Administration Rolls Out Short Sale, Deed-in-Lieu

Options for HAMP Loans That Canít Be Modified

* *

(From /Inside Mortgage Finance/)

* *

The Obama administration has released detailed guidance on a new Home
Affordable Foreclosure Alternatives program that features cash
incentives for borrowers, servicers and investors for executing short
sales or deeds-in-lieu of foreclosure.

The HAFA program is available for loans that otherwise meet the criteria
for the Home Affordable Modification Program but canít be restructured
successfully. The guidelines issued recently as HAMP Supplemental
Directive 09-09 only apply to loans not owned or securitized by Fannie
Mae and Freddie Mac, which have their own short sale and deed-in-lieu
incentive programs.

The new program wonít take effect until April 5, 2010, and servicers are
expected to develop their own written policies to implement it. All HAFA
loans must first be considered for HAMP modification, and data collected
in that process can be used for assessing a possible short sale or
deed-in-lieu transaction.

If the servicer hasnít already done so, the borrower must be advised in
writing about the availability of a short sale or deed-in-lieu and have
14 days to mull it over. Servicers are expected to perform a financial
analysis to determine whether a short sale or DIL is in the best
interest of the investor or mortgage insurer, but the HAMP net present
value model does not project such cash flows.

The servicer has to get an independent property valuation that cannot be
charged to the borrower, and a title check must also be completed. If
neither a short sale nor DIL is available, written notice must be made
to the borrower.

Before approving a short sale, the servicer has to determine the minimum
net proceeds that will be accepted by the investor. Customary
transactions costs must be taken into account. The program requires
servicers to use a standard short sale agreement that outlines the
responsibilities of the servicer and the borrower that includes a fixed
termination date not less than 120 days after the agreement takes effect.

A DIL transaction must include the full release of the debt and waiver
of all claims against the borrower. The borrower has to agree to vacate
the property by a certain date, leaving it in clean condition with a
marketable title.

Servicers may agree to a DIL even if the borrower hasnít already made a
good-faith effort to market the property, if thatís acceptable to the
investor.

*/ No Foreclosure/*

Servicers may initiate or continue with a foreclosure proceeding during
the short sale or DIL process, but the foreclosure canít be completed
while assessing a borrowerís eligibility, waiting for the return of an
executed agreement, during the term of a short sale agreement or pending
transfer of the property during a DIL.

The borrowerís mortgage payment cannot exceed 31 percent of gross
monthly income while a short sale or DIL is pending, and servicers may
waive payment altogether. The borrower is responsible for clearing up
any other liens on the property, although the servicer may negotiate on
the borrowerís behalf. Second lien holders can get up to $3,000 from the
proceeds of the sale to release the loan.

Following successful completion of a short sale or DIL, the borrower can
get up to $1,500 to cover relocation expenses. Servicers are paid $1,000
to cover administrative and processing costs for these transactions.
Investors will be paid a maximum of $1,000 for allowing up to $3,000 in
short-sale proceeds to be paid to second-lien holders.

The program features a complete set of required standard documents and
reporting requirements. As with HAMP itself, Fannie Mae is serving as
the administrator for the short sale/DIL program and Freddie is the
compliance agent.

Please Remember Firefighter Brian Carey Today.

'It's our first one we lost'

Homewood officials are looking into whether oxygen tanks may have fueled a house fire that killed an elderly man and rookie firefighter Brian Carey, 28, (at left) -- the department's first fatality ever. Another firefighter, a woman in her early 20s, was injured and is in critical condition

Related articles by Zemanta

• Help Firefighters injured in the line of duty (thepetitionsite.com)

Recovery: Economic Recovery Payment Tool - March 2010

Image by blunck2 via Flickr

Did you get an economic recovery payment in 2009? If so, how much? Find out what you'll need to know to file your tax return.

Getting the word out for the Deadline of April 30th for Firstime and Upgraded Government Credit On A New Home Purchase.

Issue Is Washington That Realtors Are Fighting For:

REALTOR® Insider: D.C. News and Events
Obama Administration Announces Enhancements to HAMP, FHA Refinances

Business Report
House and Senate Approve Second and Final Health Care Bill

Commercial Finance Report
NAR Requests TALF Extension in Letter to the U.S. House Financial Services Committee

Conventional Residential Lending Report
NAR Posts Webinar on Upcoming HAFA Program

Environment Report
Flood Insurance Update

Housing Report
NAR, ALTA call on FHA to Clarify Stance on Private Transfer Fees

Anti Poverty Walk-a-thon on May 1st

Hello All, The Community Action Partnership of Lake County Illinois will be hosting their 3^rd annual Anti-Poverty Walk-a-thon on Saturday, May 1, 2010.

Proceeds will help expand their services and programs to Lake County’s low income children and families. For details, please email me at drigney@ksgmac.com or www.capolc.org

[EXCLUSIVE REPLAY] Wealth Attraction Webinar:
Remember the Wealth Attraction Equation Webinar by Brian Wong I told you about earlier this week?

Well it JUST happened last night and it went great!

With over 6,700 people subscribed, it was one of the biggest
events of the year!

In his webinar, Brian revealed the mathematical equation that
has allowed him to attract endless abundance and wealth into
his life with absolute certainty.

In case you weren’t able to tune into the event last night,
Brian has generously made the replay available to all of you.

You can watch the whole thing here.

http://bit.ly/7WondersofWealthVideo

Thank you,

David Rigney

PS: Brian tells me his inbox has been flooding with tons of
positive feedback since the event.

You definitely don’t want to miss this.

http://bit.ly/7WondersofWealthVideo

As part of its ongoing commitment to continuously improve housing relief efforts, the Administration announced adjustments to the Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP) and to the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) programs. These program adjustments will better assist responsible homeowners who have been affected by the economic crisis through no fault of their own. The program modifications will expand flexibility for mortgage servicers and originators to assist more unemployed homeowners and to help more people who owe more on their mortgage than their home is worth because their local markets saw large declines in home values. These changes will help the Administration meet its goal of stabilizing housing markets by offering a second chance to up to 3 to 4 million struggling homeowners through the end of 2012. Costs will be shared between the private sector and the Federal Government; the Federal cost of these changes will be funded through the $50 billion allocation for housing programs under the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP).
http://ping.fm/fSBQo

Switch-off the power of your house or office for ONE hour on March 27, 2010 starting at 8:30 p.m. Doha local time, in a symbolic stance against global warming.

Americans are roughly 5 percent of the world’s population and consume 25 percent of the world’s resources. Almost 50 percent of the energy we produce comes from coal. The time to build a clean energy network is now. Action must be taken to develop renewable energy and we must begin a responsible transition off of coal and oil.

As part of its ongoing commitment to continuously improve housing relief efforts, the Administration announced adjustments to the Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP) and to the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) programs. These program adjustments will better assist responsible homeowners who have been affected by the economic crisis through no fault of their own. The program modifications will expand flexibility for mortgage servicers and originators to assist more unemployed homeowners and to help more people who owe more on their mortgage than their home is worth because their local markets saw large declines in home values. These changes will help the Administration meet its goal of stabilizing housing markets by offering a second chance to up to 3 to 4 million struggling homeowners through the end of 2012. Costs will be shared between the private sector and the Federal Government; the Federal cost of these changes will be funded through the $50 billion allocation for housing programs under the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP).
http://ping.fm/fSBQo

Notice to Home Buyers:
It is fast approaching, April 30th, 2010. Get Your Tax Credit.
Great homes for sale. Free List of Home For Sale. http://ping.fm/YecnN

USDA - Map http://ping.fm/6nq7X

Illinois REALTORS® promote real estate industry, private property rights at the State Capitol
34th Annual IAR Capitol Conference • March 23, 2010
Over 500 Illinois REALTORS® came to Springfield to talk with state lawmakers about issues affecting homeowners and the real estate industry.

World economy: A recovery, but challenges loom:
Recent data confirm that the global economic recovery is gaining traction, though problems remain in many countries. A combination of cyclical inventory adjustments and unprecedented policy stimulus has boosted demand, and world trade has picked up strongly. However, much of the improvement is due to temporary factors, and economic growth will weaken once these forces fade. The Economist Intelligence Unit expects world GDP growth at purchasing power parity (PPP) to reach 3.8% this year before slowing to 3.5% in 2011.
@ The Economist | Posted: 03/23/10 at 0201 EDST

Chicago area home sales up 32% in February:
Chicago-area home sales in February continued to rise compared with last year, but median prices still fell. In the nine-county Chicago region, 4,134 single-family homes and condominiums were sold last month, a 32% increase over February 2009. In the city, sales rose 41.5% last month, to 1,225 compared with 866 in February 2009.
@ Crain's Chicago Business | Posted: 03/23/10 at 0201 EDST

FHA HIRES COMPLIANCE MANAGER TO OVERSEE INVENTORY OF 'HUD HOMES'
Contract designed to reduce risk and increasing return on resale of property:
WASHINGTON - The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) today announced the agency is contracting with Michaelson, Connor & Boul, Inc. (MCB) of Huntington Beach, California to serve as a Mortgagee Compliance Manager. MCB will be responsible for ensuring that Federal Housing Administration (FHA)-approved lenders and loan servicers convey foreclosed properties to the FHA in acceptable condition.

MCB will establish a central office for lender compliance oversight in Oklahoma City, which is projected to create 75 - 100 new professional jobs. HUD's National Servicing Center (NSC) in Oklahoma City will be responsible for the direct oversight of the new compliance manager contract.

"This new contract is part of FHA's continuing effort to reduce risk, increase return, and improve efficiency in the resale of its inventory of foreclosed property," said HUD Deputy Assistant Secretary Vicki Bott. "It is critically important that FHA recaptures as much of our claims through the eventual sale of these properties and this compliance management firm will help us do that."
Under M&M III, lenders and loan servicers seeking to convey foreclosed properties to FHA will find a more efficient and less complex process than under previous M&M contracts. Michaelson, Connor & Boul, Inc will serve as the sole entity responsible for mortgagee compliance.

To those joining me for my birthday. We are at Teasers.... Veronica, David and Antonio."

Wishing All A Happy St. Patricks Day.

Looking for an Irish Bar.

I don’t know about you, but I seem to get the feeling that people are generally frustrated the Law of Attraction is not working consistently for them, ESPECIALLY in the area of wealth.

Sure, people have used the Law of Attraction to help them in many areas of life, from love and relationships to career to health. But wealth seems to be the area of priority for most people, and ironically, it also seems to be the area most people find least success in. It almost feels like there’s a correlation…

I’m curious to see if I’ve somehow hit the nail on the head with this observed correlation, so I’ll be interested to know on a scale of 1-10, how much focus have you put into expanding your wealth by using the Law of Attraction? And, on a scale of 1-10, how successful have you been with the Law of Attraction to attract money into your life?

Just let me know in the comments. Cheers.

Great Start To A Sunny Day In Chicago

Nationwide Open House Weekend April 10-11, 2010: What To Know Open House Info or Homes For Sale In Your Neighborhood? Go To http://ping.fm/LHhLi

Home sales activity surged in Illinois over the last five months spurred by the tax credit and the strong buyer-market conditions. In January, sales increased 14 percent statewide and 29.2 percent in the nine-county Chicagoland Primary Metropolitan Statistical Area (Cook, DeKalb, DuPage, Grundy, Kane, Kendall, Lake, McHenry and Will counties).

Time Is Running Out:
According to the Internal Revenue Service, buyers who wish to qualify for the tax credit must sign a contract to purchase a home on or before April 30, 2010, but they have until June 30, 2010 to close on the home. Income limitations apply and the home purchased must be used as a primary residence with a purchase price not to exceed $800,000.

Five Facts You Need to Know about Suspicious E-mails:
There are many e-mail scams circulating that fraudulently use the Internal Revenue Service name or logo as a lure. The goal of the scam – known as phishing – is to trick you into revealing personal and financial information. The scammers can then use your personal information – such as your Social Security number, bank account or credit card numbers – to commit identity theft and steal your money.

Here are five things the IRS wants you to know about phishing scams.

1. The IRS does not send unsolicited e-mails about a person’s tax account or ask for detailed personal and financial information via e-mail.

2. The IRS never asks taxpayers for their PIN numbers, passwords or similar secret access information for their credit card, bank or other financial accounts.

3. If you receive an e-mail from someone claiming to be the IRS or directing you to an IRS site,

* Do not reply to the message.
* Do not open any attachments. Attachments may contain malicious code that will infect your computer.
* Do not click on any links. If you clicked on links in a suspicious e-mail or phishing Web site and entered confidential information, visit IRS.gov and enter the search term 'identity theft' for more information and resources to help.

4. You can help shut down these schemes and prevent others from being victimized. If you receive a suspicious e-mail that claims to come from the IRS, you can forward that e-mail to a special IRS mailbox, phishing@irs.gov. You can forward the message as received or provide the Internet header of the e-mail. The Internet header has additional information to help us locate the sender.

5. Remember, the official IRS Web site is http://www.irs.gov/. Do not be confused or misled by sites claiming to be the IRS but end in .com, .net, .org or other designations instead of .gov.

Link: Suspicious e-Mails and Identity Theft

Mortgage Forgiveness Debt Relief Info:

Privately sponsored nationwide initiative encourages homeowners take advantage of the Mortgage Forgiveness Debt Relief Act of 2007 (summarized below) which has been extended through 2012 through the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008.

Mortgage Forgiveness Debt Relief Act of 2007 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to exclude from gross income amounts attributable to a discharge, prior to January 1, 2010, of indebtedness incurred to acquire a principal residence. Limits to $2 million the excludable amount of such indebtedness. Reduces the basis of a principal residence by the amount of discharged indebtedness excluded from gross income. Disallows an exclusion for a discharge of indebtedness on account of services performed for the lender or any other factor not directly related to a decline in the value of the residence or to the financial condition of the taxpayer. Sets forth rules for determining the allowable amount of the exclusion for taxpayers with nonqualifying indebtedness and taxpayers who are insolvent.

Extends through 2010 the tax deduction for mortgage insurance premiums.

Sets forth alternative tests for qualifying as a cooperative housing corporation for purposes of the tax deduction for payments to such corporations. Qualifies a corporation if: (1) 80% or more of the total square footage of the corporation's property is used or available for use by its tenant-stockholders for residential purposes, or (2) 90% of the corporation's expenditures are for the acquisition, construction, management, maintenance, or care of its property for the benefit of the tenant-stockholders.

Allows members of a qualified volunteer emergency response organization (i.e., an organization that provides firefighting and emergency medical services) an exclusion from gross income for state and local tax benefits and for certain payments for services. Terminates such exclusion after 2010.

Allows certain full-time students who are single parents and their children to live in housing units eligible for the low-income housing tax credit provided that their children are not dependents of another individual (other than a parent of such children).

Allows a surviving spouse to exclude from gross income up to $500,000 of the gain from the sale or exchange of a principal residence owned jointly with a deceased spouse if the sale or exchange occurs within two years of the death of the spouse and other ownership and use requirements have been met.

Increases the penalty for failure to file a partnership tax return and extends from five to 12 the number of months in which such penalty may be imposed. Limits disclosure of tax return information that includes individual taxpayer identify information.

Imposes an additional penalty on S corporations for failure to file required tax returns.

Amends the Tax Increase Prevention and Reconciliation Act of 2005 to increase the estimated tax payment due in the third quarter of 2012 for corporations with assets of at least $1 billion.

Is Print Finally Dead? READ ALL ABOUT IT!:
December 2009 saw the demise of Editor & Publisher Magazine, which had been around since 1854. It lays claim to being the chief chronicler of the American newspaper industry and has presided over the business for 125 years and is a clear signal that an era is rapidly drawing to a close.

NEWSPAPERS

Daily newspapers have been losing between 2% and 5% per year of their circulation base during the last 10 years. In 1940 there were 1,878 newspapers in the U.S. with a total circulation of 32.4 million. While the number of newspapers continued to decline — 1,611 in 1990 — their circulation increased: 62.6 million in 1990. But by 2008 the number of newspapers had dropped again by a little over 200 to 1,408 while circulation crashed down to 49.2 million.

In the first half of 2009 alone another 105 newspapers closed their doors — 10,000 jobs were lost. Even among the leader board 23 of the top 25 newspapers suffered between 7% and 20% declines in circulation this year (the worst slump since the Depression), and advertising revenue could be down as much as a 30% for 2009 when all the data is finalized.

One of the most critical statistics revealed that only 27% of Gen Y read a newspaper, compared with 55% of the Silent or Greatest Generation. And as the consumers change so do their preferences so other print related industries as well.

MAGAZINES

There are no reliable industry-wide magazine ad revenue numbers that are publicly reported (for obvious reasons), but according to a report compiled by The Magazine Publishers of America’s Publishers Information Bureau, automotive ads for the first six months of 2009 were down 21.3% and technology down 17.5%.

MAIL

The number of pieces of first class mail has steadily decreased and according to CEO Pat Donahoe, the USPS estimates a decline of 10 billion pieces in each of the next two years, dropping from a high of 213 billion pieces in 2006 to 170 billion in 2010. They are trying to cut costs in all areas to stop the bleeding: asking Congress to authorize reducing mail delivery to five days a week (approval unlikely), offering buyouts to 30,000 workers in 2010 to save $500 million and reducing the number of collection boxes across the country, of which in the past 20 years over 200,000 have vanished, more than the 175,000 that still remain.

SPAM

But it’s not just first class mail that is migrating to the Internet. The junk mail business is moving in that direction as well. Today there are 100 billion pieces of junk mail sent in the U.S. every year and 44% of it is discarded, unopened. Consumers respond to only 2% of all the junk mail sent and as a result one of the biggest producers of junk mail — the banking industry — has made getting out of the mail a high priority. Meanwhile it is estimated that 200 billion spam emails are sent every day.

DIRECT MAIL

Revenue from direct mail is also expected to fall from $48.7 billion in 2008 to $29.8 billion in 2013 — a decline of 39% — dropping it from the #1 ad revenue generator to #4, behind the Internet, broadcast TV and newspapers. In a mid-2009 study, Anthea Stratigos, CEO of Outsell, Inc., a media research and advisory outlet, predicted that $65 billion would be siphoned away from traditional advertising channels in 2009 and be spent on companies’ own websites and Internet marketing.
The Shift in Real Estate Marketing

THE SHIFT

According to Pew Research, fewer than half of Americans (43%) say that if their local newspaper closed it would hurt their community “a lot,” and even fewer (33%) say they would personally miss reading the paper. Over 68% indicated that they get their news from local television or television websites, 48% from print, 34% from radio and 31% from the Internet.

INTERNET

Ninety trillion emails were sent in 2009 – that’s 247 billion per day. Twitter send 27 million tweets per day, You Tube serves up one billion videos per day and Facebook enjoys 260 billion page views per month. No wonder the Internet is redefining every industry, including real estate brokerage. Real estate professionals have to redefine what they do and how they do; where they find their customer and how they stay in contact with them.

Many progressive Realtors® have and continue to adapt every day uncovering new ways to use the Internet in their profession. However hundreds of thousands if Realtors® still remain stuck in a paradigm that is dead. The jury is still out on how many will survive and how many will retire over the course of the next few years.

Just listed: 4838 West Howard 403, Skokie, IL 60077 for $110,000 http://ping.fm/x6ZIu

Time to call it a night, be safe out there.

Jobless Rate Holds Steady, Raising Hopes of Recovery:
The economy lost fewer jobs than expected in February, the government reported Friday, bolstering hopes that a still-sputtering recovery was beginning to gain momentum.

The Labor Department said that the economy shed 36,000 jobs last month and that the unemployment rate remained steady at 9.7 percent.

While the losses were less than Bloomberg News’s consensus estimate of a 68,000 decline, the report did not offer a clear snapshot of the economy’s underlying health. With businesses still skittish about hiring, and the end of stimulus programs in sight, economists are concerned that the labor market’s slow growth may hamper a recovery.

“If you recognize it as one frame in a movie, it is one in which we are moving toward resumption of job growth,” said Alan Levenson, chief economist for T. Rowe Price, an investment firm. “The labor market is healing.”

The brunt of the losses was in the construction industry, while temporary-work agencies expanded as businesses began to tentatively rebuild their enterprises.

Estimates for the month had varied wildly as economists tried to account for the effect of winter storms in mid-February that shut down much of the East Coast. The Labor Department said Friday that while weather “may have affected payroll employment and hours,” the effect could not be quantified.

Nigel Gault, an economist for IHS Global Insight, said the report suggested a cascade of job losses brought on by the recession would finally begin to reverse, with job creation coming as soon as March.

“We are just about to turn the corner,” Mr. Gault said. “Businesses still need more confidence in the strength and durability of the recovery.”

The economy is expected to add as many as 100,000 jobs a month later this year. The results in the last few months have reflected the tentativeness of the recovery — 26,000 jobs lost in January, 109,000 jobs lost in December, 64,000 jobs added in November, and 224,000 lost in October.

Doubts about the recovery have resurfaced in recent weeks in light of weak economic data. Consumer confidence has waned, and sales of homes have fallen rather sharply. Still, there are signs of a rebound: the manufacturing sector is improving, and businesses appear to be reinvesting in capital.

But without a vibrant jobs market, consumer spending will likely remain tepid, and businesses will continue to rein in costs.

In Adrian, Mich., executives at Brazeway, a refrigeration tubing manufacturer, are grappling with those uncertainties. The company has trimmed its work force more than 30 percent in the last two years, and now has about 1,200 employees.

Even as orders and production have helped energize the manufacturing sector, Brazeway has remained cautious about hiring, bringing on only temporary workers. Since its cutbacks, the company has added only three permanent positions.

“We have people beating down our doors for jobs,” said Stephanie H. Boyse, the chief executive. “We’re in this mindset of adding only the absolute must-haves, and the nice-to haves stay on the back burner.”

On Thursday, the House of Representatives passed a $15 billion plan to encourage hiring by offering tax breaks to businesses. But millions of Americans remain jobless, and many have been out of the work force for more than a year.

WI. is living up to it's name:
World cheese contest expands as it ages, and will be in Madison again soon
Creative cheesemakers have sparked huge growth in the 10 years that the World Championship Cheese Contest has been held in Madison. The 28th biennial event will be March 16-18 at Monona Terrace. The first year it was held in Madison after moving from Green Bay, the event had 27 classes for cheese and butter. This year, it will be 80.

I was in Florida two weeks ago and it was cold.
Tourists stay away in January
Resort-tax collections were down 9.3 percent in Volusia County in January from last year, about the same trend as the rest of Central Florida. Numbers released this week by the county's revenue department show lodging establishments collected $490,712 for the month, compared with $540,700 in January 2009.
@ Daytona Beach News Journal

Now Some Good News:
Florida
$21 million in stimulus-funded construction to begin in Sarasota County
Among the biggest projects is a $7 million resurfacing of University Parkway from U.S. 41 to Interstate 75. Work on the Sarasota County portion, from U.S. 41 to U.S. 301, is expected to begin in early April.

Sorry for the bad news Italy:
Italy: Economy contracts 5% in 2009
Italy's economy contracted 5 percent in 2009 as the country dealt with its worse recession since World War II. Italy's gross domestic product totalled more than 1,520 billion euros. The figures were released as Italy's jobless rate rose to 8.6 percent in January - its highest unemployment rate since 2004.
@ Adnkronos International Italy | Posted: 03/05/10 at 0201 EST

TRAVEL ALERT: State Department Warns Ahead of Spring Break:
Travel alert updated to Mexico ahead of Spring Break
For travel risk recommends registering
your foreign travel in case of emergency.
DETAILS...
http://ping.fm/bYwEQ

Existing-Home Sales Down in January 2010 but Higher Than Year Ago
RISMEDIA, March 4, 2010—Existing-home sales fell in January 2010 but are above year-ago levels, according to the National Association of Realtors. Existing-home sales- including single-family, townhomes, condominiums and co-ops- dropped 7.2% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.05 million units in January from a revised 5.44 million in December, but remain 11.5% above the 4.53

Tom Brokaw Reports: Boomers!
The Epic Story Of A Generation

Tom Brokaw defined the "Greatest Generation" and now he tells the story of their children, the largest, most influential generation ever. Through the eyes of boomers themselves' including former President Bill Clinton and actor Tom Hanks, he chronicles an age that took us from hula hoops to healthcare. This landmark documentary examines the challenges ahead for a generation 78 million strong that continues to shape our world.

» boomers.cnbc.com

Microsoft: Don't press F1 key in Windows XP
Ignore sites that nag to press the Help key, says zero-day bug advisory
By Gregg Keizer
March 1, 2010 08:59 PM ET
Security Alert
· Microsoft: Don't press F1 key in Windows XP
· New zero-day involves IE, puts Windows XP users at risk
Computerworld - Microsoft told Windows XP users today not to press the F1 key when prompted by a Web site, as part of its reaction to an unpatched vulnerability that hackers could exploit to hijack PCs running Internet Explorer (IE).
In a security advisory issued late Monday, Microsoft confirmed the unpatched bug in VBScript that Polish researcher Maurycy Prodeus had revealed Friday, offered more information on the flaw and provided some advice on how to protect PCs until a patch shipped.
"The vulnerability exists in the way that VBScript interacts with Windows Help files when using Internet Explorer," read the advisory. "If a malicious Web site displayed a specially crafted dialog box and a user pressed the F1 key, arbitrary code could be executed in the security context of the currently logged-on user."
Last week, Prodeus called the bug a "logic flaw," and said attackers could exploit it by feeding users malicious code disguised as a Windows help file -- such files have a ".hlp" extension -- then convincing them to press the F1 key when a pop-up appeared. He rated the vulnerability as "medium" because of the required user interaction.
Windows 2000, Windows XP and Windows Server 2003 are impacted by the bug, said Microsoft, and any supported versions of Internet Explorer (IE) on those operating systems -- including IE6 on Windows XP -- could be leveraged by attackers. Previously, Prodeus had said that users running IE7 and IE8 were at risk, but had not called out IE6.
Until a patch is ready, users can protect themselves by not pressing the F1 key if a Web site tells them to, said Microsoft.
"As an interim workaround, users are advised to avoid pressing F1 on dialogs presented from Web pages or other Internet content," said David Ross with the Microsoft Security Response Center (MSRC) engineering staff in a blog entry on Monday.
"The prompt can appear repeatedly when dismissed, nagging the user to press the F1 key," Ross added.
The security advisory made the same recommendation: "Our analysis shows that if users do not press the F1 key on their keyboard, the vulnerability cannot be exploited."
Users can also stymie attacks by disabling Windows Help. The advisory explained how to entering a one-line command at a Windows command-line prompt to lock down the Help system.
The company took Prodeus to task for taking the bug public, something it regularly does when researchers disclose a vulnerability or post sample attack code before a patch is available.
"Microsoft is concerned that this vulnerability was not responsibly disclosed, potentially putting customers at risk," said Jerry Bryant, a senior manager with the MSRC, in an e-mail. By Prodeus' account, he notified Microsoft of the flaw Feb. 1, about four weeks before publishing his findings.
Microsoft has not set a timeline for a fix, saying only that, "Microsoft will take the appropriate action to help protect our customers." The next scheduled security patch date for the company is March 9.
Although it does not rate the severity of vulnerabilities in its advisories, Microsoft noted that hackers exploiting the VBScript flaw using Windows Help and Internet Explorer could grab complete control of a Windows system.
Customers running Windows Vista, Windows Server 2008, Windows 7 or Windows Server 2008 R2 are safe from such attacks, Microsoft said.

Security/Cyber ALERT: U. S. Census Scam:
The Emergency Email & Wireless Network & U. S. Census warn of online, mail, and in person Census scams. Complete details...
http://ping.fm/OGZbb

I just wanted to give you some information that might help you with any clients that may have wild animal issues in their home or surrounding areas. I have attached a link below from the Humane Society of the United States that lists each animal, and ways you can harmlessly remove them from your home or yard, such as just putting a radio on or putting a rag with a certain smell under your deck. Most people call animal control and they will tell you they are releasing them humanely. BEWARE I know from years of experience (my mom was a licensed animal rehabilitator) they do not relocate these harmless animals. Spring season is coming which means more listings (hopefully) and more animals having their babies. Please read the link it could help you and client! Thank you for your time.
http://ping.fm/V1ygl

I hope everyone had a great day today. Welcome to March

Federal Tax Report:
Deficit Reduction Commission Chairs Appointed
President Obama has issued an Executive Order creating an 18-member commission to provide recommendations on deficit reduction. The commission's task would be to put the US on a course to reduce the deficit to no more than 3% of Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Currently, the deficit is about 10% of GDP. The commission is to have 18 members, evenly divided between Republicans and Democrats. Fourteen votes will be needed for any recommendation to be advanced. Recommendations are to be made to the President following the November midterm elections.

The Chairs for the commission are former Senator Alan Simpson (R-WY-Ret.) and Erskine Bowles. Bowles was most recently president of the North Carolina University system. During the second Clinton Administration he was the White House Chief of Staff. He directed the project that put the government on course for a balanced budget. That budget resulted in the surplus that was in place by 2000. Congress is responsible for nominating most of the commission members. As yet, no appointments have been made.

Environment Report:
CRS Releases Position Statement on Federal Lands
The Congressional Research Service (CRS) has released a report on the complex issue of federal lands ownership, acquisition and management. The report discusses conflicting public values concerning federal lands, and raises many questions and issues: how much land the federal government should own, how managers should balance conflicting uses and coordinate efforts to address large-scale impacts (such as climate change), whether Congress should protect specific areas, and when and how agencies should collect and distribute fees for land and resource uses.