Crisis officially over?

From Inman:

Delinquency rates fall to pre-housing crisis levels: CoreLogic

The number of homeowners failing to make mortgage payments has dipped to levels unseen since before the 2008 housing crisis.

Nationwide, only 4.1 percent of homeowners were delinquent on their mortgage in December, according to CoreLogic’s latest Loan Performance Insights report released Tuesday. Down from 5.3 percent in December 2017, the latest rate is the lowest since January 2000.

Yearlong delinquency rates, which have been falling steadily since the start of 2018, have not been this low since early 2006 – just before the housing and financial crisis of 2008-2009.

Foreclosures, in which property is seized due to an owner’s inability to pay, fell to 0.4 percent from 0.6 percent the year before.

“Our latest home equity report found that the average homeowner saw a $9,700 increase in their equity during 2018,” said Dr. Frank Nothaft, chief economist for CoreLogic, in a prepared statement. “With additional ‘skin in the game,’ rising equity reduces the chances of a foreclosure, helping to push the foreclosure rate down to its lowest level since at least 2000.”

This entry was posted in Economics, Foreclosures, Mortgages, National Real Estate, Risky Lending. Bookmark the permalink.

61 Responses to Crisis officially over?

  1. Mike says:

    Good Morning New Jersey

  2. grim says:

    NJ falls to #4 in serious delinquencies, below Mississippi, New York, and Louisiana. Pretty strong downward trajectory at this point.

    NJ not really appreciably higher than the rest of the top 10, at 2.3%. Florida, Delaware, Connecticut, Arkansas, Alabama – all at 2.0%.

  3. The Great Pumpkin says:

    Home,

    Are you a white collar professional? Name one white collar profession that works 24/7 while at work. No way, no how. You attack the work as it comes. Sometimes you have to wait…it’s not automatic work lined up. That’s why you are not paid by the hour.

  4. Blue Ribbon Teacher says:


    Are you a white collar professional? Name one white collar profession that works 24/7 while at work. No way, no how. You attack the work as it comes. Sometimes you have to wait…it’s not automatic work lined up. That’s why you are not paid by the hour.

    Some people don’t wait to be told what to do. They create their own work.

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  6. Blue Ribbon Teacher says:

    So, rich people now bribe people upwards of $500k to get into USC? USC? haha..I guess the jokes on them. A simple donation of $15k to the library would have taken care of it.

  7. 3b says:

    BRT that’s what I don’t understand. We are not even talking about Ivies.

  8. Juice Box says:

    NY Times and NY Mag already have a cover story out now on the College Admissions bribery scandal.

    They say “Equality of opportunity is an impossible ideal”

    “Meritocracy is a cruel joke. The real scandal isn’t all the unethical shenanigans rich parents will engage in to keep their failsons and faildaughters from tumbling down the socioeconomic ladder — it’s that we use adolescents’ test scores to ration economic security in the first place.”

  9. Grim says:

    You see the social media profiles of some of these kids?

    The level of vapid idiocy is mind blowing. $500k is a small bribe to pay for anyone to have to attempt to educate these gems.

    When are the expulsions and degree revocations coming?

  10. Juice Box says:

    Grim – Why do so many people seem interested in vapid idiots and their idiocy like the Kardashians?

    I don’t know about you, but whenever I hear about some successful famous actor, business person, athlete, or just plain rich person losing their cool over something really banal, I feel more self-assured and stable that my choices in life are the right ones.

    Just today talk radio was roasting James Dolan over banning a Knicks fan. I got a rise out of it and laughed not only because the fans hate him but his reactions to it.

  11. Juice Box says:

    Also love the fact that 7 FBI agents went to arrest Felicity Huffman at the crack of dawn with guns drawn, and now she is out on $250k in bail for what a $15k donation?

  12. JCer says:

    500k in bribes to get into USC is insane. For that price you should be able to get a pumpkin into harvard or at least a Kushner……….

    Not sure who is dumber, the kids or the parnets who spent 500k to get 2 kids into USC.

  13. chicagofinance says:

    Posting just in case this goes under the radar…… she is going to be discredited sooner or later for being a hypocrite. I wonder what will exactly take her down. Meanwhile, she goes complete Maxine Waters here……

    WASHINGTON – Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez demanded to know why Wells Fargo was “involved in the caging of children” at a House hearing with the bank’s CEO on Tuesday.

    “I am interested in the human rights abuses and environmental disasters that some say are financed by your bank, Wells Fargo,” the 29-year-old congresswoman told CEO Tim Sloan during a hearing of the House Financial Services Committee, which was examining the bank’s practices.

    She then cited an opinion piece which linked the bank to private prisons, for-profit immigration detention centers, loan shark payday lending schemes and accused Wells Fargo of “holding much of the bond debt strangling Puerto Rico’s efforts to lift itself out of its financial crisis.”

    “Is it true Wells Fargo invested or financed in some of these industries?” the New York Democrat asked.

    Sloan answered by saying that the bank was pulling out of relationships with two private prison companies – GEO Group and CoreCivic – with one exit finalized and the other still being completed.

    The CEO couldn’t remember which separation was done. Both companies have been involved with immigration detention.

    “Why was the bank involved in the caging of children, and financing the caging of children to begin with?” Ocasio-Cortez then asked.

    A taken-aback Sloan didn’t answer her question directly.

    “I don’t know how to answer that question because we weren’t,” he said. “For a period of time, we were involved in financing one of the firms. We aren’t anymore. I’m not familiar with the specific assertions that you’re making, but we weren’t directly involved in that.”

    Ocasio-Cortez tried to firm up the link. “OK, so these companies run private detention facilities run by ICE, which is involved in caging children, but I’ll move on,” she said.

    She quickly pivoted to whether Wells Fargo should have to pay for environmental clean-up when one of the projects the bank financed, like the Dakota Access Pipeline, goes awry.

    “So hypothetically, if there was a leak from the Dakota Access Pipeline, why shouldn’t Wells Fargo pay for the cleanup of it, since it paid for the construction of the pipeline itself?” she asked.

    Sloan answered in the negative explaining that his bank does not operate the pipeline.

    Ocasio-Cortez asked why Wells Fargo financed the pipeline “when it was widely seen to be environmentally unstable.”

    “Again the reason we were one of the 17 or 19 banks that financed that is because our team reviewed the environmental impact and we concluded that it was a risk that we were willing to take,” Sloan answered.

    And with that, Ocasio-Cortez ran out of time.

  14. Bystander says:

    OBJ people..not even a mention. Sorry, it does not seem enough for such a talent. Sure he is a headcase but you are now down a weapon with abysmal line and QB play not changing anytime soon. Barkley is great out of backfield but there was already too much pressure on him for young player. Don’t get it.

  15. Blue Ribbon Teacher says:

    As a Giants fan, I couldn’t wait for OBJ to go. Big win for the Giants.

  16. chicagofinance says:

    If you have a real job, the work is endless…. you learn to prioritize, triage, delegate, to focus on efficiency, working smarter – not harder…… to avoid the superfluous and unnecessary…. manage those around you, and under you, to help you achieve the above….. the “breaks” are mental breaks, so you can clear you mind to be creative….. if you have an empty queue, then it speaks volumes…..

    The Great Pumpkin says:
    March 13, 2019 at 7:55 am
    Home,

    Are you a white collar professional? Name one white collar profession that works 24/7 while at work. No way, no how. You attack the work as it comes. Sometimes you have to wait…it’s not automatic work lined up. That’s why you are not paid by the hour.

  17. Blue Ribbon Teacher says:

    Basically, Giants are committed to rebuilding. Playoffs this year? Doubtful. But those draft picks are very valuable.

  18. Bystander says:

    BRT,

    I would have liked one more season, just because Giants were competitive and lost many close heartbreakers. OBJ wants to win and he is emotional . No I don’t like his attitude. He is not a leader but can be led. I thought Barkley might reach him. You don’t give up a top 5 playmaker especially when you are sticking with fragile, shell player QB.

  19. Libturd, can't say I didn't warn you. says:

    As a Giants fan, I couldn’t wait for OBJ to go. Big win for the Giants.

    Me too.

    This is how I bet it went down. The Giant’s offered him that monstrous contract in exchange for a toned down OBJ. I’m sure he promised management he would turn off his big mouth in exchange for the contract he demanded. Immediately after signing, he goes on TV and essentially badmouths the Giants and their ownership.

    Ownership simply had enough of him. It’s not easy to forget the dog pissing in the endzone celebration, nor was it easy to forget his abhorrent performance (in the most important game of his career) after the morning he walked around a sub zero Lambeau Field with no shirt on claiming the cold doesn’t affect him.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fyrc_9oRYaM

    Good riddance asshole. It’s not only about you. Sadly, the Browns are a huge upgrade for him.

    Fans forget the business side of the game. These sports teams are no more than hobbies for their owners. At the end of the day, it doesn’t matter if they win or lose. Some rich people want to be the governor, other rich people want to run a football team. At the end of the day, it doesn’t matter if the team or the state loses. They both got to make believe they are important, which the money itself didn’t do for them.

  20. D-FENS says:

    I have decided I am only staying in this godforsaken state for the taylor ham, egg and cheese on everything bagel sandwiches.

    SPK

  21. Joe says:

    I bet I could replace what you do at your job with a Python script.

    “The Great Pumpkin says:
    March 13, 2019 at 7:55 am
    Home,

    Are you a white collar professional? Name one white collar profession that works 24/7 while at work. No way, no how. You attack the work as it comes. Sometimes you have to wait…it’s not automatic work lined up. That’s why you are not paid by the hour.”

  22. Blue Ribbon Teacher says:

    I have a friend that moved to Alaska. He buys the Taylor Ham gigantic rolls every time he visits. Sticks them in the freezer and packs his luggage.

  23. Blue Ribbon Teacher says:

    I would put up with all the issues that OBJ has if he actually caught the football when it matters. Whenever it did matter, he was a choker. Amazing talent, awful work ethic and attitude.

  24. Fast Eddie says:

    OBJ – He missed a good amount of playing time the last few years as well. I love watching him when he’s on but I think it was more about attitude that did him in. The Giants are stock-piling picks, too.

  25. Juice Box says:

    I remember that story about the Pork Roll company firing the worker for farting too much.

    I haven’t had the appetite to order a pork roll egg and cheese since then.

    https://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/pork-company-fires-400-pound-man-farting-suit-article-1.2383377

  26. The Great Pumpkin says:

    Think what you will…

  27. joyce says:

    N.J. wants to send extra $15M to Lakewood for private schoolers. Why didn’t it tell anyone?
    https://www.nj.com/education/2019/03/nj-wants-to-send-extra-15m-to-lakewood-for-private-schoolers-why-didnt-it-tell-anyone.html

  28. The Original NJ ExPat says:

    joyce – I’m a fan of Austrian Economics, but I’m not a fan of this part. I have a friend who, otherwise smart, you cannot mention inflation around because he is on a religious jihad against even discussing the inflation rate because of this. Unless I’m mistaken, the below definition has no numbers and no units. The only way we can carry on a conversation is if we call “my” inflation price inflation and “his” inflation monetary inflation (even though we can’t discuss his, because it has no numbers or units).

    To use the Austrian definition you need to know 1.) The sum of all values, 2.) The sum of all “money” and be able to create some numerical relationship, which nobody I’ve spoken to can name.

    In addition, there is “liquidity preference” and “velocity”, neither of which are accounted for. Also, Austrians hate fractional reserve lending, but that’s what we have, so that is not accounted for either.

    Liqutidity preference – If I just got a bonus and 1 year CD rates are at 0.7%, as they were a few years ago, I might choose not to save that money. Now a 1 year CD is at 2.5%, so I might choose to save instead of spend. It’s a real thing.

    Velocity of money – I have a worn out pair of shoes, nice leather burgundy penny loafers from many years ago. The uppers look great, but the soles are shot. I drop them off at the shoemaker and he tells me they will be done in 5 days for $12. A couple while before or after he might tell me that they would be done for $10 and they would be done in 3 days. If he needs money faster, he works faster, even at a lower price. He collects my money, pays his bills, buys food, etc. That is velocity. How fast money turns over from person to person is also a real thing.

    Money creation – Yes, the Feds (Treasury and FOMC) create or destroy money. So do banks. Fractional lending lends money into creation and lack of lending and paid off or defaulted loans contract money in the system.

    Bottom line – There is a supply of money, and there is an aggregate sum of values on which it can be spent (demand for money). These are not the only factors that determine (price) inflation. All three of the above have a huge effect too.

    It seems to me that the people I know who are staunch advocates of Austrian economics can’t ever discuss inflation except to say we have, it’s bad, and anybody who says it can be expressed as a percentage is wrong. Discussing inflation as a quantifiable number is akin to drawing the prophet Muhammad for Muslims.

    I subscribe to the Austrian / Milton Friedman (similar but not identical) definitions of inflation in that increasing the monetary supply is inflation, the cause… and the resulting asset and/or consumer price increases is the effect.

  29. The Original NJ ExPat says:

    Pumps finally admits he is all show. Big hat, no cattle. Three degrees, never attended college.

    I could never take a no show job

  30. leftwing says:

    “So, rich people now bribe people upwards of $500k to get into USC? USC? haha..”

    Apple doesn’t fall far from the family tree…

    Parents have more money than brains…why expect anything different from the progeny?

  31. leftwing says:

    “I bet I could replace what you do at your job with a Python script.”

    Lol. If it weren’t inappropriate I’d ask Ex to post his place of employ so I could short it. Hard.

    Any place that would actually employ him, tolerates what he must be like at work if his on-line insanity is any indication, and by his account has offices full of 70 year olds is a good bet for a firm downward trajectory.

  32. Blue Ribbon Teacher says:

    Austrian economics is a good theory in a lot of ways but the fanatics involved in its worship refuse to acknowledge the benefits domestically to tariffs against nations employing labor at slave wages like China and Mexico. They refuse to believe that free trade within the 50 states of the US is more than enough to be economically sufficient.

  33. joyce says:

    Expat,
    Again, there’s little if anything I disagree with. Though, I think your response strays from the point I was making.
    Think of all the articles touting low/no CPI increases after the financial crisis when the FED responded with “unprecedented monetary stimulus” through various programs. The [debt] deflation resulting in the housing/stock markets tanking was plugged with said stimulus (therefore tanked less than they would have)… and then the stock market took off unbelievably as ZIRP and other programs continued unabated. Some were once again flush with some form of money and they spent it those areas. The federal government never stopped spending so, for example, healthcare and education kept climbing. My overall point is the fact that consumer prices on clothing and toys didn’t increase doesn’t mean the money supply wasn’t inflated.
    ….
    To also respond to this point…

    To use the Austrian definition you need to know 1.) The sum of all values, 2.) The sum of all “money” and be able to create some numerical relationship

    The FED used to track M3 as late as 2006. But since tracking money “in all its forms” has 1) either become too difficult due to the various machinations/fraud going on in the financial sector, or more cynically 2) they don’t want to publish how out of hand it’s gotten.
    I believe the two variables would be M3 and the total assets/goods/services (a GDP-like measure).

  34. Blue Ribbon Teacher says:

    Friedman was right that inflation is ultimately always a monetary phenomenon it it’s causes. Friedman was horribly wrong on international trade. He reasoned that we should still trade with nations that peg their currency because he believed their own citizens would force their nation to float their currency to rise their standard of living. Never happened with Asia or Mexico…and in the meantime, we’ve outsourced the whole country.

    While Friedman has great work and great intentions, he is easily one of the economists most responsible for the decline of US economic power. Between his dangerous theory on international trade and the invention of tax witholding….he’s probably spinning in his grave.

  35. 1987 condo says:

    Trump just grounded the 737 max

  36. joyce says:

    Hear, hear. Every time you post this, I’m going to respond with how much I agree with it!

    I forget the exact chapter titles, but the exports/imports (trade) and inflation chapters of Economics in One Lesson really disappoint. Perhaps Henry Hazlitt couldn’t envision our government doing the wrong/corrupt thing for so long without reprisal as well as other countries being able to suppress their populations for equally as long… so he assumed that balance of payments would ultimately reverse trade imbalances. Even if it did, it doesn’t justify the negative effects toward our middle/low class during the transition.

    Blue Ribbon Teacher says:
    March 13, 2019 at 2:26 pm
    Austrian economics is a good theory in a lot of ways but the fanatics involved in its worship refuse to acknowledge the benefits domestically to tariffs against nations employing labor at slave wages like China and Mexico. They refuse to believe that free trade within the 50 states of the US is more than enough to be economically sufficient.

  37. chicagofinance says:

    Law Enforcement (jj Edition):
    The NYPD is investigating claims that a Brooklyn cop’s body camera inadvertently recorded audio of her performing oral sex on her boss inside a squad car while on the job.

    During a recent midnight tour in East New York’s 75th Precinct, the officer and her sergeant purportedly started getting frisky inside their car, with the female cop tucking her body camera into her vest, thinking it was off, sources said.

    But during the action, the camera switched on — capturing audio that left little to the imagination, sources said.

    The female officer can be heard gushing to her lover about the apparent sex act after they were done, according to sources.

    The recorded rendezvous was likely uncovered by a precinct superior during a routine review of the couple’s body camera footage after their shift, sources said

    “These claims are under internal review,” the NYPD said in a statement.

  38. joyce says:

    Maybe, he did a 180 before he passed. While this isn’t a full-throated defense, he falls back on what a lot of government bureaucrats do, it was wartime!
    https://reason.com/blog/2016/04/18/milton-friedman-helped-invent-income-tax


    I played a significant role, no question about it, in introducing withholding. I think it’s a great mistake for peacetime, but in 1941–43, all of us were concentrating on the war.
    I have no apologies for it, but I really wish we hadn’t found it necessary and I wish there were some way of abolishing withholding now.

    Blue Ribbon Teacher says:
    March 13, 2019 at 2:30 pm
    Friedman was right that inflation is ultimately always a monetary phenomenon it it’s causes. Friedman was horribly wrong on international trade. He reasoned that we should still trade with nations that peg their currency because he believed their own citizens would force their nation to float their currency to rise their standard of living. Never happened with Asia or Mexico…and in the meantime, we’ve outsourced the whole country.

    While Friedman has great work and great intentions, he is easily one of the economists most responsible for the decline of US economic power. Between his dangerous theory on international trade and the invention of tax witholding….he’s probably spinning in his grave.

  39. Juice Box says:

    Here is the real problem with the 737 Max, you should always buy the expensive option like the Holy Shit “AOA DISAGREE” alert light.

    https://www.reuters.com/article/us-indonesia-crash-boeing-aoa/optional-warning-light-could-have-aided-lion-air-engineers-before-crash-experts-idUSKCN1NZ0QL

  40. 1987 condo says:

    Exactly, the American Air pilot union head said this am on CNBC that they demanded the addition of the second gauge….and that made his pilots then feel comfortable.

  41. The Original NJ ExPat says:

    2:27PM joyce – I agree with all of your points, too.

    As for M3, you are right that the government stopped releasing it for the very reason you say, but you might be surprised where it is today. Keep in mind that a lot of M3 was destroyed through defaults in the financial crisis. Believe it or not, John Williams of Shadow Stats estimates it to be lower today than it was in 2006 when they stopped reporting it:

    http://www.shadowstats.com/alternate_data/money-supply-charts

  42. The Original NJ ExPat says:

    Whoops, that was the year-to-year change. Here are the charts I meant to link. M3 is much higher today:

    http://www.shadowstats.com/charts/monetary-base-money-supply

  43. grim says:

    I thought the problem with the FAA grounding the 737-MAX was that it was the FAA who demanded Boeing add the software anti-stall feature that is currently causing this concern.

  44. Juice Box says:

    The anti-stall feature is there already Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System (MCAS).

    Boeing is going to push a software update in April to correct it. The biggest one being the AoA issue and the fact it pushes the nose down continually even after corrected many many times by the pilots. As reported in the previous flight on Lion air the one before it crashed, passengers and pilot said it was see-sawing up and down do the erroneous AoA reading, the pilots would pull the nose up and the MCAS would push the nose it back down apparently.

    There are 387 of the 737 Max 8 and 9 aircraft flying worldwide, including 74 registered in the US.

  45. The Original NJ ExPat says:

    Price level = (Money quantity X Money velocity) / (Supply of all real values)

    16: Inflation
    If quantity theory explains prices, then an application of it also explains price inflation. If what has been said is correct, then the sole root cause of price inflation is monetary inflation. In its simplest form, this is to say that if the money supply increases by 10 percent while the supply of values and velocity of money remain
    constant, the general price level must rise by 10 percent.

    It is far too simple, however, to define monetary inflation as merely an increase in the supply of money. There are three variables at work on prices, not one; they are not only money supply but also money velocity and the supply of real values. An increase of 10 percent in the money supply is not inflationary if there is also a 10 percent increase in the supply of real values, or if there is a 10 percent decrease in velocity. By the same token, no increase at all in the money supply would still be inflationary if there has been a 10 percent increase in the velocity of money but no increase in the supply of real values. Any one of the three variables can move prices in either direction, but only one of the three — money supply — is subject to the control of the
    government.

    https://recision.files.wordpress.com/2010/12/jens-parsson-dying-of-money-24.pdf

  46. grim says:

    The anti-stall feature is there already Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System (MCAS).

    As I understand it, the original designs submitted to the FAA did not include MCAS – the FAA required them to add it. So now the FAA grounding the plane, because of it, is a little big of an egg-on-face situation for them.

  47. Bruiser says:

    Juice Box, 10:04 AM
    Huffman did not pay a $15,000 donation to get her kid into a top tier school, she paid a fraudster $15,000 to take the SAT exam for her kid. In other words, she couldn’t “donate $15,000 to the library instead” because her kid can’t spell library and was a non-qualifier. Lori Loughlin at least had the sense to pay $500,000 so USC would not only accept her smart-as-a-box-of-rocks kids, but also to not ask any questions and just give them the “Gentleman’s C”.

  48. Juice Box says:

    How could TMZ not have video of the Lori Loughlin arrest today? How the heck am I going to get my daily dose of Schadenfreude?

  49. Juice Box says:

    Grim – Story in WSJ today says MCAS was part of the design, and it’s existence was withheld from Pilots and the FAA.

    Apartently the plane is off balance by design to improve fuel efficiency.

    https://theaircurrent.com/aviation-safety/what-is-the-boeing-737-max-maneuvering-characteristics-augmentation-system-mcas-jt610/

  50. joyce says:

    Yup. I guess what started this conversation was the Leftwing used the term inflation but (in my opinion) was referring to general price level.

    I define them differently, but to each their own.

    The Original NJ ExPat says:
    March 13, 2019 at 3:24 pm
    Price level = (Money quantity X Money velocity) / (Supply of all real values)

    16: Inflation

  51. Juice Box says:

    Did I just see a financial formula on inflation? Finance is not a science even though financial theories resemble scientific or mathematical formulas.

    It’s all cover, inflation that is. A man-made cover for a continuous treadmill of asset bubbles that can not be stopped.

    A nice way to put it is we are subsidizing a “free lunch” by stealing from someone else. It works well well when the population shares in some of the subsidy or the free lunch. But if the general population becomes aware of how things really work as they got a taste of during the Housing Bubble explosion and the “cover-up” that followed liquidity and governmental authority can erode, which will then jeopardize the financial markets and the wealth and power of the people who are winning with the current system.

    There is also a darker explanation other than free lunch but I like to term “free lunch” as such.

  52. chicagofinance says:

    Juice: I use the cliche “you cannot get blood from a stone” a lot.

    Usually in the context of describing fixed income, or else annuities.

  53. chicagofinance says:

    BTW: The typical SJW on Facebook who cakewalked into elite colleges in the 1980’s are out there full throated today railing on legacies and white people again.

    Sickening……

  54. The Original NJ ExPat says:

    No, you saw a formula for price levels, dependent on 3 variables, one of which the government controls.

    Did I just see a financial formula on inflation?

  55. Blue Ribbon Teacher says:

    Consequently, leftists will often argue that Friedman collapsed the US market via free market ideology. It was anything but that. You can’t have free markets when governments peg and cheat via tariffs. Markets reactions towards prices are very predictable and the idea that we could have balanced trade with a nation earning 50 cents an hour is laughable. Perot knew it, and told it to the public directly while Clinton, Gore, and Bush Sr all shook their head like he didn’t know what he was talking about.

  56. chicagofinance says:

    By Jacob Gershman
    Biography
    @jacobgershman
    jacob.gershman@wsj.com
    March 13, 2019 5:44 p.m. ET
    Prosecutors say the mothers and fathers charged Tuesday in the college-admissions scandal weren’t just deep-pocketed cheats, but federal criminals.

    To make its case, the government is relying on the same catchall bribery charge prosecutors have used to put crooked politicians in prison.

    The 33 parents named in an unsealed federal criminal complaint are accused of conspiring to commit what is known as honest-services fraud.

    The honest-services fraud statute, effectively an anticorruption tool, makes it a crime to cheat the government or private employer out of a right to the “honest services” of its public servants or employees.

    In Massachusetts, prosecutors are alleging that the parents conspired to deprive colleges out of the honest services of athletics coaches and administrators accused of taking bribes. The money for the bribes was allegedly funneled through a college-prep executive who has pleaded guilty to racketeering conspiracy and other crimes.

    The criminalization of academic deception isn’t unprecedented.

    In 1997, a federal appeals court in Ohio upheld the convictions of three former graduate students and two professors at the University of Tennessee Space Institute. Prosecutors alleged that the professors helped the students earn their degrees by allowing them to plagiarize their dissertations and thesis.

    The court explained that the professors owed a fiduciary duty to the university in deciding who should graduate and that the students intended for the professors to breach that trust. The plagiary scheme harmed the school, the judges said.

    “Awarding degrees to inept students, or to students who have not earned them, will decrease the value of degrees in general,” the appeals court wrote. “More specifically, it will hurt the reputation of the school and thereby impair its ability to attract other students willing to pay tuition, as well as its ability to raise money.”

    If convicted of the felony charges, the charged parents could serve prison time. Those who plead guilty early or paid smaller amounts of bribes probably won’t face more than a year.

    But the punishments could depend on how prosecutors or judges apply federal sentencing guidelines, according to University of Missouri law professor Frank O. Bowman, a former federal prosecutor.

    It is possible but unlikely that prosecutors could ask for longer terms of several years by factoring into the sentencing calculations the value of the benefit the parents had hoped to obtain—entry into an college—rather than the dollar amounts of the bribes

    “If you can actually calculate what it’s worth, it could become the basis of a sentence in theory,” said Mr. Bowman.

  57. ExEssex says:

    Sad sad sad….for my money you cannot beat a good State University.

  58. The Original NJ ExPat says:

    There’s probably a lot more nervous families out there waiting for a possible pre-dawn raid.

    Singer said he facilitated 761 “side doors” to admission.

    https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/college-cheating-mastermind-says-he-helped-nearly-800-families-admissions-n982666

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