DPC Ventures Buys 14 Lots for $1.6M

DPC Ventures LLC has paid $1.6 million for 10 lots in the Gerland Creek Planned Development in Southeast Shelby County and four lots in the Rialto Square Subdivision in Cordova. The seller was Signature Building Group GP, and the sale closed in late April.

The Gerland Creek phases where the 10 lots were sold are referred to as Whisper Ridge, an 83-lot, 22.64-acre development northwest of the intersection of Shelby Drive and Hacks Cross Road.

Rialto Square, which is south of Macon Road between Dexter and Berryhill roads, contains 153 lots and eight common areas on 35.24 acres.

W.V. Richerson Jr., chief manager of Compass Pointe Homes LLC, signed the warranty deed as a partner for the seller, Signature Building Group GP.

In conjunction with the purchase, DPC Ventures filed a $1.7 million loan through Deviney Construction Co. Inc. for the lots. An assignment of rents and leases also was filed.

Source: The Daily News Online & Chandler Reports

State House Vote Gives GOP Majority on Election Comm.

Republicans won a victory last week with passage of legislation in the state House of Representatives that honors Tennessee’s current law to give the majority party in the Tennessee General Assembly a one-vote edge on the State Election Commission. The action comes as a result of the November elections when Republicans took control of both houses of the Legislature.

Senate Majority Leader Mark Norris, a Collierville Republican, sponsored the legislation.

The bill, which already has been approved in the Senate, temporarily adds two Republicans to the State Election Commission to provide a 4-3 Republican majority. The commission currently has a 3-2 Democratic majority. The bill contains a provision to automatically give the majority party the one-vote advantage if the power shifts in the future.

Current Tennessee law also provides that the majority party shall have control of all 95 election commissions at the county level.  

House Democrats had threatened to bottle up the bill in House committees where there is an even number of Democrats and Republicans. Legislation must receive a majority vote to advance to the floor of the House, where it was approved along party lines. 

Norris had declared that, if House Democrats continued to hold up approval of the bill, Senate Republicans would not vote to continue the existence of the Election Commission, which was up for sunset review.

Short-Term Loans Allowed for Tax Credit

Thousands of first-time homebuyers will be able to get short-term loans so they can quickly make use of a new $8,000 tax credit that was designed to boost the battered U.S. housing market.

The Federal Housing Administration on Friday released details of a plan in which borrowers who use FHA loans can get advances from lenders that effectively let them receive the credit before they complete their taxes.

The FHA had no estimate of how many borrowers would qualify. But the agency, which backs about a quarter of new home loans, is projected to guarantee about 2.2 million loans in the next budget year.

Borrowers can claim the credit by filing an amended 2008 tax return or can wait for their 2009 returns.

The change “will present an enormous benefit for communities struggling to deal with an oversupply of housing,” Housing Secretary Shaun Donovan said in a statement.

Borrowers will still have to come up with the FHA’s required 3.5 percent down payment, unless they work through a state or local housing program. But officials say the money can still be used for closing costs or a larger down payment.

The tax credit was included in the economic stimulus package signed in February by President Barack Obama.

Elzemeyer Talent Agency Opens Nashville Office

Memphis-based Elzemeyer Talent Agency has opened a second office in Nashville.

Elzemeyer provides clients with models, actors, voice over, promotional models and live talent. The owner, Abby Elzemeyer, has worked as a casting director for films made in the Memphis region and worked with area talent agencies.

She said a steady growth in business over the past year made it possible to expand operations into Nashville, which she described as a “natural step.”

Talent represented by the agency has been involved in projects including work on the CW’s “One Tree Hill,” the feature film “Nothing But the Truth” and commercial advertising.

Tenet Will Buy Back Up to $1B in Notes

Hospital operator Tenet Healthcare Corp. reported Friday it started a tender offer to buy up to $1 billion of senior notes due in 2014.

Tenet, which operates Saint Francis hospitals in Memphis and Bartlett, said holders who tender the 9.875 percent notes by the afternoon of June 11 will receive consideration that is equal to the value of their notes, plus a premium of $30 per $1,000 in value, and any accrued and unpaid interest. Holders who tender after the early period will receive consideration worth $970 per $1,000 in notes, plus accrued and unpaid interest.

The offer expires June 25, and will be completed if at least $200 million in notes are tendered.

State Commissioner Warns Of Fake Insurance Scams

The state is warning Tennesseans to be careful of scammers selling fake health insurance policies.

Tennessee Department of Commerce and Insurance Commissioner Leslie A. Newman said in a release Thursday that the number of people looking to make a profit by selling fraudulent health insurance is on the rise because of increasing health insurance costs.

Newman said these companies are not licensed by the state and claims of extremely low rates and minimal or no underwriting should be a signal for consumers to look closer.

Consumers should also be wary if the company is difficult to reach by phone or not listed at all.