Commercial Office space Over supply

Shadow space haunts office market

Office vacancies, already high, are actually much worse because of untold "shadow" space -- space that's leased but empty.

By JENNIFER BJORHUS, Star Tribune

That section of empty cubicles, the conference rooms collecting cast-off office furniture ... for employees, they're dreary reminders of layoffs, consolidations and shelved expansion plans.

To real estate professionals, it's "shadow" office space -- space that's leased or owned but largely empty and not officially listed anywhere as vacant. And brokers are fretting about the buildup of unprecedented amounts of it around the Twin Cities. All that idle square footage will likely prolong the recovery of the area's hard-hit office sector, already struggling with high vacancy rates. Slow demand for new space will likely mean a dearth of new construction, and all the jobs and building material sales that go with it

http://www.startribune.com/business/98980004.html

Credit Check for Employment

let's take a look

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NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Falling behind on your bills? It could cost you a job.

An increasing number of employers are using credit checks to screen potential job applicants. So missed payments on your mortgage, car or credit card could keep you from getting hired.

According to a survey by the Society for Human Resource Management, 60% of employers are using credit checks when filling at least some of their openings. Only 35% reported checking credit in a 2003 survey, and only about 13% did so 1996.

http://money.cnn.com/2010/07/22/news/economy/credit_checks_for_job_applicants/index.htm

Housing Prices out of line with Income

Excellent article on Housing Prices from a blogger at political calculations

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"When exactly did the U.S. housing bubble begin?

Better yet, can you tell from the Case-Shiller Home Price Index when it began?

Take a look for yourself. Could it have begun in 1997, when house prices, after adjusting for inflation, bottomed? Could it have been in 2000, when these real house prices exceeded rents? Or was it in 2003, when real house prices began growing even faster than they had in the period from 1997 up to that point?

Here's what James R. Hagerty found when he asked the question of two housing and mortgage industry experts in November 2009. First, he asked Edward Pinto:"...........

http://politicalcalculations.blogspot.com/2010/02/better-method-for-detecting-housing.html

Adult Children Co-sign Loans for Parents

Adult children increasingly co-sign for parents' loans

Financial roles reverse due to rising debts, falling retirement funds

By Michelle Crouch

It's almost an American tradition: Kids in their 20s without a credit history have long turned to their parents to co-sign for them, whether it's for a first credit card, a car or an apartment lease. Now the credit crisis is turning that tradition on its head.

Financial advisers, credit counselors and lenders across the country say they've seen a surge in middle-aged parents who have damaged their credit asking their adult children -- usually in their late 20s or early 30s -- to co-sign loans and leases for them.

"I'm seeing this a lot more now than I did two or three years ago," says Laurie Giles, an elder life planning attorney in Shelton, Conn., and author of the "What Now?" book series. "A lot of times, it's parents who had stable jobs for 20 or 30 years who got used to living on credit, then they're suddenly downsized and they don't have strong savings built up, or their savings went down with the market. And their house isn't worth what they thought."

http://www.creditcards.com/credit-card-news/children-cosign-for-parents-1273.php

Jobs Jobs Jobs

let's take a look

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Payrolls falls in 27 states, Led by California

Payrolls decreased in 27 U.S. states in June, led by California and New York, signaling the slowdown in hiring is broad-based.

Employers in California cut staff by 27,600 workers last month and those in New York reduced employment by 22,500, the Labor Department said today in Washington. Tennessee, Arizona and New Mexico rounded out the five states with the biggest job losses.

The U.S. lost 125,000 jobs last month as the government cut temporary workers conducting the 2010 census and private payrolls rose a less-than-forecast 83,000, according to Labor Department figures issued July 2. The data signal companies are becoming reticent to hire as the economy cools.

http://noir.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aCrIFae7VFMg

FHA Tightens Credit Score Requirement

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- The once wide-open doorway to homeownership closed a teensy bit more this week when a key government agency announced a proposal to no longer allow mortgages for borrowers with very low credit scores.

The Department of Housing and Urban Development said that it intends to require borrowers to have scores of at least 500 to qualify for FHA-insured loans. The agency has not required a minimum score before.

The practical impact of this move will be extremely limited; during the second quarter of 2010, no FHA-insured loans were issued to borrowers with sub-500 scores. And, in fact, less than 1% of borrowers were below 580; most loans went to borrowers with scores above 620

http://money.cnn.com/2010/07/16/real_estate/tighter_FHA_requirements/index.htm?source=cnn_bin&hpt=Sbin

Debt collection broken

let's take a look

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Legislators pledge to fix state's 'broken' debt collection system

A day after a federal agency declared America's debt collection system "broken," two Minnesota lawmakers pledged to write legislation to better protect consumers.

By CHRIS SERRES, Star Tribune

A day after a federal agency declared America's debt collection system "broken," two Minnesota lawmakers pledged to write legislation to better protect consumers who are sued or jailed over their debts.

Sen. Ron Latz, DFL-St. Louis Park, and Rep. Joe Mullery, DFL-Minneapolis, said Tuesday that they intend to address a growing public concern -- highlighted in a continuing Star Tribune series, "Hounded" -- that debtors are being sued for money they don't owe and, increasingly, jailed when they fail to appear in court. Latz and Mullery plan to introduce a package of debt-collection reforms when the Legislature reconvenes in January.

The Star Tribune investigation found that the use of arrest warrants against debtors jumped 60 percent in the past four years, with 845 cases in 2009. Some debtors who were arrested said they were unaware they had been sued for their debts and were required to appear in court.

http://www.startribune.com/politics/98380794.html