New Jersey continues to be the 'Wild West' of foreclosure consulting. Hair stylists are required to undergo more government scrutiny than foreclosure consultants. - Asm Gary Schaer, Passaic
Gary Schaer says families faced with homelessness are turning to foreclosure consultants and 'rescue firms' in a last-ditch effort to hold onto their homes. Unfortunately, he says, some of them are nothing more than fronts for elaborate schemes to rob homeowners of their hard-bought equity. Schaer's the sponsor of the Foreclosure Rescue Fraud Prevention Act (A-359), which passed both houses unanimously, and has been waiting for the Governor's signature since June 29, when it got final legislative approval.
The bill requires foreclosure consultants and distressed property purchasers who contract with owners of residential properties in financial distress to adhere to certain practices in providing foreclosure prevention services to owners.
Among the bill's provisions are some rules for short-sales. In short-sales, the generally accepted percentage banks try to recoup is 82% of the fair market value. Schaer's legislation advocates parity; that vulnerable homeowners should get the same renumeration as the big banks. He calls this a necessary protection, given that many property owners have received just pennies on the dollar for their distressed property - and sometimes nothing at all.
In December, NJ Supreme Court Chief Justice Stuart Rabner ruled that 6 of the state's biggest lenders had to demonstrate they were treating homeowners fairly during foreclosure proceedings. The order slowed filings in the first half of this year to a near halt. A ruling Monday in NJ Superior Court allows many of the state's biggest mortgage providers to continue with foreclosure proceedings.
A lot of New Jersey families are living on the brink. It's obviously in the best interest of the state to tighten up regulations that impact anything as serious as foreclosure. The bill's been sitting on Christie's desk for weeks. New Jersey Citizen Action and NJ Legal Services both back it. Support's also come from the NJ Bankers Association, NJ Realtors Association, and NJ Land Title Association. The NJ Department of Banking and Insurance has urged legislators to sign it. Christie should either sign it, or come up with reasons why not.
The deleterious effects of New Jersey Governor Chris Christie's "slash and burn" policies and his coddling to millionaires are starting to be felt, and will be with us long after he leaves office. Libraries are closing, experienced teachers and other public servants are retiring in droves, infrastructure continues to crumble, and taxes on the middle class and the poor are going up. Yet, there's one other impact of the Governor's approach that won't be felt - at least directly - for a while. That is the politicization of New Jersey's judiciary.
Politicization of the judiciary is nothing new to Mr. Christie. As a U.S. Attorney and acolyte of Karl Rove, he saw firsthand how a master of his craft can subvert the judicial system to advance a political agenda.
Governor Christie refused to nominate Supreme Court justice John Wallace last May - not because of any incompetence or malfeasance on the judge's part, but simply to replace Wallace with a corporate-friendly attorney who would help advance the governor's agenda. But this was more than a warning shot over the bow for the remaining justices. It was a not-so-implicit threat to the three non-tenured justices that "if you don't support my agenda, you're outta here!"
It's uncertain whether the three "liberal" non-tenured justices refused to re-open the case pertaining to New Jersey's "separate but equal" civil unions because of Christie's threats. One would like to think that their decision was based on the law, and not on their careers. But it's hard to ignore the elephant in the room. While Chief Justice Stuart Rabner has the power to elevate a lower-tier justice to the Supreme Court until the State Senate decides to confirm Christie's choice, he has chosen not to do so. Could this also be due to Rabner's concern about the Wrath of Chris?
So what's the solution? In some states, Supreme Court justices are elected rather than appointed. That's a bad idea - it only politicizes the judiciary even further. When a justice is selected in New Jersey, he or she must be confirmed by the State Senate. So why not extend the checks and balances and require the State Senate to approve or disapprove the removal of a justice at the end of his or her term? Of course, impeachment for criminal activity is still on the table. And the mandatory retirement age of 70 would still remain.
No method of selecting judges is devoid of politics, but by adding this check and balance, we could avoid the type of political shenanigans that are practiced by Mr. Christie.
Much of the focus has been on the fight between the Governor and Legislature over the decision to replace Justice Wallace on the court. But should action not be taken and the seat were to remain vacant, that puts a good deal of power in the hands of Justice Rabner:
"The reality is this empowers the chief justice in an unprecedented way," Harrison said.
Should the seat remain vacant, the Chief Justice can pick someone from the appellate court or a former Justice to fill the seat while the fight goes on. Wouldn't it be something if Rabner picked Wallace, since he would then be a former Justice and eligible?
There is reaction coming from all sides today about the decision by Governor Christie not to re-appoint Justice Wallace to the Supreme Court. Perhaps the unexpected remarks came from Chief Justice Rabner, who issued a statement expressing his disappointment with the Governor's decision:
I am disappointed by that decision, which breaks with a tradition that Governors have followed for more than a half century.
Justice Wallace has earned respect and admiration for his more than thirty years as a municipal court judge, trial and appellate judge, and Justice of the Supreme Court. He is an intellectually honest, wise, and independent thinker, a fair-minded jurist, a gifted, thoughtful writer, and a model of integrity and character. His exemplary and honorable record speaks for itself, and his departure is a loss to the Judiciary.
He's all those great things, but he's just not good enough for the Governor. This is the same Justice Rabner that Christie lashed out to defend when his own appointment had the potential to be held up over questions Legislators were raising at the time. This isn't the type of thing that you generally see sitting justices do and it seems to emphasize how much this decision is out of the norm followed by past governors of both parties for NJ. There will be plenty more discussion about the Governor's decision in the days to come.
(Trenton) -- I wanted to share some of the flavor from today's Inaugural festivities.Kinda like the Assembly itself, our latest Vlog is a little bit country and a little bit rock and roll.Enjoy!
I had a major video crash today and lost some great footage. Apologies to Grace Spencer and Wayne DeAngelo who were so kind to say hello.
(Note to self: when it comes to video you're NOBODY unless you've had your first painful crash.)
US Attorney Chris Christie has made a name for himself as the only prosecutor in the state who has taken on public corruption, largely because he repeatedly made the claim and the media printed it without checking.
This has been an extremely helpful theme for him, portraying himself as the lone gunman out to get the bad guys against a corrupt and weak establishment. It works even better for this Republican prosecutor as the establishment is Democratic, since anyone who complains about Christie's tactics is immediately beaten down with Lonely Knight on a White Horse illusions. Even some Democrats out there, and some of our commenters on this site, treat Christie as if he is the one true king come to save us all from public corruption.
No one can deny that Christie's office is doing an excellent job of nailing corrupt pols. It started before Christie with the FBI investigating Jim Treffinger and Monmouth County corruption, two major investigations into Republicans Christie inherited but has used to bolster his bi-partisan armor. To his credit, Christie has directed his teams -- prosecutorial and investigative -- to continue the effort.
But Christie has taken a particular glee in the fight, and used his bully pulpit excessively to promote himself, support members of his own party, and attack others. Some of us consider it unseemly and borderline misuse of office, others consider it his due to beat his chest after vanquishing opponents.
But one major piece of his puzzle -- that he has been alone from the start -- appears to be a myth. Christie's favorite target was Peter Harvey, who by all accounts wasn't a terribly good AG, for never doing anything to take on corrupt public officials.
But is that true? Our investigation suggests it is not, and in fact is a gross misstatement of fact.
The fact is that there were 41 convictions [see all here] of public corruption under Peter Harvey, who started in February 2003 and left in June 2006. Many of these were small fry, as many of Chris Christie's have been. However, there were also:
Hainesport Mayor and CFO for embezzling $339,000;
NJ Division of Taxation official Michael Johnson for stealing $81,000 in public money;
Democratic Assemblyman Anthony Imreveduto for misuse of campaign funds was kicked out of office;
Democratic Atlantic City Councilman Marty Small for tampering with election ballots;
Commerce Commission Chief of Staff Lesly Devereau for corruption and criminal conspiracy;
NJ Transit general manager and vice president Maureen Milan for taking bribes;
Many, many, many motor vehicle commission officials for selling false licenses to illegal aliens.
That's 41 in just over three years for Harvey, while Christie boasts repeated -- and his media friends repeat -- that he now has 120 in six years. We found a total of 62 public corruption convictions from the AG's office since 2003, and there are more before that but the AG's website doesn't list them. So, it is true that Christie has a larger number and some higher profile corruption cases, but there is a good reason for that.
Chris Christie is the only United States Attorney in New Jersey. If there is going to be a case of corruption brought under federal law in this state it is going to be brought by the US Attorney, who since 2002 was Chris Christie.
The New Jersey Attorney General is only one of many prosecuting agencies in the state, but in addition to the Attorney General each county has it's own prosecutor with his or her own investigative team. Most cases of local and county officials violations of state law are brought to court under the county prosecutor's office.
These have brought significantly more cases to the fore. A short review of just a couple county prosecutor web sites -- which are really weak -- found another 9 cases in the past couple years. Since there are 21 county prosecutors, that adds up to quite a few other prosecutions.
We can't say for sure, but are pretty willing to bet that there are far more than 120 public corruption convictions brought by state and county officials over the past seven years. All the 21 county prosecutors would need is three and a half each over those six years to reach that number. Seriously, does anyone doubt that there weren't that many? In relatively quiet Somerset County there were two Mayors forced to resign after convictions, the son of the Freeholder's Chief Clerk caught stealing from county property, a police officer nailed for stealing airline miles, and the recent park scandal.
So it's pretty much a foregone conclusion that prosecutors appointed by the Governor (AG and county prosecutors) have nailed more corrupt public officials and employees than the US Attorney's office. Yet the myth of the Lone Anti-Corruption Knight Templar Chris Christie continues.
A good bit of this comes from the fact that Peter Harvey was largely incompetent and screwed up some high-profile cases, and was himself caught in unethical though not illegal situations. Further, Christie and Harvey had a massive personality conflict that caused the two to go after each other quite often.
But the "accepted wisdom" that came out of these facts is sorely mistaken, no matter how often reporters, editors and columnists repeat it.
There is a massive corruption issue in New Jersey, one that is being addressed at all levels. Christie is not the sole fighter in the battle, but simply the loudest and most noticeable.
Stuart Rabner, the new chief judge of the NJ Supreme Court was sworn in just a little while ago in a private ceremony at the State's high court.
Judiciary:
Acting Chief Justice Virginia Long administered the oath to Chief Justice rabner while his wife, Debbie, and his daughters, Carly and Erica, stood beside him. He is the eighth chief justice under the NJ Constitution of 1947
Get used to him, kids. He'll be around for a while.
Update: Rollcall vote starts NOW at 2:20pm. Finally! Only Gill voted no and the nomination goes on to the full Senate!
The Senate Judiciary Committee is set to begin any minute and the big item on the docket is confirmation hearings.
As you all know there's a vacancy on the State Supreme Court and the Governor has tapped Stuart Rabner to fill the slot. That nomination should take a giant step forward this morning, pending the results of the Committee vote.
I should note this committee is comprised of a wildly diverse cast of characters including Kean jr, Nia Gill, Lesnaik, Cardinale as well as my own Senator, John Adler who's chairman. I love covering judiciary, never a dull moment.
Likewise, Rabner's promotion would mean a new Attorney General and Corzine has chosen Anne Milgram for the post. Her confirmation process will follow Rabner's.
And it starts any second. So stay tuned!
UPDATE 11:05am: Adler asks Rabner about some tough issues: Abbott schools, the death penalty, gay marriage, security v/s liberty. So far, Stu is handling it all with considerable aplomb.
Camden is dearly in need of revitalization and city fixture Campbell's is in a position to provide it- if their wants are met. The NY Times has the story.
Many folks who had flood insurance are still waiting for their settlements from April's storms and are voicing anger at the National Flood Insurance Program, who says they're still in their 60-day payment window.
Did you miss New Jersey Pride Day yesterday? It may have been a little wet, but it was still faaaaaaaabulous. It was a lot of fun and also a chance to reflect on how far we've come (AIDS) and how far we have yet to go for full equality. Check out the report.
NYTimes: "Lots of people who want to see the Empire State Building have made the same calculation in recent years - that you can visit New York without staying there - and in the process have helped transform northern New Jersey, especially the Meadowlands, into a spare bedroom for Manhattan."
The Iraq war rages on. No end in site. But for one military mom named Sue Niederer, it's time to bring 'em home now. If you read one thing from today's roundup, this should be it. And thanks to pInky's Monica Yant Kinney for keeping these stories fresh and personal.
It's a busy budget time in Trenton and that's what I'll be following up there this week. "Christmas Tree" items are due on the 6th. Stay tuned for all that.
And last but certainly not least, for every Blue Jersey T-shirt you buy we can pay for a whole month's web hosting costs. Does that put it in some perspective?
Did you see last night's debate? Were you at Pride? Did I miss something? The floor is yours so hit up with your best shot!!
The New Jersey attorney general said Friday he issued civil subpoenas to 61 colleges, 17 student loan firms and a state authority seeking information on potential misconduct in the student loan market, a target of widening investigations nationwide.
Attorney General Stuart Rabner said he is looking into "allegations that lenders have made improper payments to have colleges promote specific loan companies to students."
New York (led by Andrew Cuomo) and federal investigations are ongoing. The Star-Ledger adds:
Officials from several schools told The Star-Ledger they were pressed by the agency, the New Jersey Higher Education Student Assistance Authority (HESAA), to make Sallie Mae their preferred lender.
My comments: First, it seems that regulations were unclear, though I must say this seems like an excuse rather than reality. Second, when big money is involved -- whether in colleges, business, government, charities, car dealerships, or anything else -- corruption is a real danger. Overall, this seems to developing into a big story, and it's not the first student loan scandal.
Straight people who tie the knot in other states have their marriages legally recognized here in New Jersey. But according to Attorney General Stuart Rabner gays and lesbians will enjoy no such equal protection.
Garden State Equality:
(We) believe that the New Jersey attorney general's opinion today violates the Lewis vs. Harris decision. We consider the attorney general's opinion today to be a violation of that mandate. On the one hand, New Jersey treats all marriages of straight couples who come to New Jersey as what they are -- marriages. On the other hand, New Jersey will now go out of its way to relabel and repackage all marriages of gay couples who come to New Jersey as something different. That disparity is the very essence of a violation of Lewis v. Harris. It is also an insulting and intolerable extension of the separate, unequal and discriminatory status that civil unions represent.
So until what's good for the (gay) goose is good for the gander, we'll fight on. And until then "Garden State Equality is resoundingly confident that we have the political momentum to win marriage equality through legislation in the next two years or less."
Earlier this month, right-wing Bogota Mayor Steve Lonegan made a stink about performing civil unions. This raised the question whether NJ mayors' 'marry one, marry all' clause applied to civil unions. Corzine and AG Rabner said it does. But Lonegan says he will ignore their interpretation.
Glen Ridge's Mayor Carl Bergmanson ... will not be performing civil union ceremonies, because "it's a fraud."
"I have nothing against homosexuality. I object in principal to the law. It's an artificial construct, and I'm not participating in this farce," Bergmanson says.
"To create same sex marriage and call it a civil union is dishonest. The law was very clumsily written and tap dances around the issue. Civil unions are same sex marriages - why aren't they calling it such? Mine is not a nuance position ... I am not going to say the emperor's wearing clothes when he's not. Future generations are going to ask how we could participate in this fiction. I'm just not going to do it."
Despite his feelings, Bergmanson assured us that anyone will be able to come to Glen Ridge and obtain a civil union license. In the meantime, he has requested a legal opinion of interpretation of the law and plans to meet with the attorney general's office. And Glen Ridgers might want to look here to find their celebrant.
We would never recommend not getting a civil union just to make a political statement.
A hospital, employer or other institution, or a judge in a court of law, for example, could then say, "You chose not to give yourselves the maximum protection allowed under the law. Why not? Does this say something about your relationship?"
It would be terrible to leave yourselves that vulnerable.
So, Mayor Bergmanson, please don't discourage anyone from getting a civil union. And when you get that legal interpretation, please share it with us. But for now, here's a much better way to make your voice heard, also via Garden State Equality.
When you get a civil union, consider making a contribution to Garden State Equality or ask your guests at a ceremony to do so. The money will go directly to our fight for real marriage equality. Our address is Garden State Equality, 67 Church Street, Montclair, New Jersey 07042. You may donate to us online at www.GardenStateEquality.org.
After you get civil unioned, contact Garden State Equality immediately should you ever find your civil union not recognized in New Jersey, whether by a hospital, employer, public accommodation or any other institution. That will help us demonstrate why we need real marriage equality.
UPDATE: It appears Mayor Bergmanson has responded to the Barista post in their comments.
[Because] same-sex couples, and their families, will gain many important protections and benefits if they get civil unions, I would never recommend that they forego those protections solely to "make a statement." And I would certainly never let my personal stand interfere with them doing so. Same-sex couples will be able to get their "Civil-Union" licenses at Borough Hall, and while I personally will not be performing "Civil-Union" ceremonies, we will maintain a list of officiants who are willing to do so, so people being "turned-away" is not an issue. And, of course, both the town and I personally will fully honor all the rights and protections afforded to all of our citizens who have "Civil-Unions" performed.
... I am still researching what my options are, that's the reason I'm trying to set up a meeting with the AG's office. Issuing marriage licenses is not done by the Mayor, so issuing them to same-sex couples is not an option for me. I may offer to perform marriages for same-sex couples who present me with "Civil-Union" licenses, or I may refuse to perform "Civil-Unions" or I may simply refuse to perform any ceremonies, or I may come up with some other solution. It is important for me to explore the legal ramifications involved (not just for me, but for the town and the couples involved) and listen to feedback from our citizens and then I'll decide on a course of action.
Today is the first day of Kwanzaa,which runs until Jan. 1
The State Division of Criminal Justice has seen a decrease this year in their numbers of criminal indictments and accusations, where a guilty plea is obtained before indictment. Some law enforcement officials attribute the reduction to staffing cuts and a needed reorganization of the department, plus there was a change in Attorney General this year; current AG Stuart Rabner attributes the change to a focus on bigger criminals and corruption investigations, which may mean fewer prosecutions but have a large impact on crime.
Due to a substantial increase in the number of applicants, residents of Our Fair State now have to wait up to a year for approval for state rebates and installations of solar panels. There are also questions about the sustainability of the rebate program.
Mayor Lawrence G. Chiaravallo of Lake Como has been looking for alternate sources for funding needed upgrades to the town's municipal facilities, including unanswered appeals to Bill Gates and Oprah. He has found one listener, however: Kuwait. While no money has changed hands, the mayor has held discussions with the Kuwaiti ambassador. Chiaravallo lost his bid for re-election and will leave office Jan. 1.
Ahh, the end of the year, when all the "Top of 2006" lists show up. Jim Walsh of the Courier-Post has the Top 10 Weeds in the Garden State: Property Taxes, Suburban Sprawl, Eminent Domain, Pay-to-Play, Health Care Costs, Affordable Housing, Traffic Jams, Car Insurance Costs, Gas Prices, and Beach Tags. Now, where's the list of the Top 10 Flowers Blooming in the Garden State?
Open Thread: What's on your mind today, Blue Jersey?
Here's a twisted little tale about a cop and "born again Christian" in Camden who was profiting from drug deals. The more I read about "Born again Christians" and "faith-based initiatives" them more skeptical I become. Oy.
Looks like former Gov. Mc Greevy is not gonna be able to unveil his statehouse portrait until after his tour to promote his gay tell-all. The big loser in the whole flap seems to be Sen. Dick Codey, who is widely credited with steading post-Mc Greevy ship. Codey gets a protrait too, just not until the McGreevy issue is settled and the Corzine administration isn't about to let Mc Greevy use the occasion to shill his book.
"More than a year after New Jersey filed suit against Delaware for its attempt to block construction of a liquefied natural gas facility in Logan Township, the two states are nearing a face-off."
Salem County may have the fewest persons per square mile in New Jersey, but it still has very interesting politics: Both the Penns Grove primary and the Carneys Point general election featured alleged criminal cheating. In both cases, the voters rejected the bad guys on November 7. I note that the Carneys Point (John Lake) case was not used as an 'October Surprise' and was kept under wraps until after the election -- a remarkable contrast with the supposed Menendez rental investigation. Today's Sunbeam has a long article about the Carneys Point case. Attorney General Stuart Rabner said:
The New Jersey minimum wage went up by a dollar yesterday to $7.15/hour. That rate is an two dollars higher than the federal rate of $5.15. The new payraise means that a minimum wage worker in NJ grosses $14,300 for a forty hour work week. If you ask me, this is hardly a living wage, but as retail worker Kobby Hayford noted yesterday, "More money is always good. I will feel it, definitely. It's going to help because everything costs more now." He should know. And Kobby Hayford is just the type of New Jerseyan Gov. Corzine is trying to help out with the increase.
However, it's worth noting that According to Carl Van Horn, who directs the John J. Heldrich Center for Workforce Development at Rutgers, it would take a $12 hourly minimum wage to lift New Jersey's workers out of poverty.
Ouch.
Herb Jackson debunks Tom Kean Junior's lies about being a centrist or "independent." The Record:
Republican U.S. Senate candidate Tom Kean Jr. says bipartisan cooperation is the key to solving problems in Washington. But Kean's record as a legislator shows he may not be the independent fighter he says he is. Not only does he serve in the Republican leadership in Trenton, a database analysis by The Record found that Kean voted the same way most of his GOP colleagues did at least 93 percent of the time.
Naturally Junior is whining that this isn't the whole story. So I'll fill in the gaps: not only is this guy not an independent, but he's also a scumbag. Just look at the riffraf Junior has working on his campaign. (Note to Jill Hazelbaker, this means you too!) For those of you keeping score, there is a detailed, itemized list of Junior's Rovian, radical, rightwing record in today's Record article.
Today's Trenton Times challenges the new Attrorney General Stuart Rabner to get tough on corruption in Trenton. The article cites Wayne Bryant "a notorious grazer at the public trough" as the posterboy for all that's wrong in the state legislature. No argument here. It seems like Sen. Bryant punctuates every change of direction with (yet) another scandal. I guess that's what happens to men like Bryant who have one hand on their pants and the other in the cookie jar at all times. If you ask me, Wayne Bryant would make a perfect addition for Tom Kean Junior's campaign team.
