Announces More Than a Quarter Million Loan Modifications Completed. February 26, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger today highlighted the success of his Administration’s efforts to keep California residents in their homes during these difficult economic times, a year after he signed the California Foreclosure Prevention Act (CFPA), a law to promote affordable loan modifications for distressed homeowners who might otherwise face foreclosure.

LOS ANGELES, CA - February 26, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- Changes in family and employment status as well as adjustments to monthly mortgage obligations played significant roles in California’s homeowners’ decisions to sell their homes in 2009, according to the CALIFORNIA ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS®’ (C.A.R.) “2009-2010 Survey of California Home Sellers.” According to the report, 67 percent of all sellers in California did so as a result of difficulties related to meeting their mortgage obligation.

February 26, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- Delaware State Housing Authority (DSHA) Director Anas Ben Addi today announced that a new program, the “Homeownership Grant Assistance Program” (GAP), is available to assist homeowners facing foreclosure. The $1 million grant program, a partnership between DSHA and the Department of Health and Social Services, is funded through the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act (ARRA). Eligible homeowners can receive up to $5,000 in the form of a grant to save their home from foreclosure. The program will be offered while funding remains available up to September 30, 2010

February 26, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- Attorney General Jack Conway and his Office of Consumer Protection today announced an agreement has been reached with Home Service USA and Home Service USA Repair Management regarding solicitations that were mailed last month to consumers in several Kentucky counties offering water line repair services.

ST. PAUL, MN - February 26, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- The Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED) has awarded nine grants totaling more than $3.6 million to help pay for improvements for housing and infrastructure in Greater Minnesota.

HUNTSVILLE, AL - February 25, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- A 56-year-old Rainbow City woman pleaded guilty Wednesday in federal court to charges of bank and mortgage fraud that totaled more than $500,000, U.S. Attorney Joyce White Vance and FBI Special Agent in Charge Patrick Maley announced.

SACRAMENTO, CA - February 25, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- New-home building in California rebounded in January from a year earlier, but homebuilding officials cautioned against calling it a recovery as the numbers for January 2009 were extremely low, the California Building Industry Association announced today

WASHINGTON DC - February 25, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- Rep. Linda Sánchez, Member of the House Ways and Means Committee, introduced a bill today that would bolster the development of low-income housing. The Low-Income Housing Tax Credit Exchange Expansion and Job Creation Act of 2010 would promote the development of low-income housing by allowing investors to exchange otherwise unusable low-income housing tax credits for cash to be put toward the development of this housing.

Washington, DC - February 25, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- With the U.S. Senate expected to take up the Budget for the upcoming fiscal year in the next few weeks, Senators Michael Bennet (D-CO), Bob Corker (R-TN) and Jon Tester (D-MT) are telling Senate budget leaders to ensure funds repaid by beneficiaries of taxpayer-funded emergency spending are used to pay down the debt, not fund further deficit spending. The Senators urged the Senate Budget Committee to adopt the Pay It Back plan as part of the Senate's Budget, and noticed an intent to file an amendment that mirrors Bennet's Pay It Back Act, which requires returned emergency spending to go towards deficit reduction, if budget leaders don't include Pay It Back provisions as part of the Budget

February 25, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- Attorney General Jack Conway, the Kentucky Cabinet for Health and Family Services (CHFS) and the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) today announced the launch of KY Kids Alert, a new statewide initiative to educate Kentucky parents and child care providers about the importance of child product recall information and to ensure that child care facilities across the Commonwealth receive these potentially lifesaving notices. As part of the KY Kids Alert initiative, approximately 1,500 Kentucky child care centers and certified family child care homes that have email addresses on file with CHFS will automatically be signed up to receive free child product recall alerts electronically from CPSC. Recall notices will also be mailed quarterly to the more than 1,400 child care facilities without an email address on file

February 25, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- Chief Justice Leigh I. Saufley announced that on February 26, 2010, the Foreclosure Diversion Program will hold its first informational session at the Ellsworth District Court for homeowners who have been ordered to attend as part of the foreclosure mediation process. The Foreclosure Diversion Program is the result of the recently enacted P.L. 2009, ch. 402, An Act To Preserve Home Ownership and Stabilize the Economy by Preventing Unnecessary Foreclosures. In accordance with the new law, the Supreme Judicial Court established a statewide program to provide mediation services in certain residential foreclosure actions in Maine.

February 25, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- Congressman Frank Kratovil today backed legislation to protect returning veterans and surviving spouses from the threat of home foreclosure and to promote opportunities for returning service members to transition into careers in education, after discussing the proposals in recent meetings with his Veterans Advisory Committee and other local veterans groups.

Washington, DC - February 25, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- Today, Congressman John Sarbanes was honored by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) in its Top 10 List of legislation that is helping to advance green building and the economic activity and jobs that come with it. Congressman Sarbanes was included in the list as author of H.R. 4155, the Property Assessed Clean Energy Tax Benefits Act of 2009

New York, NY - February 24, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- To protect New York’s 400,000 residents of public housing, the Senate Majority today passed S6430A (Squadron) making the New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) eligible for an immediate infusion of $400 million in capital funding.

COLUMBUS, OH - February 17, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- Today, the Ohio Housing Finance Agency (OHFA) Board approved over $4 million in multifamily housing revenue bonds to be issued in an effort to preserve a 150-unit development located near downtown Warren in Trumball county.

New York, NY- February 24, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- PREET BHARARA, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, JOSEPH M. DEMAREST JR., the Assistant Director-in-Charge of the New York Field Division of the Federal Bureau of Investigation ("FBI"),

LOS ANGELES, CA - February 24, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- Home sales decreased 10.6 percent in January in California compared with the same period a year ago, while the median price of an existing home rose 15 percent, the CALIFORNIA ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® (C.A.R.) reported today

February 24, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- Gov. Bill Ritter today announced grants for projects aimed at improving nursing home residents’ quality of care and quality of life. HB 09-1196 provides $200,000 toward measures that will improve the quality of life for residents in Colorado nursing facilities.

WASHINGTON, D.C. - February 24, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- Representative Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), a longtime champion of the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) today received an award from the National Energy Assistance Directors’ Association (NEADA) for his continued support of the program. Rep. Markey recently introduced legislation that would increase the funding available for the vital energy assistance program and expand those who are eligible to receive aid, and today called for the Obama administration to release the remaining emergency funds from this year’s pool.

LANSING, MI - February 24, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- The Office of Financial and Insurance Regulation (OFIR) has shut down another operation claiming to be a Detroit-based mortgage company. This time the agency ordered an operation called “Decoster Financial Group” to cease and desist from doing business. OFIR believes that Decoster, through its website, http://www.decosterfinancialgroup.com, was posing as a legitimate mortgage company in an attempt to steal consumers’ money and identity. The fraudulent company was encouraging customers to apply for loans by providing personal information including social security and financial account numbers. Earlier this month, OFIR shut down a similar Detroit operation referred to as “Kenneth and Doyle Financial” and has put an end to a number of these fraudulent financial companies in the last year

Albany, NY - February 22, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, Ways and Means Committee Chair Herman D. Farrell and Housing Committee Chair Vito Lopez today announced the passage of legislation which would authorize the New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA)

WASHINGTON, D.C. - February 23, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) today called on President Obama to expand his recently-announced foreclosure assistance program to Ohio.

February 23, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- Today the Colorado Congressional Delegation sent a letter to VA Secretary Eric Shinseki seeking support and funding to build a new 20-bed stand-alone Fisher House near the new VA Medical Center at the Anschutz Medical Campus in Aurora

February 22, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- Today, Senate Banking Committee Chairman Chris Dodd (D-CT) wrote Federal bank regulators and asked them to report on their efforts to stabilize the very troubled commercial real estate market (CRE).

February 23, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- Delaware State Housing Authority (DSHA) is now offering approximately $2.5 million in federal housing tax credits to affordable rental housing developers. Developers have until 3:00 p.m. April 9, 2010 to apply to DSHA for federal housing tax credits on sites they plan to develop for low-income families.

ORLANDO, FL - February 23, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- Do you have kids currently in college, or maybe one who is about to graduate high school? Are they interested in a possible real estate-related career? Then find out more about the Florida Association of Realtors® Education Foundation Inc., a new not-for-profit corporation established to provide real estate-related educational scholarships and grants. But act fast: The application deadline for this year’s program is March 15

WASHINGTON, DC - February 23, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- Kendrick Meek today released the following statement regarding President Obama's decision to use funding from the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) to support Florida homeowners and stabilize the housing market

LĪHU'E, HI - February 23, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- County officials announced that the Energy Conservation Code governing all new construction on Kaua'i will be effective May 26. The bill was passed by the County Council and signed into law by Mayor Bernard Carvalho, Jr. last month.

WALTHAM, MA - February 23, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- The Massachusetts Association of REALTORS® (MAR) reported today that median prices of single-family homes were up 14.1 percent compared to January 2009 while condominiums experienced 26.5 percent increase compared to the same time last year. The jump in median condo prices in January is the largest annual increase since MAR has been tracking median prices. Home sales were up 9.1 percent compared to the same time last year while condominium sales were up 35 percent.

Washington, DC - February 19, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- Congressman Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) today made the following statement after an announcement by the White House to provide $1.5 billion to five states for foreclosure prevention: