Todd Eachus-Why Do You Need A Per Diem When You Own A Home In Harrisburg?

According to Dauphin County Courthouse records located in the Recorder of Deeds office Todd Eachus and his wife, Ellen, purchased a home at 225 South Street in Harrisburg on August 30, 2005 from Anthony DiSanto. The records also indicate that they took out a mortgage from Wachovia Mortgage Company on the property for $100,000.00.

The interesting part is that according to records located in Luzerne County Eachus and his wife took out a mortgage with Pinnacle Residential Mortgage, Inc. a little over one year previous on April 8, 2004 for $136,600.00. It appears that this instrument may have been a refinance of their home located in Wyeth Place, Drums.

The Eachuses took out a mortgage on their home located at Wyeth Place on April 5, 2001 for $138,500.00 with Principal Residential Mortgage, Inc.
Previous records indicate that they satisfied a mortgage with Atlantic Financial Federal that was eventually assigned to Principal Residential Mortgage on July 31, 2001. Eachuses originally borrowed $156,900.00 on June 16, 1989 when they purchased their home at Wyeth Place for $189, 900.00.

A research of Pennsylvania legislator salaries indicate that Todd Eachus's base salary was $66,203 for 2004 and $69,647.00 for 2005.

Latest property reassessment figures for Luzerne County show that the Eachus property in Wyeth Place has a total tax liability of $3,660.00 per year.

Usually a per diem is a sum of money given to an employee to cover daily expenses associated with one's job by the employer. It is given for lodging, meals, and other expenses incurred while traveling.

Since Mr. Eachus has chosen to purchase a "Second Home" as defined in his mortgage on file in Dauphin County one has to wonder whether the travel expense is justified. Most companies pay per diem based on actual expenses incurred. But not our legislators in Pennsylvania.

Brad Bumsted of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review wrote a great article last December titled "Probing the per diem scam". The NewsItem.com published an Opinion back in September called 'Per-diem' payments should require proof'. As highlighted in the opinion legislators are paid the per diem whether they incur actually any expenses or not.

It would seem to SightsOnPennsylvania that if Mr. Eachus has the wherewithall to purchase a second home he should get off the backs of Pennsylvania taxpayers and forgo the per diem payments. The Newsitem opinion points out that Harrisburg legislators are not entitled to per diem. Since Mr. Eachus made a declaration on his Dauphin County mortgage of a "Second Home" rider it seems he should not be entitled to per diem. A home is a home is it not?

Per diems include expenses for lodging and meals. Since Mr. Eachus already has lodging then the per diem must be for meals. At a rate of $163.00 per day that would seem to be alot for food for one person. If that is not the case then is the per diem being misappropriated to pay for a second home? Are Pennsylvania legislators using per diems to purchase property and thus raise their net worth?

Mr. Eachus has made the assertion that lawmakers ought to be compensated for their time in Harrisburg. Great point. Todd, that is why you get paid your $113,000.00 salary. Mr. Eachus claims that the per diems are not income. Well, Todd, if you take more that you actually incurred what would you call that?

Evidently taxpayers are paying enough for legislators to financially fund the purchase of two homes and their associated expenses including heat, light, electricity, cable, insurance, property taxes, mortgage payments, etc. I wonder how those taxpayers feel who lost their homes this past year. Todd, those may be real expenses but there are those who suffered a real tragedy. Keep reminding us why we need to rid Harrisburg of the "stinkin thinkin".

I've got to pick out whats in the pocket So I can leave these pockets clean ....An' I know how your mind works Open your eyes and watch the roadworks Come on out It cant get much worse.

Tom Gabos Please Explain Your Income And Residency

According to documents on file at Hazleton City Hall Gabos Electric aka succesful businessman Tom Gabos and Peach Entrprises aka succesful businessman Tom Gabos have remitted a total of $3.00 to the City of Hazleton as mercantile tax since 2003.

In Gort's interview with Mayor Barletta last December the Mayor indicated a need to go after businesses that do not pay their mercantile tax.

In a search of the Luzerne County Courthouse Recorder of Deeds Office records indicate that Tom Gabos and his wife, Gale Zelenack, filed a deed for the purchase of their building located 105-107 East Broad Street. The deed was prepared by John P. Rodgers, Esquire and dated May 14, 2008.

The records also show a mortgage for the same property between Gabos and his wife, Gale, with the First National Bank of Pennsylvania with an address of One FNB Blvd, Hermitage, PA. 16148. The date of the mortgage is May 14, 2008. Interestingly, Tom Gabos and his wife, Gale M. Zelenack list their mailing address as 14 Airport Road Hazleton, PA. 18202. In the body of the mortgage Thomas S. Gabos lists his address as 14 Airport Road, Hazleton, PA. 18202 which is actually located in Sugarloaf Township and Gale M. Zelenack lists her address as 107 Fox Hollow Drive, Drums, Pa. 18222. According to other records Gale M. Zelenack sold her home located at the Drums address on February 9, 2007.

The amount of the mortgage was $90,000.00.

There is an Assignment of Rents document dated May 14, 2008 between Gabos, Zelenack, and FNBP listing the same addresses of 14 Airport Road Hazleton, PA. 18202 and 107 Fox Hollow Drive, Drums, Pa. 18222.

On the deed Thomas S. Gabos and Gale M. Zelenack list their address as 907 Lincoln Street, Hazleton, PA. 18201.

On July 6, 2006 Grantor Thomas Gabos deeded his property located in Sugarloaf Township to Grantees Thomas Gabos and Gale Rae M. Zelenack for the sum of One dollar. In Book 3006 on page 177642 located in the Recorder of Deeds office the following is noted for Certificate of Residence. I hereby certify the the precise address of the Grantee(s) herein is: 14 Airport Road, Hazleton, PA. 18202. It is notarized by Ann Fagan, Sugarloaf Township, Luzerne County. The Grantees are Thomas Gabos and Gale Rae M. Zelenack.

Here's the questions for you Thomas. Did you live outside of Hazleton for a period of time where you may have been required to resign your City Council seat over the residency requirement? Since you only paid $3.00 in mercantile tax what income did you produce to secure a mortgage for $90,000.00? Are you maintaining three properties, 907 Lincoln Street, Hazleton, 14 Airport Road, Hazleton, and 105-107 East Broad Street, Hazleton with that income? 

The voters deserve an explanation in light of the fact that the Greater Hazleton Historical Society claims it paid Gabos Electrical, Inc. $3,371.00 for the year ended April 30, 2006.

For legal reasons it should also be noted that Thomas Gabos and Gale Rae Margaret Zelenack were issued a marriage license on November 23, 2008 and were married before District Magistrate Joseph Zola on December 10, 2008. References to Gale being his wife in this post indicate the present status not the status at the time of the deeds. The documents are attached to the deeds.

Note: There has been a correction made to this post.

Every Day We Get A Little Bit Close To Socialism

When Rick Santelli launched his rant on the President over the Porkulus Spendulus package Obama's Press Secretary Robert Gibbs was quick to fire back. If you look at Rick Santelli's background he was speaking about financial terms that a part of his forte. Rick's Revolt became a movement for Chicago Tea Parties all over the country.

"Maybe I could have chosen some words better, but I think at the end of the day, what this boils down to is you have to treat everybody fairly," he said the next day on NBC's "Today."

He is quoted in this article by Phil Rosenthal. “I think most Americans would rather come up with a way to give a major tax break or subsidy to a first-time buyer that qualifies, help them with their down-payment. … I think the incentive is wrong here. … Really, at the end of the day the bait-and-switch on all these packages is they were originally about jobs, then all of a sudden the stimulus plan turned into a spending package. If you want to help people … make it so it is [about] job creation because that’s what’s going to stop the slide and that’s all that’s going to stop the slide.”

Santelli said the issue, in his view, isn’t political. It’s philosophical.

“I wasn’t for the first stimulus package under the Bush administration,” he said. “I’ve been very consistent on this. I understand what derivatives and toxic assets are. I was in that business. These things are complicated and I don’t know that the taxpayers should own them.”

The point, he said, was to encourage debate.

“I want the new administration to win this one,” Santelli said. “We are all Americans. We want to win this one. It’s a question whether spending our children’s money is going to make us win or not, or is it going to take its own time to heal, like a cold going away. And all this money we’re spending isn’t going to get a very good return and when it’s over, we’re going to be in the hole deep.”

This article found on Robin Ashley's real estate site illustrates an important point in the debate over the financial bailout plan for the mortgage industry.

Communities in the Fort Lauderdale real estate area and throughout South Florida market, hit hardest by the foreclosure epidemic are slated to receive tens of millions of federal dollars to fix abandoned and foreclosed properties and help low- to moderate-income people buy homes.

Notice the federal money is directed at a particular soci-economic group and does not appear to be available for everyone. We’re looking more socialist everyday it seems.

Over $540 million will be granted to organizations in the State of Florida by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). The so-called “”neighborhood stabilization grants” were awarded Friday to the nation’s communities most affected from the real estate slump. I just did not realize that those communities were specific to low- to moderate-income neighborhoods. In fact in my experience, those neighborhoods were mostly inhabited by renters.

How is it now in this interim “bailout“, that federal money is being sent to help those neighborhoods and to spur on homeownership in low- to moderate-income sector? Albeit this money was passed out last September so one might say that Obama isn't to blame for that one.

Well, this article details Obama's Mortgage Resuce Plan, the one Robert Gibbs said Santelli didn't know what he was talking about.

President Barack Obama's massive housing and mortgage industry rescue played to mixed reviews yesterday among a sampling of New Hampshire real estate and mortgage lending experts.

Getting the most early attention the day after the plan was unveiled was a provision that will allow homeowners whose homes are valued at less than their mortgage balances to refinance at lower interest rates. To qualify, the loans must be backed by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac and mortgage balances must be no more than 105 percent of value of the property.

Kurt Strandson, president of Radiant Mortgage, Inc., of Hooksett, said the new provision "leaves out a lot of people," especially when closing costs and escrowed money is included in the loan principle.

Overall, said Strandson, while details will not be revealed until March 4, "I have not seen anything in it so far that really sticks out as a means to help the amount of people that it was speculated to have accomplished."

Real estate broker Karen Coulters of Weare said further loosening of current rules to allow refinancing for mortgages that exceed 105 percent of property values would be "dangerous." She said "a lot of people who are in a good position" could say, "Why don't I just default on mine because if people are getting a break, then why am I making my payments on time?"

Mr. President, are you listening???? If the mainstream media stopped giving you a pass and started asking the tough questions we would really see this plan for what it is. Of course, enjoy their "pro bono" work for you now. The honeymoon never lasts forever.

Bill Clinton- Videotapes Refute Your Statements

Typical Democratic BiPositionionship from Bill "I didn't have sex with that woman" Clinton.

Former President Bill Clinton gives President Barack Obama an "A" grade for his first month in office, but tells ABC News that Obama needs to put on a more positive face when speaking to the American people about the economy and must keep pressure on Republicans who try to obstruct his plans.

Regarding Obama's bleak warnings that "the economy could get worse before it gets better," and that the economic stimulus program is only the beginning of the end of the economic crisis, Clinton said, "I like the fact that he didn't come in and give us a bunch of happy talk. I'm glad he shot straight with us."

Clinton gives former President George W. Bush a harsh review on the economy, however, blaming the Republican for the current fiscal crisis by not moving sooner to help struggling homeowners avoid foreclosure.

"I personally believe, based on my experience over the years with the economy, that if we moved aggressively on this home problem a year and a half ago, even a year ago, as much as 90 percent of the current crisis could have been avoided," he said.

On really Bill. Sit back and watch the video. News reports detailing the actions by both former president Clinton and current president Obama, and how they lead to the current financial collapse America is facing. The second half of the video is especially interesting, as it contains footage of interviews with Obama in which he details how important it is to force banks into making bad loans.

"But aggresively to take a great risk on these mortgages, yes...They would have not qualified but for this affirmitive action on the part of the bank, yes."

Tea Party Part III- To Pay Or Not To Pay by Sitafa Harden

Here is a paraphrase on an original article that appeared on OpEdNews.com.

To Pay or Not To Pay (My Mortgage): An "Untroubled" Homeowner's Hardship Letter

by Sitafa Harden


Dear Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner:

I understand that you’ve been busy coming up with proposals to help borrowers facing foreclosure save their homes. But what about me?

I’ve never missed a mortgage payment, but I am certainly a troubled homeowner. I’m troubled because, like most of my neighbors, I currently owe much more on my house than it is worth.

It seems almost irresponsible to me to continue paying on a home that is losing value faster than former President Bush‘s approval ratings. And the 7-year hit to my credit for a mortgage default would be like a gift compared the 10-15 years of payments I’d have to make just to get back the equity I had on the first day I purchased my home.

Basically, there is virtually no reason for me not to simply mail my house keys back to the bank, pack up my cat, and flee to the solace of the nearest luxury apartment community.

In fact, a part of me wants to do just that, but I’m hanging in there for a couple of reasons.

First, because I believe that stable homeowners are one of the last strongholds of this economy preventing us from slipping into a downturn much worse than the Great Depression.

And, secondly, because I have faith that the new administration will come up with an equitable solution to this crises…eventually.

Let me repeat. I have faith in the administration. So please don’t let me down.

My cat and I are depending on you.