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SEOUL, July 22 (Yonhap) -- South Korea plans to ease mortgage lending limits and take other measures in a bid to tackle the housing market slump and spur domestic demand, the presidential office said Sunday. The plan, which came after a government-private meeting, calls for relaxing the so-called debt-to-income (DTI) ratio, which serves as a major tool to control housing loans by tying the maximum amount of money that home buyers can borrow to their income levels. The current ceiling is 40-60 percent in Seoul and the surrounding Gyeonggi Province, the nation's most populous region. "We will maintain the basic principle of DTI and plan to complement irrational parts (of the system) for those who actually want to buy houses," Kim Dae-ki, the chief presidential economic advisor, said at a briefing, without elaborating. The growing number of people who can't afford to make payments on their home loans emerged as a major concern as policymakers brace for an economic slowdown in the wake of the eurozone debt crisis. During the meeting, which lasted nearly 10 hours through midnight, officials and industry experts agreed to a set of measures aimed at spurring foreign investment and tax support for small and medium companies as well as eased regulations on building new hotels and resorts, participants said. As a way to spur domestic demand, the government officials and businessmen agreed to encourage employees to use up their vacations during the summer, they said. Kim said the finance ministry will hold a meeting on Monday with related agencies to prepare follow-up measures aimed at boosting domestic demand in Asia's fourth-largest economy. The stimulus plan comes as South Korea's economy has been losing steam in the face of the eurozone debt crisis and a global economic slump that have made a dent in exports, the main driver of its growth. In the second quarter, Asia's fourth-largest economy is estimated to have grown a

Ownership of the most prominent development project in Tysons Corner splintered recently after a deal between two of its principals - the Cherner family of auto dealers and developer Aaron Georgelas - fell through. The Cherners agreed to a contract with Georgelas in 2006 that would allow the family's auto dealerships to be included in the Tysons developer's plans for a 6 million-square-foot high-rise development at the corner of Leesburg Pike and Spring Hill Road. The two since worked side-by-side to argue for county development rules that would permit an urban Tysons Corner and to integrate their properties.

Ownership of the most prominent development project in Tysons Corner splintered recently after a deal between two of its principals - the Cherner family of auto dealers and developer Aaron Georgelas - fell through. The Cherners agreed to a contract with Georgelas in 2006 that would allow the family's auto dealerships to be included in the Tysons developer's plans for a 6 million-square-foot high-rise development at the corner of Leesburg Pike and Spring Hill Road. The two since worked side-by-side to argue for county development rules that would permit an urban Tysons Corner and to integrate their properties.

The Swedish government want to increase penalties for issuing fake bills and have appointed a committee to look into the growing problem of billing fraud in Sweden. Judge falls asleep twice during trial (6 Jan 12) Fake invoice fraud on the rise in Sweden: report (3 Jan 12) 'Wheelchair man' jailed for four years for fraud (10 Dec 11) "The real problem is that there is no experience among local police stations across the country to investigate this properly. There is no organized or functioning cooperation between different agencies, which is remarkable," said public prosecutor Tord Josefsson to news agency TT. Josefsson has recently appealed a billing fraud verdict in Helsingborg, in southern Sweden, and is set to discuss these issues with minister for justice, Beatrice Ask, on Wednesday. According to Josefsson, harsher legislation is not the answer to the increasing problem. He told TT that longer sentences are not the answer, as the maximum penalty for economic crime is five to six years but that it is unusual for courts to give out sentences this long. "That courts sentence fraudsters to this long sentences is very uncommon. It really only occurs when the activity is seen as particularly menacing to society," Josefsson told TT. Ask, however, told TT that the police and courts need to look closer at this kind of crime. "It is developing at an alarming pace and is becoming a huge problem. Fake bills have become a major source of income for organized crime," Ask said. Although the rules need to differ between individuals and small businesses, it is vital that there are clear guidelines in both cases, according to Ask. "It's not all about giving out harsher sentences but also to see on a larger scale what problems there are. Maybe one also needs to question whether the current legislation is adequate," Ask told TT.

South Korea announced steps Thursday to bolster its sagging property market, including easing restrictions imposed on some districts of the capital. Seoul in 2003 restricted mortgage loan-to-value ratios to 40 percent and banned buyers from spending more than 40 percent of their income on repayments in three southern Seoul areas seen as most attractive to speculators. From now on, the same rules will apply citywide, with buyers able to borrow up to 50 percent of a property's value and spend up to 50 percent of their income on repayments. House prices in the Seoul metropolitan area have been falling for 10 successive months, with the latest April reading showing a 0.3 percent month-on-month decline. The government said it would also cut taxes on capital gains from property in the three districts, and would offer low-interest loans to a wider range of potential home-buyers in the capital. "We're rolling back excessive regulations adopted back in the early 2000s when the property market was overheating," the land ministry said in a statement. "Despite an increase in home supply... transactions in the housing sector are shrinking, while new apartment sales are also sluggish, hit by (economic) uncertainties." You can also visit us @ http://newscenter.springhillgrouphome.com/

South Korea announced steps Thursday to bolster its sagging property market, including easing restrictions imposed on some districts of the capital. Seoul in 2003 restricted mortgage loan-to-value ratios to 40 percent and banned buyers from spending more than 40 percent of their income on repayments in three southern Seoul areas seen as most attractive to speculators. From now on, the same rules will apply citywide, with buyers able to borrow up to 50 percent of a property's value and spend up to 50 percent of their income on repayments. House prices in the Seoul metropolitan area have been falling for 10 successive months, with the latest April reading showing a 0.3 percent month-on-month decline. The government said it would also cut taxes on capital gains from property in the three districts, and would offer low-interest loans to a wider range of potential home-buyers in the capital. "We're rolling back excessive regulations adopted back in the early 2000s when the property market was overheating," the land ministry said in a statement. "Despite an increase in home supply... transactions in the housing sector are shrinking, while new apartment sales are also sluggish, hit by (economic) uncertainties."

South Korea announced steps Thursday to bolster its sagging property market, including easing restrictions imposed on some districts of the capital. Seoul in 2003 restricted mortgage loan-to-value ratios to 40 percent and banned buyers from spending more than 40 percent of their income on repayments in three southern Seoul areas seen as most attractive to speculators. From now on, the same rules will apply citywide, with buyers able to borrow up to 50 percent of a property's value and spend up to 50 percent of their income on repayments. House prices in the Seoul metropolitan area have been falling for 10 successive months, with the latest April reading showing a 0.3 percent month-on-month decline. The government said it would also cut taxes on capital gains from property in the three districts, and would offer low-interest loans to a wider range of potential home-buyers in the capital. "We're rolling back excessive regulations adopted back in the early 2000s when the property market was overheating," the land ministry said in a statement. "Despite an increase in home supply... transactions in the housing sector are shrinking, while new apartment sales are also sluggish, hit by (economic) uncertainties."

"springhill group seoul korea Multiply-Korea`s largest bank reports 3,000 cases of loa... http://springhillgrouphome.multiply.com/journal/item/124/Koreas-largest-bank-reports-3000-cases-of-loan-doc-fraud-    Korea`s largest bank Kookmin has had 3,000 cases of document manipulation in applications for collective loans for intermediate payment. The bank said five people recently filed a petition to police after suffering losses from manipulation of related documents by bank staff, and has launched an investigation into similar cases. According to the Financial Supervisory Service and the bank, Kookmin probed between the end of last month and Aug. 10 manipulation cases on 200,000 collective loans for intermediate payment on 850 reconstruction and redevelopment apartment sites, and discovered more than 3,000 fraud cases. According to the bank`s findings, most cases involved employee manipulation of the expiration date of collective loans for intermediate payment. In the past, three years of maturity have typically been written for collective loans for intermediate payment regardless of when the borrower would move to the house. If the bank`s headquarters reduced the time to 26 or 27 months, however, bank employees would scrape out the number and put in three years again. If the lending period is shorter than the date written in the contract, the borrower would be pressured for repayment. Collective loans for intermediate payment are shifted to lending with home collateral. So a person can move into a house before the lending maturity expires, but failure to move in within the time frame would mean he or she must make the intermediate payment because it is not shifted to a home equity loan. Since the number of manipulation cases was bigger than expected, a massive filing of lawsuits is likely. Fraud was considerable in cases of apartments that people had signed contracts on, an area that has seen many conflicts between builders and banks. A financial regulatory source

The shorter forms, set to be adopted by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, will demonstrate buyers more evidently the terms and cost of a home loan. The federal government's consumer financial watchdog will necessitate lenders to issue shorter, easier-to-understand mortgage disclosure forms to home buyers that more noticeably show the costs and terms of the loans. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau plans to issue the rule Wednesday, November 20, subsequent through on what was an initiative launched in 2011 as the then-fledgling agency's first major action. The early Know Before You Owe forms were welcomed by consumer and industry groups as a development more than the more intricate disclosures essential under federal law for more than 30 years. The bureau said the new forms would make it easier for home buyers to compare loan offers. "Taking out a mortgage is one of the biggest financial decisions a consumer will ever make," said Richard Cordray, the bureau's director. "Our new Know Before You Owe mortgage forms improve consumerunderstanding, aid comparison shopping and help prevent closing … surprises for consumers." Lenders will be mandated to use the new forms, available in English and Spanish, starting Aug. 1, 2015. The forms will be given to potential home buyers when they apply for a mortgage and when they close on the loan. They will make available the detailed information like the estimated monthly principal and interest payments, closing costs and any prepayment penalties or balloon payments. The latest loan estimate form and the closing disclosure form use large and bold type for important information like the interest rate and feature highlighted headings and terms to make them easier to read.