Loan

US Senator Scott Brown has turned questions over Democrat Elizabeth Warren's claims of Native American ancestry into a key strategy in his bid to retain his Senate seat. Almost every day for more than two weeks, the Brown campaign or a Republican surrogate has highlighted the latest bit of news to emerge on the subject, often citing articles on conservative websites in a bid to coax more coverage from the mainstream news media. Warren's failure to offer a full and concise answer on what role her ancestry has played in her professional career has left an opening that has allowed the questions to linger.

The rate of late payments for auto loans fell nationally in the first three months of the year to the lowest level in more than a decade, even as lenders financed more vehicle purchases for high-risk borrowers. For the January to March quarter, the rate of U.S. auto loan payments at least 60 days overdue declined to 0.36 percent, or down about 27 percent from the same period last year, credit reporting agency TransUnion said Wednesday. That's also down about 22 percent from the last three months of 2011.

If hypocrisy had a face, a look, a certain familiar strut, it would be that of old favorite Curt Schilling as he pushed his way through a swirling collection of reporters and photographers in Providence this week with absolutely nothing of consequence to say. Curt Schilling, mute, the one time he actually owed an explanation. Perfect. But that's a minor point, really. There's a larger hypocrisy in his failing video game venture, the one that Rhode Island state officials giddily backed to the tune of $75 million in loan guarantees, which seems to be a fancy financial term for...

Vice President Joe Biden is visiting New Hampshire again today as Democrats aggressively work the general election swing state, but the Republican National Committee plans to criticize the Obama-Biden ticket for failing to stem college cost increases as promised in 2008. New Hampshire is the state with the highest student loan debt level in the country . The average student graduates with $31,048 in loan debt. "The Class of 2012 is getting a rude awakening as they accept their diplomas and realize they can't find a job in Obama's economy," RNC Chairman...

In the final months of two mostly unmemorable terms in office, Rhode Island Governor Donald Carcieri boasted about his little state's big splash - stealing former Red Sox pitcher Curt Schilling and his nascent video game company from Massachusetts. "This is a risk worth taking," said Carcieri, a Republican, announcing the 2010 deal that lured Schilling's company, 38 Studios, to Providence, and put Rhode Island taxpayers on the hook for up to $75 million in guaranteed loans to an athlete who liked video games but had never developed one. "I think the governor...

Picked-up pieces while wondering who'll be next to be "sacked" by John Henry and Tom Werner . . . ■ There are parts of Rhode Island where failing to make good on million-dollar loan payments gets you more than a bloody sock. Red Sox adviser Jeremy Kapstein was out front on the 38 Studios loan scam two years ago when he ran for Rhode Island Lieutenant Governor and told WPRO-AM, "I have serious questions about the viability of that kind of offer to a company that is full of questions.

JPMorgan Chase has agreed to pay $88.3 million as part of a settlement with the Treasury Department over a series of transactions involving Cuba, Iran, and Sudan, the agency said yesterday. The Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control said in a news release that JPMorgan processed wire transfers totaling around $178.5 million for Cuban nationals in late 2005 and early 2006, violating US embargo laws. The bank's officers discovered the transfers in 2005, after they were tipped off by another financial institution, but failed to report them and did not take adequate steps to...

WASHINGTON -- An ethics complaint alleging that Senator Jon Corzine failed to disclose a $470,000 mortgage loan in 2002 to his then-girlfriend, a powerful state union boss, was filed yesterday with the Senate Ethics Committee by a public-interest attorney. The New Jersey Democrat forgave the loan in 2004, just days before he announced he was running for governor of New Jersey. Corzine, who made millions when he was CEO of Goldman Sachs , later received the union's endorsement.

Tremont Credit Union, which was chastised by regulators last year for “self-dealing and insider abuse’’ by credit union officers, said the problems stemmed from a $3.9 million business loan approved by an executive for an acquaintance without following proper lending procedures. The Braintree credit union later wrote off the loan, a line of credit, after it became delinquent in 2009. The credit union and federal and state regulators also launched investigations. The investigations into the $3.9 million loan were first disclosed in a tax filing by the nonprofit financial...

Troubled homeowners hoping to apply for mortgage help through a federal no-interest loan program will have a few more days to fill out paperwork because the Department of Housing and Urban Development extended the deadline until midnight Wednesday. HUD said that it extended the deadline, which was originally yesterday, in order to give as many people as possible the chance to qualify for up to $50,000 in mortgage help that can be forgiven over time. Some housing advocates had worried that not enough people have applied out of ignorance or skepticism - a...

Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Co. , the publisher of authors from Mark Twain to J.R.R. Tolkien, won conditional permission to borrow $400 million of a $500 million loan to fund operations during a 30-day reorganization. US Bankruptcy Judge Robert Gerber in New York said Tuesday that he was prepared to approve the Boston company's interim request to borrow. The loan is to be managed and syndicated by Citigroup Inc. "Subject to the issues that I have, which I think are drafting issues, I'm fine with this facility," Gerber said.

Picked-up pieces while wondering who'll be next to be "sacked" by John Henry and Tom Werner . . . ■ There are parts of Rhode Island where failing to make good on million-dollar loan payments gets you more than a bloody sock. Red Sox adviser Jeremy Kapstein was out front on the 38 Studios loan scam two years ago when he ran for Rhode Island Lieutenant Governor and told WPRO-AM, "I have serious questions about the viability of that kind of offer to a company that is full of questions.

A builder, printing company, automotive sales and repair firm, janitorial supply company and a nursery are the latest Connecticut businesses to receive state money to promote small business. The state's Small Business Express Program is providing a $100,000 matching grant to help MacNaughton Builders of East Granby with capital equipment and employee training to expand into home energy retrofitting. Capitol Printing Co. Inc. of Hartford is receiving a matching grant of nearly $100,000 for new equipment and K-Town Automotive of Killingly qualified for a $50,000 loan.

A Republican lawmaker has introduced legislation that would prevent the state's Economic Development Corporation from giving out loan guarantees like the $75 million package approved for Curt Schilling's 38 Studios. The Providence Journal reports ( http://bit.ly/KhEScP) that Rep. Laurence W. Ehrhardt's bill would limit the EDC guarantees to $10 million to any one entity. Ehrhardt (R- North Kingstown) said he had planned to introduce the legislation in 2010, but was told it would upset an EDC transaction that was already in the works.

Rhode Island officials disclosed this evening that Curt Schilling's 38 Studios video-game company attempted to pay a missed loan payment, but had insufficient funds to cover the $1.12 million check. The firm has also failed to pay its employees this week, state officials said. Schilling's firm, which received $75 million in loan guarantees from Rhode Island to move his company from Massachusetts in 2010, missed a $1.12 million payment due the state May 1, and on Wednesday asked state officials for more aid to help his ailing company.

With just under 200 voters in attendance at annual Town Meeting on April 30, all 24 articles on the warrant were approved in the course of two hours. Among the most significant articles were an operating budget of $24.5 million for next fiscal year, two Community Preservation Act funding requests, and reauthorization of participation in the state's septic system maintenance loan program. Nancy Shohet West

BASEBALL Under the terms of a $150 million loan agreement submitted to federal bankruptcy court, Major League Baseball cannot seize control of the Dodgers if the team defaults, according to a report in the New York Times. "The worst that can happen - in the narrow case of default - is they can stop funding," said Bruce Bennett , one of the Dodgers' lawyers. "It is not a secured loan, so baseball can't foreclose on anything. " Bennett said the team's current cash needs were not dire and that it did not immediately need to ask for any of the $150 million.

NEWTON - A Massachusetts-based developer of wind power projects says it has secured $191 million in financing. First Wind of Newton said yesterday that it received an 8 1/2-year, $115 million loan from the Alberta Investment Management Corp., one of the largest investment management firms in Canada. The company also said it closed on a $76 million loan from HSH Nordbank for the Stetson Wind project in Maine. Stetson began generating electricity in January as the largest wind-harnessing facility in New England, capable of powering 23,500 homes.