Patt Morrison for Monday, October 11, 2010

PATT MORRISON SCHEDULE

Monday, October 11, 2010

1-3 p.m.

 

CALL-IN @ 866-893-5722, 866-893-KPCC; OR JOIN THE CONVERSATION ONLINE ON THE PATT MORRISON BLOG AT KPCC-DOT-ORG

 

 

1:06 – 1:39

OPEN

 

 

1:41 – 1:58:30

Garbage in, garbage out: frozen foreclosures expose flaws in the process

First Ally Financial’s GMAC Mortgage unit announced that it was temporarily halting foreclosures in 23 states because one processor, responsible for signing off on as many as 10,000 foreclosures a month, was not reading the paperwork he was signing.  JPMorgan Chase followed suit, PNC Financial Services did the same and finally on Friday Bank of America halted foreclosures on homes across the country so it could review paperwork in tens of thousands of cases for flaws.  Ironically enough, questionable lending practices that fueled the housing bubble have now led to shoddy paperwork in the rush to foreclose on many of the same properties that pumped up the housing market in the first place.  While the banks insist that the problems are administrative there are serious legal concerns about the validity of foreclosures and even the question of ownership over these disputed properties.  The reverberations are just beginning to be felt throughout the housing market and both Congress and the Obama Administration are starting to get involved.  When the history is written on the housing bubble and the resulting housing collapse, will it be a case of garbage in, garbage out?

 

Guests:

Kevin Stein, associate director, California Reinvestment Coalition

CALL HIM @ 415.864.3980

Backup: 415.430.8795

Backup: Kristina; kbedrossian@calreinvest.org

 

• Stein was the primary author of CRC’s reports, “Stolen Wealth: Inequities in California’s Subprime Mortgage Market,” which investigated subprime and predatory lending practices in the state, and “Who Really Gets Home Loans? Years Ten and Eleven and “Who Really Gets Higher Cost Home Loans,” analyses of home lending that explore the relationship between race and the cost of credit.

 

• The California Reinvestment Coalition (CRC) advocates for the right of low-income communities and communities of color to have fair and equal access to banking and other financial services.

 

MORE GUESTS TBD

 

 

 

2:06 – 2:30

Starting out young in the world’s oldest profession: children prostitutes in L.A.

Recently, an LAPD investigation examining whether local motels were catering to prostitution, led detectives to the room of a 13-year-old runaway from Hawthorne. The girl said that she and another girl were being held against their will and forced into prostitution by 34-year-old, Leroy Bragg. Bragg has since been charged with multiple felony counts, including human trafficking involving a minor, soliciting for a minor prostitute under 16, pandering by procuring a minor under 16 and first degree burglary. As the LAPD seek more victims in the case we take a look at the state of child prostitution in Los Angeles County. What portion of the reported 250,000 children that are said to be victims of sexual exploitation each year in the U.S. are here in California and how is the government addressing these cases nation wide? We discuss the misconceptions about how underage sex workers are handled by local authorities and what the city is and isn’t doing for these victims.

 

Guests:

Lois Lee, founder of Children of the Night privately funded non profit organization established in 1979 for the rescue of children from child prostitution

IN STUDIO

 

BOTH UNCONFIRMED

Representative from the LAPD

 

FBI agent that works on the “Innocence Lost” project

 

 

 

2:30 – 2:58:30

Forget about the brain tumors, cell phone bills likely to cause heart attacks

Anybody who has opened up their cell phone bill to read about a litany of confusing new charges, fees and restrictions can relate to the term “bill shock.”  It’s not just frustrating, but also costly and potentially fraudulent—Verizon just settled a complaint with the FCC for charging 15 million of its users “mystery” fees for data use on their mobile phones, something Sprint got caught doing a few years back.  While Verizon remains under investigation by the FCC, consumer advocacy groups say there’s a quick and practical fix that could help cell phone customers:  simplifying maddeningly opaque bills.  This week the FCC will release a proposal that would require cell carriers to notify users of overcharges and sudden increases in their bills.  Consumer protection groups want the FCC to go even farther and there’s pending legislation in Congress that would require cell phone companies to notify customers when they have used 80% of their monthly limits.  Will that be enough to eliminate bill shock?

 

Guests:

TBD

 

 

 

Jonathan Serviss

Producer, Patt Morrison Program

Southern California Public Radio

NPR Affiliate for Los Angeles

89.3 KPCC-FM | 89.1 KUOR-FM | 90.3 KPCV-FM

626.583.5171, office

415.497.2131, mobile

jserviss@kpcc.org / jserviss@scpr.org

www.scpr.org