Mortgage rates will probably make a downward turn this year — but not in July. Instead, rates are likely to creep upward this summer or stay about the same.
Forecasting mortgage rates is always an iffy proposition, and that’s especially the case for July because of uncertainty about the trajectory of the inflation rate and what the Federal Reserve will do about it.
The Fed has a goal of reducing the inflation rate to 2%. The central bank made progress in 2022, but inflation’s downward movement stalled in early 2023. The core personal consumption expenditures price index (the Fed’s favored inflation measurement) has been stuck at 4.6% to 4.7% in 2023.
Without decisive improvement on the inflation front, the Fed is likely to raise the short-term federal funds rate at the end of its July 25-26 meeting. Mortgage rates often rise in the run-up to Fed rate increases. That’s the most likely course for mortgage rates in July.
How the forecast could go off course
Someday, inflation will decrease, the Fed will ease off on its rate increases, and mortgage rates will drop. But the Fed’s monetary policymakers don’t seem to think that will happen this summer. In their June summary of economic projections, they signaled that they expect to raise the federal funds rate another half a percentage point this year. That probably would take the form of two more rate increases of a quarter of a percentage point each.
An unmistakable downturn in the inflation rate could cause the Fed to rethink its expectation of two rate hikes. It’s possible, but not probable, that this month the Fed will see signs of decreasing inflation. That seems more likely to happen in August or September and not in July.
What other forecasters say
Fannie Mae predicts that the Fed will continue raising rates “until it is abundantly clear that inflation pressures from the labor market have eased.” But in Fannie’s estimation, it’s scarcely clear that this evidence will show up soon enough to avoid a recession. Fannie expects mortgage rates to rise slightly from July through September, then drop in the final quarter of 2023 as the economy cools.
By contrast, Freddie Mac predicts that the economy will avoid recession as inflation cools and that mortgage rates will remain above 6% all year.
What happened in June
At the end of May, I predicted that mortgage rates could rise through the first half of June, then level off or fall in the second half. That’s not what happened. Instead, mortgage rates fell from one week to the next, with the 30-year mortgage averaging 7.02% in the week ending June 1 and 6.66% in the week ending June 29.
Two major factors gave mortgage rates room to fall: the deal to resolve the debt ceiling standoff early in the month and the Fed’s rate hike pause in the middle of the month. At a minimum, both developments relieved upward pressure on mortgage rates, and they might have even pushed rates lower.
Holden Lewis writes for NerdWallet. Email: [email protected]. Twitter: @HoldenL.
Last year I was closely involved with a hotel project on Crete which proved ultimately profitable even though the Greek economy tends to stifle profits. Located at a seaside fishing village turned favored tourist spot is where an entrepreneur named Dimitris Markakis spent sleepless nights to bring a stunning hospitality venture to life. SeaScape Luxury Residences are expanding this year because of a combination of impeccable design, efficient marketing and sales, and an age-old equation that involves geographical fate.
“In Tune” Development
Not so many years ago Agia Pelagia was a tiny fishing harbor where goats and sheep were as likely to be seen on the stunning beach as sunburned tourists are today. Once a majestic port for the Bronze Age Minoan civilization, today the town offers delectable Cretan cuisine straight in front of one of Crete’s most stunning swimming, snorkeling, and watersports spots. But when Dimitris Markakis described for me how the good fortune played a role in Crete development, I was reminded how timing is everything. As it turns out, property on the seaside in places like Agia Pelagia was once deemed worthless by the patriarchs of agrarian families.
When these properties were passed down, the favored sons and daughters were given farmlands, olive groves, and orchards – the youngest or those in disfavor, they got beachfront. Talk about a “twist” of fate. As luck so often has it, those less favored siblings mostly sold their property for pennies rather than drachmas. Smart entrepreneurs and those seeking lots by the seaside were the beneficiaries. Today, however, the problem for property developers and entrepreneurs is the economy, taxes, and plummeting prices, not to mention the dire need to build sustainably. With the touristic corporations bearing down on Crete, local entrepreneurs are under increased pressure to conform. SeaScape is a truly non-conformist idea when compared to the big seaside developments.
Bucking the trend to build, Markakis’ and his brothers’ not only had the challenge of creating a luxury self-catered vacation abode, they were also building a brand new development into an already crowded village geography. Agia Pelagia, like other Cretan seaside villages, is struggling to preserve its Cretan traditions and identity, so the SeaScape development came with myriad difficulties above and beyond potential profit and loss. Ultimately, the property designed by the gifted architect, Lefteris Tsikandilakis got built despite a couple of hundred logistical and bureaucratic hurdles.
Last year I interviewed Lefteris Tsikandilakis, the gifted architect who designed SeaScape Phase One to find out more about the overall vision of this amazing self-catering boutique resort. I got from the designer the developmental philisophy behind this new development:
“It is obvious that every residence is unique, but that wasn’t necessarily the principal design purpose. In this particular project, we had to deal with 2 challenging plots with sharp slopes, their integration in an already developed building, and the need for these plots to be configured in the best possible way. The sea view, the orientation and the scope for the internality of the plot, were principal elements that defined the spatial design.”
The Recipe
SeaScape Luxury Residences became a success in its first year of operation, despite all the hurdles, because of the cohesive efforts for design, efficiency, sensitivity to the local environment, marketing, sales, and creating the perfect guest experience. On the latter, Dimitris Markakis offered this:
”Seascape Luxury Residences” redefines the meaning of “Cretan hospitality” with the addition of 15 new residences with differentiated comfort and innovative design. Every guest here will experience luxury and truly relaxing vacations in the heart of the cosmopolitan village of “Agia Pelagia”. The additional residences feature a unique architectural design that combines simplicity with stylish luxury. The modern decoration aesthetics accentuate out themes of ultimate tranquility and relaxation that every guest needs and expects during summer vacations.”
SeaScape is a stunning property, in the perfect location, and the development actually adds to the aesthetic of Agia Pelagia, rather than detracting from it. This brings me to location, and how complex the job was for Markakis and his team. Choosing to put a hotel in the wide open spaces is one thing, but designing with a vision smack in the middle of a thriving small village is another. The developers of SeaScape had to take into consideration the streets, thoroughfares, zoning, touristic and service traffic, neighboring houses, stores, villas, and so forth. Knowing the value of being in Agia Pelagia may have been a given, but displaying everything in the town for a spell brought looks of concern from the community. I know Dimitris spent many sleepless nights worried over civic outrage over huge cement trucks and etc. I’m sure he wondered many times whether or not he’d selected the right location – ultimately he was proven right. The beautiful people lounging (as in the Instagram share below) at SeaScape last summer must have been a rewarding experience for the owner.
Building a brand new vacation residence is hard enough. No matter how compelling any development is on paper, the team that designs, builds, organizes, and promotes must work as harmoniously as possible with the same goals in mind. And once the luxury residences were up, the twin swimming pools filled, the chic pool bar stocked and pillows fluffed, then came the branding and the rush to bookings. I was on the site two weeks before the first guests were slated to arrive, and I can tell you SeaScape looked about half complete. Miraculously, the team opened on schedule and the world of the sales and marketing team came into play. I spoke briefly about SeaScape Phase One, and the new expansion with Giorgos Ergazakis, who’s the Director of Sales at Plarino – Hotel Management Services, the company that handles SeaScape sales strategy. Here’s what he had to say about SeaScape’s initial success:
“The SeaScape Luxury Residences case is interesting for several reasons. Given the end product and the clearly demonstrated vacationer value at the end, most sales execs would consider the property and easy sell. But SeaScape sits in the middle of the amazing competition. We are very prou ofd our marketing and pricing competitiveness helped make the property profitable in such a short time.”
Vision, location, a clear strategy, creating an effective team, and presenting the destination and the accommodation value to the public effectively, all this and more led to SeaScape’s initial successes. And now SeaScape Phase Two is slated to open in the Spring at Agia Pelagia.
Expanding On Success
SeaScape Phase One was built upon vacant lots alongside an existing apartment complex at Agia Pelagia. Markakis’ vision had always been to expand the new property to integrate with these existing apartments. Design wise, the trick is to shape the facades and the surrounding environment so that Phase One and Two are combined aesthetically and functionally. My texts from Lefteris Tsikandilakis’ offices speak of key materials usage to make this integration perfect, but the architect’s job is not only about congruent materials. Tsikandilakis will have to create the same sense of casual luxury in this second phase, that guest experienced and talked about from SeaScape Phase One. As the architect told me, SeaScape exists as a perfect balance of interiors and exteriors which create an overall sense.
The second part of the SeaScape story will be completed when more visitors to Agia Pelagia go home to express the special experience of place that many believe can only be achieved here on Crete. Marketing and sales for SeaScape Luxury Residences will be challenged to meet or exceed last year’s successes. The staff will certainly be expanded, guests will expect their luxury holiday, and if my guess is right, many more holiday seekers will become purist fans of one of the world’s most fabulous island getaways, in no small part due to the efforts of Dimitris Markakis, a smart Crete businessman bold enough to be different.
Phil Butler is a former engineer, contractor, and telecommunications professional who is editor of several influential online media outlets including part owner of Pamil Visions with wife Mihaela. Phil began his digital ramblings via several of the world’s most noted tech blogs, at the advent of blogging as a form of journalistic license. Phil is currently top interviewer, and journalist at Realty Biz News.
Freddie Mac’s Primary Mortgage Market Survey, which focuses on conventional and conforming loans with a 20% down payment, shows the 30-year fixed rate averaged 6.90% as of August 3, up from last week’s 6.81%. By contrast, the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage was at 4.99% a year ago at this time. The 15-year fixed-rate mortgage also rose this week to 6.25%, up 14 basis points from the prior week.
“The combination of upbeat economic data and the U.S. government credit rating downgrade caused mortgage rates to rise this week,” said Sam Khater, Freddie Mac’s chief economist. “Despite higher rates and lower purchase demand, home prices have increased due to very low unsold inventory.”
The sudden hike of the 10-year Treasury, along with upcoming employment and inflation data, will influence how much mortgage rates may rise in the short term, economists say. If employment and inflation pick up steam, mortgage rates are likely to continue climbing as markets prepare for further monetary tightening, said Realtor.com Economic Data Analyst Hannah Jones. On the bright side, the prospect of a recession is dimming for the next six to 12 months.
Other mortgage rate indices showed mixed results on Thursday morning:
HousingWire’s Mortgage Rates Center showed Optimal Blue’s 30-year fixed rate for conventional loans at 7.02% on Wednesday, compared to 6.85% the previous week. At Mortgage News Daily on Thursday morning, the 30-year fixed rate for conventional loans was at 7.20%, up 25 basis points from the previous week.
The economy remains on firm footing
Regarding the housing market, new economic data further solidify the view that the economy remains on firm footing, highlighted George Ratiu, chief economist at Keeping Current Matters.
“Construction spending advanced in June, a sign that companies and the government continue investing in real estate and infrastructure projects. Meanwhile, the number of open jobs retreated slightly, but remained above 9 million, while the number of workers leaving their positions for better ones remained elevated. Many companies still deal with a shortage of labor, as evidenced by the private payroll data which outpaced market expectations,” said Ratiu in a statement.
Look for payroll employment data tomorrow
“Tomorrow’s government report on payroll employment will add another data point to the bigger picture, with economists looking for changes in the unemployment rate and wage figures,” he added.
Meanwhile, active inventory fell compared to the previous year each week in July as many homeowners held off on listing their home for sale, noted Realtor.com Economist Jones.
“The drop in for-sale inventory was met with the typical seasonal pick-up in buyer demand, despite affordability constraints, which propped up home prices. In the second quarter of 2023, homeowner vacancy fell to a historical low of 0.7% as many homeowners stayed put and home shoppers snapped up available inventory, leaving fewer homes vacant,” she said.
This gap between supply and demand, exacerbated by a decade of under building, pushes prices up. Consequently, it also brings back market competition, especially in more affordable metro areas. Scarce inventory leads to a modest pace of sales for existing homes. On the new home front, growing options and more approachable prices have led to a pickup in sales transactions.
Lastly, Ratiu added that mortgage rates are expected to remain elevated for the next couple of months, keeping pressure on affordability.
“For buyers who are not in a hurry, the fall and winter months could bring better values and a less competitive environment to find the right home,” Ratiu concluded.
American Express is notoriously secretive about the details of the Centurion Black Card. For many years, the company didn’t acknowledge the existence of the Black Card. And there’s some evidence that the card became a part of pop culture lore before becoming an actual product.
But today, the Centurion Card very much exists as a product for a select group of high net worth individuals willing to shell out a generous sum of money to carry perhaps the most exclusive credit card out there.
Here are 10 things we know about the AmEx Centurion Card.
1. The Centurion Black Card is invitation-only
You don’t get the Centurion Card by applying for it.
If you want to join the exclusive club of cardholders who carry the Centurion Black Card, you must get an invitation from AmEx. And a Centurion Card invitation isn’t something AmEx hands out lightly. While AmEx services over 100 million cardholders, there are estimates that AmEx only has 100,000 Centurion cardholders worldwide.
2. It will cost you $10,000 to get one
The Centurion Card carries a hefty initiation fee. Reports vary, but the most recent information is that AmEx charges $10,000 to become a Centurion member.
You might think paying a five-figure fee would be enough to grant you a lifetime of benefits, but not with the Centurion Card.
If you want to keep the card, you’ll have to shell out $5,000 per year. And that annual fee is not waived in the first year.
3. You can request a Centurion Card invite online
While the Centurion Black Card is invite-only, it is possible to request an invitation online. You must have an AmEx card to make the request. AmEx also clearly states that an invitation request does not mean you will receive an invitation.
4. You need to be a big spender to get a Centurion Black Card
It is widely accepted that you need to be a big spender for AmEx to give you a Centurion Card.
Reports on the internet range from requiring $250,000 to over a million dollars of annual spending. AmEx has not confirmed any specific spending requirements, and there’s no known threshold at which Platinum cardmembers receive an invitation.
While the exact amount you need to spend on your cards is a matter of speculation, you probably need to spend at least six figures annually on an AmEx card to get a Centurion Card.
5. Centurion Cardmembers still get to bring guests into the Centurion lounge
Centurion cardmembers didn’t suffer this cut and still retain expanded access. Centurion cardmembers may bring in two guests or immediate family members. Eligible immediate family members include a spouse, a domestic partner and children under 18.
6. The Centurion Black Card offers an unbelievable level of concierge service
For the multimillionaires and billionaires who carry the AmEx Centurion Card, probably the most helpful benefit is the Centurion concierge.
The concierge service offered on The Platinum Card® from American Express is limited to helping with travel reservations, getting event tickets, making restaurant reservations and fulfilling shopping requests. The concierge service offered by the Centurion Card offers seemingly unlimited service.
Centurion cardholders report using the Centurion concierge for things you might expect. One cardholder says that his concierge makes travel bookings considering his seat preferences based on the airline cabin configuration. His concierge also contacts hotels to inform them of the cardmember’s arrival time.
But Centurion concierges have also handled requests such as arranging elaborate tours, getting front-row tickets for in-demand concerts, locating personal items lost during travel and even arranging emergency evacuations.
For someone who might not have a full-time personal assistant, the Centurion concierge can offer an alternative.
Like many other things about the Centurion Black Card, the card’s perks are shrouded in secrecy. AmEx doesn’t provide much information about the card on its website and most reports about the card’s perks are based on third-hand accounts and speculation.
However, we have confirmed a partial list of benefits offered to Centurion cardmembers. Here are some of these exclusive benefits:
An auto program that allows cardmembers to anonymously negotiate prices on luxury automobile purchases through a members-only website.
Global chef partnerships, which grant access to daily table reservations at fine dining restaurants around the world.
Exclusive seating in ticket blocks reserved for Centurion cardholders at many major events worldwide.
Various onboard credits, excursion credits and vouchers are available exclusively to Centurion cardmembers through Centurion Cruise Partners.
Private jet arrangements can be made for Centurion cardholders through the AmEx Private Jet program.
8. Yes, you can buy a mansion or a private jet on a Centurion Card
Like many aspects of the Centurion Black Card, the card’s purchasing power has been the subject of much speculation. The card offers no preset limit, but how far does that go? While there are no credible reports of someone buying a Gulfstream or even a Cessna Citation (private jet) with a Centurion Card, the card has been used for some substantial purchases.
In 2015, The New York Times reported that Chinese billionaire Liu Yiqian purchased a Modigliani painting at Christie’s auction house in New York. The price? $170.4 million. If you can put a $170 million painting on an AmEx card, why not a jet or a mansion?
9. You can get many of the Centurion Card’s perks from The Platinum Card® from American Express
Many of the perks offered by the AmEx Centurion Card can be had with The Platinum Card® from American Express, a card that carries a much more affordable $695 annual fee compared to its counterpart. Here are some of the perks that the Centurion Card shares with The Platinum Card® from American Express:
The Global Lounge Collection grants access to 1,400 airport lounges across 140 countries.
The AmEx International Airline Program offers preferred airfares with participating airlines.
Presale ticket access.
And just like The Platinum Card® from American Express, the Centurion Card earns Membership Rewards, which can be transferred to any of AmEx’s transfer partners.
Terms apply.
10. You can get better rewards on many other cards
The AmEx Centurion Card isn’t the card to get if you want to earn the maximum rewards on your spending. And even if it were, you’d have to chase a lot of category spending to compensate for the card’s annual fee.
If you’re looking for generous rewards on your spending, consider a card that earns 2% cash back on all purchases. Many of these cards have no annual fee.
How to maximize your rewards
You want a travel credit card that prioritizes what’s important to you. Here are our picks for the best travel credit cards of 2023, including those best for:
One of the most recognizable homes ever owned by billionaire movie mogul and aviation pioneer Howard Hughes is back on the market.
The Hancock Park estate — set on South Muirfield Road, on the 8th green of Wilshire Country Club — served as the eccentric billionaire’s home at the height of his fame.
It was while living in his Hancock Park home that he produced his most well-known films (Hell’s Angels, Scarface), set a transcontinental airspeed record, and famously romanced Katharine Hepburn.
Now, the property that once served as Howard Hughes’ house is looking for new owners, and recently landed on the market with a $23 million price tag. F. Ron Smith and David Berg of Smith & Berg Partners at Compass hold the listing.
A legendary estate with a storied history
Originally designed in 1926 by famed architect Roland E. Coate, the property initially belonged to socialite Eva K. Fudger.
When a young Howard Hughes moved to Los Angeles to pursue a career as a filmmaker, he first occupied a bungalow at the Ambassador Hotel with his wife, Ella. And while many thought his ambitions would be short-lived, by the time Hughes’ third movie — 1927’s Two Arabian Knights — was released to great critical acclaim, it became apparent that he was here to stay.
So Howard and Ella set out to find a more permanent residence, settling down in Fudger’s Muirfield Rd residence, first as renters, then outright buying the place from the socialite. And while their marriage was shortlived (Ella would soon move back to Texas, tired of Howard’s obsessions), Hughes spent a decade and a half in his hacienda-style home in Hancock Park.
Some of the visionary billionaire’s biggest achievements happened while he was still living in his Muirfield Road house. After winning Hollywood over with films like Hell’s Angels (1930), The Front Page (1931), and Scarface (1932), Hughes started devoting his full attention to flying, ultimately shattering the world record for circumnavigating the globe.
It was also while living here that he had his wirldwind romance with actress Katharine Hepburn. The two were even engaged to be married before their 18-month relationship came to an end.
Breathing new life into the century old residence
In 2011, current owners Ash Shah and his wife, Niroupa Shah, acquired the home for $6.3 million and completely transformed the 1926-built residence.
Ash, a former movie producer-turned-restaurateur (that helped co-found the Danny Trejo brands: Trejo’s Tacos, Trejo’s Coffee & Donuts, Trejo’s Spirits, and Trejo’s Cerveza) and Niroupa gave the New York Times a tour of their famous abode a few years back, talking about the extensive changes they’d made to the estate.
Starting with what they called the outdated, chopped-up floor plan which they had to reconfigure — it still had old-fashioned servants’ quarters that were removed from the main living spaces — to adding a family room off the kitchen, an outdoor kitchen equipped with a pizza oven, and a sleek new swimming pool in the backyard, the Shahs reimagined the Roland E. Coate-designed home for modern living.
They also turned a pool room into a ’70s-style plywood rec room and redid Mr. Hughes’s former wood-paneled study in striking black lacquer. “We’re fun people,” Ms. Shah told the New York Times. “That sort of old Spanish dark woods didn’t go with us.”
Now, the couple is ready to part ways with their lovely family home and are looking for a buyer who can appreciate both its many attributes and its captivating history.
Howard Hughes’ house is now on the market for $23 million
Recently listed with F. Ron Smith and David Berg of Smith & Berg Partners at Compass, the former residence of visionary billionaire, movie mogul, and aviation pioneer Howard Hughes is now on the market for $23 million.
Beyond its storied history, the 10,179-square-foot Hancock Park abode sits on a very private lot with stunning golf course views, and offers 8 bedrooms, 7 full baths, and 5 half baths.
Per the listing, every element of this home has been meticulously designed, showcasing thoughtful lighting, timeless finishes, and exquisite wall coverings.
The chef’s kitchen boasts polished brass countertops and a 24-foot kitchen island, opening to a welcoming family room adorned with floor-to-ceiling bookshelves.
A beautiful cobblestone courtyard with an outdoor fireplace serves as the home’s striking centerpiece, providing a serene oasis for both relaxation and entertainment.
The expansive backyard is a true delight for hosting gatherings, featuring multiple lounge areas, a custom-built stone pizza oven and an inviting swimming pool.
Other noteworthy features include an intimate screening room, a 2,500-bottle temperature-controlled wine vault (which was actually Howard Hughes’ old vault), and an attached guest residence with a full kitchen and bath.
The property’s landscape design with lush greenery and far-reaching views of the Hollywood Hills and iconic Hollywood sign add to its elegance and allure.
And while any future owner would be lucky to call this place home, forgive us for hoping Leonardo DiCaprio (who famously played Hughes in Martin Scorsese’s The Aviator) decides to add it to his vast real estate portfolio. It would be a match made in Hollywood heaven!
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One of the biggest mistakes you can make when it comes to protecting yourself from financial scams is thinking you’re too smart to be duped by one.
“We’re all vulnerable — we can all fall for a scam given the right set of circumstances,” says Eva Velasquez, president and CEO of the Identity Theft Resource Center, a nonprofit organization that provides advice and assistance related to identity theft. Keeping yourself safe starts with accepting that fact, she adds.
“You look at the profiles of victims who filed complaints and it runs the gamut from highly educated, high-income people all the way down to the most vulnerable people in our population,” says John Breyault, vice president of public policy, telecommunications and fraud at the National Consumers League, a nonprofit advocacy group that speaks out about consumer concerns.
While there isn’t a “foolproof solution to stay safe from all scams,” as Breyault puts it, there are strategies you can employ to reduce your risk. Here are four of the most important ones:
Hang up and ‘go to the source’
If you’re contacted by anyone claiming to be your bank or other familiar company, end the conversation and call the institution’s verified number yourself, Velasquez says. “We always say, ‘If you did not initiate the interaction, then you need to go to the source,’” she adds.
Otherwise, you don’t actually know who’s on the other end of the line, she says, especially because scammers can spoof the number that shows up on your caller ID so it might look legitimate.
In some cases, you might want to pay your bank a visit in person to get clarification. When Thorn Roberts, owner of a small business in Elizabeth, West Virginia, received a payment request he didn’t recognize, he went to his bank to ask about it.
“They knew it was a scam,” he says. As a result, he immediately canceled his accounts and created new ones. Thanks to his quick action and the bank’s help, his money was safe.
Secure and monitor your accounts
Basic online security practices can also help protect you, Velasquez says. She recommends enabling multifactor authentication on your financial accounts, creating unique passwords and not sharing personal details such as your birthdate online.
Jason Zirkle, training director at the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners and former fraud analyst with law enforcement, suggests checking your financial accounts at least once a week and investigating any unidentified charges immediately. Even one small erroneous charge could suggest someone has access to your account, signaling the beginning of a larger problem.
Get familiar with common scams
The Federal Trade Commission reports that the top scams of 2022 include people impersonating institutions like banks, phony sweepstakes and fake job postings. “You don’t have to become an expert in each one, but you need to understand the hallmarks of most scams: They contact you first, dangle some sort of bait in front of you and create a sense of urgency,” Zirkle says. Then, they ask for either money or personal information, which they use to access your money.
That’s what happened to former government executive and security expert Ken Westbrook’s mother earlier this year. A fake tech support window popped up on her computer, which likely came from a malicious ad. It connected her to criminals who persuaded her to call them and send gift cards and cashier’s checks under the guise of protecting her bank accounts from being hacked.
“My mom knew gift cards were a red flag, but she did it anyway because they scared her,” says Westbrook, who lives in the Washington, D.C., area. Eventually, Westbrook discovered what was happening and put a stop to it, but only after his mom lost thousands of dollars.
These scammers “sound like the nicest tech support people that you’ve ever dealt with,” says Chris Pierson, founder and CEO of BlackCloak, a cybersecurity firm. “They install remote management tools to see what’s on your screen and then can suck out your files and extort you.”
Report scams and be your own advocate
Reporting fraud to government agencies and private organizations allows for better fraud tracking. While there’s no centralized source for fraud tracking, you can report it to the Federal Trade Commission, your state’s attorney general’s office, the FBI, your local police station, your bank’s fraud department, the Better Business Bureau’s Scam Tracker and the Identity Theft Resource Center, among others.
Most people who lose money to scams never see it again. “The first thing you need to do is accept your money is probably gone and you won’t get it back,” Zirkle says. He suggests “being your own advocate” with your bank and police. In some cases, your financial institution or law enforcement might be able to help you recover some or all of it.
Still, some losses are harder to quantify. “In addition to a financial crime, it’s an emotional crime,” Westbrook says. “People are affected by this for the rest of their lives. What I tell everyone, and tell my mom, is, ‘It’s not your fault. The thieves work for organized crime gangs who are very good at what they do.’”
This article was written by NerdWallet and was originally published by The Associated Press.
When it comes to moving into a new apartment, few things are more important than feeling safe. With first-floor apartments being more accessible to the outside world, it’s easy to wonder, are first-floor apartments safe? The answer is yes, but there are a few things that responsible first-floor apartment dwellers do to improve their safety and feel more at home in their street-level pad.
Do first-floor apartments get broken into more often?
The short answer is yes. This is one of the reasons that it often costs less to live in a first-floor apartment compared to an identical unit on a higher floor.
The fact that first-floor apartments are more easily accessible shouldn’t deter you from signing the lease, however. That’s because it is possible to curb the risk of attracting unwanted guests.
Read on for some of the most practical and effective methods you can use today to secure your first-floor apartment and prevent anyone from entering your home against your wishes.
What makes first-floor apartments less secure?
With street-level convenience comes street-level exposure.
Easier access
The most obvious reason that a first-floor apartment is less secure than those on higher floors is that it’s easier to gain access.
It’s easier to gain visual access through ground-level windows. This makes it possible for criminals to make a more educated guess about whether they’re home or not or likely to return soon.
It’s also easier for criminals to gain physical access to your apartment. This is because first-floor apartments are the only units that are accessible from the street and don’t require an elevator trip or lengthy walk up the stairs and down a hallway.
Easy in, easy out
Along with easier access comes easier escape. If a burglar doesn’t have to struggle to get into your apartment, they also won’t have to work very hard to make it out unseen and without causing any sort of disturbance.
Criminals will try to avoid video evidence
Depending on your setup, your apartment unit is one of the few places within your building that isn’t under some degree of video surveillance. This fact will make your apartment more appealing to potential criminals. The good news is that many apartment complexes nowadays do have adequate video surveillance in the areas around first-floor apartment entrances.
No downstairs neighbors
In apartment buildings, noise travels much more effectively downward than it does up. An upstairs neighbor hears a lot less from downstairs neighbors than vice versa. If your downstairs neighbors know you’re out of town until Thursday night and they hear a bunch of footsteps above them on Wednesday afternoon, they may feel compelled to investigate. If there’s no one below you to hear those footsteps, your apartment is automatically a more attractive target.
Simple things you can do to make your first-floor apartment safer
There are a number of simple ways to secure your first-floor apartment.
Check out the entrance
Scope out the entrance before you sign the lease. Whether it’s in person or through Google Street View, you should check out the entrance to your specific unit before signing anything. Try to check out the entrance at night. If you don’t feel safe, you probably shouldn’t make the move.
In the circumstance that you’re only able to check out the entrance in the daylight or online, make sure to check the immediate area for camera coverage, dark alleys, etc.
While the immediate area outside your door doesn’t define the safety status of your apartment, it’s a good indication of what you should expect to encounter when you head out each day and what is outside when you go to bed at night.
Lock it up
By no means is this an “insider tip.” It’s more common sense, but still worth mentioning. The basic rule to follow here is that if you’re not actively using the door, you should lock it. It doesn’t matter if you’re sitting two feet away from it on the couch on a Sunday morning. If you’re not using your door, keep it locked.
Another thing to think about when it comes to first-floor apartment living is your keys. If you lose your keys, alert your landlord immediately and let them know that you’ll need the locks changed that day. Beyond that, make sure your keys don’t have anything on them that could identify your apartment building, especially your specific unit.
The last thing you need to remember is sliding glass doors. If you’re living in a first-floor apartment and you have sliding glass doors, lock them. Many burglars look for these doors specifically because many people forget to lock them up in comparison to standard doors.
Cover it up
Regardless of whether you’re home or not, you don’t want random people knowing your daily routine or your comings and goings.
The best way to prevent someone from casing your apartment and taking advantage of your routines is by not allowing them to look inside your place. That’s not to say that you need to have your blinds closed at all times. You just need to shut the blinds at night, while you’re gone and any other time you’re not craving natural light or aren’t interested in having a glimpse into the outside world.
Put it on video
There are many companies that make cheap and easy-to-install doorbell cameras or above-door cameras. If your apartment allows it, install a camera in a position that gives you full coverage of your front door. Many of these stream to your phone and will allow you to check on any oddities outside without having to unlock your door.
A more cost-effective option, if your apartment doesn’t let you install your own security camera, is to get a professional-looking sticker or sign notifying passersby that your door is under video surveillance (whether true or not).
Even if there’s no evidence of a camera, a sign is possibly enough to convince a potential criminal to go elsewhere. The potential of a camera, in many cases, are as effective as actually having a camera.
Get to know your neighbors
If you have a good relationship with your neighbors, they’re more likely to report anything strange or suspicious and they’re more likely to help you out if you need it. This is not only good advice for safety, but it’s also a surefire way to get the most out of your time in your apartment. So, be neighborly!
Get a dog
Whether it’s a rottweiler, a chihuahua or anything in between, as long as your dog makes noise when someone unexpectedly comes through the door, it’s good to have. A loud dog is as effective as a dangerous dog for home protection, especially in densely populated apartment buildings.
If you’re looking for an excuse to get a dog, you’re welcome.
Make the move
If the only thing keeping you from renting an apartment is its first-floor location, reconsider. While they’re slightly easier to gain access to, they’re also perfectly safe places to live, provided you follow the advice above.
A native of the northern suburbs of Chicago, Carson made his way to the South to attend Wofford College where he received his BA in English. After working as a copywriter for a couple of boutique marketing agencies in South Carolina, he made the move to Atlanta and quickly joined the Rent. team as a content marketing coordinator. When he’s off the clock, you can find Carson reading in a park, hunting down a great cup of coffee or hanging out with his dogs.
2008 & 2018 lenders: ghosts in the machine; warehouse, pre-approval, DPA, manufactured housing, marketing products
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2008 & 2018 lenders: ghosts in the machine; warehouse, pre-approval, DPA, manufactured housing, marketing products
By: Rob Chrisman
Wed, Aug 2 2023, 8:26 AM
“If you have no interest in banking, you are not a loan.” (Best said out loud to a 6th grader.) Cutting edge humor aside, this morning I head to Orlando for the FAMP event, in a state where there are a total of 186 banks operating with 4162 branches. Some of the conversation will be about Freddie Mac earning $2.9 billion in the 2nd quarter (how’d your company do?). Banks… Last Friday we saw something we haven’t seen for a while: a bank closure. “Heartland Tri-State Bank of Elkhart, Kansas, was closed by the Kansas Office of the State Bank Commissioner, which appointed the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) as receiver… the FDIC entered into a purchase and assumption agreement with Dream First Bank, National Association, of Syracuse, Kansas…” While we’re on Agency and government news, the Federal Reserve’s quarterly Senior Loan Officer Opinion Survey found that banks have tightened credit standards for both business and consumer clients, and they expect to tighten further through the rest of the year. “…a less favorable or more uncertain economic outlook, an expected deterioration in collateral values, and an expected deterioration in credit quality of [commercial real estate] and other loans.” (Today’s podcast can be found here and is sponsored by Candor. Candor’s patented automated underwriting decision engine, CogniTech, is a state-of-the-art, 100 percent machine platform that can handle infinite loan scenarios. Listen to an interview with Polunsky Beitel Green attorney Andy Duane on recent capital rules plans changes by U.S. bank regulators.)
Lender and broker software, products, and services
In 2022, Americans spent an average of $6,000 on engagement rings to demonstrate lifelong commitment to their partners. Just as the act of proposing with a ring symbolizes a promise, SimpleNexus, an nCino company, also seeks to engage prospective homebuyers with the promise of an intuitive, modern home financing experience. A single-sign mobile app gives borrowers the convenience of managing their mortgage loan from anywhere, with a rich feature set that allows them to submit an application, scan and upload documents, eSign disclosures, and attend virtual eClosings. What’s more, built-in messaging and notification features foster meaningful connections between lenders, borrowers, and their real estate agents. See how SimpleNexus can put your organization and your borrowers on the path to a future filled with security and prosperity. Schedule a demo today.
Click links, ask questions later. The most common attack vector for a cyberattack is the human element. It’s what phishing emails, phone calls and text messages all have in common. Yet while it’s the weakest link, the human element could be your organization’s greatest prevention layer if trained correctly. In an industry that incentivizes people based on sales goals, every mortgage lead has bottom line potential. And in the current market, it’s only human to go after leads without stopping to consider their legitimacy. But recent data shows just how risky clicking without thinking can be. According to ISACA, in 2022 social engineering (tricking humans) was the #1 attack vector, and even the best teams are vulnerable. Learn how to do a better job at testing and training your team to identify legitimate leads. Talk to Richey May’s cybersecurity experts for help assessing and defining your cybersecurity training needs.
“Attention Mortgage Technology Companies! Discover the secrets to thriving in this competitive market with our free white paper, tailored specifically for you. Written by Seroka Brand Development, the mortgage industry’s leading marketing and public relations company, this exclusive guide reveals top marketing and PR strategies for 2023. As the industry faces its current set of challenges, effective yet cost-conscious marketing is more crucial than ever for companies like yours, competing for every opportunity. Learn six impactful ways to reach your target market and secure success through the rest of 2023 and beyond. Don’t miss out on this invaluable resource: download your FREE white paper now.”
“AFR Wholesale® (AFR) is teaming up with financing experts from Fannie Mae for the next session of our Why Wait Live Webinar Series! Please join us Wednesday, August 9th at 2 PM EST, where we will be highlighting what you need to know about manufactured home financing. AFR has been a leading expert in manufactured homes for over 25 years. With this added knowledge and proven experience, we’ll be an extension of your team to help the prospects in your portfolio to become borrowers. Over this series, AFR has been discussing affordable financing solutions that together will help us provide homeownership opportunities to more families. Register Today! This is a live webinar, and a recording will not be provided. Sign up today and don’t miss it! If you are currently a partner of AFR, start utilizing these programs right away! Contact AFR by going to afrwholesale.com, email [email protected] or call 1-800-375-6071.”
“Why are some lenders and LOs thriving in this market? Because they know there are still 1st-time buyers and people seeking DPA! Stairs Financial aggregates DPA information and matches homebuyers, often CRA-eligible, to lenders/programs on our platform to help lenders create customers for life. Through Stairs, borrowers are educated about loan programs and terms to better understand their loan options before connecting with our lender network. Stairs is launching in Texas and quickly expanding nationwide with licenses in 40 states. We’re partnering with national, regional, and local lenders in every market to ensure every aspiring homeowner gets the help they need. By seamlessly connecting to your PPE, Stairs can show borrowers your rates, loan terms, and DPA program options. Further, we can deliver mortgage leads to your CRM or lead management system. If your firm wants to help more 1st-time buyers achieve their dream of homeownership, contact Mike Romano.”
“This seems too good to be true” is what we hear pretty often when it comes to QuickQual. Lucky for you, it is true. Loan officers issue QuickQuals right from within the LOS and give borrowers and Realtors the ability to run payments and update pre-approval letters within guardrails you set. Check out QuickQual by LenderLogix and they’ll text a demo right to your phone!
Warehouse/liquidity programs
If you’re heading to California for Western Secondary, carve out time to meet with the team from Flagstar Bank. At a time when banks are downsizing or leaving the warehouse business altogether, Flagstar remains firmly committed to the mortgage space. They’re the second largest warehouse lender with $119 billion in assets, offering the strength, stability, and best-in-class service you’ve been looking for. Flagstar warehouses most loan types, including conventional, non-QM, and construction, and offers MSR, servicer advance, and EBO financing solutions. Their warehouse platform is flexible enough for 400+ warehouse clients of all sizes to fund quickly and easily. While you’re at the conference, talk to Flagstar about their experienced Specialized Mortgage Banking Solutions team to find out if they can help streamline operations and provide greater value for cash balances. With 35 years of experience, Flagstar is a trusted lending partner ready to unlock a world of opportunities for your business. Contact Jeff Neufeld or Patti Robins today to discuss what Flagstar can do for you.
“If you’re attending the California MBA Western Secondary Market Conference in Dana Point, make sure to include Axos Bank’s Warehouse Lending Team in your agenda. Our team will be available to discuss strategies and showcase how our diverse array of Agency, Jumbo, and Non-QM products can provide you with the flexibility and liquidity needed to become a top producer in today’s market. With our expanded portfolio programs and extended cutoff times (6:15 p.m. ET), achieving success has never been easier. To secure a meeting time, simply reach out to Eric Nelepovitz and Justin Castillo via email, or if you have any questions, feel free to contact the Warehouse Lending team at 888-764-7080. Don’t miss out on this opportunity to elevate your business to the next level.”
The only thing constant is change
Independent mortgage banks and credit unions aren’t the only entities who originate residential loans. Banks have been in the news!
Grizzled industry vet Ken Sonner, showing his age, noted, “The ‘Banc of California buying PacWest’ deal is very interesting. A $10BB bank tries to swallow a $40BB bank? Kinda like GreenPoint buying Headlands.” Don’t forget that Norwest bought Wells Fargo but kept Wells’ name.
And then there’s this story: “Donald Trump’s business empire faced a potential crisis after he left the White House and his longtime accounting firm warned not to rely on his past financial statements. But Axos Bank, an online-only financial firm headquartered in San Diego, soon agreed to loan him $225 million, stabilizing his finances.”
In general, do you think anything is permanent in residential lending? How many of 2008’s top 20 are still in the game? Wells Fargo, Chase, Bank of America, Countrywide Financial, Citi, Residential Capital LLC, Wachovia, SunTrust Mortgage, US Bank Home Mortgage, PHH Mortgage, Washington Mutual, Taylor, Bean, & Whitaker, Flagstar Bank, AmTrust Bank, National City Mortgage, ING Bank, BB&T Mortgage, First Horizon Home Loans, Franklin American Mortgage Company, and IndyMac.
How about in 2018?
Wells Fargo, Chase, Quicken Loans, PennyMac Financial, United Wholesale Mortgage, Bank of America Home Loans, U.S. Bank Home Mortgage, Caliber Home Loans, Amerihome Mortgage, loanDepot.com, Flagstar Bank, Freedom Mortgage, Fairway Independent Mortgage Corp., Guaranteed Rate Inc., SunTrust Mortgage, Nationstar Mortgage, Citizens Bank, Guild Mortgage, Stearns Lending LLC, and Navy Federal Credit Union.
Recognize some ghosts?
Capital markets: rates, as always, up some, down some
Yesterday was yet another volatile day in rates and MBS as rates staged another breakout to higher yields after shrugging off month-end buying and some weak data. While volatility remains elevated it also remains range-bound, and sentiment is that the Fed is finally finished with its historically aggressive pace of tightening.
On the data front, we received a weaker than expected ISM Manufacturing survey (Institute for Supply Management) for July as the manufacturing economy continues to contract. New Orders improved, and pricing pressures continue to fall. Supply delivery times decreased. Overall, the news on pricing should be good for the Fed, as it looks like its tightening policy is having the desired effect. There was also a smaller than expected increase in June Construction Spending (actual 0.5 percent) after increasing an upwardly revised 1.0 percent in May. Residential spending continues to be powered by new single-family construction to meet demand that cannot be satisfied through the existing home market.
Ahead of Friday’s payrolls report, job openings were 9.6 million at the end of June, according to the JOLTS report. Hires decreased to 5.9 million, with losses experienced in finance and manufacturing. The “quits” rate, which tends to forecast wage inflation, decreased to 2.4 percent from 2.6 percent in June and 2.7 percent a year ago. The jobs market remains exceptionally tight but continues to show incremental signs of weakening. Job openings have fallen 20 percent since the Fed began tightening policy in March 2022, even with the unemployment rate trending sideways. Price growth still elevated and a pullback in demand for workers ongoing, a “soft landing” remains far from assured, but this is an encouraging step toward inflation subsiding without a recession.
Today’s economic calendar kicked off with mortgage applications decreasing 3.0 percent from one week earlier, according to data from MBA. We’ve also received ADP employment (324k, nearly twice as strong as expected! We’ll learn the U.S. Treasury details of the Quarterly Refunding (3-year notes, 10-year notes, and 30-year bonds) where we can expect amounts to increase from previous auctions in the face of a Fitch downgrade of U.S. debt. We begin the day with Agency MBS prices unchanged from Tuesday and the 10-year yielding 4.04 after closing yesterday at 4.05 percent; the 2-year is at 4.90, showing no impact of Fitch’s opinion of U.S. debt. Much ado about nothing?
Jobs and transitions
“FLCBank is looking for seasoned Wholesale Account Executives in the northeast, southeast, central, and northwest regions. If you are looking to make a move and join a company with a tenured culture of collaboration, team-based success, and the security of working for a federally chartered national bank, then it’s time to call Bob Eisendrath, Strategic National Account Manager (414.350.3986). FLCBank is an agency-approved lender, offering a suite of Jumbo products with IO, fixed, and ARM options, as well as bank portfolio products like bridge loans. Our AEs work with Brokers, Non-Delegated Correspondents and have the opportunity to offer warehouse lines to your customers. FLCB cultivates a fun team environment where both sales and the operations staff are passionate about delivering exceptional customer experience with every loan. We offer competitive compensation, an energized culture, and seasoned operations and support staff. FLCBank is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer.”
Do you have what it takes to be a mortgage superstar? Do you want to work with a lender that is leading the way in using AI to revolutionize the mortgage industry? If so, you need to check out Stockton Mortgage, a proud adopter of Lender Toolkit and its revolutionary solution, AI Underwriter™, which automates and applies underwriting conditions in 90 seconds or less. With just one click, you can review credit reports, income, assets, appraisals, loan data, fraud reports and more. Stockton Mortgage is using AI Underwriter to boost its productivity, quality, compliance, and find issues earlier in the process, delivering faster communication to Stockton’s customers. Stockton is looking for talented and ambitious professionals to join its team and grow with others on the team. If you’re ready to take your career to the next level and be part of the tech future of mortgage lending, visit Stockton’s website or contact the team today.
“Security National Mortgage Company (SNMC) has announced that Austin Jacks has joined the Company to serve as its Chief Marketing Officer. Mr. Jacks has over a decade of mortgage industry marketing experience focused on creating marketing products and building teams to enable loan originators to thrive. Mr. Jacks most recently served as the field marketing manager for Nations Lending. Joel Harward, SNMC’s SVP, stated, “Austin’s approach to modern marketing and his extensive experience will help us elevate awareness of the Company’s brand and expand its market share. His passion for marketing, strategic focus, and creativity will make him a great addition to the SNMC team. We are confident that Austin will play a key role in SNMC’s continued growth and success.” If you are interested to find out why Austin Jacks joined SNMC and why “It is Better Here”, please check us out here.”
How many ads for mortgages have you seen like this ad for mobile homes?
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We all know that comedic actors like Adam Sandler, Steve Carell, and Jim Carrey have killed serious roles drawing attention from critics and audiences alike. But what about the comedic actors who flop badly? Here are ten funny actors that would be better off sticking to comedy.
1. Vince Vaughn
“I didn’t love his True Detective performance, though, but can’t lay that season’s faults all on him,” said one. “I don’t know if it was Vaughn, his character, or the show in general, but I couldn’t take him seriously,” another agreed.
2. John Belushi
One suggested, “John Belushi and Continental Divide were terrible.” A second said, “The only movie my parents and I walked out on. I was only 9, but I vividly remember my dad’s disappointment at a boring Belushi movie.” Finally, one stated, “I saw that movie in the theatre when I was ten. My friend and I were bored to death.”
3. Eddie Murphy
“Wes Craven wanted to make a horror film and wanted Eddie Murphy to be a more complex character in Vampire in Brooklyn. However, Eddie Murphy felt he still had to make his comedy front and center. Definitely worth the watch. It’s enjoyably terrible, but Kadeem Hardison is legit amazing,” another confessed.
4. Chevy Chase
“I’ll never forget when Memoirs of an Invisible Man came out. I just kept waiting for a punchline that never came,” admitted one. “The screenwriter William Goldman writes about this movie in his book Which Lie Did I Tell.”
“He knew it would be a disaster because the studio wanted to make a big-budget comedy like Ghostbusters, and Chevy Chase wanted to make an intimate drama about loneliness,” another informed.
5. Tiffany Haddish
“Tiffany Haddish! She is so wooden as a dramatic actor. See The Card Counter, On the Count of Three, and Here Today (actually, don’t see that last one),” one replied. “Her performance in Card Counter is so bizarre; it’s like she’s in a completely different movie,” another added.
6. Chris Rock
“I wasn’t a big fan of him in Fargo, to be honest. I kept thinking that’s Chris Rock, and it took me out of the show. But, on the other hand, I think his voice is unique, so it’s hard to see him as not Chris Rock,” another confessed.
7. Bill Murray
“While I loved The Razor’s Edge, Bill Murray was not ready for drama yet,” suggested one. Another stated, “He wasn’t, but he got great eventually. Lost in Translation is a top-tier film. His performance carries The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou as well.” “My wife read the book and wanted to see the movie. So we watched it and were massively disappointed,” a third person confessed.
8. Chris Pratt
“I love the bit in the latest Jurassic World movie where he’s supposed to be frantic and angry that someone kidnapped his adopted daughter, and he conveys this with all the mildly aggravated energy of someone who has to be somewhere and can’t find their keys,” shared one.
9. Nick Kroll
“I thought Nick Kroll was terrible in both Loving and Don’t Worry Darling,” one replied. Another added, “I like a lot of Kroll’s stuff, but the second he has to go out of bounds of his five characters, the quality of his performance drops like a rock.”
10. Seth McFarlane
“I like The Orville, but every time Seth MacFarlane tries to give a stirring Captain Picard-Esque speech, I want to throw up. It’s very much not in his wheelhouse,” a final person commented.
Source: Reddit.
Who is one actress you can never stand watching, no matter their role? After polling the internet, these were the top-voted actresses that people couldn’t stand watching.
10 Actresses People Despise Watching Regardless of Their Role
These 7 Celebrities are Genuinely Good People
We’ve all heard the famous adage that “no publicity is bad publicity,” and while it tends to be accurate, there are certainly exceptions. But what about those few stars who stay out of the limelight and get along without a hint of trouble?
These 7 Celebrities are Genuinely Good People
Have you ever known someone and thought you liked them—until you learned about their hobbies? Then you get to know them and then you’re like, “Wow, red flag.” Well, you’re not alone.
These 10 Activities Are an Immediate Red Flag
Some celebrities definitely seem to enjoy the limelight and keep working to stay in the public eye. While others quickly move out of the spotlight. Many of these actors and actresses stepped out of the spotlight to live a more private life without constant media pressures.
10 Celebrities That Made the Big Times Then Disappeared Off The Face of the Earth
We’ve all been there – sitting through a movie that we can’t help but cringe at, but somehow it still manages to hold a special place in our hearts.
These 10 Terrible Movies Are Still People’s Favorites
The Jefferson Avenue commercial district in Buffalo, New York, is anchored by a supermarket.
There are dozens of other businesses and services along the 12-block corridor — a couple of bank branches, a library, a coffee shop, gas stations, a small plaza with a dollar store and a primary care clinic and a business incubator for entrepreneurs of color.
But Tops Friendly Markets, the only grocery store on Buffalo’s vast East Side, is the center of activity. More than just a place to buy food, pick up medications and use an ATM, the store is a communal gathering space in a predominantly Black neighborhood that, for generations, has been segregated, isolated and disenfranchised from the wealthier — and whiter — parts of the city.
Which explains how it came to be the site of a mass shooting on a spring day in May of last year. On that Saturday, a gunman, who lived 200 miles away in another part of the state, drove to Jefferson Avenue and went into Tops, and in just a few minutes killed 10 people, injured three and inflicted mass trauma across the community.
It is a scenario that has sadly, and repeatedly, played out in other parts of the country that have experienced mass shootings. But this one came with a twist: The gunman’s intention was to kill as many Black people as possible.
To achieve that, he specifically targeted a ZIP code with one of the highest percentages of Black residents in New York state. All 10 who died that day were Black.
“The mere fact that someone can research, ‘Where will the greatest number of Black people be … on a Saturday morning,’ that’s not by chance,” said Franchelle Parker, a community organizer and executive director of Open Buffalo, a nonprofit focused on racial, economic and ecological justice. “That’s not a mistake. It’s a community that’s been deeply segregated for decades.”
The day of the shooting, Parker, who grew up in nearby Niagara Falls, was driving to Tops, where she planned to buy a donut and an unsweetened iced tea before heading into the Open Buffalo office, which is located a block away from Tops. The mother of two had intended to complete the mundane task of cleaning up her desk — “old coffee cups and stuff” — after a busy week.
She saw the news on Twitter and didn’t know if she should keep driving to Jefferson Avenue or turn around and go back home. She eventually picked the latter.
When she showed up the next day, there were thousands of people grieving in the streets. “The only way that I could explain my feeling, it was almost like watching an old war movie when a bomb had gone off and someone’s in, like, shell shock. That’s how it felt,” said Parker, vividly recounting the community’s collective trauma in a meeting room tucked inside of Open Buffalo’s second-story office on Jefferson Avenue.
Almost immediately following the May 14, 2022, massacre, which was the second-deadliest mass shooting in the United States last year, conversations locally and nationally turned to the harsh realities of the East Side and how long-standing factors that affect the daily life of residents — racism, poverty and inequity — made the community an ideal target for a white supremacist.
Now, more than a year after the tragedy, there is growing concern that not enough is being done fast enough to begin to dismantle those factors. And amid those conversations, there are mounting calls for the banking industry — whose historical policies and practices helped cement the racial segregation and disinvestment that ultimately shaped the East Side — to leverage its collective power and influence to band together in an effort to create systemic change.
The ideas about how banks should support the East Side and better embed themselves in the neighborhood vary by people and organizations. But the basic argument is the same: Banks, in their role as financiers and because of the industry’s history of lending discrimination, are obligated to bring forth economic prosperity in disinvested communities like the East Side.
I know banks are often looked upon sort of like a panacea, but I don’t particularly see it that way. I think others have a role to play in all of this.
Chiwuike Owunwanne, corporate responsibility officer at KeyBank
“Banks have been very good at providing charitable contributions to the Black community. They get an ‘A’ for that,” said The Rev. George Nicholas, an East Side pastor who is also CEO of the Buffalo Center for Health Equity, a four-year-old enterprise focused on racial, geographic and economic health disparities. “But doing the things that banks can do in terms of being a catalyst for revitalization and investment in this community, they have not done that.”
To be sure, banks’ ability to reverse the course of the community isn’t guaranteed — and there is no formula to determine how much accountability they should hold to fix deeply entrenched problems like racism. Several Buffalo-area bankers said that while the Tops shooting heightened the urgency to help the East Side, the industry itself cannot be the sole driver of change.
“There are a lot of institutions … that can certainly play a part in reversing the challenges that we see today,” said Chiwuike “Chi-Chi” Owunwanne, a corporate responsibility officer at KeyBank, the second-largest bank by deposits in Buffalo. “I know banks are often looked upon sort of like a panacea, but I don’t particularly see it that way. I think others have a role to play in all of this.”
A long history of segregation
How the East Side — and the Tops store on Jefferson Avenue — became the destination for a racially motivated mass murderer is a story about racism, segregation and disinvestment.
Even as it bears the nickname “the city of good neighbors,” Buffalo has long been one of the most racially segregated cities in the United States. Of the 114,965 residents who live on the East Side, 59% are Black, according to data from the 2021 U.S. Census American Community Survey. The percentage is even higher in the 14208 ZIP code, where the Tops store is located. In that ZIP code, among 11,029 total residents, nearly 76% are Black, the census data shows.
The city’s path toward racial segregation started in the early 20th century when a small number of job-seeking Black Americans migrated north to Buffalo, a former steel and auto manufacturing hub at the far northwestern end of New York state. Initially, they moved into the same neighborhoods as many of the city’s poorer immigrants and lived just east of what is today the city’s downtown district. As the number of Blacks arriving in Buffalo swelled in the 1940s, they were increasingly confronted with various housing challenges, including racist zoning laws and restrictive deed covenants that kept them from buying homes in more affluent white areas.
Black Buffalonians also faced housing discrimination in the form of redlining, the practice of restricting the flow of capital into minority communities. In 1933, as the Great Depression roiled the economy, a temporary federal agency known as the Home Owners’ Loan Corporation used government bonds to buy out and refinance mortgages of properties that were facing or already in foreclosure. The point was to try to stabilize the nation’s real estate market.
As part of its program, HOLC created maps of American cities, including Buffalo, that used a color coding scheme — green, blue, yellow and red — to convey the perceived riskiness of making loans in certain neighborhoods. Green was considered minimally risky; other areas that were largely populated by immigrant, Black or Latino residents were labeled red and thus determined to be “hazardous.”
“The goal was to free up mortgage capital by going to cities and giving banks a way to unload mortgages, so they could turn around and make more mortgage loans,” said Jason Richardson, senior director of research at the National Community Reinvestment Coalition, an association of more than 750 community-based organizations that advocates for fair lending. “It was kind of a radical concept and it has evolved over the decades into our modern mortgage finance system.”
The Federal Housing Administration, which was established as a permanent agency in 1934, used similar methods to map urban areas and labeled neighborhoods from “A” to “D,” with “A” considered to be the most financially stable and “D” considered the least. Neighborhoods that were largely Black, even relatively stable ones, were put in the “D” category.
The result was that banks, which wanted to be able to sell mortgage loans to the FHA, were largely dissuaded from making loans in “risky” areas. And Buffalo’s East Side, where the majority of Blacks were settling, was deemed risky. Unable to get loans, Blacks couldn’t buy homes, start businesses or build equity. At the same time, large industrial factories on the East Side were closing or moving away, limiting job opportunities and contributing to rising poverty levels.
“Today what we’re left with is the residue of this process where we’ve enshrined … a pattern of economic segregation that favors neighborhoods that had fewer Black people in them and generally ignores neighborhoods that had African Americans living in them,” Richardson said.
Case in point: Research by the National Community Reinvestment Coalition shows that three-quarters of neighborhoods that were once redlined are low- to moderate-income neighborhoods today, and two-thirds of them are majority minority communities.
Adding to the division between Blacks and whites in Buffalo was the construction of a highway called the Kensington Expressway. Built during the 1960s, the below-grade, limited-access highway proved to be a speedy way for suburban workers to get to their downtown jobs. But its construction cut off the already-segregated East Side even more from other parts of the city, displacing residents, devaluing houses and destroying neighborhoods and small businesses.
As a result of those factors and more, many Black residents have become “trapped” on the East Side, according to Dr. Henry Louis Taylor Jr., a professor of urban and regional planning at the University at Buffalo. In 1987, Taylor founded the UB Center for Urban Studies, a research, neighborhood planning and community development institute that works on eliminating inequality in cities and metropolitan regions. In September 2021, eight months before the Tops shooting, the Center for Urban Studies published a report that compared the state of Black Buffalo in 1990 to present-day conditions. The conclusion: Nothing had changed for Blacks over 31 years.
As of 2019, the Black unemployment rate was 11%, the average household income was $42,000 and about 35% of Blacks had incomes that fell below the poverty line, the report said. It also noted that just 32% of Blacks own their homes and that most Blacks in the area live on the East Side.
“Those figures remain virtually unchanged while the actual, physical conditions that existed inside of the community worsened,” Taylor told American Banker in an interview in his sun-filled office at the center, located on the University at Buffalo’s city campus. “When we looked upstream to see what was causing it, it was clear: It was systemic, structural racism.”
Banks’ moral obligations
As the East Side struggled over the decades with rampant poverty, dilapidated housing, vacant lots and disintegrating infrastructure, banks kept a physical presence in the community, albeit a shrinking one. In mid-2000, there were at least 20 bank branches scattered across the East Side, but by mid-2022, the number had fallen to around 14, according to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.’s deposit market share data. The 14 include four new branches that have opened since early 2019 — Northwest Bank, KeyBank, Evans Bank and BankOnBuffalo.
The first two branches, operated by Northwest in Columbus, Ohio, and KeyBank, the banking subsidiary of KeyCorp in Cleveland, were requirements of community benefits agreements negotiated between each bank and the National Community Reinvestment Coalition. In both cases, Northwest and KeyBank agreed to open an office in an underserved community.
Evans Bank opened its first East Side branch in the fall of 2021. The office is located in the basement of an $84 million affordable senior housing building that was financed by Evans, a $2.1 billion-asset community bank headquartered south of Buffalo in Angola, New York.
Banks have been very good at providing charitable contributions to the Black community. They get an ‘A’ for that. But doing the things that banks can do in terms of being a catalyst for revitalization and investment in this community, they have not done that.
The Rev. George Nicholas, an East Side pastor who is also CEO of the Buffalo Center for Health Equity
On the community and economic development front, banks have had varying levels of participation. Buffalo-based M&T Bank, which holds a whopping 64% of all deposits in the Buffalo market and is one of the largest private employers in the region, has made consistent investments in the East Side by supporting Westminster Community Charter School, a kindergarten through eighth-grade school, and the Buffalo Promise Neighborhood, a nonprofit organization focused on improving access to education in the city’s 14215 ZIP code.
Currently, Buffalo Promise Neighborhood operates four schools. In addition to Westminster, it runs Highgate Heights Elementary, also K-8, as well as two academies that serve children ages six weeks through pre-kindergarten. Twelve M&T employees are dedicated to the program, according to the Buffalo Promise Neighborhood website. The bank has invested $31.5 million into the program since its 2010 launch, a spokesperson said.
Other banks are making contributions in other ways. In addition to the Jefferson Avenue branch and as part of its community benefits plan, Northwest Bank, a $14.2 billion-asset bank, supports a financial education center through a partnership with Belmont Housing Resources of Western New York. Meanwhile, the $198 billion-asset KeyBank gave $30 million for bridge and construction financing for Northland Workforce Training Center, a $100 million redevelopment project at a former manufacturing complex on the East Side that was partially funded by the state.
BankOnBuffalo’s East Side branch is located inside the center, which offers KeyBank training in advanced manufacturing and clean energy technology careers. A subsidiary of $5.6 billion-asset CNB Financial in Clearfield, Pennsylvania, BankOnBuffalo’s office opened a month after the shooting. The timing was coincidental, but important, said Michael Noah, president of BankOnBuffalo.
“I think it just cemented the point that this is a place we need to be, to be able to be part of these communities and this community specifically, and be able to build this community up,” Noah said.
In terms of public-private collaboration, some banks have been involved in a deeper way. In 2019, New York state, which had already been pouring $1 billion into Buffalo to help revitalize the economy, announced a $65 million economic development fund for the East Side. The initiative is focused on stabilizing neighborhoods, increasing homeownership, redeveloping commercial corridors including Jefferson Avenue, improving historical assets, expanding workforce training and development and supporting small businesses and entrepreneurship.
In conjunction with the funding, a public-private partnership called East Side Avenues was created to provide capital and organizational support to the projects happening along four East Side commercial corridors. Six banks — Charlotte, North Carolina-based Bank of America, the second-largest bank in the nation with $2.5 trillion of assets; M&T, which has $203 billion of assets; KeyBank; Warsaw, New York-based Five Star Bank, which has about $6 billion of assets; Northwest and Evans — are among the 14 private and philanthropic organizations that pledged a combined $8.4 million to pay for five years’ worth of operational support, governance and finance, fundraising and technical assistance to support the nonprofits doing the work.
Laura Quebral, director of the University at Buffalo Regional Institute, which is managing East Side Avenues, said the banks were the first corporations to step up to the request for help, and since then have provided loans and other products and education to keep the program moving.
Their participation “is a signal to the community that banks cared and were invested and were willing to collaborate around something,” Quebral said. “Being at the table was so meaningful.”
Richard Hamister is Northwest’s New York regional president and former co-chair of East Side Avenues. Hamister, who is based in Buffalo, said banks are a “community asset” that have a responsibility to lift up all communities, including those where conditions have arisen that allow it to be a target of racism like the East Side.
“We operate under federal charters, so we have an obligation to the community to not only provide products and services they need but also support when you go through a tragedy like that,” Hamister said. “We also have a moral obligation to try to help when things are broken … and to do what we can. We can’t fix everything, but we’ve got to fix our piece and try to help where we can.”
In the wake of a tragedy
After the massacre, there was a flurry of activity within banks and other organizations, local and out-of-town, to respond to the immediate needs of East Side residents. With the community’s only supermarket closed indefinitely, much of the response centered around food collection and distribution. Three of M&T’s five East Side branches, including the Jefferson Avenue branch across the street from Tops, became food distribution sites for weeks after the shooting. On two consecutive Fridays, Northwest provided around 200 free lunches to the community, using a neighborhood caterer who is also the bank’s customer. And BankOnBuffalo collected employee donations that amounted to more than 20 boxes of toiletries and other items that were distributed to a nonprofit.
At the same time, M&T, KeyBank and other banks began financial donations to organizations that could support the immediate needs of the community. KeyBank provided a van that delivered food and took people to nearby grocery stores. Providence, Rhode Island-based Citizens Financial Group, whose ATM inside Tops was inaccessible during the store’s temporary closure, installed a fee-free ATM near a community center located about a half-mile north of Tops, and later put a permanent ATM inside the center that remains there today. And M&T rolled out a short-term loan program to provide capital to East Side small-business owners.
One of the funds that benefited from banks’ support was the Buffalo Together Community Response Fund, which has raised $6.2 million to address the long-term needs of the East Side.
Bank of America and Evans Bank each donated $100,000 to the fund, whose list of major sponsors includes four other banks — JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup, M&T and KeyBank. Thomas Beauford Jr., a former banker who is co-chair of the response fund, said banks, by and large, directed their resources into organizations where the dollars would have an immediate impact.
“Banks said, ‘Hey, you know … it doesn’t make sense for us to try to build something right now. … We will fund you in the work you’re doing,'” said Beauford, who has been president and CEO of the Buffalo Urban League since the fall of 2020. “I would say banks showed up in a big way.”
Fourteen months later, banks say they are committed to playing a positive role on the East Side. For the second year, KeyBank is sponsoring a farmers’ market on the East Side, an attempt to help fill the food desert in the community. Last fall, BankOnBuffalo launched a mobile “bank on wheels” truck that’s stationed on the East Side every Wednesday. The 34-foot-long truck, which is staffed by two people and includes an ATM and a printer to make debit cards, was in the works before the shooting, and will eventually make four stops per week around the Buffalo area.
Evans has partnered with the city of Buffalo to construct seven market-rate single family homes on vacant lots on the East Side. The relationship with the city is an example of how banks can pair up with other entities to create something meaningful and lasting, more than they might be able to do on their own, said Evans President and CEO David Nasca.
The bank has “picked areas” where it can use its resources to make a difference, Nasca said.
“I don’t think the root causes can be ameliorated” by banks alone, he said. “We can’t just grant money. It has to be within our construct of a financial institution that invests and supports the public-private partnership. … All the oars [need to be] pulling together or this doesn’t work.”
‘Little or no engagement with minorities’
All of these efforts are, of course, welcomed by the community, but there is still criticism that banks haven’t done enough to make up for their past contributions to segregating the city. And perhaps more importantly, some of that criticism centers on banks failing to do their most basic function in society — provide credit.
In 2021, the New York State Department of Financial Services issued a report about redlining in Buffalo. The regulator looked at banks and nonbank lenders and found that loans made to minorities in the Buffalo metro area made up 9.74% of total loans in Buffalo. Overall, Black residents comprise about 33% of Buffalo’s total population of more than 276,000, census data shows.
The department said its investigation showed the lower percentage was not due to “excessive denials of loan applications based on race or ethnicity,” but rather that “these companies had little or no engagement with minorities and generally made scant effort to do so.”
“The unsurprising result of this has been that few minority customers or individuals seeking homes in majority-minority neighborhoods have made loan applications … in the first instance.”
Furthermore, accusations of redlining persist today, even though the practice of discriminating in housing based on race was outlawed by the Fair Housing Act of 1968.
In 2014, Evans was accused of redlining by the New York State Attorney General, which said the community bank was specifically avoiding making mortgage loans on the East Side. The bank, which at the time had $874 million of assets, agreed to pay $825,000 to settle the case, but Nasca maintains that the charges were unfounded. He points to the fact that the bank never had a fair lending or fair housing violation, no specific incidents were ever claimed and that the bank’s Community Reinvestment Act exam never found evidence of discriminatory or illegal credit practices.
The bank has a greater presence on the East Side today, but that’s because it has grown in size, not because it is trying to make up for previous accusations of redlining, he said.
“Ten years ago, our involvement [on the East Side] certainly wasn’t what you’re seeing today,” Nasca said. “We were looking to participate more, but we were participating within our means and our reach. As we have grown, we have built more resources to be able to do more.”
Shortly after accusations were made against Evans, Five Star Bank, the banking arm of Financial Institutions in Warsaw, New York, was also accused of redlining by the state Attorney General. Five Star, which has been growing its presence in the Buffalo market for several years, wound up settling the charges for $900,000 and agreeing to open two branches in the city of Rochester.
KeyBank is currently being accused of redlining by the National Community Reinvestment Coalition. In a 2022 report, the group said that KeyBank is engaging in systemic redlining by making very few home purchase loans in certain neighborhoods where the majority of residents are Black. Buffalo is one of several cities where the bank’s mortgage lending “effectively wall[ed] out Black neighborhoods,” especially parts of the East Side, the report said.
KeyBank denied the allegations. In March, the coalition asked regulators to investigate the bank’s mortgage lending practices.
Beyond providing more credit, some community members believe that banks should be playing a larger role in addressing other needs on the East Side. And the list of needs runs the gamut from more grocery stores to safe, affordable housing to infrastructure improvements such as street and sidewalk repairs.
Alexander Wright is founder of the African Heritage Food Co-op, an initiative launched in 2016 to address the dearth of grocery store options on the East Side, where he grew up. Wright said that while banks’ philanthropic efforts are important, banks in general “need to be in a place of remediation” to fix underlying issues that the industry, as a whole, helped create. (After publication of this story, Wright left his job as CEO of the African Heritage Food Co-Op.)
Aside from charitable donations, banks should be finding more ways to work directly with East Side business owners and entrepreneurs, helping them with capital-building support along the way, Wright said. One place to start would be technical assistance by way of bank volunteers.
“Banks are always looking to volunteer. ‘Hey, want to come out and paint a fence? Want to come out and do a garden?'” Wright said. “No. Come out here and help Keshia with bookkeeping. Come out here and do QuickBooks classes for folks. Bring out tax experts. Because these are things that befuddle a lot of small businesses. Who is your marketing person? Bring that person out here. Because those are the things that are going to build the business to self-sufficiency.
“Anything short of the capacity-building … that will allow folks to rise to the occasion and be self-sufficient I think is almost a waste,” Wright added. “We don’t need them to lead the plan. What we need them to do is be in the community and [be] hearing the plan and supporting it.”
Parker, of Open Buffalo, has similar thoughts about the role that banks should play. One day, soon after the massacre, an ATM appeared down the street from Tops, next to the library that sits across the street from Parker’s office. Soon after the ATM was installed, Parker began fielding questions from area residents who were skeptical of the machine and wanted to know if it was legitimate. But Parker didn’t have any information to share with them. “There was no outreach. There was no community engagement. So I’m like, ‘Let me investigate,'” she said. “I think that’s a symptom of how investment is done in Black communities, even though it may be well-intentioned.”
As it turns out, the temporary ATM belonged to JPMorgan Chase. The megabank has had a commercial banking presence in Buffalo for years, but it didn’t operate a retail branch in the region until last year. Today it has four branches in operation and plans to open another two by the end of the year, a spokesperson said.
After the Tops shooting, the governor’s office reached out to Chase asking if the bank could help in some way, the spokesperson said in response to the skepticism. The spokesperson said that while the Chase retail brand is new to the Buffalo region, the company has been active in the market for decades by way of commercial banking, private banking, credit card lending, home lending and other businesses.
In addition to the ATM, the bank provided funding to local organizations including FeedMore Western New York, which distributes food throughout the region.
“We are committed to continuing our support for Buffalo and helping the community increase access to opportunities that build wealth and economic empowerment,” the spokesperson said in an email.
In the year since the massacre, there has been some progress by banks in terms of their interest in listening to the East Side community and learning about its needs, said Nicholas. But he hasn’t felt an air of urgency from the banking community to tackle the issues right now.
“I do experience banks being a little more open to figuring out what their role is, but it’s slow. It’s slow,” said Nicholas. The senior pastor of the Lincoln Memorial United Methodist Church, located about a mile north from Tops, Nicholas is part of a 13-member local advisory committee for the New York arm of Local Initiatives Support Coalition, or LISC. The group is focused on mobilizing resources, including banks, to address affordable housing in Western New York, specifically in the inner city, as well as training minority developers and connecting them to potential investors, Nicholas said.
Of the 13 members, seven are from banks — one each from M&T, Bank of America, BankOnBuffalo, Evans and KeyBank, and two members from Citizens Financial Group. One of the priorities of LISC NY is health equity, and the fact that banks are becoming more engaged in looking at health disparities is promising, Nicholas said. Still, they have more work to do, he said.
“I need them to think more on how to strengthen and build the economy on the East Side and provide leadership around that, not only to provide charitable things, but using sound business and banking and community development principles to say, ‘OK, if we’re going to invest in this community, these are the types of things that need to happen in this community,’ and then encourage their partners and other people they work with … to come fully in on the East Side.”
Some bankers agree with the community activists.
“Putting a branch in is great. Having a bank on wheels is great,” said Noah of BankOnBuffalo. “But if you’re not embedded in the community, listening to the community and trying to improve it, you’re not creating that wealth and creating a better lifestyle for everyone.”
What could make a substantial difference in terms of banks’ impact on the community is a combination of collaboration and leadership, said Taylor. He supports the idea of banks leading the charge on the creation of a comprehensive redevelopment and reinvestment plan for the East Side, and then investing accordingly and collaboratively through their charitable foundations.
“All of them have these foundations,” Taylor said. “You can either spend that money in a strategic and intentional way designed to develop a community for the existing population, or you can spend that money alone in piecemeal, siloed, sectorial fashion that will look good on an annual report, but won’t generate transformational and generational changes inside a community.”
Banks might be incentivized to work together because it could mean two things for them, according to Taylor: First, they’d have an opportunity to spend money in a way that would have maximum impact on the East Side, and second, if done right, the city and the banks could become a model of the way to create high levels of diversity, equity and inclusion in an urban area.
“If you prove how to do that, all that does is open up other markets of consumption all over the country because people want to figure out how to do that same thing,” Taylor said.
Some of that is already happening, at least on a bank-by-bank case, said KeyBank’s Owunwanne. Through the KeyBank Foundation, the company is able to leverage different relationships that connect nonprofits to other entities and corporations that can provide help.
“I see this as an opportunity for us to make not just incremental changes, but monumental changes … as part of a larger group,” Owunwanne said “Again, I say that not to absolve the bank of any responsibility, but just as a larger group.”
Downstairs from Parker’s office, Golden Cup Coffee, a roastery and cafe run by a husband and wife team, and some other Jefferson Avenue businesses are trying to build up a business association for existing and potential Jefferson-area businesses. Parker imagined what the group could accomplish if one of the banks could provide someone on a part-time basis to facilitate conversations, provide administrative support and coordinate marketing efforts.
“In the grand scheme of things, when we’re talking about a multimillion dollar [bank], a part-time employee specifically dedicated to relationship-building and building out coalitions, it sounds like a small thing,” Parker said. “But that’s transformational.”