Monthly Archives: September 2010

BURNSVILLE, MN - September 29, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- Congressman John Kline announced that Carver, Dakota, Goodhue, Le Sueur, Rice, and Scott Counties are among the 35 Minnesota counties being assessed for flood damage. Homeowners or renters who suffered flood damage are encouraged to report the damage to their local officials so it can be included in the assessments.

Washington, DC - September 29, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- U.S. Senator Benjamin L. Cardin (D-MD), a member of the Senate Judiciary Crime and Drugs Subcommittee, today chaired a hearing exploring hate crimes committed against America’s homeless. The hearing, “Crimes Against America’s Homeless: Is the Violence Growing?” included policy experts, law enforcement professionals and the sister of a Florida homeless man beat to death in 2006. The goal of the session was to help define who the homeless are in the U.S. today, why they may be targets of bias-related crime, explore the lack of statistics related to crimes against the homeless, and discuss the potential impact of the Hate Crimes Against the Homeless Statistics Act, S. 1765. This was the first time the United States Senate has ever held a hearing on the topic of violence against the homeless population.

CHICAGO, IL - September 29, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- The Illinois Housing Development Authority (IHDA) today celebrated the grand opening of a new housing development featuring 73 affordable apartments for low-income seniors and a senior center. An estimated 100 jobs were created with the construction of the Casa Maravilla development in Chicago’s Pilsen neighborhood.

SCOTTSDALE, AZ - September 29, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- U.S. Rep. Harry Mitchell today attended SCORE's 2010 Phoenix Green Business Forum at Skysong in Scottsdale, highlighting the economic importance of local small businesses, as well as green energy industries. Approximately 100 people attended presentations from experts from Arizona's burgeoning solar and green-energy industries.

Washington, DC - September 29, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- U.S. Senators Blanche Lincoln and Mark Pryor and U.S. Representative Vic Snyder (AR-02) today announced that the Arkansas Development Finance Authority will receive $5,000,000 in U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) funds through the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act that was signed into law in July. The funding will help stabilize communities in Arkansas that have suffered from high rates of foreclosure

COLUMBUS, OH - September 28, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- In a letter sent today to Ohio judges, Attorney General Richard Cordray has requested the state courts to make a special review of all foreclosure cases that involve GMAC Mortgage.

Washington, DC - September 29, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- Last night, the House of Representatives voted to unanimously approve legislation introduced by Rep. Brad Miller (D-NC) and co-sponsored by Rep. Joe Baca (D-Rialto) designed to promote job growth in the home construction industry. H.R. 6191 modifies the Small Business Jobs and Credit Act of 2010 to allow healthy lending institutions to extend credit for residential construction and land development to U.S. homebuilders.

Hamilton, NJ - September 29, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- The Foundation for Housing is soliciting “member friendly” proposals for two (2) grants of up to $10,000 a piece for projects that will help fulfill our mission in support of housing in New Jersey:

FRESNO, CA - September 29, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- United States Attorney Benjamin B. Wagner and Stanislaus County District Attorney Birgit Fladager announced that yesterday a federal grand jury returned an indictment charging James Lee Lankford, 71, of Modesto, with 49 counts of mail fraud, and Jon Vance McDade, 46, also of Modesto, with 49 counts of mail fraud and one count of bank fraud

Washington, D.C. - September 29, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- Congresswoman Dina Titus of Nevada’s Third District announced today that Nevada is receiving an additional $57 million through the Hardest Hit Fund to help address the foreclosure crisis.

EUGENE, OR - September 29, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- Westchester-Putnam MLS (WPMLS) listings just became easier to search for, on the new IDX enabled website of real estate professional Chirag Shah. IDX, Inc. has delivered New York home seekers with a unique and comprehensive online property search experience. Shah and his clients can rest assured that his website hosts the best home search tools available online. Never before have WPMLS listings been simpler to display or search through than on the dynamic IDX synced website Shah hosts

Washington, DC - September 29, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- Congressman Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) today welcomed a new infusion of federal funds from the Department of Treasury to prevent foreclosures in Ohio.

EUGENE, OR - September 29, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- IDX, Inc. is pleased to welcome Keoki McCarthy of Real Living Northwest to the growing group of real estate professionals updating their websites with IDX Broker software. This revolutionary technology makes searching for a home online monumentally easier. McCarthy is associated with the Northwest MLS (NWMLS), allowing property listings to be seamlessly integrated into his website, giving potential buyers thousands of homes to search through. With the tools his IDX solution supplies to him, McCarthy can truly customize his website to give home seekers around Seattle the greatest, simplest and most comprehensive online property search experience around.

Miami, FL - September 29, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- CB Richard Ellis today announced that Mary Jo Eaton has been named Senior Managing Director and Market Leader for its business lines throughout the state of Florida. Ms. Eaton, is currently Managing Director of both the company’s Baltimore office and its Asset Services operations in the Washington-Baltimore region.

Los Angeles, CA - September 29, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- CB Richard Ellis Group, Inc. (NYSE:CBG) today announced that John Frager has joined the Company to lead its Office Services Group in the United States, Canada and Latin America.

PHILADELPHIA, PA - September 28, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- An indictment was filed today against Bernadette Nicholas, Kevin D. McAllister, and Wayne Rosen for engaging in schemes to defraud Wilmington Trust Federal Savings Bank and Malvern Federal Savings Bank involving properties valued at more than $35.5 million,

WASHINGTON, DC - September 29, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- Bank of America and United Midwest Savings Bank have become the first financial institutions to assemble SBA 504 first mortgage pools to be sold on the secondary market, the U.S. Small Business Administration announced today.

Washington, D.C. - September 29, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- Mike Heid, co-president of Wells Fargo Home Mortgage, testified today before the House Financial Services Committee on “The Future of Housing Finance—A Review of Proposals to Address Market Structure and Transition.” In his capacity as Chairman of the Housing Policy Council, Heid presented the HPC’s proposal for GSE Reform.

Raleigh, NC - September 28, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- Attorney General Roy Cooper’s Consumer Protection Division has launched an investigation into questionable tactics during foreclosures by Ally Financial and its subsidiary, GMAC Mortgage.

WASHINGTON, D.C. - September 29, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) today released its Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ending September 24, 2010. The Market Composite Index, a measure of mortgage loan application volume, decreased 0.8 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis from one week earlier. On an unadjusted basis, the Index decreased 1.0 percent compared with the previous week.

Edison, NJ - September , 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- The New Jersey Association of REALTORS® Housing Opportunity Foundation, Inc. (NJARHOF) is proud to announce its latest endeavor to educate and empower New Jersey’s consumers.

Washington, D.C. - September 29, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- Efforts to increase sustainable homeownership got a boost recently when 25 members of the NeighborWorks network received nearly $15 million as part of grants made by the U.S. Treasury department’s Community Development Financial Institution program

WASHINGTON, D.C. - September 29, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- Bob Jones, chairman of the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) and a home builder from Bloomfield Hills, Mich., today called on the Senate to move immediately to pass legislation approved by the House that would allow construction loans to be eligible for the new small business lending fund signed into law earlier this week."Congress last week approved a small business lending bill (H.R. 5297) that fails to allow tens of thousands of small home builders across the nation to obtain badly needed credit for viable home building projects. The $30 billion lending fund established under this new law to help small businesses does not allow for construction loans to be made to small builders.

Melrose Park, IL - September 29, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- The Specialty Practice Group, a division of Lee & Associates Asset Management Group (LAM), has been appointed as receiver of a 500,000-square-foot office and industrial complex in Melrose Park, Ill., by the Cook County Court System.

Phoenix, AZ - September 28, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- Full moon power lightens the Arizona desert sky, at least cooling down from the intense summer. Yet, with an ever-increasing abundance of investment in Arizona’s sky islands, Canadians flock for visits and investment themselves as home owners to the Valley of the Sun which heralds, for them, significant economic value, so much so that North America’s northernmost travelers are now the largest percentage of new home owners in Arizona. In April, 2010, about ¼ of home buyers to metropolitan Phoenix were not from Arizona. According to Catherine Reagor from The Arizona Republic, “Now, the dominant group of out-of-state buyers is from outside the country.” Phoenix-based Information Market stated Canadian investments in Arizona homes have grown 80%, per comments made during a recent Marketplace interview on American Public Radio.

FRANKFORT, KY - September 28, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- For the first time, the only annual event in North America that brings together the foremost practitioners of traditional building trades in a single venue is coming to Kentucky. The 14th Annual International Preservation Trades Workshop (IPTW), sponsored by the Preservation Trades Network (PTN), will take place Oct. 21-23 in downtown Frankfort. The IPTW is dedicated to sharing skills, hands-on education and the preservation and conservation of the built environment. The workshop is open to all

WASHINGTON, DC - September 28, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- Senator Chuck Grassley today said that the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Office of Rural Development has awarded two grants totaling $465,000, and three loans totaling $828,000 to Iowa through the Rural Economic Development Grant and Intermediary Relending programs

September 28, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- The federal homebuyer tax credit made homeownership more affordable for families across the country, but an important local partnership benefited Idaho homebuyers even further. IdaMortgage and the Home Partnership Foundation, brought to you by Idaho Housing and Finance Association (IHFA), partnered with the Ada County Association of REALTORS® (ACAR) to make homeownership even more attainable to Idaho homebuyers through a program called Welcome Home Idaho. More than 1,300 homebuyers utilized IdaMortgage’s Tax Credit 2nd Loan, which helped borrowers monetize up to $7,000 of the federal homebuyer tax credit up front for use on down payment or closing costs.

September 28, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- Beginning this Thursday, homeowners facing foreclosure or short sale of their property will no longer be subject to the state’s real estate conveyance tax, state Senator Bob Duff (D-Norwalk), Senate chair of the General Assembly’s Banks Committee said today

Washington, D.C. - September 28, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- Rep. Raúl M. Grijalva today congratulated the The Dunbar Coalition, Inc. on a newly announced $250,000 grant for the creation of an African American Museum and Cultural Center at the historic Dunbar School. Funding from the Economic Development Initiative, secured by Rep. Grijalva in the FY2010 consolidated appropriations bill, was designated to construct the museum under the guidance of the Pima County Cultural Resources and Historic Preservation Office.