Loan

Wilbur D. "Woody" Preston Jr., a retired partner in the Baltimore law firm of Whiteford, Taylor & Preston who was Maryland's special counsel during the 1985 savings and loan crisis, died Monday of complications from Alzheimer's disease at Gilchrist Hospice in Towson. He was 90. Mr. Preston's yearlong investigation into the causes of the savings and loan crisis that swept Maryland in the mid-1980s resulted in the publication of the highly acclaimed Preston Report, which was a thorough and detailed analysis of the debacle.

The Kingsville Volunteer Fire Company will use a $3.6 million loan from theU.S. Department of AgricultureRural Development program to expand and renovate its facility in northern Baltimore County. Senators Barbara A. Mikulski and Ben Cardin announced the funding Thursday. The company, which serves a predominantly rural area, will use the money to update outdated mechanical and electrical systems, replace the deteriorating roof and increase living and classroom facilities for its volunteers.

Baltimore County plans to borrow $25 million from its pension system to upgrade recycling facilities, a move some County Council members and union leaders are questioning. The county retirement system's board of trustees approved the loan last month at the request of County Executive Kevin Kamenetz's administration. In an interview Thursday, Kamenetz called the move prudent, saying it would serve both the retirement system and the county well. The county plans to borrow the money at an interest rate of 7.875 percent and repay it within 15 years.

Borrowers overwhelmed by private student loan debt often discover an ugly truth too late — these loans can't be discharged in bankruptcy like other types of consumer loans. A new report on private student loans by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and the U.S. Department of Education suggests it may be time to change that. The agencies say these loans offer so little flexibility to struggling borrowers that Congress might consider revising the bankruptcy law given today's tough economy.

The organizers of the first Baltimore Grand Prix — which ran up millions in debts to vendors and taxpayers — have begun paying their back taxes, an attorney for the closed business said Thursday. Steven D. Silverman, who represents Baltimore Racing Development, said company managers have entered into an agreement with the Maryland comptroller's office that will result in all of the nearly $600,000 in back taxes being paid. The company owes $567,594 to Baltimore in admissions and amusement taxes, and $23,838 in sales and use taxes to Maryland, according to state officials.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and the Department of Education issued a report on the status of private student loans. Americans owe more than $150 billion on such loans - much less than on federal loans - but these private loans don't have borrower-friendly repayment plans and they're poorly understood by those who take them out. When you hear graduates complain about the weight of student loans, it's the private kind they're typically talking...

Maryland Attorney General Douglas F. Gansler is teaming up with St. Ambrose Housing Aid Center to give homeowners information about help tapping into available mortgage relief and preventing foreclosure. The workshop, one in a series, is scheduled for 10 a.m. Saturday at St. Matthew Catholic Church, 5401 Loch Raven Blvd. Individuals who borrowed home loans through the country's five largest mortgage lenders -- Ally/GMAC, Bank of America/Countrywide, Citi, JPMorgan Chase & Co./Washington Mutual or Wells Fargo/Wachovia -- may qualify for relief.

Maryland is offering a new mortgage program that gives discounts to military families and veterans. The "Maryland Homefront" loans, announced Tuesday, are part of the state's Maryland Mortgage Program. The loans — available through June of next year or until the $50 million reserved for them is used up — will come with an interest rate that's half a percent lower than the Maryland Mortgage Program's overall rate. That's a savings of about $840 a year on a $250,000 home, the state said.

When borrowers complain about student loan debt it is most likely they are talking about private education loans. And the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has been getting an earful of complaints about these types of loans that don't have the consumer-friendly repayment plans that federal loans do. The CFPB, which has oversight over private student loans, has been collecting comments from borrowers for months for a report to Congress next...

The owner of the struggling Sparrows Point steel mill faces a tight deadline — late July — to sell the plant and other assets under the terms of an interim loan for up to $50 million that a U.S. Bankruptcy Court judge approved Friday. The mill's owner, RG Steel LLC, filed for Chapter 11 protection from creditors Thursday, just days before it plans to idle operations at plants in three states and lay off thousands of workers, including nearly 2,000 in Sparrows Point, starting Monday.