New suit hits Brooks Institute
By Stephen Nellis / Monday, November 8th, 2010 / Top Stories / Comments Off on New suit hits Brooks Institute
A former Brooks Institute of Photography student and his family are suing the school’s parent company and lender Sallie Mae, alleging that after he defaulted his student loans ballooned from $120,445 to more than $227,000 based on hidden terms and fees. The former student, Todd Marek, is suing Sallie Mae and two debt collectors in Read More →
Hertel partner files $128M bankruptcy
By Marlize van Romburgh / Friday, October 29th, 2010 / Real Estate, Top Stories / Comments Off on Hertel partner files $128M bankruptcy
Almost two years after Ventura-based developer R.W. Hertel & Sons was forced into bankruptcy by its creditors, one partner is left holding the bag. Bob Fowler filed one of the largest personal bankruptcies in tri-county history on Sept. 26, listing $127.6 million in debts. Of those liabilities, $105.6 million are personal guarantees Fowler made on Read More →
Foreclosure freeze won
By Marlize van Romburgh / Monday, October 25th, 2010 / Real Estate, Top Stories, Tri-County Economy / Comments Off on Foreclosure freeze won
As the nation’s largest home lenders continue their self-imposed foreclosure freezes, economists in the tri-county region say the residential real estate market’s search for the bottom is being delayed. The Tri-Counties had more than 1,200 homes in foreclosure at the end of the second quarter, according to information from research firm DataQuick. That’s up more Read More →
Foreclosure fiasco’s ground zero: Ventura County offices churned out paperwork
By Marlize van Romburgh / Monday, October 25th, 2010 / Top Stories, Tri-County Economy / Comments Off on Foreclosure fiasco’s ground zero: Ventura County offices churned out paperwork
Ask her how many foreclosure documents she worked through in a day at Countrywide Financial Corp., and Linda Martins-Mann says the pace was fast. “I didn’t count how many I processed, but it was a lot,” she said. “Maybe about 500 a day.” Martins-Mann was a foreclosure technician at Countrywide’s Simi Valley offices until the Read More →
Profitable merger for Noza
By Stephen Nellis / Monday, October 18th, 2010 / Nonprofits, Technology, Top Stories / Comments Off on Profitable merger for Noza
Noza, a Santa Barbara firm offering data to help nonprofit fundraisers, has been acquired by a South Carolina company that’s profiting handsomely from the nonprofit sector. Noza created technology that searches the Web for public information about the money that people and companies have given to charities. Fundraisers at charities and nonprofits can use that Read More →
SLO family fights state on ‘land grab’
By Marlize van Romburgh / Monday, October 18th, 2010 / Top Stories / Comments Off on SLO family fights state on ‘land grab’
Can the state demand access to a mile of pristine beach land in exchange for permission to fix up an old farmhouse? A San Luis Obispo County family, backed by one of the state’s top property-rights law firms, is suing the California Coastal Commission to find out. A family trust led by sisters Denise McLaughlan, Read More →
Elections could rattle region’s city halls
By Tony Biasotti / Monday, October 18th, 2010 / Top Stories / Comments Off on Elections could rattle region’s city halls
The battles for the 112th Congress and the governor’s office may be sucking up most of the oxygen this campaign season, but voters up and down the Tri-Counties will also pick new city councils on Nov. 2. The region’s largest cities — Oxnard, Thousand Oaks and Simi Valley — all have contested council elections. Read More →
