JPMorgan Chase class-action settlement is approved

ALBANY, N.Y. -- A federal judge approved a settlement Friday of a class-action lawsuit against JPMorgan Chase for its force-placed insurance practices, an agreement that could pay more than $300 million to about 750,000 mortgage borrowers.

The national settlement prohibits the bank for six years from getting commissions, kickbacks or reinsurance from the insurance, which it obtains when a homeowner's policy lapses.

Under U.S. District Judge Federico Moreno's order in Miami, class members will have to file claim forms to recover 12.5 percent of the net premiums they were charged between Jan. 1, 2008, and Oct. 4, 2013. Moreno also barred JPMorgan Chase and Assurant and its insurance subsidiaries "from inflating premiums" for six years.

New York-based JPMorgan Chase said Friday's decision formalizes a tentative agreement reached months ago about practices stopped before that. "We discontinued our reinsurance agreement a year ago and stopped accepting commissions several years ago," spokeswoman Amy Bonitatibus said.

Premiums for force-placed insurance, which were deducted from a homeowner's escrow account or added to the mortgage loan balance, were often much higher than the homeowners' initial premiums. Many of those covered by the lawsuit lost their homes to foreclosure.

The lawsuit estimated the value of injunctive relief from the bank changing its practices at $690 million.

"During those six years, Chase will accept no financial interest in the placement of force-placed hazard insurance policies outside of the premium itself and the protection of the policy," Moreno wrote.

"Assurant defendants," he added, "are prohibited from providing force-placed hazard insurance commissions to Chase-affiliated agents or brokers, hazard quota-share reinsurance agreements, payments for any administrative or other service associated with force-placed hazard insurance policies for a period of six years."

Similar settlements are expected to follow in lawsuits against some other major banks.

Assurant spokesman Robert Byrd said lender-placed insurance is an important safeguard, providing backup coverage if a homeowner's policy has lapsed. "These policies are issued in accordance with the terms of the mortgage and applicable regulations, and we have acknowledged no wrongdoing in this case. We believe, however, it is in the best interests of the company to resolve this matter at this time," he said.

Lead plaintiffs' attorney Adam Moskowitz said they were grateful to Moreno for taking the time to draft an extensive order. "We're also thankful to Chase, who decided to do what is right for their customers," he said.

Miss. House passes college financial aid change

JACKSON, Miss. -- A step toward helping poorer Mississippi students pay for college is moving ahead.

The House unanimously passed Senate Bill 2454 Thursday. It returns to the Senate for more work.

Now, only students from families making less than $36,500 a year are eligible for the Higher Education Legislative Plan.

That's the only state aid program aimed at poorer students. It awards the cost of tuition — averaging $6,329 this year — to students who score higher than 20 on the ACT college test and had a 2.5 GPA in high school. The state spent $3.2 million on HELP in 2012.

The income ceiling would rise to $39,500 on July 1, 2015, and $42,500 on July 1, 2016. Applications would be streamlined.

The changes would add $3 million to the program's cost.

The House bill would push back the effective dates of the increases from the Senate's proposal, which had called for the increases to take place in 2014 and 2015, delaying the spending.

Higher education leaders had voted in September to recommend that lawmakers revamp financial aid to make it easier for students to apply for and give more money to poor students. However, enacting all the changes that the group considered would cost a projected $77 million. The state is spending only $28 million this year.

Faced with such a daunting price tag, lawmakers agreed to consider only smaller changes. That means Mississippi will still give the most aid to relatively better-off students.

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Hillary Clinton's Political Acumen And Other Tidbits From New Docs

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hide captionNewly released documents by the Clinton Presidential Library shed light on Hillary Clinton's time as first lady.

Mark Wilson/Associated Press

Newly released documents by the Clinton Presidential Library shed light on Hillary Clinton's time as first lady.

Mark Wilson/Associated Press

Did we learn anything new about Hillary Clinton from the documents released Friday by the Clinton Presidential Library? Was there anything that could matter if she decides to run for president?

The answer so far appears to be no. That said, there were still aspects of the documents that were singled out as interesting flashbacks to Clinton's time as first lady.

Against Individual Mandate Before She Was For It

In September 1993, Clinton explained to congressional Democratic leaders why she ruled out an individual mandate for her ill-fated health-insurance overhaul, and why she thought the GOP was making a mistake by including it in its proposal.

According to a transcript of her comments at the meeting, she said: "If the Republican alternative, as it appears now to be shaping up, at least among the moderate Republicans in the Senate, is an individual mandate, we have looked at that in every way we know how to. That is politically and substantively a much harder sell than the one we've got — a much harder sell." Clinton had warmed to the individual mandate by her 2008 presidential campaign.

A Reminder On Shaping Her Message

When she was running for U.S. Senate in New York, Clinton she had to be reminded by Mandy Grunwald, a friend and media strategist, to go beyond tightly focused answers to questions from reporters or voters. Instead, Grunwald urged her to use questions as springboards for delivering the Clinton message.

"You have a tendency to answer just the question asked," Grunwald wrote in a memo. "That's good manners, but bad politics. Take every opportunity you can to shift your response to an area you want to talk about and then be really expansive on that part of the answer."

It may not have been so much "good manners" on Clinton's part as her legal training and natural caution that were on display.

A Shrewd Eye On Political Details

It would take a graphologist to explain what her handwriting reveals about her character. But her edits to a script for videotaped remarks to a May 1996 microenterprise conference are nonetheless interesting because of what they reveal about her political judgment.

There's a part of the script where she strikes out a large downbeat passage written presumably by a speechwriter who wrote in surprisingly negative terms about globalization. The original script after Clinton's strikethroughs looked like this: "The globalization of the economy has meant that many, many people are being marginalized, are being downsized, are being deprived of economic opportunities. We have to now, more than ever, make microenterprise a key element of providing economic opportunity for women and men everywhere in the world."

Showing her awareness of re-election year politics in which the Clintons counted on organized labor to help them defeat Republican nominee Bob Dole, Clinton changed all of that to read: "In today's global economy, microenterprise development needs to become a key element, providing economic opportunity for women and men everywhere in the world."

Being Biden Vol. 13: It's All About Possibilities

In this edition of Being Biden, Vice President Joe Biden talks about meeting with Jonathan Stoklosa -- a powerlifter who's competed in the Special Olympics and, in the words of the Vice President, "an incredible young man."

read more

Obama Warns Russia On Ukraine, Saying U.S. Is 'Deeply Concerned'

Saying that the United States is "deeply concerned" by reports that Russia is taking military action in Ukraine, President Obama urged Russia not to intervene in the destabilized country, where tensions have reached new highs this week.

Obama said that he had spoken to Russia's President Putin in recent days, to foster cooperation in coping with the situation.

But, he said, "we are now deeply concerned by reports of military movements taken by the Russian Federation inside of Ukraine. Russia has a historic relationship with Ukraine, including cultural and economic ties — and a military facility in Crimea. But any violation of Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity would be deeply destabilizing."

Tensions in Ukraine have built steadily this week, after the country's ousted president, Viktor Yanukovych, fled the nation over the weekend. Even as the roiled nation affirmed a new government on Thursday, gunmen took over government buildings in the Crimean peninsula, an area with a majority of the residents are ethnic Russians.

And on Friday, "gunmen in unmarked military uniforms on Friday took control of two airports,": as Mark reported this morning for the Two-Way. Speculation about the origin of those gunmen has been rampant and has included the possibility that they are Russian. But Russia's military officials deny that claim.

Ukraine's future "must be determined by the Ukrainian people," Obama said. He urged an end to the violence that has erupted in recent weeks, calling for stability and new elections in the spring.

Citing Russia's recent hosting of many of the world's nations for the Olympics, Obama said that any Russian military intervention would invite international condemnation.

Vic e President Biden spoke to Ukraine's new prime minister today, Obama added. The president did not take any questions after delivering his prepared remarks.

Yanukovych is currently in Russia. Earlier today, he said he is "eager and ready to fight for the future of Ukraine." But he also said that Crimea should not try to secede from Ukraine in an attempt to join Russia.

President Obama spoke just before 5 p.m. Friday afternoon. His remarks followed a statement at the U.N. by Ambassador Samantha Power, who called this a "critical moment" in Crimea.

She called for Russia to stand down and let Ukraine's citizens determine their own future. Saying that Ukraine's new government will need help to recover, Power said that the United States "stands with the Ukrainian people."

USDA adds foods to moms and kids food program

WASHINGTON -- Pregnant women, mothers and children who get federal assistance with their grocery bills will now be able to buy more whole-grain foods, yogurt, fish, fruits and vegetables.

The changes to the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children, known as WIC, will go into place by next year.

The Agriculture Department announced the changes Friday as the final part of a process it began in 2007 to overhaul the program and greatly expand the number of healthy foods offered. Changes announced that year and put in place in 2009 eliminated many fruit juices from infant food packages, reduced saturated fats the program covered and made buying fruits and vegetables easier.

USDA says that overhaul will now be complete with a few more items included, such as whole grain pastas, yogurt and additional types of canned fish. The rule also newly allows fresh fruits and vegetables for older babies when mothers do not want to feed them jarred baby food.

The final rule also allows for an increase in the value of vouchers for fruits and vegetables.

USDA reaffirmed its decision not to allow white potatoes in the program, a move that the potato industry has vigorously fought.

The Agriculture Department said it will continue to eliminate white potatoes from the list of eligible foods because people already eat enough of them and vouchers aren't needed to buy more.

"The department recognizes that white potatoes can be a healthful part of one's diet," USDA wrote in the rule. "However, WIC food packages are carefully designed to address the supplemental nutritional needs of a specific population."

The potato industry responded swiftly after the rule was released, saying there is no scientific reason to exclude white potatoes, which are popular, healthy and economical for families who are already struggling to get as many nutrients as possible on a limited budget.

The WIC program provides vouchers to mothers and pregnant women who qualify for the program and specifically lists the foods they can buy. The program annually serves around 9 million people, about half of them children.

Sam Kass, director of first lady Michelle Obama's Let's Move initiative to combat childhood obesity, said WIC has been "one of our greatest success stories." He credited the program's changes to give mothers and children access to healthier foods as one of the reasons that toddler obesity has gone down in the last decade.

A study published by the Journal of the American Medical Association this week showed that obesity among children ages 2 to 5 has decreased to 8 percent from 14 percent a decade ago.

The study "gives us great hope that we're on the right path," Kass said.

Mass. man charged with embezzling $1M from company

WEST SPRINGFIELD, Mass. -- The former bookkeeper for a West Springfield business has been indicted for allegedly embezzling more than $1 million from the company.

The state attorney general's office says 50-year-old Jeffrey Cinelli, of Montgomery, was indicted Thursday on five counts of larceny of more than $250, and four counts of making a false entry into corporate books.

He is scheduled to be arraigned March 14.

Prosecutors allege that between January 2006 and May 2009 Cinelli diverted money from Massachusetts Fire Technologies Inc. accounts to pay personal credit card debt, and then altered company books to hide his tracks.

Massachusetts Fire Technologies specializes in the sale and service of fire extinguishers and suppression systems.

Company founder David Wolcott said he considered Cinelli a friend.

Cinelli could not be reached.