Inside East Valley Business

The Meridian Bank branch on La Montana Drive was transformed into a gourmet restaurant Thursday as lunchtime customers were greeted by celebrity Chef Eddie Matney.
At two separate seatings, customers were treated to a special lunch prepared inside the branch. Matney is owner and executive chef of Eddie’s House in Old Town Scottsdale. He has been involved in many restaurants around the Valley since the early 1980s, including Eddie’s Grill, Eddie Matney’s at the Biltmore and Stoudemire’s Downtown.
With more than $2 billion in assets, Meridian Bank of Arizona has a 30-year history in the Valley with nine branches serving several thousand customers.

More homeowners reached the crisis point last month as foreclosure filings rose both nationally and across Arizona, according to the latest RealtyTrac report.
Foreclosure filings - default notices, auction sale notices and bank repossessions - were reported on 279,561 U.S. properties, a 5 percent increase from the previous month and a 25 percent increase from October 2007. One in every 452 U.S. homes received a foreclosure filing last month.
With one in every 149 homes receiving a foreclosure filing, Arizona had the second-highest state foreclosure rate. Filings were up nearly 35 percent from the previous month and 176 percent from October 2007. Filings were reported on 17,507 Arizona properties.
RealtyTrac reported declines in new foreclosure filings in numerous states, including California, where legislation was signed into law mandating delays to the foreclosure process. Overall, October marks the 34th consecutive month where U.S. foreclosure activity has increased compared to the prior year.

Filiberto’s Mexican restaurant at Gilbert and Baseline roads has agreed to settle a sexual harassment lawsuit filed by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) that alleged a teen-ager was subject to sexual harassment, including unwanted touching, by one of the cooks while working as a cashier.

In its suit against Rio’s Family Co., the commission maintained the female employee was sexually harassed in May 2005, and company management failed to take any action to investigate or remedy the harassment after her mother complained the following day.

Sexual harassment and failure to take appropriate action to correct it violate Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. In addition to paying $7,500 to the female employee, the commission settlement by consent decree requires Rio’s Family Co. to provide training and other relief aimed at educating its employees about sexual harassment and their rights under Title VII.

At 6.percent, U.S. unemployment stands at a five-year high and the nation has lost more than 600,000 jobs since December, according to the Economic Policy Institute.

Researcher Emily Garr shows that even in the states that gained jobs this year there has been plenty of pain to go around. In Texas, which gained more jobs than any other state, unemployment rose from 4.2 percent to 5 percent since December. Out of 22 states that gained jobs, unemployment rose in all but two.

Since December, Arizona has lost 35,200 jobs, including 3,000 manufacturing jobs, according to the institute. Unemployment stood at 5.6 percent last month.

Workers who might be tempted to cash out their 401(k) to cope with financial struggles can find out exactly how such a decision could adversely affect their long-term retirement strategy.

RolloverSystems Inc., an independent provider of 401(k) rollover services, offers a free, online calculator to help consumers understand that taking a few thousand dollars today can mean having tens of thousands less at retirement from penalties, taxes and the loss of compound interest.

Here’s how the calculator works: visit www.rolloversystems.com, enter your current age, projected retirement age, expected return, and current plan balance. The calculator will list the penalties and taxes you will pay and what will be left of your cash-out. Additionally, it tells you what the savings will be worth at retirement if left to grow in a qualified account. For example, a 35-year-old plan participant who wants to retire at 65, has a $5,000 balance and expects an 8 percent return might pay $500 in penalties and $1,500 in taxes, leaving him or her with only $3,000 in cash. By contrast, if he or she rolled over the savings into an IRA, the $5,000 would grow to be worth more than $50,000 at retirement.

A new Ameritrade survey shows most Americans aren’t planning to splurge this year when they receive their income tax refunds. The survey of 2,338 taxpayers showed most are in a serious mood when it comes to spending money.

When asked what they plan to do, 85 percent said they plan to either invest it, pay off debt or save it. Three out of four adults anticipate receiving a tax refund this year.

Other survey findings include:

* If given the choice of where their tax money would be spent, most adults prefer to see their money go toward health care, followed by education and Social Security. Women are more likely to want their money to go toward health care and education, while men are more likely to prefer their money go toward infrastructure and national security.

* Men are more likely than women to say they contribute more of their tax refunds to charitable organizations now versus five years ago. Adults ages 35 and older, and earning $75,000 or more a year, now are likely to contribute more to charity than five years ago.

Consumer credit delinquencies in the fourth quarter of 2007 reached their highest levels since 1992, and no improvement is expected for at least the first half of this year, according to the American Bankers Association’s Consumer Credit Delinquency Bulletin. The composite ratio, which tracks eight closed-end installment loan categories, rose 21 basis points to 2.65 percent of all accounts in the fourth quarter.

All eight loan categories experienced increased delinquencies, which means payments that are 30 days or more overdue. The association attributed the rise largely to auto loan delinquencies. In addition, the number of delinquent bank card accounts rose 20 basis points to 4.38 percent.

The weak housing market continues to be reflected in rising delinquency rates for home equity loans and lines of credit. Delinquencies for home equity lines of credit - the lowest delinquency rate category - rose 12 basis points to .96 percent.

For those having trouble paying down debts, the association offers the following advice:

* Talk with creditors. Hiding only makes the problem worse.

* Don’t charge more purchases until your problems are solved.

 Unclaimed refunds totaling more than $26 million are awaiting 33,100 Arizonans who failed to file a federal income tax return for 2004, according to the Internal Revenue Service. To collect the money, a 2004 return must be filed with an IRS office no later than April 15.

The IRS estimates that half of those who could claim refunds for 2004 would receive more than $552. In some cases, individuals had taxes withheld from their wages or made payments against their taxes out of self-employed earnings, but had too little income to require filing a return.

When a return isn’t filed, the law provides most taxpayers with a three-year window of opportunity for claiming a refund. If no return is filed within that period, the money becomes property of the U.S. Treasury.

Of course, if you haven’t filed returns for 2005 and/or 2006, the IRS won’t issue a refund for 2004 until those returns also are filed. Also, the refund will be applied to any amounts still owed to the IRS and may be used to satisfy unpaid child support or past due federal debts such as student loans.

Everybody loves an April Fool’s Day prank, right? Think again, especially if the prank is pulled on a co-worker, according to local human resources expert Aaron Witsoe. He is president of Valley-based Creative Business Resources.

“We want to make sure people aren’t getting hurt in the April Fool’s thing,” he said. ”A lot of it just depends on the (workplace) culture that you have all year long regarding things of that nature. It’s just common sense.”

It may not be a good idea to pull a prank on a co-worker you’re not friendly with and if you’re unsure how he or she will react, Witsoe said.  It’s definitely not a good idea to pull a prank on a co-worker who already feels left out of social interaction in the workplace, he said. If pulled on the wrong co-worker, the prankster could end up in hot water with human resources.

“Save it for people you know … who are going to take it in the spirit in which it’s meant to be sent,” he said. “You’re better off using restraint, and there is no point in upsetting the apple cart for no reason.”  

YouTube addicts can now use their favorite online streaming video service to clear up confusion on how to claim the upcoming economic stimulus payment.

The Internal Revenue Service has partnered with the American Payroll Association to post four instructional videos regarding the tax rebates. The videos can be veiwed on the Pay News Network channel, at www.youtube.com/paynewsnetwork, the association’s YouTube channel

The videos seek to clarify basic confusion of the tax rebate process among many taxpayers.  To find out if you’re eligible for a rebate, and to use a calculator to estimate your rebate amount, visit www.irs.gov. The economic stimulus package signed into law last month pledges to put up to $600 in each taxpayer’s pocket, with an additional $300 for each qualifying child.