Hickory Hill Car Wash Sells for $2.8 Million

Car Wash USA Express has added another location with the $2.8 million purchase of the car wash facility at 3736 Riverdale Road in the Hickory Hill North area. The company, operating in the transaction as Car Wash USA Express Riverdale LLC, bought the 4,712-square-foot facility from Riverdale Road Carwash Memphis LLC. The sale closed Sept. 9.

Built in 2005, the automatic car wash – known as Splash Express Wash – sits on the east side of Riverdale Road where it meets Starkenburg Lane, just south of Tenn. 385. Riverdale Road Carwash Memphis listed a White Hall, Ark., address.

The Shelby County Assessor of Property’s 2009 appraisal of the facility is $1.1 million.

Car Wash USA Express has five Memphis-area locations, according to its Web site: three in Memphis, one in Lakeland and one in Olive Branch.

Car Wash USA Express Riverdale on Sept. 8 filed a $2.2 million loan through The Peoples Bank in conjunction with the purchase. Stephen Ray Holley signed the trust deed as manager, and David Griffin signed the trust deed as member of Car Wash USA Express Riverdale.

Source: The Daily News Online & Chandler Reports

Former ALSAC CEO Shadyac Sr. Dies

Richard C. Shadyac Sr., the former chief executive officer of ALSAC and the father of the man who now holds that position, died Wednesday from an undisclosed long-term illness. He was 80.

In a statement, Marlo Thomas, national outreach director of St. Jude and daughter of founder Danny Thomas, said Shadyac was a tireless champion of the hospital’s mission.

“We are not just losing a great man, we are losing a patriarch of our St. Jude family who played a critical role in the history of St. Jude and ALSAC,” she said.

Shadyac served as executive director of ALSAC, the fundraising arm of St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, for 13 years before his retirement in 2005. ALSAC’s fundraising revenues grew from $100 million in 1992 when he assumed the leadership post to $450 million when he left.

Services will be held in the Washington area and in Memphis. Shadyac can be honored through memorials made to St. Jude at ww.stjude.org/shadyactribute.

Renasant Bank Names Forman Memphis’ First VP

Renasant Bank has named Scott Forman to be first vice president and commercial lending officer in Memphis.

Forman, who has been with the Mississippi-based bank since 2001, has served as a commercial lending officer and relationship manager. In his new position he will continue to build relationships with commercial clients for the bank.

FTC Considers Ban On Loan Modification Scams

The head of the Federal Trade Commission said Thursday the agency is considering banning upfront payments to companies that advertise help for borrowers who are in trouble on their home loans.

Government officials say scammers seeking to take advantage of borrowers in danger of default often charge upfront fees of $1,000 to $3,000 for help with loan modifications that rarely, if ever, pay off.

“If you are concerned about keeping your home, avoid any company that asks you for a large fee in advance. That is a real red flag,” said Jon Leibowitz, chairman of the FTC. Such upfront fees are already prohibited in 20 states.

His comments came as his agency announced it filed civil charges against two companies, San Diego-based Nations Housing Modification Center and Infinity Group Services of Orange County, Calif.

The government accused both companies of charging homeowners large fees for assistance in working with their lenders, but doing “little or nothing” to actually help borrowers.

Leibowitz said the FTC was also considering restrictions on how mortgage rescue companies can advertise their services. Ads for loan modification companies frequently appear on late-night TV and on billboards in some parts of the country. Nations Housing, for example, mailed homeowners official-looking letters purporting to be from an address on Pennsylvania Avenue in the nation’s capital.

They were designed to trick consumers into thinking that they were participating in a government program, regulators said.

The government has filed charges against 22 companies operating such schemes and say the firms often have names or ads designed to make borrowers think they are using the Obama administration’s efforts to help modify or refinance millions of mortgages.

US Net Worth Sees Growth in Q2

Americans’ wealth rose this spring for the first time in nearly two years, with stocks and home values gaining as the recession faded.

Still, household net worth remains about 19 percent below its peak in the third quarter of 2007, before the recession began.

The Federal Reserve said net worth grew by $2 trillion to $53.1 trillion in the April-to-June quarter. Net worth, or the value of assets such as homes, checking accounts and investments minus debts such as mortgages and credit cards, rose nearly 4 percent from the first quarter, the Fed said.

Even with the gain, Americans’ net worth stands well below the $65.3 trillion it reached two years ago.

The second-quarter increase in net worth was the first since wealth peaked. The pickup was led by gains in stock portfolios, according to the Fed report. The value of Americans’ stock holdings rose 21.6 percent from the first quarter.

Net worth in the second quarter also was boosted by higher home prices. The value of real estate holdings rose 1.8 percent, according to the Fed report.

Collectively, homeowners had 43.1 percent equity in their homes in the second quarter, according to the Fed report. That was up only slightly from 41.9 percent in the first quarter.

U of M Executive MBA Program To Hold Info. Session

The University of Memphis’ Executive MBA Program will hold an information session for prospective students Sept. 30.

Attendees will have the opportunity to meet alumni, current students, faculty and staff. There is no charge to attend the information session but reservations are required. To reserve a place, call 678-4866 or e-mail emba@memphis.edu.

The information session will be held from 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. in Room 385 of the Fogelman College of Business & Economics on the U of M campus.

The Executive MBA Program includes a single residency week of intensive management and leadership education during the first and second years of the program as well as a summer international study tour comprising foreign travel, company visits and lectures.