Monthly Archives: April 2010

Atlanta, GA - April 29, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- On April 28, 2010, an Order to Cease and Desist issued by the Georgia Department of Banking and Finance (“Department”) to H.O.P.E. Alliance d/b/a Home Ownership Protection Education Alliance, Inc. d/b/a www.helpnowalliance.org located at 13660 Wright Circle, Tampa, Florida 33626 became final.This Order to Cease and Desist was issued by the Department after it obtained evidence that H.O.P.E. Alliance d/b/a Home Ownership Protection Education Alliance, Inc. d/b/a www.helpnowalliance.org engaged in residential mortgage brokering/lending activities without a license or under an applicable exemption in violation of O.C.G.A. § 7-1-1002

ORLANDO, FL - April 29, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- United States Attorney A. Brian Albritton announces that U.S. District Judge Anne C. Conway today sentenced Ramon Cendana (age 48, of Orlando) to more than six years in federal prison for his role in a mortgage fraud scheme. The Court also ordered Cendana to pay in excess of $240,000 in restitution to his victims. Cendana had pleaded guilty on January 27, 2010

McLean, VA - April 29, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- Freddie Mac (NYSE:FRE) today released the results of its Primary Mortgage Market Survey® (PMMS®) in which the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) averaged 5.06 percent with an average 0.7 point for the week ending April 29, 2010, down slightly from last week when it averaged 5.07 percent. Last year at this time, the 30-year FRM averaged 4.78 percent

April 29, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- The Federal Trade Commission has put a permanent stop to another mortgage foreclosure “rescue” operation that allegedly promoted bogus loan modification and foreclosure relief services. The case is one of 17 lawsuits the FTC has brought in the past 11 months in a crackdown on mortgage relief frauds that target financially strapped homeowners, and more cases are being investigated

Atlanta, GA - April 29, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- Prudential Georgia Realty’s new Buckhead office, located at 3221 Peachtree Road, just south of thePeachtree and Piedmont Road intersection, continues to add to its agent salesteam. Steve Kesler is the latest to join, coming to the company with 25 yearsexperience in commercial real estate, including offices, retail, restaurantsand lease restructuring.

Atlanta, GA - April 29, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- Prudential Georgia Realty’s new Buckhead office, located at 3221 Peachtree Road, just south of thePeachtree and Piedmont Road intersection, continues to add to its agent salesteam. Steve Kesler is the latest to join, coming to the company with 25 yearsexperience in commercial real estate, including offices, retail, restaurantsand lease restructuring.

Atlanta, GA - April 29, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- Prudential Georgia Realty’s new Buckhead office, located at 3221 Peachtree Road, just south of thePeachtree and Piedmont Road intersection, continues to add to its agent salesteam. Steve Kesler is the latest to join, coming to the company with 25 yearsexperience in commercial real estate, including offices, retail, restaurantsand lease restructuring.

Washington, DC - April 29, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- At a time when mortgage credit markets are still uncertain, Michael Bennet, U.S. Senator for Colorado, introduced a bill that will bolster Rural Housing Service loan programs on the brink of insolvency and ensure that families in Colorado's rural communities have the access to the credit they need to buy, build and repair their homes.

Team from New Haven submitted design for green-energy homes. Washington, DC - April 29, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- Congresswoman Rosa L. DeLauro (CT-3) welcomed students from New Haven and Branford to her office to celebrate their success in a national design competition organized by the Construction Industry Round Table and the ACE Mentor Program of America.

Marshall County, IN - April 29, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- The Indiana State Police are looking for help from the public in a home invasion that occurred in a rural Amish community of Marshall County. The home invasion that took place Sunday evening, the 25th, around 6:00 p.m. wasn't reported to state police until Tuesday afternoon. The residence is located at 748 2B Road, in Nappanee, on the outskirts of Marshall and Elkhart Counties.

Washington, D.C. - April 29, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- Senator Susan Collins, Ranking Member of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, questioned Goldman Sachs executives regarding questionable business practices that critics have said helped lead to the collapse of the U.S. housing market.

EUGENE, OR - April 29, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- IDX, Inc. happily welcomes today, their newest client addition, Alan Savage of Naperville, Illinois, in joining the continuously growing network of real estate agents and brokers opting to improve, enhance and optimize their websites, with the help of a highly customizable IDX Broker solution. A realtor with Chase Real Estate, Savage is an active member of the Midwest Real Estate Data MLS (MRED). With the unique and one-of-a-kind connection that this IDX software has with local Multiple Listing Service's (MLS), Savage is able to immediately and prominently display an endless amount of the most up-to-date MRED listing information, directly onto his own personal website, eliminating the time and hassle for consumers, that would normally have to navigate elsewhere. Potential home buyers also have the option to specificy what they are looking for in their new property, and will only be shown properties that match their personal specifications, creating a simple and efficient online real estate search process.

EUGENE, OR - April 29, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- Prudential Florida Realty's Deanna Krespach of Bonita Springs, Florida, has recently decided to contribute to the rapidly expanding network of real estate agents and brokers opting to enhance, personalize and renovate the search functionalities of their websites, by integrating a custom IDX solution. This new IDX software addition and its one-of-a-kind support system will allow easy consumer access to thousands of property listings on Krespach's site, smoothing the online real estate search process for both her and her clients alike. IDX Broker simplifies and attractively presents listing information from both the Fort Myers MLS (FortMyers) and the Sunshine MLS (SSMLS), directly onto Krespach's site, which is personalized according to his exact specifications, and is then automatically updated, on a daily basis, saving her valuable time which can be spent focusing on the personal needs of her clients

EUGENE, OR - April 29, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- The constantly growing group of real estate professionals creating easy-to-use websites has grown yet again, as IDX, Inc. welcomes Texas Pride Realty's Leslie Wilson to the team. Located just outside of Dallas, Texas, Carrollton's Texas Pride Realty boasts a wonderful relationship with North Texas Real Estate Info Systems (NTREIS). Thanks to the thousands of listings on the NTREIS database, Wilson is able to integrate area listings with his own properties, creating a unique pool of homes for his clients to search.

Washington, DC - April 29, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- The Obama Administration is authorized to play a more active and supportive role in encouraging and progressing the energy efficiency and sustainability of America’s multifamily and commercial building stock, according to a report released today by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) and other leading organizations in energy, housing, environment and real estate

Median Borrower Reduced Interest Rate by 16 Percent. McLean, VA - April 29, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- In the first quarter of 2010, one-half of borrowers who refinanced their conventional loan lowered their mortgage interest rate by at least 16 percent according to Freddie Mac’s quarterly Refinance Report. The new interest rate was 0.9 percentage points or more below the old rate for one-half of borrowers

April 29, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- The decline in remodeling activity may be reaching an end, according to the latest National Association of Home Builders’ (NAHB) Remodeling Market Index (RMI). Current market conditions jumped to 47.0 from 36.4 in the fourth quarter of 2009. Future indicators of remodeling business leapt to 48.9 from 31.4 in the last quarter. A new unified measure incorporating both current and future conditions, called the RMI Index, rose to 47.9 from 33.9 in the previous quarter

STEVENS POINT, WI - April 26, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Rural Development has recently completed a review of eligible areas in Wisconsin that can receive financing through available Housing programs to assist rural communities and residents.

COLUMBUS, OH - April 28, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- April is annually recognized nationally as Fair Housing Month and here in Ohio as declared by Governor Ted Strickland.

Concord, NH - April 27, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- New Hampshire Low and Moderate Income Homeowners may receive state education property tax relief by applying after May 1, 2010.

RICHMOND, VA - April 28, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- Governor Bob McDonnell today announced a major initiative by his Administration aimed at reducing homelessness and expanding affordable housing in the Commonwealth. While touring the Better Housing Coalition's Lincoln Mews apartments this morning,

BELCOURT, ND - April 28, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- The North Dakota Housing Finance Agency, USDA Rural Development and the Minot Vocational Adjustment Workshop, Inc. will break ground in Belcourt, ND, at 11 a.m. on Thursday, April 29, for an affordable housing development specially designed to meet the needs of individuals with both physical and developmental disabilities.

VIENNA, VA - April 28, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) today released new guidance, Advisory to Financial Institutions on Filing Suspicious Activity Reports Regarding Home Equity Conversion Mortgage Fraud Schemes, to assist financial institutions in guarding against fraud schemes perpetrated against senior citizens who use the Federal Housing Administration’s (FHA’s) Home Equity Conversion Mortgage (HECM) program, a form of reverse mortgage.

Peachtree City, GA - April 28, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- Stephen Walker, a top-producing Realtor with Prudential Georgia Realty, wasagain named to the company’s Top 25 Individual Agents list for his 2009 salesperformance. This marks the 5th consecutive year Stephen has beennamed to the list. He has been successful in selling and listing property inthe Fayetteville office for over four years, andjust returned to the Peachtree City office in The Avenue shopping plazaat the beginning of this year

Washington, DC - April 28, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- National Low Income Housing Coalition board member Leonard Williams testified before the House Financial Services Subcommittee on Housing and Community Opportunity today in support of two public housing bills, the Public Housing One-for-One Replacement and Tenant Protection Act of 2010 and the Public Housing Preservation and Rehabilitation Act of 2010. The bills are expected to be introduced shortly by Subcommittee Chairwoman Maxine Waters (D-CA) and Committee Chairman Barney Frank (D-MA), respectively.

WASHINGTON, DC - April 28, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- U.S. Congressman Allen Boyd (D-North Florida) today helped expand home ownership opportunities for thousands of North Floridians living in rural areas by supporting the bipartisan Rural Housing Preservation and Stabilization Act (H.R. 5017). The legislation passed in the House today by a vote of 352-62

McLean, VA - April 28, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- Freddie Mac (NYSE:FRE) today reported that it had sold 207 HomeSteps® REO homes to first time buyers and other owner-occupants at morning and afternoon auctions in Las Vegas and Riverside/San Bernardino Counties that drew thousands of bidders on April 24 and 25. HomeSteps is the real estate sales unit of Freddie Mac and markets a nationwide selection of Freddie Mac-owned homes

Failure is the only word to describe the House Republicans’ record on the GSEs. Washington, DC - April 28, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- Rep. Spencer Bachus should know better. In a long op-ed in Politico, the Alabama Republican talks at length about the supposed Democratic failure to reform the GSEs, but apparently President Bush’s “ownership society” doesn’t apply to Republicans taking responsibility for their own failures. The Republican record on Fannie and Freddie is clear and embarrassing:

WILDWOOD, NJ - April 28, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- Beachfront or Bayside? Take your pick as 53 condominiums go on the auction block in the Wildwoods next month with minimum bids starting at just $55,000.

April 28, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- Due to the overwhelming response for the Housing Tax Credit Contribution Program (HTCC) Application Overview Session, the Connecticut Housing Finance Authority (CHFA) has added a second overview on Monday, May 24, 2010 from 9:00-11:00 AM