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STATE OF AFFAIRS: WEST » IN THE NEWS Los Angeles Sues Nation's Largest Banks The city of Los Angeles launched a series of lawsuits against three of the nation's largest banks—Bank of America, Citigroup, and Wells Fargo—alleging they persisted in discriminatory lending practices that contributed to more than 200,000 foreclosures between 2008 and 2012 that cost the city more than $1.2 billion. "Today we begin to address the devastating consequences of the foreclosure crisis in America's second largest city," Mike Feuer, Los Angeles city attorney, said in a press statement. "These lawsuits send the firm message that we will use every tool at our disposal to fight for all Los Angeles taxpayers and neighborhoods." Feuer alleges in court documents that the banks "engaged in a continuous pattern and practice of mortgage discrimination in Los Angeles since at least 2004 by imposing different terms or conditions on a discriminatory and legally prohibited basis." The lawsuits charge all three banks with redlining and reverse redlining. Cited in the court filings is a study by the Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment, which estimates the more than 200,000 foreclosures in Los Angeles during the foreclosure crisis resulted in $78 billion in decreased home values, $481 million in lost tax revenue, and $1.2 billion in additional services to maintain vacant and foreclosed properties. The banks deny the allegations of discriminatory lending. A spokesperson for Bank of America told DS News, "Our record demonstrates there is no basis for the city's claims." The spokesperson stated the institution "has deep ties to this community" and said Bank of America has "a firm commitment and strong track record for fair lending." Citi responded similarly, claiming the lawsuit is "without merit" and saying, "We are disappointed that the L.A. attorney does not recognize our deep commitment to fair lending. Citi considers each applicant by the same objective criteria, which are blind to race, ethnicity, gender, and any other prohibited basis." Wells Fargo could not be reached for comment, but the bank reportedly told the 134 Los Angeles Times it maintains a record "as a fair and responsible lender." In the lawsuit against Wells Fargo, Feuer mentions the bank has already faced similar lawsuits from the city of Baltimore, the city of Memphis, the Department of Justice, and the Federal Reserve Bank. Wells Fargo's 2011 legal battle with the Federal Reserve resulted in an $84 million penalty, the largest the Fed has ever claimed in a consumer protection case. DataQuick Enhances Standard Recorder Layout with Expanded Data DataQuick, a real estate information solutions firm headquartered in San Diego, announced it has expanded its Standard Recorder layout to provide a more comprehensive view of properties and transactions. The new layout allows for the creation of a custom bundle devoted to key loan transaction intelligence, including data on 12 million loan modifications, loan terms on 4 million mortgages, interest rates on 600,000 loans, and details on 525,000 reverse mortgages. The result, DataQuick says, is a solution designed to offer greater insights to originators, servicers, and investors as they make businesscritical decisions. The Expanded Loan Transaction Record is also fully integrated with DataQuick's national property database, adding to its existing 305 million property transaction records and 127 million assessor records. "Lenders, servicers and investors need as much loan-level intelligence as possible to be able to properly gauge the risk and opportunity associated with specific transactions, properties, and borrowers," said DataQuick president John Walsh. "DataQuick's Expanded Loan Transaction Record is designed to provide the details needed to make the right decisions throughout the mortgage workflow." QuestSoft Named One of Orange County's Best Workplaces QuestSoft Corp., an automated mortgage compliance software provider, has been recognized as one of Orange County's top workplaces. QuestSoft was one of 50 companies named to the Orange County Register's list of the top small companies to work for, which was based on surveys conducted with more than 60,000 employees from more than 1,000 companies across Orange County. Employees ranked their companies in areas such as ongoing training, culture and atmosphere, pay and benefits, and social responsibility. "With 18 years of experience in the mortgage industry, QuestSoft's main focus has been to provide outstanding service and support to all of our customers; but being named one of 2013's Best Places to Work by the Orange County Register proves that our employees are just as satisfied as our customers," said QuestSoft president Leonard Ryan. "This award confirms to me that when your goal is to provide value and service to your customers, it reflects on the entire workplace." According to statements collected by the local news outlet, QuestSoft's employees praise the company for its flexibility, close atmosphere, and its general direction. "Work is personable and enjoyable at QuestSoft because of our shared commitment to customer service and management's attitudes toward an even work/life balance," said Jennifer Mathwig, integration specialist at QuestSoft. "This year has been a year of innovation, expansion, and satisfaction for QuestSoft, and this award solidifies the great leadership and energy every staff member brings to work each day." California Coastal Housing Unaffordable Again By Peter Muoio, Auction.com Research One of the earliest phenomenon that occurred during the housing bubble was the ascension of home prices that led to housing becoming unaffordable relative to incomes. This was especially acute in California coastal cities and spurred outflows to Riverside and Sacramento, which then in turn became overdeveloped epicenters of the housing bubble and subsequent burst. The cascade of markets across the nation from affordable to unaffordable was a key signal that prompted us to warn of the coming housing downturn. It now appears that this first symptom has cropped up once again, as almost all of California's coastal cities are now reading as unaffordable according to our calculations. Home prices along the California coast have rebounded spectacularly from their trough, with all the major coastal cities seeing

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