| Lawyer: Andy Pettitte will back trainer
The delay of Pettitte's deposition or transcribed interview was the latest switch in the schedule of meetings between witnesses and staff before the Feb. 13 hearing. "Just a mutually agreeable postponement," said Keith Ausbrook, Republican general counsel for the committee. "It give us a little more time to prepare and gives him a little more time to prepare." Also asked to appear at next month's hearing are Clemens, McNamee, former Yankees second baseman Chuck Knoblauch, and former New York Mets clubhouse employee Kirk Radomski. "Mr. Pettitte is cooperating voluntarily with the committee, and we look forward to his testimony on Monday," panel chairman Henry Waxman and ranking Republican Tom Davis said in a joint statement. "We appreciate Mr. Pettitte's willingness to assist the committee." Knoblauch now is scheduled for Friday and would be the first of the five Feb.
Price dip gives first-timers a better chance
First-time buyers who can't afford to borrow enough to buy outright may qualify for help under the government's HomeBuy schemes, which offer an equity stake in a new-build property (paying a subsidised rent on the rest) or a subsidised loan to help buy a home on the open market. Much of the help is focused on 'key workers' and existing housing association and council tenants. However, others can also qualify. 'We still help a large number of other families,' says Graeme Moran, managing director of Metropolitan Home Ownership, one of the regional HomeBuy agents that allow buyers to reach all the affordable housing in a region through a single application. Eligibility for help depends on priorities set by regional housing boards, but in London, for instance, a good rule of thumb is that if your household income is over £50,000 you're less likely to qualify.
Kentucky foreclosure rate lower than nation's
Nearly 75 percent more foreclosures were filed nationwide in 2007 than in 2006, but Kentucky's problem was less severe, RealtyTrac reported Tuesday. The state saw a 23.45 percent increase in foreclosures in 2007, including a 19.9 percent decline in filings in the last three months of the year. Nationally, just over 1 percent of all households were in foreclosure at the end of 2007, compared with 0.27 percent of Kentucky's households. RealtyTrac said 5,105 Kentucky properties were in some stage of foreclosure at the end of 2007. Chris Evans, president of the Mortgage Bankers Association of Kentucky, said falling mortgage rates Ð now typically less than 6 percent for a 30-year fixed rate home loan Ð have been a factor since November.
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