Latest news with #HomeSafe
Yahoo
5 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
KeyBanc downgrades KBR to Sector Weight on 'continuing uncertainty'
-- KeyBanc Capital Markets downgraded KBR (NYSE:KBR) to Sector Weight from Overweight, flagging ongoing uncertainty surrounding its long-troubled HomeSafe program. The downgrade follows the U.S. Department of Defense's (DoD) formal termination of the HomeSafe contract last Wednesday, which KeyBanc described as a pivotal moment that failed to resolve broader investor concerns. 'The constant drip of negative news had picked up in recent weeks as SecDef initiated a review, reintroduced legacy movers, and contemplated cutting military moves by 50% over time,' the broker's analysts said in a Monday note. While KeyBanc had been hoping for a swift resolution and a refreshed outlook from KBR's management in line with its 2024 analyst day, the firm said, 'we got one but not the other.' 'To appreciate KBR's discount valuation, we believe we needed a defensible rebasing of the long-term outlook,' the note said. Given the current sentiment in the market, KeyBanc believes investors are unlikely to support a name with a 'continuing uncertainty' in its forecast, even at a low valuation. The broker cut its earnings estimates for both 2025 and 2026 and added that further downside revisions may still be necessary. Meanwhile, KeyBanc reiterated its Overweight rating on Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) and raised the price target to $245 from $230. The analysts pointed to stronger-than-expected earnings and same-store sales in the fiscal fourth quarter, supported by successful marketing campaigns and digital initiatives. Darden's full-year 2026 (FY26) guidance was seen as conservative, and KeyBanc expects its long-term shareholder return framework of 10–15% to remain intact. KeyBanc believes the company's performance and outlook justify a valuation at the higher end of its historical range, supported by a 'potential acceleration in unit growth and modestly higher expected same-store sales (SSS) growth.' The revised price target reflects a valuation of approximately 21 times estimated FY27 earnings. Related articles KeyBanc downgrades KBR to Sector Weight on 'continuing uncertainty' Trump Media stock rises after announcing $400 million share buyback Evercore sees Darden on track for durable double-digit gains Sign in to access your portfolio
BBC News
19-06-2025
- Business
- BBC News
Scheme finds 6,500 hazards in Peterborough rented homes
More than 6,500 safety hazards were identified in almost 1,500 privately rented properties as part of a council's property inspection scheme looking for things like mould and faulty scheme, run by Peterborough City Council in partnership with Home Safe, requires landlords in designated areas to apply for a five-year licence period confirming their properties meet safety and living standards. In the first 12 months of the scheme, which started last year, the council found that out of 1,500 properties, 49% had at least one significant issue posing a significant risk to Jones, Labour cabinet member for housing, said the scheme was "making good progress". It was "already playing a role in our aim of improving private rental housing", she the scheme, each licensed property receives two inspections over the course of the five-year period which aims to identify and address issues the first year, more than 7,000 licence applications were received and more than 6,476 licences were issued by the council following checks of safety certificates and application data. The authority said the scheme had already led to safety improvements in the homes of thousands of tenants, and landlords had completed required works promptly in line with the compliance process. If issues have not been addressed, then properties were being referred to its officers for further action, the city council said landlords who were operating unlicensed properties could face a financial penalty of up to £30,000, an unlimited court fine, and could be ordered to repay up to 12 months' rent to tenants. Follow Peterborough news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.
CNBC
31-05-2025
- Business
- CNBC
The 5 best alternatives to a reverse mortgage
If you're an older homeowner looking for an infusion of cash, a reverse mortgage could seem like a no-brainer. there is no minimum credit score requirement and — as long as you stay current with your insurance premiums, home repairs and property taxes — no payments is due until you sell the house, stop living there full-time or pass away. But there are some major restrictions: To qualify for a government-backed home equity conversion mortgage (HECM), the most common reverse mortgage, you must be at least 62 and have 50% equity in your home. There are also unique risks: When you leave the house (or if you fall behind on upkeep), the loan and interest come due in full. That could leave you or your heirs with a thorny financial mess and even the prospect of foreclosure. So, before you apply for a reverse mortgage, consider these alternatives. Offers in this section are from affiliate partners and selected based on a combination of engagement, product relevance, compensation, and consistent online for personalized ratesHECM, HomeSafe Standard jumbo, HomeSafe Second second lien, EquityAvail Terms applyApply for personalized ratesHECM reverse, HECM for purchase, Platinum Mortgage (proprietary loan with larger limits and a low age requirement of over 55) Terms apply Like a reverse mortgage, a HELOC lets you access cash by borrowing against the equity in your home. It's a revolving line of credit, so you can borrow only what you need during the draw period, which typically lasts 10 years, and only have to make payments on the interest. After the draw period ends, however, you'll need to make monthly payments on the principal and interest, typically over a 20-year timeframe. You can use the funds for whatever you want, but if you invest in significant home renovations or repairs, a portion of the interest is tax-deductible. Minimum credit score: 620Home equity: At least 15% to 20%Debt-to-income ratio: 43% or less for the best rates, 50% at the most. A home equity loan is another way to get cash using the value of your home. Your lender will provide you with a one-time lump sum payment that you'll start repaying immediately and continue for a period of anywhere from 5 to 30 a HELOC, a portion of the interest on a home equity loan is tax-deductible if you use the money for home improvement. Minimum credit score: 620Home equity: At least 15% to 20%Maximum debt-to-income ratio: 50% at most, 43% for the best rates If you want a significant payout with less risk, cash-out refinancing replaces your existing mortgage with a larger loan that allows you to take the excess as cash. You can typically get approved for up to 80% of your home's value, and in some cases, as much as 100%. If your home is worth $400,000, for example, and you have $100,000 remaining on your mortgage, you could refinance with a loan for $320,000 (an 80% loan-to-value ratio). The first $100,000 is applied toward your existing mortgage, and the remainder is turned over to you for whatever you want to spend it on. The repayment terms are similar to a purchase mortgage: Typically, you'll have a 30-year term with a fixed interest rate. There's still the risk of losing your home, but you'll be making smaller monthly payments rather than one big one. Minimum credit score: 620Home equity: Typically 20%, but as low as 0% with some loansMaximum debt-to-income ratio: 50% at most, 43% for best rates With a home equity sharing agreement, an investor pays you cash in exchange for a portion of the value of your home. Like a reverse mortgage, you repay their investment when you sell the property (or after a term specified in your contract). One benefit of a home equity sharing arrangement is that the credit requirements are much more flexible than a HELOC, home equity loan or cash-out refinancing. Minimum credit score: 500Home equity: 25%Maximum debt-to-income ratio: None Offers in this section are from affiliate partners and selected based on a combination of engagement, product relevance, compensation, and consistent availability.15 to 30 years50025%10, 15 or 20 years68020% If you don't want to take out a home loan or sign away a portion of your equity, you could downsize to a more modest property. Existing homeowners are sitting on an average of about $310,000 in home equity, according to ICE Mortgage data, which would be money in your pocket if you sold. You could even relocate to an area with a lower cost of living and save on homeowners insurance, property taxes and other housing expenses. A reverse mortgage allows borrowers to access cash through a loan backed by the value of their home. Unlike a home equity loan or line of credit, the borrower does not need to make any payments until they sell the house, move out or die. Then, the loan and interest is due in full. Reverse mortgages require a balloon payment 30 days after the borrower sells the property, stops using it as their primary residence or dies. In addition, the loan will come due in full if you fail to stay current with property taxes or homeowners insurance. A home equity conversion mortgage, or HECM, is the most common type of reverse mortgage. It is backed by the Federal Housing Administration and, in 2025, is capped at $1,209,750. Home equity loans and HELOCs are harder to be approved for than a reverse mortgage, but they have fewer risks, lower costs, and more tax advantages. In addition, they don't have age requirements and require less home equity. Money matters — so make the most of it. Get expert tips, strategies, news and everything else you need to maximize your money, right to your inbox. Sign up here. At CNBC Select, our mission is to provide our readers with high-quality service journalism and comprehensive consumer advice so they can make informed decisions with their money. Every mortgage article is based on rigorous reporting by our team of expert writers and editors with extensive knowledge of mortgage products. While CNBC Select earns a commission from affiliate partners on many offers and links, we create all our content without input from our commercial team or any outside third parties, and we pride ourselves on our journalistic standards and ethics.
Yahoo
28-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
‘It's only getting worse': Hegseth issues changes to fix military moving issues
Top brass at the Department of Defense is weighing in on the way the military moves its members after an Action News Jax investigation. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth has directed the U.S. Transportation Command to implement sweeping changes amid the busy moving season. Hegseth issued a list of changes, starting with slashing the number of moves the new program through HomeSafe Alliance receives, saying, 'We know it's not working and it's only getting worse.' Action News Jax has been covering the military moving nightmares for months, talking to military families who wait weeks, even months, to receive their goods, movers who can't afford to work at HomeSafe's rates, and more. INVESTIGATES: After the military switches to a new company, moving issues continue 'The stress does not end from start to finish,' one Navy sailor told us. Experiences like those with are the reason Hegseth said he is changing the plan. All moves will now be split between the new program with HomeSafe at the helm and the old system with multiple vendors, like Jacksonville-based Stefan Cordeiro of Stewart Moving and Storage Memorandum directing immediate modifications to the personal property program 'Everybody has been spewing their concerns for at least the last two years now,' Cordiero, whose business took a major hit with the new program, said. Now, the DOD is taking action. Earlier this month, it relieved the program's director of his duties. Hegseth also just ordered TRANSCOM to come up with new, more competitive rates for moving companies, increasing the amount military families are reimbursed if they move themselves, and developing a task force to review the entire moving process and see how it can be improved, as well as tracking weekly progress. [SIGN UP: Action News Jax Daily Headlines Newsletter] In response to the memo HomeSafe Alliance sent us this statement: 'HomeSafe Alliance is grateful for Defense Secretary Hegseth's attention to the Global Household Goods Contract and the directives he has issued, which will greatly improve moving experiences for military service members and their families. DoD raising our rates to account for significant inflation from the last four years would substantially benefit our ability to facilitate world-class moving services for our nation's heroes. We look forward to working with the PCS Task Force to demonstrate how our program modernizes and digitizes the move process and resolves decades-long issues with military relocations.' [DOWNLOAD: Free Action News Jax app for alerts as news breaks] Click here to download the free Action News Jax news and weather apps, click here to download the Action News Jax Now app for your smart TV and click here to stream Action News Jax live.
Yahoo
23-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Problems with Privatized Household Goods Shipments Prompt Hegseth to Order Immediate Changes
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has ordered immediate changes to address a multitude of problems this year with domestic military permanent change of station moves under the Global Household Goods Contract, or GHC. In a memo Tuesday to senior leaders and combatant commanders, Hegseth announced that he has ordered U.S. Transportation Command to address what he called "recent deficiencies" in performance by HomeSafe Alliance, the company that manages the $7.2 billion contract to run the department's moving process. Military families with PCS orders this year have reported numerous issues with scheduling and executing moves, such as packers who don't show up, delayed pickups and deliveries, and cancellations. Read Next: GOP's 'Big Beautiful' Bill with $8.5 Billion for Military Quality-of-Life Boost Passes House Hegseth outlined six steps Transportation Command will take to better support military personnel and their families when they move. "Relocating our personnel is critical to the military mission, putting human resources and expertise where they are needed to defend the nation," Hegseth wrote. According to the memo, Transportation Command must immediately hold HomeSafe Alliance, as well as the legacy system, known as Tender of Service, accountable in meeting performance benchmarks, providing weekly updates to senior Pentagon acquisition and personnel leadership. The command also must make sure that the GHC is fully operational and, where it falls short, moves should be transferred to the legacy program. The contract, which has been in the works for years, was designed to privatize management of troops' household goods shipments during moves -- and solve widespread dissatisfaction among military families over the handling of the shipments by Transportation Command and the military. Transportation Command must review the rates it pays to HomeSafe under the contract, and "if appropriate, implement economic price adjustments" to raise the rates, which have been criticized by industry officials as not competitive with market rates. And, most important to military families who prefer to execute moves themselves, Hegseth increased the rate the Defense Department will pay service members to move themselves -- a "personally procured move" -- to up to 130% of what HomeSafe is currently supposed to receive if the company performed the move. "As I have determined that the current GHC rates fail to reflect market rates and are in excess of 130% of current GHC rates, implement adjustments to the government constructed costs for reimbursement of personally procured moves from May 15, 2025, through September 30, 2025," Hegseth wrote. HomeSafe Alliance won the household goods contract in 2021 following a series of protests over the award by other bidders. Under the contract, the entire moving process, from scheduling, packing, pickup and delivery, is supposed to be managed by the private company. HomeSafe Alliance conducted test moves last year, and this year was supposed to handle the majority of the domestic moves. According to the publication Federal News Network, however, just 25% of domestic moves had been assigned to GHC by April and, of those, 1,600 were turned back over to the legacy system because HomeSafe couldn't handle the capacity. The DoD oversees roughly 400,000 household goods shipments each year -- 15% of all moves in the U.S. In a statement to HomeSafe Alliance officials said they were grateful for the directive, adding that it will "greatly improve moving experiences for military service members and their families." "DoD raising our rates to account for significant inflation from the last four years would substantially benefit our ability to facilitate world-class moving services for our nation's heroes," the company said in a statement. But Dan Hilton, executive director of the American Trucking Associations' Moving and Storage Conference, expressed continued reservations over the contract, which replaced a program that "continues to work well with service members." "We remain concerned over the GHC contractor's unpreparedness, due to lack of industry engagement in its program, to handle any meaningful volume during this peak season. It's been the experience of our members that the traditional ToS capacity has been unable to adequately plan for peak season due to the GHC contractor's failed implementation," Hilton said in a statement Wednesday. Megan Harless, an Army veteran and military spouse who has become an advocate for military families undergoing PCS moves, called the memo and the increases for do-it-yourself moves "a step in the right direction." "It's what we've been asking for since January. This, accountability and transparency," Harless said in a statement on her LinkedIn page. As part of the order, Hegseth also created a PCS Task Force to review the process and make recommendations for improving, expanding, transferring or terminating the contract or responsibilities of HomeSafe or the legacy system. In their statement, HomeSafe officials said they "look forward to working" with the task force to show how their program modernizes the move process and "resolves decades-long issues with military relocations." As part of the ongoing concerns with the PCS process, Transportation Command also relieved Andy Dawson, director of the Defense Personal Property Management Office, this week. He has been temporarily replaced by Army Maj. Gen. Lance Curtis. Hegseth said that the measures will help ensure that "our warriors and their families receive the best PCS move available." "The department owes them nothing less, and getting this right is part of restoring their trust in our military," he wrote. Related: Army Pulls Back Household Goods Shipments as Privatized Moving Contract Leads to Widespread Issues
