PNC Bank has provided $4.2 million in financing to help a Pennsylvania-based group, CMS Skyline Joint Venture of Wynnewood, buy and rehabilitate 60 rental properties for market-rate and low- to moderate-income residents on various sites in East Baltimore. The properties are near Patterson Park, Butchers Hill and Baltimore's waterfront, in ZIP codes 21205, 21213 and 21224. They bring to more than 245 the number of properties that members of the joint venture own and manage, primarily in East Baltimore. According to PNC representatives, the financing is part of an effort by the bank to "strengthen underserved neighborhoods throughout Baltimore," and most of the work will be complete within the next several months.
- Baltimore Sun reporter
Mortgage aid program helps fraction of borrowers
WASHINGTON - The government's $50 billion program to ease the mortgage crisis is helping only a tiny fraction of struggling homeowners, and a list released Tuesday showed which lenders are laggards. As of July, only 9 percent of eligible borrowers had seen their mortgage payments reduced with modified loans. And the first monthly progress report showed that 10 lenders had not changed a single mortgage. The report indicated that lenders such as Bank of America Corp. and Wells Fargo and Co. have lagged behind government expectations. Both banks received billions in federal bailout money. BofA modified just 4 percent of eligible loans, and Wells Fargo 6 percent. Wachovia Corp., which was taken over by Wells Fargo in December, modified only 2 percent. Wells Fargo said it plans to speed up its efforts, and BofA said it would improve its process for reaching those in need.
- Associated Press
Consumer electronics sales expected to fall
Sales of consumer electronics are expected to drop nearly 8 percent in 2009, according to the Consumer Electronics Association. It would be the industry's first decline since 2001. Excluding 2001, it's the biggest decline since 1975. And although some gadgets remain hot in the cold economy, Americans are shunning big-ticket items in favor of bargains or refusing to buy altogether. Each U.S. home contains more than two dozen electronic devices on average, according to the Consumer Electronics Association, an industry group.
-Los Angeles Times
