Monthly Archives: January 2011

ORLANDO, FL - January 25, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Attention Florida high school seniors: Time is running out for you to win up to $6,000 to help pay for college tuition next year. Better start writing – only a few weeks remain until the Feb. 9, 2011, deadline to enter Florida Realtors® 2010-2011 Scholarship/Essay Contest for High School Seniors, which offers a total of $28,000 in scholarship funding.

LOS ANGELES, CA - January 25, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- A Tacoma, Washington man has been found guilty of federal fraud charges for running a scheme that defrauded the owners of distressed homes by promising to delay or prevent foreclosure through a program that supposedly used notes backed by Treasury bonds to pay off mortgages.

NORFOLK, VA - January 25, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- For Rent Media Solutions™, a leading resource for searching apartments nationwide and a division of Dominion Enterprises, has introduced Walk Score® on ForRent.com, the company’s anchor web site. Through this partnership with Walk Score, renters can measure the walkability of a neighborhood and use this feature when narrowing down their search for apartments.

WASHINGTON, DC - January 25, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- A new survey conducted by the Building Owners and Managers Association (BOMA) International shows that BOMA 360 designees are able to document operational savings, develop new policies and procedures, and attract new tenants because of their designation. The BOMA 360 Performance Program is a groundbreaking program designed to recognize commercial properties that demonstrate best practices in building operations and management. Since the program’s inception in Spring 2009, 180 buildings have been designated. The survey was sent to BOMA 360 designees who have had the designation for a year or more.

WASHINGTON, DC – Capitol Hill veteran Cindy Chetti has been named Senior Vice President of Government Affairs for the National Multi Housing Council (NMHC). She will be responsible for developing and implementing strategy for all legislative and regulatory issues of interest to NMHC and its joint legislative partner, the National Apartment Association.

EUGENE, OR - January 25, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Today, IDX, Inc. welcomes Thomas Love to the ever-expanding group of real estate agents and brokers dedicated to providing home seekers with a meticulous and informative online property search. As a member of the Greater Las Vegas MLS (GLVAR) Love has long had access to thousands of detailed home listings. Now, his clients have the same level of access in a faster setting and conveniently located on the website Love hosts. IDX Broker software has revolutionized the way clients of Love, and those potential buyers just beginning their search, find properties online. Love and his website have simplified the Las Vegas, Nevada real estate market, thanks to his IDX solution.

EUGENE, OR - January 25, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Welcoming Jackie Nordstrom to the growing network of real estate agents and brokers, IDX, Inc. is pleased to announce they have added a customized IDX solution to the website of Nordstrom. She now hosts a comprehensive online property search conveniently on her page, thanks to IDX Broker and Metrolist Denver (MTOMLS). Thousands of properties are automatically linked to her website with the thorough MTOMLS and the incredible IDX solution she employs. Never before has it been easier for Denver, Colorado home seekers to search for a home online, than now, with the website of Nordstrom and Colorado Real Estate Associates

CLIFTON, N.J. - January 25, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Some of the nation’s most recognizable and respected apartment owners joined together during National Breast Cancer Awareness month last October to raise more than $25,000 for the Cure Breast Cancer Foundation (CBCF), a non-profit 501 (c) 3 organization which supports breast cancer research efforts of Dr. Larry Norton Deputy Physician-in-Chief for Breast Cancer Programs and the Medical Director of the Evelyn H. Lauder Breast Center at the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center.

NEW YORK, NY - January 25, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Paul Formichelli, senior vice president, with Jones Lang LaSalle’s New York office was elected earlier this month as president of the New York chapter of NAIOP.

NEW YORK, NY -- Jacqueline Urgo, President of The Marketing Directors, Inc., was named Marketing Director of the Year at The NationalsSM award ceremony held on January 12th during the 2011 National Association of Home Builders’ (NAHB) annual International Builders’ Show (IBS)

Torrance, CA - January 25, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Regency Centers (www.regencycenters.com), a national owner, operator and developer of grocery-anchored and community shopping centers, has signed a lease and begun construction on a new Toys “R” Us/Babies “R” Us store at Indio Towne Center in Indio, Calif.

MILFORD, CT - January 25, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Total Mortgage Services, LLC, a leading mortgage lender, announced today the hiring of Lisa Schreiber as the Company’s new head of its wholesale lending channel TMS Funding. In her new role, as Executive Vice President Wholesale Lending of TMS Funding, Ms. Schreiber will be responsible for defining and implementing the Company’s vision, strategy and day to day execution to build TMS Funding into a leading nationwide wholesale lender. Ms. Schreiber will report directly to John Walsh, President of Total Mortgage and be based in Milford, CT

NEW YORK, NY - January 25, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Jones Lang LaSalle announced that Jonathan Tootell, Daniel Turkewitz and Diana Biasiotti have joined the firm’s New York office. The three senior-level brokers will be responsible for new business development, and tenant and agency leasing services throughout the New York metropolitan area.

Denver, CO - January 25, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Adam Scoville, RE/MAX Senior Counsel, has been appointed to the Board of Directors of the International Trademark Association (INTA), a worldwide association that supports and advances trademarks and intellectual property as elements of fair and effective global commerce.

Scottsdale, AZ - January 25, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Arizona luxury home builder Cullum Homes has partnered with Cyber Sound to launch a subdivision-wide integration of Apple-based home automation system from Savant at The Village at Paradise Reserve. Lighting, climate control, motorized window shades, security, home theater, audio, internet/communications, and other functions are managed by a combination of in-wall and wireless iPad, iPod and iPhone devices, which interface with the Mac operating system. The Savant system is the industry's only Apple-to-Apple home automation system, and The Village at Paradise Reserve installation marks the first community-wide integration of this specific technology in Arizona

EUGENE, OR - January 25, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- IDX, Inc. is pleased to announce Patrick Lacomb has adopted his own customizable IDX solution for his real estate website. Macon, Georgia home seekers can now find their dream home with the click of a mouse on the website Lacomb hosts. Thousands of Mid-Georgia MLS (MGMLS) detailed property listings are seamlessly integrated onto the website of Lacomb, giving potential buyers a variety of homes available for home seekers to search through

WASHINGTON, DC - January 25, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- U.S. house prices were unchanged on a seasonally adjusted basis from October to November, according to the Federal Housing Finance Agency’s monthly House Price Index. The previously reported 0.7 percent increase in October was revised downward to a 0.2 percent increase. For the 12 months ending in November, U.S. prices fell 4.3 percent. The U.S. index is 14.9 percent below its April 2007 peak and roughly the same as the August 2004 index level.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. - January 24, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Duke Energy has reached a settlement with the Wyoming Department of Revenue on the company’s 2010 property tax valuation appeal.

BUFFALO, NY - January 24, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- U.S. Attorney William J. Hochul, Jr. announced today that Steven Carlson, 52, of Jamestown, New York, pled guilty before U.S. District Judge Richard J. Arcara, to evading the payment of taxes and mortgage fraud. The charges carry a maximum sentence of 35 years in prison, a fine of $1,000,000, or both

TRENTON, NJ - January 24, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Attorney General Paula T. Dow and Criminal Justice Director Stephen J. Taylor announced that a former employee of the Essex County Division of Welfare was sentenced today for falsifying employment records in order to qualify for a $357,050 loan to buy a home in Newark

MADISON, WI - January 24, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Governor Scott Walker today announced that 18 Wisconsin communities have been awarded $8.8 million from the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program at the Wisconsin Department of Commerce (Commerce) to rehabilitate and expand the supply of safe and sanitary housing for low-to-moderate income households

January 24, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Ohio EPA has ordered a Portage County resident to pay a $1,250 civil penalty for repeated illegal open burning. Seth Powers was ordered to pay the penalty after open burning solid waste, wood, brush and other materials on property located at New Milford Road and adjacent to the I-76 overpass in Rootstown Township. Powers has a land contract on the residential property.

BOISE, ID - January 24, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- The Home Partnership Foundation, brought to you by Idaho Housing and Finance Association (IHFA), has awarded 24 critical needs grants in the amount of $168,836 to homeless shelters and service providers across Idaho. These funds are intended to support the greatest needs statewide, including shelter operations and capital improvements, funding to help prevent homelessness, and efforts to encourage asset building to enhance client’s self-sufficiency. The Foundation is the state’s only 501(c)(3) housing foundation dedicated to helping those in need

January 24, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Mayor Edwin M. Lee today announced that the U.S. Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has awarded San Francisco $18.7 million in HUD’s Continuum of Care grants to fund a wide variety of programs from street outreach and assessment programs to transitional and permanent housing for individuals and families experiencing homelessness. The HUD Continuum of Care grants are awarded competitively to local programs to meet the needs of their homeless clients, and this year, 51 San Francisco-based organizations and programs received grant awards.

BAKERSFIELD, CA - January 24, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- David Marshall Crisp, 31; Carlyle Lee Cole, 63; Julie Dianne Farmer, 42; Sneha Ramesh Mohammadi, 49; Jayson Peter Costa, 38; Jeriel Salinas, 29; Robinson Dinh Nguyen, 30; Michael Angelo Munoz, 31; Jennifer Anne Crisp, 29; and Caleb Lee Cole, 35, were charged in a 56-count indictment with conspiracy to commit bank, mail and wire fraud, and with individual counts of mail fraud, U.S. Attorney Benjamin B. Wagner announced today. Certain of the defendants were also charged with wire fraud, bank fraud and conspiracy to launder money. The indictment was returned Jan. 13 by a federal grand jury in Fresno and unsealed today

SAN MATEO, CA - January 24, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Congresswoman Jackie (D-San Francisco/San Mateo) and other members of Congress sent a letter (attached) today to Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke and Acting Comptroller of the Currency John Walsh urging them to hold JPMorgan Chase accountable for overcharging thousands of military families on their mortgages and even wrongfully foreclosing on 14 families

LOS ANGELES, CA - January 24, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- California home sales rose in December, posting their highest level since May, according to data from the CALIFORNIA ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® (C.A.R.). The statewide median price increased from November, but was down from a year ago

SACRAMENTO, CA - January 24, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- California homebuilders put up the second-lowest number of homes for a single year in 2010, posting a modest improvement over the record-low that was set in 2009, the California Building Industry Association announced today

Mt. Laurel, NJ - January 24, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- MAMCO Property Management, an Associa company, is proud to announce that Samantha Wallace and Linda Schlindwein have earned their Certified Manager of Community Associations (CMCA) designations while Natalie Fries has completed her Association Management Specialist (AMS) designation

January 24, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Toll Brothers, the nation's leading builder of luxury homes, and the Franklin Group sales team at Gloria Nilson, REALTORS®, Real Living® in Princeton Junction, are pleased to announce that only two condominiums remain at Toll Brothers’ Cranbury Brook the Highlands. Priced to sell, these two homes are available for immediate move-in. Prospective home buyers interested in moving now should act quickly for unprecedented value at this desirable active-adult community located in Plainsboro, NJ