to turn around soon.

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