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The luxury parking condominium The Parking Club is seen here in the Brooklyn borough of New York. If you live in a city and have a car, it can be tough finding an affordable space for it. Luckily, a slew of apps and other online services have appeared to help city dwellers find nearby parking spaces. (AP photo) This undated photo shows a plate of heirloom tomatoes grown and harvested in New Paltz, N.Y. Tomato was once considered an aphrodisiac; whether or not this is true, these fruits are truly tasty. (AP photo)
Aphrodisiac plants are as close as the nearest supermarket Money can’t buy you love, but it can buy you plants. And maybe plants can win over your Valentine. For millennia, various plants have been billed as aphrodisiacs. These aren’t necessarily obscure species lurking deep in tropical jungles and known only to shamans. Wander over to the produce counter of any modern supermarket and reach for, say, a pomegranate, and you are cradling in your hand a fruit revered thousands of years ago by the Egyptians for its association with love and eroticism. A number of spices, from lovage to nutmeg to vanilla, have been credited with the potential to induce love. A dish of rich vanilla ice LEE REICH cream could surely sway me in certain directions. Perhaps the effect of spices on sexuality was indirect; according to a 16th century source, anise seeds, whatever their aphrodisiacal qualities, also “make the breath modest and pleasant to the taste ... and dispels flatulence in the belly.” Love, for all its attractions, has also been associated with a degree of danger, emotionally or otherwise. And certain aphrodisiac plants, such as those in the nightshade family, can be truly deadly. Mandrake root is a nightshade that was said to incite desire for love even among those who did not want it — when taken in the correct doses. Too much mandrake root causes death. Another deadly nightshade, belladonna, boosted the attractiveness of 18th century Italian ladies by darkening their eyes. Belladonna is used even today — now by eye doctors rather than vamps, to dilate our irises for eye examinations (perhaps inadvertently still resulting in a bella donna, or “beautiful lady”). According to some sources, Shakespeare’s Juliet might have feigned her death by taking an appropriate dose of belladonna. Most benign and downright tasty among aphrodisiacal nightshades is the “love apple,” better known as tomato. Over the centuries, many lists of aphrodisiacs have been compiled. Even whole books. (Christian Ratsch’s “Plants of Love,” published by Ten Speed Press in 1997, is a modern example.) The lists include an amazing array of plants. Any plant generally considered to be a tonic or a stimulant, for instance, could make a list of aphrodisiacs. Among stimulants we find such common fare as coffee and basil, as well as more obscure and certainly more effective sounding “cup of gold” (Solandra brevicalyx); its aroma alone is said to be irresistibly enticing. Cup of gold is another deadly nightshade. Garlic is a common enough “tonic,” one easy enough to grow in any backyard, but you’re unlikely to lay hands on or grow a tonic such as Liriosma ovata, an Amazonian tropical plant know indigenously as muira puama, which translates as “potency wood.” Topping my list would be ylang-ylang, another large tropical tree (Cananga odorata) that I’ll never be able to grow, but whose sweet, tropical fragrance does make me swoon. Valentine’s Day is, of course, about love, and many plants can help demonstrate that. No need to crawl among tropical jungles. A red rose will do just fine, on the end of a cut stem or, if you’re a true gardener, a potted miniature rose in bloom — either one a purely symbolic demonstration of love. http://www.leereich.com/blog http://leereich.com
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Apps, other services help city dwellers stash their cars By KATHERINE ROTH Associated Press Many, if not most, urban homes do not include parking. So for those with wheels, finding an affordable home — for the car, that is — can present special challenges. In many urban apartment buildings, spaces in the garage are sold or rented separately from the apartment itself. Rents for a parking space in expensive cities like New York can cost hundreds of dollars a month, and parking spaces sometimes sell for over $200,000. A slew of apps and other online services have appeared to help city dwellers across the country find parking. “The most in-demand locations for residential parking are San Francisco, Boston, New York, Washington, D.C., Chicago and Los Angeles,”
says Michael Rosenbaum, CEO and founder of spacer.com and parkhound.com, sites that match up those with parking to spare and those in need of a spot. “Renting a car space from a friendly neighbor in your community makes sense, as it is tapping into under-utilized assets that are sitting idle all around us,” he says. SpotHero.com lists parking spaces — mainly excess vacancies in hotel garages — in the United States and Canada. Listings also include offerings of space in home garages or driveways. Park Whiz is another source for short- or long-term parking spaces. It’s designed to work with Amazon Alexa, so spaces can be reserved via voice commands. Parkingcupid.com, yet another service linking those with parking spaces to those in need of
them, also features a sample rental lease to give some legal protection to both parties. Experts warn that before you put your city parking space up for rent, you should check building rules. Many condo and apartment buildings don’t allow residents to rent out parking spots to people who don’t live in the building, especially when entry to the parking garage is secured and leads directly inside the building. Detached garages tend to have fewer regulations about parking space rentals. And for those in search of a secure and reliable parking space, going through an established service is often a safer bet than going it alone. “We always recommend that people go through a reputable marketplace See Parking p. 2D
KEPT OUT How banks block people of color from homeownership By AARON GLANTZ and EMMANUEL MARTINEZ REVEAL, AP Member Exchange PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Jonathan Jacobs had almost no savings, a modest income and a credit report marred by a disputed cellphone bill. But he easily bought a newly renovated row house in Point Breeze, a South Philadelphia neighborhood that's historically African American. “It took about 15 minutes” to fill out the paperwork, the career counselor said. “Now I pay less to own a house than I did to rent an apartment. That's the American dream.” Jacobs, who is white, got a special home loan from New Jersey-based TD Bank that is designed to help lowincome people and blighted neighborhoods, where banks are required to lend under the landmark Community Reinvestment Act of 1977. The law was designed to correct the damage of redlining, a now-illegal practice in which the government warned banks away from neighborhoods with high concentrations of immigrants and African Americans. But the law didn't anticipate a day when historically black neighborhoods would be sought out by young white homebuyers. So in-
Several lenders not serving people of color
Community Reinvestment Act inspections since 2009, even though racial disparities in lending remain as pronounced as ever. Reveal from The Center for Investigative Reporting analyzed 31 million mortgage records made available under the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act and found 61 metro areas across America where people of color - African Americans, Latinos, Asians and Native Americans - were denied conventional home purchase loans at significantly higher rates than whites. That was true even after controlling
By AARON GLANTZ, EMMANUEL MARTINEZ and JENNIFER GOLLAN REVEAL (AP) — Across America, a troubling pattern emerges in data analyzed by Reveal from The Center for Investigative Reporting: Nearly twothirds of mortgage lenders denied home loans for people of color at higher rates than for white people. But among the 6,600 U.S. lenders, some banks stood out for particularly extreme practices. Note: Unless otherwise specified, all figures below rely on publicly available Home Mortgage Disclosure Act data and reflect conventional home purchase lending in 2015 and 2016. Some of America's biggest banks had the worst track records. Among banks that took in more than 10,000 con-
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In this Nov. 11, photo, provided by Reveal, Rachelle Faroul, right, and her partner, Hanako Franz, sit outside their new home in Philadelphia. “I had a fair amount of savings and still had so much trouble just left and right,” said Faroul, who was rejected twice by lenders when she tried to buy a brick row house close to Malcolm X Park in Philadelphia. (AP photo) stead of lending to longtime black residents of Point Breeze, most of the loans there are going to white newcomers such as Jacobs. The Community Reinvestment Act “is based on geography, so it's perfectly possible to comply with CRA and have that pattern,” said Patricia McCoy, a law professor at Boston College who oversaw mortgage policy initiatives for the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau under President Barack Obama. “That's not the idea, of course, but the law allows it.” The result is nearly all financial institutions nationwide have passed their
2D The Mining Journal
Thursday, February 15, 2018
House to Home Mortgage Index 30-YEAR Rate-Fee/Pts.
15-YEAR Rate-Fee/Pt.
High rate
4.500
1
4.000
1
Low rate
4.250
1
3.500
1
Average rate
4.375
1
3.781
1
Hom e s
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for nine economic and social factors, including applicants' income, the size of the loan they sought and the neighborhood where they wanted to buy. African Americans or Latinos were more likely to be turned away in major metropolitan areas such as Philadelphia, Detroit, Atlanta and Washington and smaller cities such as Iowa City, Iowa; Sumter, South Carolina; Tacoma, Washington; Vallejo, California; and Little Rock, Arkansas. "We're talking about the same issues in 2017 that we were talking about in the 1940s," said Arlene Wayns-Thomas, president of the Philadelphia chapter of the National Association of Real Estate Brokers, which represents African American real estate professionals. In Point Breeze, signs of gentrification abound. White homebuyers stretch at a new yoga studio and brunch at a Zagat-rated bistro where the grilled cheese costs $11.95 and includes shaved apples and quince membrillo. Banks meet their Community Reinvestment Act obligations by marketing affordable loan
Ban k s
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ventional loan applications in 2015 and 2016, these two were the most likely to say no: TD Bank "America's most convenient bank" Headquarters: Cherry Hill, New Jersey The skinny: African American and Latino borrowers are more likely to get turned down by TD Bank than by any other major mortgage lender. The bank turned down 54 percent of black homebuyers and 45 percent of Latino homebuyers, more than three times the industry averages. The response: TD Bank declined to discuss its lending. Bank spokeswoman Judith Schmidt sent a statement saying the bank "makes credit decisions based on each customer's credit profile, not on factors such as race and ethnicity." It said an internal review of its lending patterns found that, after taking into account creditworthiness, its black and Latino applicants were no more likely to be denied loans than white applicants. Capital One "What's in your wallet?" Headquarters: McLean, Virginia The skinny: Capital One exited the home mortgage market in 2017. In the years before, it took in a higher proportion of mortgage applications from people of color than most of its competitors. But when African Americans approached Capital One to buy a home, they were more
This graphic represents a Tuesday survey of regional lending institutions. Figures are based on rates at Range Bank, First Bank of Upper Michigan, the Marquette Community Federal Credit Union and mBank.
products to the neighborhood's newcomers, who typically are able to get a conventional mortgage with a 3 percent down payment, compared with the industry's gold standard of 20 percent. Jacobs' bank, TD Bank, goes even further, waiving costly mortgage insurance requirements for low down payment loans. But government data analyzed by Reveal - independently reviewed and confirmed by the Associated Press - shows black and Latino borrowers have a tougher time. Government data shows TD Bank denied a larger percentage of African American and Latino applicants than any other big U.S. bank in 2015 and 2016. During that time, it turned away 54 percent of African Americans trying to buy homes and 45 percent of Latinos - far higher than the industry averages of 16 percent and 13 percent, respectively. In Philadelphia, TD Bank denied twice as many loan applications from African Americans as it made to them. But none of that is mentioned in the bank's most recent Community Reinvestment Act assessment, a 362-page document released by the Treasury Department's Office of the Comptroller of the Currency in October 2016. The comptroller called TD Bank's
likely to get turned down than get a loan. Latino applicants fared slightly better. They were rejected 31 percent of the time, the third-highest rate among major lenders. The response: In an email, Capital One spokeswoman Tatiana Stead said the company "either exceeds or is in line with industry benchmarks" when it comes to serving people of color and minority neighborhoods. "We have and will continue (to) work to ensure that Capital One's lending standards and our commitment to fair banking practices are maintained across all of our banking operations," she said. The economic recovery has been marked by the rise of mortgage lenders, which unlike banks are not required to follow Community Reinvestment Act rules to lend to low-income borrowers and in blighted communities. Ruoff Home Mortgage "A great name to know when you need a mortgage" Headquarters: Fort Wayne, Indiana The skinny: Since the housing bust, family-owned Ruoff Home Mortgage has originated the most loans in Indiana and is one of the fastest-growing mortgage lenders in the country. Although its biggest market was Indianapolis, with a large African American community, the company made 92 percent of its 5,300 conventional home loans to whites in 2015 and 2016. The response: A spokeswoman for the company did not respond to two emails and a voicemail requesting comment.
Citizens First Wholesale Mortgage Co. "Your hometown wholesale lender" Headquarters: Sumter County, Florida The skinny: Located in The Villages, a retirement community halfway between Gainesville and Orlando, Citizens First is one of the largest lenders in America to cater almost exclusively to whites. Federal lending documents show 97 percent of the home loans it made in 2015 and 2016 were to whites. The response: A Citizens First official did not respond to a voicemail and two emails requesting comment. The Community Reinvestment Act allows banks to draw lines on maps to define "assessment areas," where regulators should scrutinize their lending. Some of those that lend almost entirely to whites drew service areas that excluded neighborhoods where large numbers of people of color live. First National Bank in Staunton "Community banks care about their communities" Headquarters: Staunton, Illinois The skinny: The St. Louis metro area is racially diverse, home to more than 500,000 African Americans. But over two years, none of the 324 home loans made by First National Bank in Staunton went to an African American or Latino. All nine of its branches are in neighborhoods of the metro area that are at least 89 percent white. First National told regulators who enforce the Community Reinvestment Act that it in-
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so that their money is transacted in a secure environment and they have access to dispute resolution in case something doesn't go quite right,” Rosenbaum says. For those looking to buy a space as opposed to renting, the price tags in coveted areas are not for the faint of heart. But the amenities and long-term value are hard to ignore. At The Parking Club Condo, a stand-alone parking building in Brooklyn, spots include a valet service (through DropCar ) that helps deliver your car to or from airports, Manhat-
tan and much of Brooklyn and Queens, along with other luxuries. Car owners hardly have to go to the garage themselves. Simon Anderson, an associate broker with Douglas Elliman Real Estate who is responsible for marketing and sales at The Parking Club Condo, says that although most sales are in cash, the condo works with a bank that provides loans for up to 65 percent of the cost. “You own the parking condo just like you would a home, with discretion to buy and sell. And we’ve found that if you include a parking space like this in the purchase of a home, it significantly enhances the sale value,” says Anderson.
lending performance good in Philadelphia and rated it as high satisfactory for the whole country. In its review, the agency cited the kind of low down payment conventional loan Jacobs got as having a "positive impact" on its rating. Thomas Curry, who oversaw TD Bank's review as comptroller under Obama, wouldn't comment on any particular bank. But he argued that the Community Reinvestment Act needs to be updated. The current comptroller, Joseph Otting, declined to be interviewed. His office sent a statement: "The Comptroller is interested in modernizing the administration of CRA to ensure it continues to encourage depository institutions to lend to and meet the credit needs of the communities they serve," it said. TD Bank declined to discuss its lending. Instead, bank spokeswoman Judith Schmidt sent a statement saying the bank "makes credit decisions based on each customer's credit profile, not on factors such as race and ethnicity." It said an internal review of its lending patterns found that, after taking into account creditworthiness, its black and Latino applicants were no more likely to be denied loans than white applicants. TD Bank also said it actively works "to pro-
vide financial education to a diverse population of consumers." Its denial rate was based on prudent decision making, the company said, which has led to lower delinquency rates among its borrowers. TD Bank's approach is not unique. Collectively, financial institutions put $154 million worth of home loans into the hands of white borrowers in Point Breeze between 2012 and 2016, even as they denied nearly twice as many home loans to African Americans as they made in the neighborhood. This was true whether a black applicant wanted to buy a house, refinance an existing loan or take out a home equity line of credit. "They're trying to push us out," said Adrienne Stokes, a 58-year-old black woman, who retired from a career as a bill collector and now works as a home health aide. She's lived in her Point Breeze home for more than 20 years. Outside Stokes' door, the streets are full of concrete mixers and pickup trucks stacked with lumber for nearby condominium projects. The home two doors down, where a black family lived for three decades, has been demolished and is now a hole in the ground sold to a local developer who's building a three-story house with a roof deck.
Parkin g
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tends to serve two overwhelmingly white counties in the St. Louis area, stopping at the county line of St. Clair County - home to East St. Louis, a predominantly black city. The response: A First National official did not respond to two emails and a voicemail requesting comment. First Federal Savings and Loan Association of Greene County "People you know, the people you can trust!" Headquarters: Waynesburg, Pennsylvania The skinny: Like St. Louis, Pittsburgh is a racially diverse city with a large population of African Americans, but First Federal Savings and Loan doesn't serve them. Its branches all are in majoritywhite neighborhoods. Of the 554 conventional mortgages it issued in 2015 and 2016, 99 percent went to whites. Like First National Bank in Staunton, Illinois, it crafted an assessment area under the Community Reinvestment Act that includes overwhelmingly white suburban and rural counties, but stops at the Allegheny County line, where large numbers of people of color live. The response: In a letter to Reveal, the company's president and chief executive, Judi Goodwin Tanner, said that wasn't a problem: "While this statistic alone might certainly
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be used to attempt to cast First Federal in a negative light," she said, federal regulators had found "no evidence of discriminatory or other illegal credit practices." In her letter, Tanner stated that the county where the bank is headquartered is 94.8 percent white. It said the bank had approved nearly all nonwhite applicants who sought a residential mortgage. The Justice Department and U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development rarely sue banks for redlining. Only a handful of cases were brought under President Barack Obama. None have been brought under President Donald Trump. These are two banks that had cases brought against them and the results: KleinBank "A foundation of integrity and trust" Headquarters: Chaska, Minnesota The skinny: A week be-
fore Obama left office, the Justice Department sued KleinBank, accusing it of unlawful redlining of majorityminority neighborhoods in the Minneapolis area. Federal lending data shows the bank made one loan to an African American and six to Latinos in 2015 and 2016, out of 585 total. In its lawsuit, the Justice Department cited KleinBank's self-designated Community Reinvestment Act service area, a horseshoe around sections of the Twin Cities metro area where large numbers of people of color live. KleinBank is defending itself by citing its most recent satisfactory Community Reinvestment Act review from the federal Office of the Comptroller of the Currency. The response: "My comments are already in the public domain and on the public record, so I'd suggest you follow those," Doug Hile, the bank's president and chief executive, said before hanging up the phone.
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400 Acres, 12th Road, Bark River
3557 Co Rd FFB, Champion
400 acres of heavily wooded hunting property in Western Delta County that lies at the fringe of tillable ground near the Menominee County line. MLS #: 1106297 $269,000 ROB SULLIVAN
Year round access on a private Estate-type property with approximately 700’ of lake frontage on Fish Lake. MLS #: 1102975 $445,000 NATHAN BRABON
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160 Acres off Keranen Road, Erwin Township (Ironwood)
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Rustic camp located in Erwin Township on 160 acres of prime forest land which is surrounded on three sides by thousands of acres of corporate and County land. MLS #: 1104094 $130,000 SUE FELDHAUSER
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TBD Johnson Lake Road, Gwinn
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Log Home in Western Delta County on three acres with over 200 additional acres available. MLS #: 1106010 $499,000
W13746 Sandtown Road Engadine
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18489 M35 Little Lake
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Start your own hobby farm or just enjoy the peaceful surroundings of the Upper Peninsula with 38 acres and a lovely 5 bedroom, 2 bath home. MLS #: 1103593
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North 40 Nelligan Lake Rd, Michigamme
40 acres of high and buildable land located on the pristine shoreline of Nelligan Lake in Baraga County’s Craig Lake State Forest. MLS #: 1104318 $89,000
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Remarkable 45 acre parcel with over 2,000 feet of frontage on the Michigamme River in Southwest Marquette County. MLS #: 1101897 $199,900
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