MSHDA PROPERTY IMPROVEMENT PROGRAM

MSHDA’s Property Improvement Program offers low interest home improvement loans to single-family homeowners with low-to-moderate income (up to $65,000, or $74,750 in certain areas), and landlords renting to low-to-moderate income tenants. Eligible home improvements include the following:

• Windows;
• Furnaces (including geothermal);
• Insulation;
• Roof repair or replacement;
• Solar water heating systems;
• Siding;

Other improvements include:

• Kitchen and bathroom remodeling;
• Foundation repair;
• Garage or carport (addition or repair); and
• Other permanent improvements to homes.

With the Property Improvement Program, eligible homeowners can borrow up to $50,000 for a single family site-built home. Lower limits apply to manufactured homes. Because MSHDA can amortize the loan up to 20 years, the monthly payments are very affordable for those on a fixed income. The interest rate for homeowners is 4%, 6%, or 8%, depending upon income.

Eligible landlords can borrow up to $25,000 per single-family rental unit, and an average of $12,000 per unit for multi-family properties (up to a maximum of $60,000 per property). Eligible multi-family properties cannot have more than 11 units. The interest rate is fixed at 8%. There are no income requirements for landlords, but the rental units must meet MSHDA rental limit guidelines.

You can get more details about the program at www.michigan.gov/mshda, then click on the Home Improvement link.

FREE TRAINING FOR LOCAL WORKERS

Michigan employees can now receive spinal health and ergonomic training in the workplace once again due to a state grant from the Michigan Department of Energy, Labor and Economic Growth. WorkSafe is a free, nonprofit training program developed by the Michigan Association of Chiropractors (MAC) and demonstrates ergonomically correct ways to perform job tasks, as well as offering stretches and exercises that can help reduce the risk of injury.

There are more than 100 participating chiropractors performing this free training in Michigan. Our region has five doctors that have been trained to provide a specialized, one-hour workplace safety-training program: Dr. Charles Gilcher in Lincoln Park, Dr. Richard Stanley in Riverview, Dr. Henry Cousineau in Riverview, Dr. Enu Joo Kim in Riverview, and Dr. Michael Concessi in Riverview.

The safety training is available to manufacturing, nursing and residential care and has now been opened to include warehousing and storage, nondurable good retailers, and landscaping industries with up to 100 employees. To date, the WorkSafe program has trained more than 14,000 Michigan employees, since the program began in 2000.

Employers or employees interested in this training can obtain more information about WorkSafe by going to www.MACWorkSafe.com or calling Kathy Schaefer at 517-333-3133 ext. 3.

Additionally, a survey was conducted in recent months to review WorkSafe’s effectiveness throughout Michigan. Employers rank the WorkSafe program at the top of the scale consistently in the 80 to 100 percentile.

This program is made possible through a state grant from the Michigan Occupational Safety and Health Administration (MIOSHA). The MIOSHA Program is part of the MDELEG.

UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE LAUNCHES FIRST ONE-STOP SHOP IN MICHIGAN

United States Commerce Secretary Gary Locke recently announced the launch of the Commerce Department’s business one-stop shop in Michigan. Locke announced the opening of the new facility, named CommerceConnect, at the Midwestern Governors Association Jobs and Energy Forum and later held a ribbon-cutting ceremony at the Michigan Manufacturing Technology Center in Plymouth. The state of Michigan partnered with businesses a year ago to launch a One-Stop Shop website for business. This tool provides quick information about permitting, start-ups, financing, taxes and other critical services and support for businesses.

Now, Michigan will be linked to the Commerce Department as well. The new CommerceConnect office will help make the department’s services more accessible and Michigan businesses more competitive—putting all the department’s services under one roof with specialists trained on the broad range of programs Commerce offers. The one-stop initiative is focused on integrating Commerce Department programs to help businesses at every point of their life cycle, and the staff there will act as case workers for individual businesses that seek assistance.

Visit Michigan’s One-Stop Shop website at http://www.michigan.gov/business

OFIR ANNOUNCES PARTICIPATION IN NATIONWIDE MORTGAGE LICENSING SYSTEM

The Office of Financial and Insurance Regulation announced that, starting January 4, 2010, Michigan mortgage broker, lender, and servicer licensees and registrants will begin participation in the Nationwide Mortgage Licensing System (NMLS). The new electronic system was developed by the Conference of State Bank Supervisors (CSBS) and the American Association of Residential Mortgage Regulators (AARMR).

NMLS began operations on January 2, 2008, and currently has 23 states using the system to accept and process national, uniform license applications. Licensees are able to electronically manage a single record in the Nationwide Mortgage Licensing System to apply for, amend, renew, and surrender licenses in one or more participating states. Individual Michigan loan officer registrants are currently participating in the NMLS.

Starting January 4, 2010, OFIR will require all companies and individuals holding a first or second mortgage broker, lender, or servicer license or registration; or a class I or class II consumer financial services license to complete a record in NMLS and submit it to OFIR for approval by March 31, 2010. Any new company or individual wishing to apply for a license or registration must do so through NMLS starting January 4, 2010.

OFIR recently sent a letter to each licensee and registrant with detailed instructions explaining the procedures necessary to transition each license and registration into NMLS.

OFIR’S TOP TEN INVESTOR TRAPS

The Office of Financial and Insurance Regulation (OFIR) would like to remind investors to take stock of their financial education and arm themselves with the knowledge to sidestep this year’s Top Ten Investor Traps.

If Michigan investors have any questions or complaints regarding an investment firm, professional or product, they should contact OFIR toll-free at (877) 999-6442.

OFIR’s Top Ten Investor Traps:

Senior Citizen Investment Fraud: Volatile stock markets, low interest rates, rising health care costs, and increasing life expectancy, combined to create a perfect storm for investment fraud against senior citizen investors. Older investors are being targeted with increasingly complex investment scams involving unregistered securities, promissory notes, charitable gift annuities, viatical settlements, and Ponzi schemes all promising inflated returns. In response OFIR recently launched a multi-pronged effort to protect seniors from investment scams that includes its “Investor Education in Your Community” program that educates Michigan investors on how to avoid falling victim to investment fraud, OFIR’s free investment scams training for local law enforcement and the agency’s “Free Lunch Seminar Monitor” program that gives individuals an opportunity to fight back against unscrupulous promoters by reporting questionable investment practices to OFIR.

Fraudulent Promissory Notes: Promissory notes are interest-paying investments that serve as an important means by which companies raise capital. Legitimate promissory notes are usually marketed to sophisticated investors that have the resources to research the investment. Unfortunately, there have been many instances of unscrupulous individuals pushing bogus promissory notes. They’re being sold as instruments that guarantee above-market, fixed interest rates, while safeguarding their principal. Earlier this year, OFIR ordered Rita “Rip-off” Gosselin to cease and desist from selling unregistered real estate investments in exchange for fraudulent promissory notes.

Affinity Fraud: Michigan investors need to be on guard against a rise in investment scams that prey upon members of groups or affiliations, such as religious or ethnic communities, the elderly or professional groups, known as affinity group fraud. A vast majority of consumers are in some way connected to a group or an association. Their interests, backgrounds, and other associations will naturally lead citizens to those organizations or affiliations that serve their needs. Knowing this, some scammers target their fellow group members, especially those that are unfamiliar with how financial markets work, by getting them to drop their guard and invest in fake products. For example, in 2006 OFIR put an end to an affinity group fraud run by Vazilyn Poinsetta, who scammed her friends, neighbors and fellow church members into an investment scheme.

Ponzi Schemes: Despite the heightened awareness of Ponzi schemes following Bernard Madoff’s multi-billion dollar fraud and 150-year prison sentence, these scams continue to trap investors. The Ponzi scheme is a house-of-cards swindle in which high returns are paid to initial investors out of the funds of later investors, who end up losing all or most of their money to the promoter. The SEC recently announced that OFIR played a key role in halting an alleged Ponzi scheme run by John Bravata.

Real Estate Investment Schemes: OFIR has seen a rise in scams disguised as offers to help homeowners caught up in the turbulent housing market “save” their homes or “fix” their mortgages, usually in exchange for a fee paid in advance. Most of these advance-fee offers only generate a quick profit for the con-artist and provide no benefit to the consumer,

Private Placement Offerings: Private placements offer businesses the opportunity to raise capital by selling securities to a relatively small number of investors as opposed to a public offering made through national securities markets. OFIR has observed a steady and significant rise in the number of private placement offerings that are later discovered to be fraudulent, especially those made under a federal registration exemption. Companies using this exemption can raise an unlimited amount of money without registering the offering with the SEC as long as they meet certain standards.

Natural Resource Investments: OFIR expects to continue to see energy and precious metals scams promising quick, high returns. Investors anxious to recover losses quickly likely will be hooked by oil and gas schemes, as well as fraudulent offerings of investments tied to natural gas, wind and solar energy, and the development of new energy-efficient technologies. In 2007, OFIR issued a cease and desist order against Eric and Jay Merkle and Craig Massey of Jordan River Resources, Inc. and Redstone Energy Corporation for offering fraudulent oil and gas offerings. All three individuals have pled guilty in federal court and are awaiting sentencing.

Entertainment Investments: These unregistered investments, encompassing a variety of products including movies, infomercials, Internet gambling and pornography sites, promise high returns while offering little disclosure of risk. Michigan consumers may be especially vulnerable to these scams given state’s recent surge in movie industry activity. OFIR is currently investigating a number of entertainment investment scams.

Gold Bullion and Currency Scams: With the high price of gold, investors should beware of gold bullion scams in which the seller offers to retain “purchased” gold in a “secure vault” and promises to sell the gold for the investor as it gains in value. In many instances the gold does not exist.

Speculative Inventions and New Products: New products are for venture capitalists who know how to assess the risks. They are not good investments for your retirement money even though they may promise high returns.

ARE YOU READY FOR WINTER DRIVING?

The Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) is reminding motorists that winter driving is on its way. MDOT encourages motorists to monitor the weather, winterize their vehicles, and check traffic flow and lane closures online at www.michigan.gov/drive before getting behind the wheel. Motorists are advised to review the following winter safety driving points before the first snow falls:

• Normal winter conditions are identified as temperatures above 20 degrees, light to moderate winds and snowfall amounts from one to five inches in a 24-hour period.
• During normal conditions, MDOT and its contract agencies can generally keep the trunkline systems free of ice and snow. However, the pavement may still be wet.
• When temperatures fall to 10 to 20 degrees, the action of the salt (which lowers the freezing temperature of water) takes longer to work and refreezes at a much faster rate.
• Salt is very ineffective at temperatures below 10 degrees. The melting rate and dilution of the salt slows way down, and the refreezing process accelerates even more.
• This causes potential for a more dangerous condition than what previously existed.
• To continue to apply salt at these very low temperatures will actually cause more problems than it solves.
• In addition, when wind speeds exceed 15 to 25 mph, the snow that would normally blow across a dry road will adhere to the wet pavement. This will also speed the dilution of the salt, creating a packed-ice type condition with traffic driving over it.
• In winter, motorists are reminded to follow Michigan's basic speed law, which requires them to drive at a "careful and prudent speed" in all conditions and which allows them to stop within the clear distance ahead. It may mean driving lower than the posted speed limit.
• MDOT reminds motorists to follow these winter safety driving tips:
• Be cautious of bridges that may be icy when the approaching pavement is clear and dry.
• Always wear your safety belt and be sure children are properly buckled up.
• Don't text or talk on your cell phone while you are driving.
• Slow down when visibility is low or when road conditions are snowy or icy.
• Accelerate and brake slowly and avoid abrupt steering maneuvers.
• Don't pump anti-lock brakes.
• Snowplow drivers need all the help they can get when it comes to maneuvering large trucks through traffic and along the roadways for the benefit of all of us. Please do your part and "Don't Crowd the Plow."
• Make sure your windshield is clear of ice and snow before you start out. "Peephole driving" is unsafe for you and other drivers on the road.