VERO BEACH — If the owner of Vero Fashion Outlets mall doesn’t answer a $32.15-million mortgage foreclosure lawsuit by Sept. 16, it could lose the right to defend itself in the case, according to attorneys.

If so, a judge could order the outdoor mall at Interstate 95 and State Road 60 — the first large mall in the county — to be sold.

“We plan to stay open during the foreclosure and after,” said West Palm Beach attorney Kenneth Curtin, who represents the mortgage holder, LNV Corp., of Nevada. “The mall will stay the same as it is now, with tenants.” (more…)

ST. LUCIE COUNTY — After weeks of police officer training in a classroom, Indian River State College students move on to a small platform that provides a high-tech simulation of how they react in a real-life situation.

They’re given a weapon that only emits lasers and equipped with a belt that zaps them if they put themselves in danger.

“It teaches consequences if they make bad decisions,” Stephen Huntsberger, associate dean of Public Service Education for IRSC, said of the VirTra Systems simulator at the complex.

The simulator is one of the planned demonstrations at Friday’s public open house at the new Indian River State College Public Safety Complex.
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Since March, Leroy Stennett has spent more than 10 hours talking to seven people in five departments at Bank of America about getting his mortgage modified.

In 2006, Stennett and his wife purchased a house in Port St. Lucie for $285,000, putting $95,000 down and adding another $5,000 in closing costs from the sale of their previous home.

“My house is worth $120,000 now, so, I’ve basically paid it off, but they don’t want to cut me a break,” Stennett said about his lender, Bank of America. “Every time I call, I talk to a different person, so I can’t get any real answers.”

Like thousands on the Treasure Coast, Stennett hoped President Barack Obama’s Making Home Affordable plan would help adjust his house payments after applying for a mortgage modification. But frustrated homeowners, who remain current on mortgage payments despite economic setbacks, say they are confused about the modification process and aren’t getting support or cooperation from their lenders. (more…)

PORT ST. LUCIE — The Port St. Lucie Police Department has a new weapon to use against criminals, and officers are asking residents to use it to protect themselves.

It’s an industrial-sized paper shredder, and the public is invited to the Civic Center from 10 a.m. to noon June 16 for the first Shred-a-Thon. Anyone can destroy sensitive documents for free.
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FORT PIERCE — Cindy Robbins, once president and chief operating officer of Riverside National Bank of Florida, was let go Thursday as the financial institution continues its restructuring.

Robbins’ position had been eliminated and no agreement could be reached with her taking another position at the independent bank based in Fort Pierce, said Riverside Executive Vice President Alan Polackwich.

“We just had one person impacted, it was nothing widespread, nobody else was involved,” Polackwich said.

Robbins could not be reached for comment.

Robbins had been reassigned as senior executive vice president and director of retail banking in January, when a bank reorganization cut 35 positions and Vernon D. Smith, who founded the bank in 1982, announced his retirement. She had been president and COO since 2006.

The bank has 65 offices in 10 Florida counties.

Recently listed by analysts as a problem institution, Riverside continues to work under the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp’s Temporary Liquidity Guarantee Program.

The FDIC program was created to strengthen confidence and encourage liquidity — the ability to convert an asset into cash quickly — in the banking system.
Jim Turner, TCPalm.com

JENSEN BEACH — An 80-year-old woman discovered she was the victim of a scam, after bank employees called deputies because of the frequent number of times she withdrew large amounts of cash, according to a Martin County Sheriff’s Office report.

The manager of the National City Bank in Jensen Beach contacted deputies Tuesday after an elderly female customer had been withdrawing large amounts of cash and said she was sending it to friends and family, according to the report.

After the bank manager contacted the woman’s daughter in Ohio and found out her customer wasn’t sending money to family, she called deputies while the woman was at the bank trying to withdraw $1,000, according to the report.

The elderly woman told deputies she won a large sweepstakes from a publisher’s clearinghouse and was contacted by phone to wire money several times to Las Vegas. She was told she was going to receive a check for $625,000 on Tuesday, according to the report.

The woman made a total of eight transactions totaling $22,172, which she sent via Western Union transfers, according to the report.

While at the bank talking to deputies, one of the suspects called her phone. When the woman told the person she was at the bank talking to law enforcement, the person hung up, according to the report.

Deputies are investigating the incident.

By Monique Mattiace, TCPalm.com

While foreclosure actions on the Treasure Coast continued to fall during the first quarter of this year from the last quarter of 2008, the numbers for March indicate a resurgence.

Foreclosure actions — default notices, auction sale notices and bank repossessions — were down 18.5 percent in Indian River County, 3.3 percent in St. Lucie County and up 1.1 percent in Martin County in the first quarter compared with the last quarter of 2008, according to U.S. Foreclosure Market Report released today by RealtyTrac (realtytrac.com). Those first-quarter numbers were still up 40 percent to 68 percent from a year ago.

But foreclosure actions in March rose 71 percent from February in Indian River County and 48 percent in St. Lucie County, though they declined 6 percent in Martin County.
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Tuesday, March 31, 2009

Fort Pierce-based Riverside National Bank is sending new debit cards to an undisclosed number of customers due to a nationwide breach of MasterCard account information.

Riverside customers impacted by the unauthorized breach have started to receive letters notifying them of the new cards and that until they arrive there would be limited access to their money with the old debit cards.

Lisa Jensen, Riverside public relations and communications vice president, said the new cards are expected to arrived in three to five business days.

“It is important to note that none of our customers have personally lost any of their funds as a result of this situation,” Jensen said.

Jim Turner, TCPalm.com