The Hartford Courant is the only daily newspaper in Connecticut that charges a higher rate for victims of foreclosure than for anyone else purchasing similar ads in its Sunday real estate section.
That information was contained in a document the Connecticut Daily Newspaper Association sent to state judges this week. After I disclosed the discrepancy, judges had asked for information on real estate rates charged by all daily newspapers for home foreclosure ads. The advertisements are mandated in advance of auctions.
Several newspapers – the New Haven Register, New London Day, Manchester Journal Inquirer, and Waterbury Republican-American – charged less for foreclosure ads than for other, similar sized real estate ads, all other newspapers except for the Courant had the same rates for foreclosure as for regular ads.
The New Haven Register – a paper that carries my weekly column – gives the biggest discount for foreclosure ads: its regular price of $744.19 compared to $247.58 for foreclosures.
The Courant charges $698.12 for a normal ad but charges $758.12 for a foreclosure ad the same size, according to the document, which can be viewed at the bottom of this column
All the ads were priced at the single-ad rate. The Courant – according to real estate agents – gives much greater discounts to regular advertisers. And The Courant offers a similar-sized ad for under $200 that includes placement in one Sunday and one Friday paper, as well as seven days on the Internet, for non-foreclosures.
State judges require that all foreclosure sales be advertised in newspapers that circulate in the area where the home is located. If the home sells for more than the amount due on the mortgage, the former owner of the home gets to keep that money minus expenses, which include advertising fees.
Normally, judges require that the ads appear in two Sunday editions of The Courant. The $758.12 noted is for a small foreclosure ad; larger ads that frequently appear can cost twice as much.
The issue arose while the Connecticut Daily Newspaper Association was carrying out a massive publicity campaign aimed at killing proposed legislation that would have allowed municipalities to bypass daily newspapers in posting public notices, which are sometimes called legal ads. The cities and towns would have been allowed to only post the notices on Internet sites, saving them an estimated $2 million a year. After a scare campaign led by the Courant, which claimed the legislation would harm the democratic process, the bill was killed.
However, one Courant reader tipped me off that the newspaper charges higher rates for its foreclosure ads than for other similar ads, which led to my column and the judges investigating the costs.
James P. Leahy, executive director of the newspaper association, said in February that I should be ashamed of myself for attempting to put The Courant, my former employer, in a poor light.
As you probably know, I was fired by The Courant after 40 years with the newspaper and have a wrongful termination suit pending. I now write a weekly column for the Register, Torrington Register Citizen, New Britain Herald, Bristol Press, Middletown Press, West Hartford News, Avon, News, Canton News, Simsbury News, and Granby News. The Manchester Journal Inquirer has informed me that it will soon begin to carry my CtWatchdog column.
The following is Leahy’s response this week to Judge Douglas Mintz’ request for information:
March 31, 2010
The Honorable Douglas Mintz
Stamford/Norwalk Judicial Department
Stamford, CT 06905
Dear Judge Mintz:
In response to your previous request, I have polled all 17 members of the Connecticut Daily Newspapers Association (CDNA) in order to provide you with the attached information.
For each paper we have provided the cost per insertion for each paper, the cost per mille (CPM) and the comparable open rate for an advertiser. There are other rates for newspapers, of course, most noticeably “contract†rates for advertisers who guarantee a minimum volume over a specified time period. These are the rates most often cited when critics claim “gouging†by the industry on the public notice issue.
The CPM is an industry standard which allows you to compare rates between newspapers of different circulations. It is similar with the cost per impression standard most commonly used in Internet advertising. Most newspapers use the Audit Bureau of Circulation (ABC) standard to determine circulation, but that is not universal.
Finally, the circulation areas are those designated by the papers themselves. If two newspapers claim a particular town as within their circulation area, there is no guarantee that the CPM is the same as listed here in that particular town. The number we’ve provided is global and will vary from town to town and paper to paper.
Some judgment will still have to be applied to choose the appropriate resource. I hope this information is helpful. As always, you may contact me at (860)xxxxxxx with any questions.
Sincerely,
James P. Leahy, CAE
Executive Director
Mr. Leahy, in his capacity, should know that one of the industry standards for calculating costs comparing newspapers, CPM, is cost per thousand not cost per mile as he indicated in his letter.
Jim – both of us are WRONG and Mr. Leahy is RIGHT on this technical issue. He wrote Cost Per MILLE (which in latin is 1,000).
At least when we are wrong we admit it. Lets see if Mr. Leahy now admits that the info he sent the judges contain apples to oranges comparisons.
George
I found the following email from Jim Leavy today in my spam filter telling the judges that The Courant’s information was not accurate: here is his note,
Judge Mintz,
We have made a slight correction to the chart. The Hartford Courant would like it reflected that the additional $85 fee is for the upload
to the national database and two week run on http://www.mypublicnotices.org.
The realtor ad could also add additional internet charges, but were not included in the request.
The initial chart included a $25 online charge for the realtor ad, but in fact there are a myriad of choices for that realtor ad, so it is impossible to determine.
This is a fair request, particular given the substantive difference between the two postings.
Jim Leahy
I responded to Mr. Leahy that the change is meaningless in comparing rates from different newspapers unless the identical information is also provided by the other newspapers.
George
I believe all of the CT newspapers include web posting with their legal notices. With the exception of the Waterbury Republican-American, all are participating with http://www.ctpublicnotices.org. The Courant breaks this fee out as an itemized expense, while the other papers do not. That does not make this an apples to oranges comparison. If anything, we are working to ensure that every possible charge is listed in the chart, which is what Judge Mintz requested. The only charge we couldn’t determine was the online fee for a similar ad which wasn’t a foreclosure notice because that ad has multiple options to choose.
I believe the information in the spreadsheet is accurate and helpful, but not definitive. In the past, judges had little information to make comparisons. They now have more. Judges may wish to determine how broadly they wish the ad to be viewed in print, whether they wish an online presence in addition to the Judicial Department’s website and what the priority communities are for this notice. I cannot anticipate their choices.
We (the CT Daily Newspapers Association) have been working with the Judicial Department for months to ensure that Judges have the resources available to make good decisions about their ad placements. I am completely comfortable with the information we’ve provided.
Unless I am reading this incorrectly Jim, that means that the Courant is the only newspaper (once discovering what your data showed) suddenly decided to break out charges which other newspapers included in their figures. That would mean that EVERY newspaper in Conn – save one – GIVES FORECLOSURE victims a break???????????????????