IN BRIEF
State office warns consumers about mortgage audit scams
The Nevada Division of Mortgage Lending on Tuesday urged homeowners to be wary when considering contracting with forensic mortgage audit companies.
In a statement, the division said forensic mortgage audits review borrowers' mortgage-loan documents to gauge whether lenders have complied with state and federal mortgage-lending laws. These services, the division said, are marketed as tools that borrowers can use to get better loan terms or to influence loan modifications.
However, the division added, many of these audits are scams.
"Even if the audits are performed by a trained forensic auditor, a mortgage professional or an attorney," the division said, "there is no indication that paying for this service will help borrowers obtain a better or faster loan modification."
In Nevada, companies offering loan-modification services must be licensed and bonded through the division. A list of these companies is online at http://mld.nv.gov/Chapter645/Chapter645F_ IndependentLicenseeApplicants.pdf
Nevadans will soon see cash from Countrywide settlement
Attorney General Catherine Cortez Masto's office on Tuesday said that more than 1,500 people will soon receive more than $3 million in foreclosure-relief payment checks stemming from a multistate settlement reached in principle with Countrywide and first announced on Oct. 6, 2008.
In a statement, the office said all eligible Nevada consumers received claim forms and instructions in 2009. It reminds recipients that the checks must be cashed on or before May 13 and that the payments may be taxable.
The office said the Countrywide settlement includes several forms of assistance for other borrowers, including:
■ Affordable, streamlined loan modification offers to qualified subprime mortgage borrowers in Nevada
■ Waivers of default/delinquency fees, loan modification fees and prepayment penalties under specified conditions
■ Relocation assistance in cash for qualified consumers.
Recipients with questions about their checks or other settlement matters should contact the settlement administrator, Rust Consulting, at 1-866-411-6987, or visit http://www.countrywidesettlementinfo.com.
Convention authority chief will oversee national board
The head of the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority will oversee the U.S. Travel and Tourism Advisory Board.
Convention Authority Chief Executive Officer Rossi Ralenkotter was selected to head the advisory board by U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gary Locke on Tuesday.
The board provides counsel to the Commerce Secretary on government policies and programs that affect the U.S. travel and tourism industry, and provides a forum for discussing and proposing solutions to industry-related issues.
Ralenkotter has more than 35 years experience in the travel and tourism industry. He will be sworn in as the chairman at the board of directors meeting in April. The panel includes 28 other travel industry professionals.
ANN ARBOR, Mich.
New recipe draws customers, boosts Domino's Pizza results
Revamped pizza and a frank advertising campaign helped Domino's Pizza Inc. more than double its fourth-quarter profit as curious customers tried out its new recipe.
Executives have said that the chain decided to start overhauling its recipes more than 18 months ago after mounting criticism from focus groups and on social media sites. And it boldly admitted in a series of documentary-style spots that under its old recipe, customers complained its crust tasted like cardboard and its sauce was reminiscent of ketchup.
The company began promoting its new pie, which has a new sauce and cheese combination and herb- and garlic-flavored crust, in December. That helped the company's profit climb to $23.6 million, or 41 cents per share, for the three months that ended Jan. 3, up from $11 million, or 19 cents per share, a year earlier.
Removing one-time items, the company's profit was 30 cents per share.
Sales rose 8.1 percent to $462.9 million from $428.2 million.
Bill's Lake Tahoe site sold to Northern Nevada attorney
Harrah's Entertainment confirmed Tuesday it sold the Bill's Lake Tahoe casino site to an attorney from Northern Nevada.
The attorney, who acquired the site for $5.225 million, plans top turn the building into a strip club, according to the Tahoe Daily Tribune.
Harrah's Entertainment closed the 22-year-old Bill's on Jan. 4 because of declining business, dating back to before the economic downturn, Harrah's spokesman John Packer said at the time.
Harrah's Entertainment owns the 510-room Harrah's Lake Tahoe and the 740-room Harveys Lake Tahoe near Bill's, which operated 310 slot machines in a 18,000-square-foot casino and a small restaurant.
Sands Bethlehem rakes in $19.7 million in slot revenue
The Sands Bethlehem, which is operated by Las Vegas Sands Corp., had Pennsylvania's third-highest take in slot machine revenue during February, figures released by state gaming regulators show.
On Monday, Las Vegas Sands said it was planning to restart construction of a 300-room hotel tower at the casino, which is at the site of historic Bethlehem Steel Mill.
Sands Bethlehem reported almost $19.7 million in slot machine revenue during the month. The casino opened on Memorial Day.
The Hollywood Casino, run by Penn National Gaming, reported $19.5 million in slot revenues, down less than 1 percent.
The Philadelphia Park Racetrack had the highest amount of slot machine revenues in month, $32 million, which was up 5 percent compared to a year ago. Harrah's Chester Casino and Racetrack reported $24.7 million in slot machine revenues, a decline of 11.5 percent.
Pennsylvania's seven casinos as a whole collected $168.3 million in gross gaming revenue, compared to $145.6 million in February 2009 when seven casinos were in operation. The figure was a 15.6 percent increase.
SUNNYVALE, Calif.
Yahoo chief encourages shareholders to be patient
Yahoo CEO Carol Bartz says she hopes investors growing impatient for her to turn around the slumping Internet company remember how long it took for Steve Jobs to revive Apple.
In a Tuesday meeting to celebrate Yahoo's 15th anniversary, Bartz reminded reporters that Apple struggled for the first four years after Jobs returned to that company as CEO in 1997.
It wasn't until Jobs unveiled the iPod in late 2001 that Apple's profits and stock price began to soar.
Bartz says the challenges she has faced in her first 14 months as Yahoo's CEO have been compounded by the worst U.S. recession in 70 years.
Nevertheless, Yahoo is making modest progress. Bartz expects the company's first quarter to show the first revenue gains since the summer of 2008.
SANTA CLARA, Calif.
Microsoft boss promises to keep pressure on rival Google
Microsoft Corp. CEO Steve Ballmer intends to keep the regulatory heat on Google as his company strives to lessen its rival's dominance of Internet search.
In an appearance Tuesday at a search engine conference, Ballmer said Microsoft believes Google Inc. has done a number of things to gain an unfair advantage in the Internet's lucrative search advertising market. He didn't specify the alleged misconduct.
"We are expressing some of the issues and frustrations we see" with antitrust regulators, Ballmer said. "Sometimes (it's) unsolicited, sometimes because we have been asked."
