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The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is investigating mortgage finance giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac for possible corporate fraud, the agency said yesterday. Officials also confirmed that Lehman Brothers and insurer American International Group are under investigation as well. The financial downfall of all four of these institutions are seen as the major trigger of recent economical turmoil and the subsequent $700 billion bailout plan currently being pushed by the Bush administration.

FBI officials said Tuesday that the bureau is probing a total of 26 U.S. companies for potential fraud, but has not publicly named most of those under scrutiny.

Robert S. Mueller III, director of the FBI, told members of the Senate Judiciary Committee that the major corporate investigations are aimed at companies that “may have engaged in misstatements in the course of what transpired during this financial crisis,” according to a report by The New York Times. He vowed to committee members that the agency would bring justice to those responsible for any misconduct no matter how far up the corporate ladder they had to climb.

According to The Times, Senator Patrick J. Leahy (D-Vermont), head of the Senate Judiciary Committee, expressed to Mueller that, “obviously everybody’s concerned where the U.S. government’s on the hook” for up to $1 trillion in bailout costs. “And if people were cooking the books, manipulating, doing things they were not supposed to do, then I want people held responsible. And I suspect every American taxpayer — I don’t care what their political background is — would like them held responsible,” Leahy said.

Earlier this summer, federal prosecutors charged two portfolio managers of the now defunct Bear Stearns with conspiracy and securities fraud, following an FBI investigation into the company's business practices.

The FBI said that in addition to the 26 major corporate cases, there were open investigations into about 1,400 smaller companies and individuals whom the agency suspects of mortgage fraud.

There were only two. And then there were none. Bank of America's acquisition of Merrill Lynch last week left only two viable independent U.S. investment banks – Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley. But on Sunday, both institutions announced that they had received approval from the Federal Reserve to become commercial bank holding companies, a move that would subject both to tighter scrutiny and oversight by the bank regulatory agency.

According to a press statement released by Goldman Sachs, the conversion will make it the fourth largest bank holding company. Founded in 1869, Goldman Sachs already has two active deposit institutions – Goldman Sachs Bank USA and Goldman Sachs Bank Europe PLC – which, together, hold more than $20 billion in customer deposits. The company said it plans to move assets from other businesses, including its lending businesses, into GS Bank USA. With over $150 billion in assets, GS Bank USA will be one of the ten largest banks in the United States, the company said in its statement.

Commenting on the conversion, Goldman Sachs' chairman and CEO Lloyd C. Blankfein said, “While accelerated by market sentiment, our decision to be regulated by the Federal Reserve is based on the recognition that such regulation provides its members with full prudential supervision and access to permanent liquidity and funding. We believe that Goldman Sachs, under Federal Reserve supervision, will be regarded as an even more secure institution with an exceptionally clean balance sheet and a greater diversity of funding sources.”

In its announcement to the press, Morgan Stanley said it sought this new status to provide “maximum flexibility and stability to pursue new business opportunities as the financial marketplace undergoes rapid and profound changes.” The company said it will pursue initiatives to expand its retail banking services and build a stable base of core deposits. Currently, Morgan Stanley has more than three million retail accounts and $36 billion in bank deposits. As part of the conversion process, Morgan Stanley will also convert its Utah industrial bank to a national bank.

John J. Mack, chairman and CEO of Morgan Stanley said, the new holding company structure "offers the marketplace certainty about the strength of our financial position and our access to funding.”

Japan's largest bank Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group has agreed to buy an $8.4 billion stake in Morgan Stanley, the institutions announced yesterday. The deal will give Mitsubishi UFJ a 10 to 20 percent share in the company. Morgan Stanley had reportedly been in closed-door negotiations with North Carolina-based Wachovia Corp. over the weekend, who opted against acquiring a share of the Wall Street firm.

“This strategic alliance with Mitsubishi UFJ can put Morgan Stanley in an even stronger position as we look to realize the opportunities we see in the rapidly changing financial marketplace,” Mack stated. “As one of the largest commercial banks in the world, Mitsubishi UFJ would be a valuable partner as we transition to a bank holding company and build our bank services and deposit base.”

Just last week, both Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley reported profitable third quarters, unlike most of their commercial bank counterparts this year. Still, the two firms' balance sheets have taken a hit because of mortgage market turmoil, and they have been contemplating the transition to bank holding companies since last March, when the Federal Reserve opened its emergency borrowing programs to primary dealers, a group of Wall Street firms that included them, according to a report on Forbes.com.

As we reported yesterday, U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson is proposing a $700 billion government bailout for the nation's financial sector. Earlier today, Paulson, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, and Chris Cox, chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) all testified before the Senate Banking Committee on the subject.

Paulson's 3-page proposal would allow the federal government to purchase troubled mortgage assets from U.S. and foreign-owned financial institutions. Paulson told the committee that a program to stabilize the country's financial system must be enacted quickly to prevent a continuing series of financial institution failures and frozen credit markets.

Throwing his association's support behind Paulson's plan, Dick Gaylord, president of the National Association of Realtors (NAR) said in a statement to the press, “Many securities are being valued at pennies on the dollar due to the very high leverage ratio and illiquidity of certain mortgage-backed securities. Unrealistically low valuations are paralyzing the balance sheets of financial institutions and have hindered liquidity flow.”

Bernanke told committee members that the proposed bailout would not cost taxpayers $700 billion, rather taxpayers would be paying $700 billion for assets, which should eventually provide a return.

Speaking about recent institutional failures stemming from the housing crisis, Cox added, “Financial institutions in every regulated sector have been damaged, and every one of those investment banks, traditional banks, and thrifts has been vulnerable to the effects of this toxic mortgage contagion.”

Earlier today, in a media call urging Congress to include bankruptcy provisions for homeowners in the bill, Martin Eakes, CEO of the Center for Responsible Lending, told the press that Paulson's original proposal must be amended to address the underlying problem of home foreclosures and falling home prices in order to provide any real, direct benefit to the current crisis. Eakes explained that under Paulson's plan, 90 percent of the government's acquisitions will be complex slices of securities, thus having utterly no impact on the underlying individual home loans themselves. “Giving homeowners access to bankruptcy courts is the only solution that will actually make a real difference,” Eakes said.

Eakes was joined in his argument by representatives from the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights, AARP, and the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now.

Senate Banking Committee Chairman Christopher Dodd (D-Connecticut) and his staff have already drafted a counter-proposal that incorporates such direct assistance for individual homeowners facing foreclosure. Dodd's revisions also include a cap on executives' salaries, bonuses, and severance packages to curb personal profit resulting from taxpayer funding. In addition, the revised proposal creates an oversight committee for the dissemination of capital, and requires the government to buy a stake in the companies it rescues

Vantium Capital Inc., a mortgage investment company, announced today that it has acquired the assets of Dallas-based Acqura Loan Services, and two affiliated companies: Strategic Recovery Group, and Go Financial Solutions. Financial details of the transaction were not disclosed.

Acqura Loan Services was launched in 2007 and provides end-to-end customized loss mitigation services and special mortgage servicing to financial institutions. Its sister companies are Strategic Recovery Group, a 10-year old company that recovers charged-off assets and distressed debt for lenders and investors, and Go Financial Solutions, a specialty lender focused on portfolio retention and preemptive loss mitigation.

Vantium said it plans to invest in Acqura and its sister companies to accelerate their growth and to expand their offerings to clients, including hedge funds, institutional investors, government agencies and traditional servicers. Acqura will also become the servicing platform for mortgage assets acquired by a new fund, Vantium Capital Management, LP.

The CEO of Vantium Capital, Amy Brandt, will now also serve as CEO of Acqura. David Vida, founder of Acqura, will remain with the company as president. The servicing and collection companies, Acqura and Strategic Recovery, respectively, will remain in the Dallas area. Go Financial will relocate its operations to Dallas from Seattle.

Commenting on the acquisition, Brandt said, “Hedge funds and other alternative asset investors have been raising capital to take advantage of opportunities in the whole loan and MBS [mortgage backed securities] markets, but they need strong servicing partners with the skills and capacity to deliver customized programs and superior results.”

“Acqura was designed to deliver the higher service levels that are needed to prevent foreclosures and reduce investor losses, while at the same time finding the best solutions for homeowners and utilizing best-in-class standards,” Brandt continued. “In addition, the company has a highly experienced management team, proprietary risk modeling capabilities and seasoned asset managers and collectors. Vantium is investing in their growth and we will use these companies as a platform to develop, or acquire, new businesses that will serve the financial and investment markets.”

Vida added, “We were looking for a partner who understood our markets and was able to invest in our growth and be an additional source of assets. Vantium is exactly that kind of partner. We are very pleased to be part of this organization.”

Wall Street as we have come to know it in the mortgage banking industry is now dead and gone — both Morgan Stanley (MS: 27.09 -0.44%) and Goldman Sachs (GS: 120.78 -6.95%), the last two independent investment banks standing, have become commercial bank holding companies. The Federal Reserve first announced the move Sunday evening, saying both companies would need to go through a statutorily-required five day waiting period; government officials then waived the waiting period on Monday afternoon, citing consultation with the Department of Justice.

Both companies are now subject to tighter regulatory controls, as a result, but will also gain direct access to Fed funding that they previously (sorely?) lacked. In a press statement, the Fed said it had authorized the Federal Reserve Bank of New York to extend credit to the U.S. broker-dealer subsidiaries and the London-based broker-dealer subsidiaries of both companies.

Perhaps the most direct effect of the change in charter will be that both Morgan Stanley and Goldman will need to deleverage significantly from current levels. According to the Wall Street Journal, Banc of America Securities estimated Monday that Morgan Stanley’s current leverage stood at 34x tangible equity, while Goldman’s stood at 27x; commercial banks are capped at a gross leverage ratio of 15x.

For most on Wall Street, this is the end of an era; and what the future holds is pretty much anyone’s guess at this point. “All that’s left are boutiques and commercial banks,” said one fund manager that spoke with HW, and asked his name not be used. “If you’d told me bad mortgages could lead to this even six months ago, I’d have said you were nuts.”

“It would appear that over the long term, the new financial system will be built around the commercial bank model,” Ladenburg Thalmann analyst Dick Bove said Monday, according to MarketWatch.

Morgan Stanley will now be known as Morgan Stanley Bank, NA, with the parent bank holding company known as Morgan Stanley Domestic Holdings, Inc., according to a Monday letter from the Office of the Comproller of the Currency approving the Wall Street firm’s application to change charters. Technically, Morgan Stanley owned a state-charted bank in Salt Lake City that it converted into a nationally-chartered bank. Read the full OCC letter here.

The Democrats’ response to a request from Bush administration officials to speed historic authority for the Treasury to buy up bad financial assets is taking shape, and as expected, the Democratic response is looking to tack on a few key measures. A 44-page draft of a proposal offered by Senate Banking Committee chairman Chris Dodd (D-CT) would expand the Treasury’s proposal by adding in a provision that would allow the government to take equity positions in the companies it bails out, according to a Monday report in the Wall Street Journal.

The proposal also would seek to limit executive compensation for firms involved in selling their bad assets to the Treasury vehicle, tentatively named TARP, for the term “troubled asset resolution program” used by Treasury secretary Henry Paulson in introducing the plan on Friday. Read more about the Treasury proposal.

Dodd’s draft would prevent Treasury from purchasing assets “unless the Secretary receives contingent shares in the financial institution from which such assets are to be purchased equal in value to the purchase price of the assets to be purchased,” the Journal quoted from the proposal.

Perhaps most importantly, Dodd’s counter-proposal contain language introduced by Judiciary Committee chairman Patrick J. Leahy (D-VT), that would restore the possibility of court review of a Treasury bailout; the original version submitted by Paulson sought to give the Treasury secretary unchecked ability to bail out financial institutions.

House Financial Services Committee chairman Barney Frank (D-MA) signaled his support for the proposal being circulated by Dodd staffers Monday, according to a report by CQ Politics.

‘Lobbying hard’
HW’s sources on Capitol Hill suggested that industry lobbyists were pushing for provisions to be added to the bill that would protect financial institutions from the fallout of holding preferred shares in Fannie Mae (FNM: 0.79 +14.49%) and Freddie Mac (FRE: 0.85 +54.55%), which were seized by the government three weeks ago.

“Essentially, if anyone can make an argument that something is going to prevent a bank from lending, they’re making it,” said the source, a lobbyist who asked not to be named in this story. “Everyone knows there is a short window to get anything added in, and they’re lobbying hard.”

The American Bankers Association is clearly among those lobbying for members on behalf of preferred share exposure to the GSEs: the industry group said on Monday that nearly 27 percent of banks held preferred stock of Fannie and Freddie, while another 3.4 percent of banks hold auction-rate securities backed by the preferred stock. The average exposure to banks’ core capital was 11 percent, according to an ABA survey.

“The negative impact on banks — particularly Main Street community banks — is far greater than the regulators first thought,” said ABA president and CEO Edward Yingling in a letter to the Treasury’s Henry Paulson and the four federal banking regulators.

“The impact on capital from the Fannie and Freddie preferred stock write-downs will restrain even the best banks in this country from making new loans,” Yingling added.

The lobbyist that spoke with HW also suggested that it was likely that Congress would seek to add a proposal that would allow bankruptcy judges to”cram-down” borrower debt in a bankruptcy case, as well. No such provision was in the Dodd proposal put forth on Monday.

Below is the full text of the original proposal sent by Treasury to Congress for consideration:

LEGISLATIVE PROPOSAL FOR TREASURY AUTHORITY
TO PURCHASE MORTGAGE-RELATED ASSETS

Section 1. Short Title.

This Act may be cited as ____________________.

Sec. 2. Purchases of Mortgage-Related Assets.

(a) Authority to Purchase.–The Secretary is authorized to purchase, and to make and fund commitments to purchase, on such terms and conditions as determined by the Secretary, mortgage-related assets from any financial institution having its headquarters in the United States.

(b) Necessary Actions.–The Secretary is authorized to take such actions as the Secretary deems necessary to carry out the authorities in this Act, including, without limitation:

(1) appointing such employees as may be required to carry out the authorities in this Act and defining their duties;

(2) entering into contracts, including contracts for services authorized by section 3109 of title 5, United States Code, without regard to any other provision of law regarding public contracts;

(3) designating financial institutions as financial agents of the Government, and they shall perform all such reasonable duties related to this Act as financial agents of the Government as may be required of them;

(4) establishing vehicles that are authorized, subject to supervision by the Secretary, to purchase mortgage-related assets and issue obligations; and

(5) issuing such regulations and other guidance as may be necessary or appropriate to define terms or carry out the authorities of this Act.

Sec. 3. Considerations.

In exercising the authorities granted in this Act, the Secretary shall take into consideration means for–

(1) providing stability or preventing disruption to the financial markets or banking system; and

(2) protecting the taxpayer.

Sec. 4. Reports to Congress.

Within three months of the first exercise of the authority granted in section 2(a), and semiannually thereafter, the Secretary shall report to the Committees on the Budget, Financial Services, and Ways and Means of the House of Representatives and the Committees on the Budget, Finance, and Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs of the Senate with respect to the authorities exercised under this Act and the considerations required by section 3.

Sec. 5. Rights; Management; Sale of Mortgage-Related Assets.

(a) Exercise of Rights.–The Secretary may, at any time, exercise any rights received in connection with mortgage-related assets purchased under this Act.

(b) Management of Mortgage-Related Assets.–The Secretary shall have authority to manage mortgage-related assets purchased under this Act, including revenues and portfolio risks therefrom.

(c) Sale of Mortgage-Related Assets.–The Secretary may, at any time, upon terms and conditions and at prices determined by the Secretary, sell, or enter into securities loans, repurchase transactions or other financial transactions in regard to, any mortgage-related asset purchased under this Act.

(d) Application of Sunset to Mortgage-Related Assets.–The authority of the Secretary to hold any mortgage-related asset purchased under this Act before the termination date in section 9, or to purchase or fund the purchase of a mortgage-related asset under a commitment entered into before the termination date in section 9, is not subject to the provisions of section 9.

Sec. 6. Maximum Amount of Authorized Purchases.

The Secretary’s authority to purchase mortgage-related assets under this Act shall be limited to $700,000,000,000 outstanding at any one time

Sec. 7. Funding.

For the purpose of the authorities granted in this Act, and for the costs of administering those authorities, the Secretary may use the proceeds of the sale of any securities issued under chapter 31 of title 31, United States Code, and the purposes for which securities may be issued under chapter 31 of title 31, United States Code, are extended to include actions authorized by this Act, including the payment of administrative expenses. Any funds expended for actions authorized by this Act, including the payment of administrative expenses, shall be deemed appropriated at the time of such expenditure.

Sec. 8. Review.

Decisions by the Secretary pursuant to the authority of this Act are non-reviewable and committed to agency discretion, and may not be reviewed by any court of law or any administrative agency.

Sec. 9. Termination of Authority.

The authorities under this Act, with the exception of authorities granted in sections 2(b)(5), 5 and 7, shall terminate two years from the date of enactment of this Act.

Sec. 10. Increase in Statutory Limit on the Public Debt.

Subsection (b) of section 3101 of title 31, United States Code, is amended by striking out the dollar limitation contained in such subsection and inserting in lieu thereof $11,315,000,000,000.

Sec. 11. Credit Reform.

The costs of purchases of mortgage-related assets made under section 2(a) of this Act shall be determined as provided under the Federal Credit Reform Act of 1990, as applicable.

Sec. 12. Definitions.

For purposes of this section, the following definitions shall apply:

(1) Mortgage-Related Assets.–The term “mortgage-related assets” means residential or commercial mortgages and any securities, obligations, or other instruments that are based on or related to such mortgages, that in each case was originated or issued on or before September 17, 2008.

(2) Secretary.–The term “Secretary” means the Secretary of the Treasury.

(3) United States.–The term “United States” means the States, territories, and possessions of the United States and the District of Columbia.

A fact sheet released by Treasury officials Saturday evening, meant to answer questions about the most ambitious financial markets intervention in our nation’s history, has instead provided a rallying point for those who say the Paulson plan is a bad idea.

In particular, a section of the fact sheet suggests that U.S. taxpayers may be on the hook for the bailout of foreign corporations as well as those in the U.S. — a significant change from the language sent to Congress in the Treasury’s original proposal. The finance and economics blog Calculated Risk was first to notice the shift in language, which has sent a chill through many market sources that spoke with HW Sunday morning.

“Participating financial institutions must have significant operations in the U.S., unless the Secretary makes a determination, in consultation with the Chairman of the Federal Reserve, that broader eligibility is necessary to effectively stabilize financial markets,” read the fact sheet. See the full Treasury fact sheet.

That statement is in direct contradiction to the language in the Treasury’s original proposal, which read: “The Secretary is authorized to purchase, and to make and fund commitments to purchase, on such terms and conditions as determined by the Secretary, mortgage-related assets from any financial institution having its headquarters in the United States.”

In other words, the bailout would now extend beyond financial institutions headquartered in the U.S. to any company with “significant operations in the U.S.” Without a definition of what “significant” is; and that vague standard could be undone, too, if agreed upon by the Treasury secretary and chairman of the Fed.

Paulson defended the decision to expand the proposed Act’s reach on television Sunday morning, according to a Reuters report.

“If a financial institution has business operations in the United States, hires people in the United States, if they are clogged with illiquid assets, they have the same impact on the American people as any other institution,” Paulson is quoted as saying.

It’s worth noting that the Act gives Paulson and the next Treasury secretary the right to decisions that are “non-reviewable and committed to agency discretion, and may not be reviewed by any court of law or any administrative agency.”

In other words: absolute power, without the checks and balances that have long defined the American system of government. That left those already uneasy with the plan firmly against it, among the sources that HW spoke with.

“The Treasury can spend taxpayer dollars to bailout any corporation it wants, here or abroad, without any check or balances,” said one source, a fund manager that requested anonymity. “It doesn’t pass the smell test for me.”

Other sources suggested that expanding the reach to foreign corporations signaled a realization of the depth of the problem, but were concerned that officials may yet be underestimating the size of the mess.

“I’d have to question if the U.S. government is large enough to tackle a global financial problem of this magnitude,” said the source, a senior banking executive that commented under condition of anonymity. “We’re not really sure where the pricing floor for some assets is, and if you multiply that across global financial markets, it’s certain to be a very large number.”

U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, with the support of President Bush and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, is pressing Congress for urgent action to stabilize the country's faltering financial system with prompt passage of his $700 billion bailout plan.

Paulson's three-page proposal calls for the federal government to take over troubled mortgage assets that are weighing down the balance sheets of financial institutions and investors, and have been the culprit of large corporate failures such as Bear Stearns and IndyMac Bank earlier this year, and Lehman Brothers just last week.

There's “much greater risk in not doing this than in doing it,” Paulson said in an interview on Fox News Sunday. He later told CBS's “Face the Nation,” “I hate the fact that the taxpayer will be at risk, but the taxpayer was already at risk.”

The consensus on Capitol Hill seems to be that without some sort of intervention, an economical meltdown will be inevitable and such an outcome is a risk that the country cannot afford. But while Republican and Democratic lawmakers seem to be largely behind such a financial sector bailout, both groups are voicing apprehension about writing another blank check to the Treasury Secretary. Members of Congress on both sides of the political line, are calling for strict oversight for Paulson's bailout program, and Democrats are also petitioning for specific provisions to aid struggling homeowners and salary caps for corporate executives.

Earlier today, President Bush mimicked Paulson's call to action, and warned Democrats not to try to append “unrelated” statutes to the emergency legislation that could impede or slow its passage.

Senate Banking Committee Chairman Christopher Dodd (D-Connecticut) said over the weekend, “The cause of this problem is still the foreclosure crisis. It needs to be part of the solution.” Dodd continued, “That's not to clog this up. We need to act quickly and deliberately, and we will.”

Paulson, Bernanke, and Chris Cox, chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), are all scheduled to testify before the House Finance Committee on Tuesday.

This year's Five Star Default Servicing Conference and Expo is being hailed as the largest single gathering of default servicing professionals ever assembled in one location. The landmark event began its Thursday morning agenda with the second annual Lifetime Achievement and Humanitarian Awards Breakfast.

Two individuals were honored with Lifetime Achievement Awards – Donna Sheline with Chase and Mary Coffin of Wells Fargo Home Mortgage. Three organizations – HOPE NOW; No Paws Left Behind, Inc.; and New-Hab, Inc., along with its founder Tim Fuller – were recognized with Humanitarian awards. Gerry Smith, SVP of Community Relations at First American, made the award presentations and served as emcee for the ceremony.

Lifetime Achievement Award recipient Donna Sheline is currently director of the homeownership preservation office at Chase, whose parent company is JPMorgan Chase. In this role she is responsible for providing leadership and management for the development and execution of strategies, programs, and processes designed to maximize homeownership preservation opportunities for Chase customers and mitigate the negative effect foreclosures have on community neighborhoods. Sheline's expertise in mortgage banking is a culmination of more than 30 years in mortgage lending, which includes extensive experience in management, sales, processing, underwriting, and loan servicing. In the words of her colleagues, Donna Sheline's unyielding commitment to the end-borrower has made her a constant force of creativity and inspiration within the default servicing industry.

Mary Coffin was the second individual chosen to receive a 2008 Lifetime Achievement Award, and has been described by industry players as a visionary and as possessing a consensus-building approach to the business. Currently, as EVP of servicing operations and post-closing for Wells Fargo Home Mortgage, Coffin leads loan servicing operations for nearly 80 million customers. She oversees the mortgage divisions seven national customer service centers, statement and payment processing, default management, sales and acquisitions, tax services, escrow, and insurance operations. She is also head of the bank's servicing transition and integration group, which includes post-closing and business architecture design. Mary Coffin's co-workers and colleagues have said her philosophy of sound customer relations in all that she does is one virtue that puts her ahead of the pack in today's competitive and ever-changing environment.

The Five Star also recognized three humanitarian acts by professionals in the default servicing arena for the positive impact they've had on families and communities across the nation. Smith noted that in the two years of these awards, the Five Star has uncovered a multitude of extraordinary humanitarian acts throughout the industry, but has chosen to single out the following three organizations as shining examples of innovation and compassion.

HOPE NOW is the first ever industry-wide collaborative initiative of its kind. The Alliance has set in motion an aggressive, unified approach to help stem the growing numbers of foreclosures across the country through its community outreach programs, free preservation workshops, foreclosure HOPE hotline, and assistance letters to distressed homeowners. Since July 2007, the HOPE NOW Alliance and its members have helped more than 2 million families avoid foreclosure and stay in their homes.

No Paws Left Behind, Inc. is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to bringing awareness and finding solutions to the growing phenomena of pets affected by foreclosure. No Paws Left Behind has become the resounding voice of the helpless victims of the mortgage crisis that suffer in silence – the rising numbers of household pets and companions that are left alone in empty houses. The organization offers families assistance with pet relocation efforts when foreclosure leaves them with no other options.

“Out of bad, comes good.” That's the phrase that so well describes the Lansing, Michigan-based property preservation firm New-Hab, Inc. and its founder Tim Fuller. Looking to the future, in both his company and his community, Fuller purchased a local furniture manufacturing company, where he can transfer New-Hab employees when the mounting number of REO properties on his company's books begins to die down. The furniture company provides extended job security and opportunity for the community.

The ceremony closed with a special guest appearance by actor and comedian Jerry Van Dyke, who kept the crowd in stitches with his stand-up routine and flash backs to his remarkable and distinguished celebrity career.