Corrections: Donner Medical Marketing

In Tuesday’s story, the following was added to the article on line:

(1018 Oak Street, Roselle, New Jersey; Google)

The website www.donnermedical.com shows a 1018 Oak St. Roselle, New Jersey 07203 warehouse address and states the company was incorporated 25 years ago, 1990 went into servicing, and 1995 in distribution completing over $40 million in sales since inception. Incorporation shows September 4, 1986.

Allied Health and Donner Medical/LPV 102
 by Christopher Menkin
http://leasingnews.org/archives/May2010/5_18.htm#allied_donner

Kingsbridge Files Against Allied Health for $1 Million
http://leasingnews.org/archives/May2010/5_14.htm#kingsbridge

Classified Ads---Credit

Atlanta, GA 9 Years experienced small ticket Credit Analyst seeking full-time position with equipment broker/lessor. Resume available. Email at StuartJablonski@aol.com or www.linkedin.com/in/stuartjablonski

For a full listing of all “job wanted” ads, please go to:
http://www.leasingnews.org/Classified/Jwanted/Jwanted.htm

Other e-Mail Posting Sites:
http://www.leasingnews.org/Classified/Posting_sites.htm

Leasing company stocks hold their own

None of the publically held leasing companies stock is at its highest; however, the Thursday downturn did not hit them as hard as others. GE, a large conglomerate was hit the hardest, and Resource America, parent of LEAF Financial, did not move very much. It should be noted that most leasing company stock had a higher movement of stock trading than the last three month average, and considering the down market of the stock market on Thursday, are doing very well, definitely holding their own when others were unloading other industries, especially if they were doing business in Europe.

CIT GROUP, INC (NYSE: CIT)
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Chesswood Income Fund (Pawnee Corp.) (CHW.UN)
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FDIC First Quarter Bank Profits Raps Leasing
by Christopher Menkin

Don’t look for banks to start opening their doors to leasing companies yet. While their profit is up, many cut leasing products, as well as also experienced leasing portfolios loses, and want to have little to do with leasing, especially if they were stung by the recent frauds and mismanagement. Leasing is considered “risky” and those still in the marketplace have placed their interest rates accordingly to the problems they have experience, or have learned from their colleagues.

This is not to imply that all banks have this position, but there are fewer of them. Notably active are Arvest where Kyle W. Gilliam, president of Arvest Equipment Finance, made an announcement looking for more business; Bank of the West Leasing very aggressive, Key Corp Chairman and CEO Henry Meyer III saying his bank is “looking to expand businesses that have synergy with its community bank, such as its equipment leasing business,” or US Bancorp expanding not only its branches but wanting to increase leasing. And there are others such as Commerce National or Bank of Richmond, but at the same time, many are leaving the industry and others become more leery due to all the write-offs and outright fraud.

This growing not taking on leasing discounters and brokers can be seen in the Leasing News “out of broker/discounter list” (1) as well as the first quarter FDIC statistic showing the percentage of loans and leases that were noncurrent (90 days or more past due or in nonaccrual status) rose from 5.38 percent to 5.45 percent at the end of the first quarter, the highest level in the 27 years that insured institutions have reported these data.

At the same time, the FDIC reported commercial banks and savings institutions insured by the FDIC show an aggregate profit of $18.0 billion in the first quarter of 2010, a $12.5 billion improvement from the $5.6 billion the industry earned in the first quarter of 2009.

It does not match prior year earnings and it doesn't consider the almost doubling the first quarter of this year in bank closures to date.

It appears the closing of a record number of banks in the last two years as well as the increase in auditing and "cease and desist" is having a positive affect on the banks that are still in business as earnings are up, but much of it comes from exiting unprofitable products such as construction loans, land development loans, as well as residential loans direct and indirect, as well as getting out of leasing.

The number of institutions on the FDIC's "Problem List" rose to 775, up from 702 at the end of 2009. In addition, the total assets of "problem" institutions increased during the quarter from $403 billion to $431 billion. These levels are the highest since June 30, 1993, when the number and assets of "problem" institutions totaled 793 and $467 billion, respectively, the FDIC reported.

The number of banks at risk of failing climbed to 775 during the first quarter. The list a year ago was 350.

The first quarter report for the first time the decline in the number of institutions insured by the FDIC is now below 8,000. It is the first time that has happened in the FDIC's 76 year history. Two decades ago, the FDIC insured more than 16,000 institutions nationwide. It seems there are larger banks today than smaller banks of yesterday.

Further indication of the economy can be seen in the next report on housing and unemployment effects.

Leasing Companies Out of Broker/Discounting Business
http://www.leasingnews.org/Pages/Out-of-broker-bus.htm

Full FDIC First Quarter Report
http://www2.fdic.gov/qbp/2010mar/qbp.pdf

Housing and Economy Report
from Al Schuler, USDA Forest Service Economic Advisor

The April housing numbers were good “on the surface”. Total starts were up 5.8%, with an annual rate of 672,000, while single family starts were up 10.2% at an annual rate of 593,000. The strength was due to single family activity as multifamily was down almost 19%. However, permits, an indicator of future building activity, were down 11.5% (single family permits were off 10.7%).

Regionally, there was strength in all regions except the West which saw a 13% fall in starts. What do I mean by “on the surface”? Well, most of the strength in housing over the past several months (my opinion) has been due primarily to the homebuyer tax credit which expired the end of April. It will be interesting to see if building activity continues to strengthen in the absence of the tax breaks.

One of the best indicators of an improving economy (which is the key to a stronger housing market) is the jobs picture, and that is clearly improving, but we have a deep hole to get out of. At the current rate of job creation (April ~290,000), it will take about 24 months to recover the 7 million jobs lost in the past two years.

The good news is unemployment situation is clearly improving - If this continues, the economy will rebound and housing will eventually strengthen – probably the best single metric to watch for signs of improvement, as noted, the predictions is it will take at least two years more to get to “normal.”

(This ad is a “trade” for the writing of this column. Opinions
contained in the column are those of Mr. Terry Winders, CLP)

Leasing Industry Help Wanted

Sales

Interviewing Leasing Professionals With Proven Track Record and Established Book of Business. Envision Provides: 1) Established Funding Sources, 2) Fun Working Environment, 3) Full Benefits (Health Insurance, 401k), 4) Aggressive Commission Structure. Resumes To: careers@envisioncapitalgroup.com, Contact: Jeff Edwards (949) 225-1712 Envision Capital Group is dedicated to providing the best in class products and service to our employers, customers, vendors and partners in the small and middle ticket commercial finance industry. With over 50 years of combined experience we have the knowledge, skills, abilities and relationships to help you reach your goals.

We are looking for experienced business development  professionals with established vendor / client  contacts in general manufacturing equipment,  road maintenance, material handling , radio/TV broadcasting and other hard collateral. We have openings for in-house business development positions  and Independent Sales Associates. Contact or send resumes to: John Martella SVP 800 800 8098 ext 5209 or direct: 248 743 5209 jmartella@leasecorp.com

Seeking originators with 5+ years small ticket and/or middle market experience and with established customer and vendor relationships. Remote office and on site positions are available. Please send resumes to: jobs@teqlease.com Attn: Mike Lockwood or Russ Runnalls CLP www.TEQlease.com

Please see our Job Wanted section for possible new employees.

Letters?!---We get eMail!!

“First of all (and I'll say it one more time) my hat is again off to you, this time for apparently connecting the dots on Allied Health Care Services.

“As I mentioned in my earlier note, we were approached to do a lease with Allied last fall. In spite of several requests for additional information and for explanations about obvious anomalies, we simply could not get comfortable with Allied and decided to pass. While we had a number of unanswered questions, various e-mails to the broker cited five worth repeating:

“The company has provided only internally prepared financial statements and does not have audited financial statements. This is particularly surprising given the very substantial annual income, net equity, and total assets indicated in Allied’s internally prepared financials. A company of this size and with this income level would normally have transitioned to audited financial statements – for the potential of reducing its borrowing costs, if for no other reason.

“No Lessee Website. That Allied has achieved its size and remarkable growth without having a website is difficult to fathom in today's business environment.

“Lessee’s facilities are suspect – location, etc. [Kit: A Google search last fall brought up the same photo of the same (very “tired”) building that was in last Friday’s Leasing News.]

“Vendor on transaction does not have a website either and does not appear to have any established place of business – other than the residence of the principal. [Kit: This due diligence step involved a two-minute search on Google.]

“Allied was a bit too receptive to ‘C’ credit terms, even though their financials suggested an ‘A’ credit status.

“The recurrences of situations such as this never cease to surprise me. If we all followed fundamental principles of due diligence and paid more attention to obvious ‘red flags’, lessors and funders in our industry would not only save a lot of money, but they would improve the image of our industry in the process.

Best regards,
--Roger Marce
Manufacturers’ Lease Plans, Inc.
Phoenix, Arizona
Email: Rmarce@Leaseplans.com
Off.:602-944-4411, ext. 11

(Roger was the only one who when asked if Leasing News could print his experience said, “yes.” The lack of vendor web site went on until March, could be later, as the site is new. While Leasing News appreciates what others have told us “off the record,” Roger is the first “on the record.” Thank you.

(Allied Health Care Services first got Leasing News attention when asked to look further. It seems Donner Medical Marketing as funder for a $1 million lease to Allied was turned down, and the broker came back with an equipment dealer who would be selling the equipment and providing an invoice. The funder on service with Lease Police ran the program which was negative, turn the deal down. The funder afterwards called Lease Police to see if they could learn more. Of course, they turned the deal down. Bernie Boettingheimer, CLP, contacted Leasing News to learn if we had ever heard of Allied Health Care Services who was to be the lessee. Thus Leasing News queried its readers, got a major response, including reports of slowness in payments and much information to follow-up. The research became public with the law suit of Kingsbridge Holding, LLC, Lake Forest, Illinois. Perhaps they may get lucky and paid in full. Editor)

-----

1977
James J. “Jim” Kalinski, General Partner,
Christopher “Kit” Menkin, Managing Partner
American Leasing,
Santa Clara, California

“Saw your picture in today’s Leasing News. Boy.....you were a handsome young man. What happened?”

Rick Wilbur
Managing Partner
CHARTERCAPITAL
Office 480-874-5400
Cell    602-402-8409
www.charteraz.com

(Got older. Editor)

--

“Those were good times to remember.....any updates for the picture.”

TAYLOR LEASING
120 East Ogden Ave.
Suite 23
Hinsdale, IL 60521
1-800-645-9813
Gene Callison

(I have run a more current picture with my son, and as well on my biography in the advisory board section. I really don’t like the newer ones as they make me look bald and overweight. Editor.)

---

“What ever happened to Jim Kalinski?

“We used to live pretty close to each other in the Cambrian Park area.”

Larry Blazek
Director of Sales
Office: 408-879-2215
Pentech Financial Services, Inc.
240 E. Hacienda Ave, Suite 100
Campbell, CA 95008
www.pentechfinancial.com

(Jim followed his daughter to Boston College on a basketball scholarship. He was always very close to his only child, who was an excellent basketball player (as Jim was, too. Played “pick-up” basketball in all areas of San Jose.) He grew up in the Boston area. Stayed there, and I think now sells ATM set-ups to businesses, has been out of leasing for over 15 years, I believe. Perhaps close to retirement as many of us are who were active in the early 1970’s in leasing. Editor)

----

Paul Menzel, Leasing News 2006 Person of the Year

“Thank you for investigating and reporting on the Bulletin Board Complaint re Structured Business Capital. This type of unethical behavior is what is giving the "broker" segment of our industry a bad name and is ultimately restricting access to capital to all brokers … even the honest and legitimate ones.

“One of the key risks that funders must manage is that of "third party originators" or brokers. FinPac has been doing it effectively for 20 years. The fact that Leasing News serves the industry as a "clearing house" for complaints makes it easier for funders to separate the bad actors from the good sources.

“I know it puts a lot of pressure on you to adequately and appropriately investigate all the circumstances of a particular complaint. I trust you do so given the cooperation of all parties and their intent on doing the right thing for the customer and our industry. If anyone is wondering why funding sources have exited the third party origination channel, it is due in part by this type of activity and risk.

“FinPac is totally committed to the TPO marketplace and have built systems around managing the risk of that channel. Your bulletin board helps us do so effectively.”

Paul J. Menzel, CLP
President & CEO
FINANCIAL PACIFIC LEASING, LLC
3455 South 344th Way
Suite 300
PO Box 4568
Federal Way, WA 98063-4568
Email: pmenzel@finpac.com
Phone: 253-568-6121 or 877-222-8558 x121

---------

“The complaint board contains yet another example of what will lead our industry into strict policing and reform from the outside if we don't get it under control from within.”

Steve Brooks
sdb789@gmail.com

(As long as the majority of funders continue to do business with companies of questionable ethics, as known to them through Leasing News Bulletin Board Complaints, as well as the difficulties they learn through other sources, too, from Lease Police to the Better Business Bureau, there will be no changes. When a company owned by a person convicted five years in the State of Washington and not allowed back to do business for 20 years, gets involved in a mortgage bankruptcy following with many similar traits, starts a leasing company, joins a leasing association and then starts emailing, faxing, telephoning the leasing association membership for business, having salesmen bombard LinkedIn, Twitter, nothing will happen. Lessors say "I don't have any exposure, I sold the deal non-recourse."

Best Practice Broker and CLP's hide behind these symbols of trust as the industry looks the other way, just as Wall Street justifies on one side betting one way, telling clients to move in this direction, while the other side says the opposite to other clients, it will continue "business as usual." The lessee should have known what they were signing, so evergreen, lying on residuals, inflating personal property tax, that's there business to catch. I can hear it now: “Yeah, we need to regulate our industry before someone else does something about it. Let's bring this topic up again at the next leasing conference?” Editor.)

----

Penske orders 600 Swedish Volvo's-Buy American?
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Penske-Truck-Leasing-Orders-bw-3887626601.html?x=0&.v=1

“I found your headline a little misleading re: ‘Buy American’. Volvo builds a great truck and they’re built in the USA. If a company bought Macks (built in the same plant) would you have the same headline?

“In 2009, Volvo began to relocate the operations of its Mack Trucks subsidiary to Greensboro, where the North American operations of Volvo Trucks have been headquartered.

“Today, Volvo produces Volvo and Mack class 8 truck models at plants in Dublin, Virginia, and Macungie, Pennsylvania. Affiliate Volvo Powertrain produces engines and transmissions at its Hagerstown, Maryland, facility, for use exclusively in the North American market.

“I enjoy Leasing News and look forward to each issue.”

Best regards,
Richard Tunnell
BizFleet
Tel: 772.600.5954
e-mail: richard@bizfleet.com
website: www.bizfleet.com

(In News Briefs, just put a question behind headline of purchase of trucks. To verify what Mr. Tunnel said, queried Volvo, and Jim McNamara, Manager - Media Relations Volvo Trucks North America, Greensboro, North Carolina emailed back: "These trucks are produced in Dublin, Virginia at Volvo Trucks' New River Valley Plant. All Volvo trucks sold in North America are built in the U.S. at this plant." It is apparent they did buy "American!" Editor)

----

"Just a little bragging on a proud Dad’s part. This is from my daughter Kristin. She filmed four Old Navy commercials and she was the featured model in this one. They have been showing all over the country on many networks:

http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=1352875311965

Brian Ofria
Antares Leasing Corporation
Woodland Hills, CA 91367
Tel: (818) 519-8258
Email: briano@antaresleasing.com

((Please Click on Bulletin Board to learn more information))
(Leasing News provides this ad “gratis” as a means
to help support the growth of Lease Police)

Site Inspection Services

( To apply to be listed, please fill in this form and fax to 408.374.3843 or you
may e-mail to: kitmenkin@leasingnews.org )
Site Inspection Form

(A) "Douglas Guardian has probably been doing site inspections longer than any other company in the market today. This is our 75th year in business. We even do inspections for some of the people on your editorial board. Please include Douglas Guardian in your survey. We do not subcontract our inspections to independent contractors like many of our competitors. We utilize a network of over 300 company trained and certified employees. We operate throughout the US and Canada performing pre-funding inspections, post-funding inspections, collection inspections and vendor verifications."

Bruce Lurie, President
blurie@douglasguardian.com

(B) SecureTrac, Inc. - Additional Services

Associations are abbreviated. See our Associations page full name and information.

Help Wanted Ads Work-Testimonial

"We have had an overwhelming response to the Leasing News ad, with 48 resumes by day number 2. With all the resumes totaled, we received, 86 resumes! Leasing News Job ads really work, and we are happy to be putting people to work in this tough economic climate. We are going to finalize all the interviews next week, and depending on what talent versues what we can offer sales people, we may run it again by next week."

Matt Williams
949-204-9901 Direct
949-612-3820 Fax

All rates are subject to change.

Ads run a minimum of 21 days on the web site ( holidays not included.)  There are placed in the "Help Wanted' section by category, alphabetical, with the largest ad in the category first. Copy may be amended without any extra charge.

It is also our policy to place "help wanted" ads above the news edition headlines. This position is not available as a paid position, but appear on the top of the news edition in a rotation basis. This position is not guaranteed,but is a practice to give advertisers more attention to their ad. 

Please send an email to kitmenkin@leasingnews.org to post a Help Wanted Ad.

Here are some samples of various size ads:
www.leasingnews.org/Classified/examples.htm

If you prefer a " non-employment" ad, we sell a banner ad, please click here for pricing.

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To see sample size of ads, please go here.

Fernando's View
By Fernando F. Croce

Shrek in 3-D (“Shrek Forever After”) and a tart comedy of manners (“Please Give”) highlight new theater releases, while DVD viewers can try a Cormac McCarthy adaptation (“The Road”) or discover a couple of masterful classic westerns (“Silver Lode,” “Stagecoach”).

Shrek Forever After (DreamWorks Animation): The fourth installment in the popular animated series shows that you can’t keep a good ogre down. This time around, Shrek (voiced by Mike Myers) is happily married to Fiona (Cameron Diaz), with a nice house and a brood of little ogres. But something is missing. Has he been housebroken? Hoping to regain the fire in his belly, he makes a pact with Rumpelstiltskin to imagine a different life. Unfortunately, the plan backfires and Shrek finds himself fighting for his beloved wife and kingdom, with the help of faithful pals Donkey (Eddie Murphy) and Puss in Boots (Antonio Banderas). Fans of the original will delight to find the series’ usual mix of irreverent humor and pop-culture references here.

Please Give (Sony Pictures Classics): After such gems as “Lovely & Amazing” and “Friends with Money,” writer-director Nicole Holofcener has crafted a unique niche as creator of witty and human variations of what some might call “chick flicks.” In her latest, she teams up once more with her favorite leading lady, Catherine Keener, for an amusing and often resonant comedy of manners. Keener plays Kate, a busy Manhattan woman who specializes in buying furniture on the cheap before reselling it. But business is just one of her worries; there’s also her husband (Oliver Platt), who has different ideas for how to deal with sales, plus her teenage daughter and the granddaughters of her elderly tenant. The results are a sharp, well-acted mix of humor and melancholy.

Netflix tip: The recent death of Lena Horne (1917-2010) saw the passing of one of classic Hollywood’s most timelessly lovely and talented performers. Check with Netflix to revisit the legendary Horne’s song-and-dance talents in such movies as “Cabin in the Sky,” “Stormy Weather,” “Ziegfeld Follies” and “The Wiz.”

New on DVD:

The Road (Sony): As “No Country for Old Men” proved, movies taken from the novels of Cormac McCarthy can be pretty grim affairs. This adaptation of his acclaimed, post-apocalyptic epic tale is no exception. Viggo Mortensen delivers an intense performance as a man determined to keep himself and his young son (Kodi Smit-McPhee) alive in a ravaged world where the human race’s animalistic instincts have long taken over. Over the course of their long trip to safety, they have hair-raising encounters with other survivors (including a blind old man, superbly played by Robert Duvall) while hanging on to memories of their earlier, happier lives. The unrelieved gloom may make the film rough-going for some viewers, but McCarthy fans may savor the strong cast and John Hillcoat’s direction.

Silver Lode (VCI): Though unfairly unforgotten these days, Allan Dwan was one of Hollywood’s most well-kept secrets, a director who started out in the silent era and for several decades delivered highly likable, beautifully put together films. Though Dwan tackled everything from swashbucklers to musicals, this 1954 western, which is finally getting a DVD release, may very well be his strongest movie. John Payne stars as Dan Ballard, a respected citizen in a frontier town whose life takes a nightmarish turn when he’s accused by a slimy federal marshal (Dan Duryea). Can he stay alive long enough to clear his name? Some critics have found hidden criticism of the McCarthy era in the plot, but, more than anything, Dwan’s mini-classic remains a heck of a yarn.

Stagecoach (Criterion): Another old master, John Ford is in no danger of being forgotten by movie buffs. Long hailed as the greatest of all directors of westerns, he hit an early peak with this unmissable 1939 classic, now available in a lovely restored transfer by Criterion releases. Set in the untamed Old West, it follows a microcosm of American values as a group of characters interact during a perilous journey through wild territory. Inside the stagecoach are a saloon girl (Claire Trevor), a disgraced doctor (Thomas Mitchell), a Southern gentleman (John Carradine), and a noble outlaw (John Wayne, in his breakthrough role). As affecting and dynamic today as when it was first released, it offers the perfect primer for cinema lovers interested in John Ford’s West.

#### Press Release ##########################

Commercial Risk Scores Up 1.8 Percent since Beginning of the Year,
According to Experian's Latest Business Benchmark Report

COSTA MESA, Calif., -- Experian®, the leading global information services company, announced the results of its monthly Business Benchmark Report. Findings from the April report show that the national average commercial risk score is up by 1.8 percent since January 2010. This month's report also shows that beleaguered industry sectors such as Construction and Retail showed the first improvement in their average risk scores since mid- 2009. Additionally, April's data indicates that midsize businesses have shown the greatest improvement in the percentage of delinquent dollars since the beginning of the year.

Other key findings from this month's Business Benchmark Report include the following:

Risk score:

•The national average commercial risk score was 58.15* in April, which was down only slightly from March. However, the national average is still up 1.8 percent year to date, indicating a continuing positive trend overall for 2010.

•Year-to-date improvement in risk score has been driven mostly by improvement in the non-employer firm category, which has improved 4.2 percent thus far in 2010. In addition, businesses with more than 1,000 employees have also seen a big improvement year-to-date, jumping 13.3 percent. This is a positive sign for the economy, as large businesses continue to show a significant upward trend in meeting obligations in a more timely fashion.

•Construction, Utilities, Wholesale Trade and Retail were the only industry groups that saw a slight improvement in risk score over last month. This change marks the first increase in commercial risk score seen in the Construction and Retail sectors since August and June 2009, respectively.

•The Plains states continue to have the highest risk score average of all geographic areas (61.84), while the Northeast has the lowest (55.43). Average risk scores for some of the states with large metropolitan areas include: California (57.24); Texas (57.11); Washington, D.C. (56.83); New York (54.55); and Florida (53.19).

*Based on a 100-point scale

Average days beyond terms (DBT):

Average days beyond terms have increased slightly in recent months, and overall are up 1.5 percent in 2010, with the exception of those midsize businesses in the 50- to 250-employee range. Those businesses are flat with our January results.

•Payment performance from all industry groups continued to stabilize in April. Industries such as Health Services (4.90 DBT) and Public Administration (5.07 DBT) are among those with the best payment performance - well below the national average.

•Another positive note: Hospitality, Retail and Construction, which have struggled during the downturn, have seen the greatest improvements in payment behavior over the last two months, improving by 2.9, 1.2 and .67 percent, respectively.

•The Mountain states showed the greatest change in payment performance over last month, improving by 1.5 percent. Some states with large metropolitan areas, such as Texas (5.66), California (5.23) and New York (4.19), all came in well below the national average of 6.24 DBT.

Percentage of dollars delinquent:

•In April, the national average percentage of dollars delinquent continued to decline, improving by 1 percent over the last six months. As well, the percentage of dollars severely (91-plus days) delinquent has improved slightly since the beginning of the year (-0.1 percent year to date).

•Businesses of all sizes have remained stable in the average percentage of dollars delinquent, with midsize businesses in the 100- to 249-employee range showing a 0.3 percent improvement year to date.

•Although a bit higher than the national average, the Retail sector has shown a continual decrease in the percent of delinquent dollars over the last two months, improving by 11 percent since February. The Real Estate and Hospitality industries have remained stable in the percentage of dollars severely delinquent since the beginning of the year, coming in at 3.01 and 1.88 percent respectively - both well below the national average.

•The Mid-Atlantic and Southeast regions both saw a 7.7 percent improvement in the percent of dollars delinquent in April, and all U.S. regions remained stable in the percentage of dollars severely delinquent. Additionally, Texas (10.2 percent), Arizona (9.79 percent) and California (8.95 percent) remain among the areas with the lowest percentage of dollars delinquent. California improved 3.5 percent over last month. In terms of percentage of dollars severely delinquent, California, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania and Texas were among the areas falling well below the national average.

To download the full report or to see a visual representation of this data and other information broken down by state in an interactive map, visit http://www.experian.com/business-benchmark-report.

About the Business Benchmark Report
Experian's Business Benchmark Report is a monthly look at how businesses are faring in the United States. Designed to monitor the progress of business recovery, the report looks at four key indicators of business health, including commercial risk score, days beyond payment terms, percentage of dollars delinquent and percentage of dollars severely delinquent.

### Press Release ############################

“Sal the 1040 Gal” Arrested

The United States District Court in Santa Ana, A federal grand jury in United States District Court in Santa Ana, California, handed up a nine-count indictment charging a woman with five counts of preparing false tax returns and four counts of theft of government money.

Sally Louise Crystal, a/k/a Sally Hernandez, who previously resided in Costa Mesa, California, was arrested earlier and made her initial appearance before United States Magistrate Judge Joseph Spero in the Northern District of California.

The indictment alleges that for a period of time, Crystal operated a tax preparation business called “Sal the 1040 Gal.” While operating this business, the indictment goes on to allege, Crystal prepared returns for her clients and include fictitious expenses and deductions on her clients’ tax returns, knowing that they were not entitled to them, and in order to decrease her clients’ tax liability and increase the clients’ refund amounts.

"Today’s indictment shows IRS-Criminal Investigation and the Treasury Inspector General’s Office for Tax Administration’s joint commitment in investigating those individuals who choose to undermine the honesty of our tax system for their personal financial gain," said Leslie P. DeMarco, Special Agent in Charge for IRS-Criminal Investigation in Los Angeles.

#### Press Release #############################

Portland, Oregon---Adopt-a-Dog

Baby Ginger

Kelpie/Cattle Dog/Australian Shepherd/Boxer Mix
9 weeks old
Female
10 pounds

"Hi, as you can see I am one pretty little Baby, I came here looking for a nice family to take me in and give me all the love I deserve. I ‘m about 9 weeks old and will probably grow to be a medium large size dog. My momma was a real beauty, a black with a touch of white, Kelpie/Cattle Dog mix only 37 pounds. I’m a lot like my momma- sweet and happy and beautiful. So here I am, just waiting for a family to raise me into the wonderful pet I am destined to be!"

9 weeks old-10lbs. My adoption fee is $260 and it includes; microchip, reduced cost spay/neuter and $25 rebate, reduced cost Training Class, free veterinary exam, 1 month pet health insurance, leash/collar, food sample, toy & Treat packet.

For More Information: http://www.familydogsnewlife.org/?page_id=2

Family Dogs New Life Shelter
9101 SE Stanley Ave.
Portland OR 97206
bark@familydogsnewlife.org
503.771.5596
http://www.familydogsnewlife.org/

Adopt-a-Pet by Leasing Co. State/City
http://www.leasingnews.org/Conscious-Top%20Stories/Adopt_Pet.htm

Adopt a Pet
http://www.adoptapet.com/

[headlines]
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Banner Ads Work---It’s the Position that counts

The editor tries to place banner ads where they will be read by those the advertisers want to reach, rather than placed at random. News stories that will have an “ill” effect are avoided as best as possible. Often it is the position of the banner ad that attracts more response. This is at the sole discretion of the editor.

Banner ads may appear under the headlines at the choice of the editor, but are not guaranteed. An attempt is made to share them on a rotation basis with other banner advertisers.

We reserve the right to refuse any advertising.

Ad design: no charge.

Click to another page or web site: no charge.

(Cannot be a “help wanted” ad for employment, must advertise company, service or product)

Pricing Information
Price	Ad Size	Pixels Size	Term
$595.00	6.5" W X 1.5" H	468W X 180H	21 days
$695.00	6.5" W X 2.5" H	468W X 180H	21 days
$895.00	6.5" W X 4" H	468W X 288H	21 days
$995.00	6.5" W x 5"H	468W X 360H	21 days

Samples of sizes follows:

$595.00
6.5W X 1.5 H - 468W X 180H
21 days

---

$695.00
6.5W X 2.5 H - 468W X 180H
21 days

---

$895.00
6.5W X 4" H - 468W X 288H
21 days

---

Article: How Advertising works at Leasing News

don’t go unarmed

News Briefs----

Mortgage rates plunge to all-time low
http://www.bankrate.com/finance/mortgages/mortgage-rates-plunge-to-all-time-low.aspx

Senate approves financial overhaul
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/washington/articles/2010/05/21/
senate_approves_financial_overhaul/

Fed Governor Says U.S. Could Feel Europe’s Pain
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/21/business/21stabilize.html?ref=business

You May Have Missed---

Schwarzenegger to Democrats: Time to make 'Sophie's Choice' between pensions and poor
http://www.mercurynews.com/top-stories/ci_15105521

Sports Briefs----

Armstrong escapes with just stitches
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/object/article?f=/n/a/2010/05/18/sports/s164610D01.DTL&o=2

Strength Coaches Key to Team Success
http://collegefootball.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1086191

California Nuts Briefs---

It's official: Toyota, Tesla, and Nummi
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/bottomline/detail?entry_id=64051

Santa Clara County property assessments plunge-first since 1978
http://www.mercurynews.com/bay-area-news/ci_15129937?source=rss&nclick_check=1

“Gimme that Wine”

Rosenblum Winery, Moves Production to Napa
http://www.winespectator.com/webfeature/show?id=42703

Domestic Wine Sales up 6.8% in April
http://winesandvines.com/template.cfm?section=news&content=74222&htitle=
Domestic%20Wine%20Sales%20up%206.8%25%20in%20April

Merlot regains its moxie
http://www.bellinghamherald.com/2010/05/17/1434759/merlot-regains-its-moxie.html

First quarter sales give cause for optimism
http://www.winebiz.com.au/dwn/details.asp?ID=2950

Sante for the Restaurant Professionals on Line
http://digital.turn-page.com/issue/9719?utm_medium=email&utm_source=
MyNewsletterBuilder&utm_content=cpenn%40winebusiness.com&utm_campaign=A+link+to+your+
digital+edition+of+Sant+magazine+1410320107&utm_term=This+is+your+link

Free Mobile Wine Program
http://leasingnews.org/archives/Feb2010/2_26.htm#mobile

Wine Prices by vintage
http://www.winezap.com
http://www.wine-searcher.com/

US/International Wine Events
http://www.localwineevents.com/

Winery Atlas
http://www.carterhouse.com/atlas/\

Leasing News Wine & Spirits Page
http://two.leasingnews.org/Recommendations/wnensprts.htm

Father
by Barry S. Marks, Esq.

My sister and I thought he was a bear—

usually surly, returning home only

to hibernate, feed and growl.

A bear with a belt in his hand

that one time she sassed him.

He really put his back into it.

I resolved to be careful with words

and later went to law school.

But we never lacked for direction,

and when the house was dark,

after he kissed us good night with his

ursine beard and ordered us to sleep,

when our lesser fears rose

from coffin or castle to lurk at our windows,

it was good to know he was outside the door.

That was fifty years ago, and tonight, as I debate

a third martini, not really wanting

to go home to my wife,

Crystal the cocktail waitress

winks at me.

And Dad, 0l' Bear, I hear you growl

and of course I ask for the check.

from Possible Crocodiles
Poems by Barry Marks
www.BrickRoadPoetryPress