Carl Cole, Racetrack in default and other news

Carl Cole Update:

As the clock ticks down on former Bakersfield real estate broker Carl Cole’s deadline to legally challenge his license revocation, Cole continues to work at a real estate agency in Thousand Oaks under the name of one of his defunct companies, Points West Group

But Points West, which has one active listing for a house in Oxnard, is not properly registered with the state Department of Real Estate, said spokesman Tom Pool.

When asked if the department was looking into the matter, Pool said he “cannot comment on that.”

As of Wednesday, Cole, 61, is described as an “administrative assistant” on his Web site, http://www.yourecoteam.com./

The supervising broker is a former employee of Crisp & Cole Real Estate, the flamed-out partnership of Cole and former sales agent David Crisp, 29. The Department of Real Estate revoked Cole’s license Nov. 14. Points West Group also entered “revoked” status then, where it officially remains.

College degrees not worth the money?:

Lisa Pinson, 23, earned her communications and media studies degree from Azusa Pacific University in Los Angeles in May, but moved back in with her parents in southwest Bakersfield after she was unable to find employment in her field.

The media are among industries hardest hit by the recession. Publications and broadcasters across the nation are cutting staff.

Pinson is trying to be optimistic, and keeping an open mind about applying for jobs unrelated to her major. She doesn’t regret the field of study she chose.

“I know a lot of people who are art majors and film majors who haven’t got a chance,” she said.

“Even the supposedly safe majors aren’t as safe as they used to be. I know some business majors who are working in telemarketing, so it could be worse.”

Would you buy a car from a dealer when the company is bankrupt?:

General Motors Corp. has hired lawyers and bankers to consider whether to file for bankruptcy protection, said several people familiar with the matter, while Senate lawmakers embarked on a last-ditch effort to break an impasse on Congress's auto-bailout package.

GM management recently tapped bankruptcy veteran Harvey Miller of the New York law firm, Weil Gotshal & Manges LP, to handle what would be one of the largest and most controversial filings in U.S. history. Others involved in the matter include restructuring veterans Jay Alix, Evercore Partners' William Repko and Blackstone Group's Arthur Newman.

Racetrack in default:

A $4.5 million loan taken out against the future Kern River Raceway property last March has defaulted, county records filed last week show. A default is the first legal step in a possible foreclosure.

The project has already drawn numerous lawsuits and liens from construction companies seeking payment for work at the site.

Debt from those is more than $2 million, records show.

The half-mile, paved track broke ground in February 2007. But the sagging housing market blindsided the project when financial backer Alan Destefani, a Bakersfield farmer, had a large sale of ag land fall through that spring.

Since then, racetrack partners have been scouring leads to find financing as the economy has gone south.