California RealEstateRama

San Francisco, CA - October 27, 2009 - (RealEstateRama) -- A California homeowner filed a class-action lawsuit against Pulte Homes Corporation (NYSE: PHM) claiming the company engaged in a sophisticated and integrated fraudulent scheme to artificially prop up sales and home sale prices through convoluted control of the home sale process.

SAN FRANCISCO, CA - October 22, 2009 - (RealEstateRama) -- Mortgage counseling agencies will receive $2.6 million to hire more counselors over the next two years, and help the hundreds of thousands of California homeowners facing interest rate resets and the threat of foreclosure. The California Reinvestment Coalition (CRC), along with financial institutions and two foundations, today announced grant awards to 40 nonprofit mortgage counseling agencies through the California Home Ownership Preservation Initiative to help them better respond to the overflow of clients their offices are serving

Washington, DC - October 22, 2009 - (RealEstateRama) -- During the House Financial Services Committee mark-up of H.R. 3126, the Consumer Financial Protection Agency Act, the Committee approved an amendment offered by Rep. Gary Miller (R-CA) to sunset the Home Valuation Code of Conduct (HVCC).

Washington, DC - October 20, 2009 - (RealEstateRama) -- Congresswoman Maxine Waters (CA-35), Chairwoman of the Financial Services Subcommittee on Housing and Community Opportunity, recognizing the impact foreclosures are having on the country, called on the attorneys general from the nation’s 50 states to bring suit against lenders in order to force more loan modifications.“We need aggressive action to force lenders to modify the predatory loans that they made. State attorneys general and civil rights groups are taking the lead in preventing foreclosures by filing lawsuits against the originators of these predatory loans, and I commend them for their action,” Chairwoman Waters said

Legislation would prohibit discrimination against adoptive and foster parents based on sexual orientation, marital status. WASHINGTON, D.C. – Rep. Pete Stark (D-CA), Chairman of the House Ways and Means Health Subcommittee, today introduced H.R. 3827, the "Every Child Deserves a Family Act." In the same manner that we ended race discrimination in adoption, this legislation would prohibit states and child welfare agencies from denying or delaying adoption or foster care placements solely based on the sexual orientation or marital status of the potential parents.

Washington, DC - October 16, 2009 - (RealEstateRama) -- Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-CA), Chairwoman of the Housing and Community Opportunity Subcommittee and a leading advocate for Gulf Coast recovery efforts, issued the following statement today after President Obama visited New Orleans to assess the city’s progress and heard from residents about the challenges they continue to face:“More than four years after Hurricane Katrina, I remain concerned about the recovery of the Gulf Coast in general, and the City of New Orleans, in particular. Katrina was one of the deadliest storms in our nation’s history, taking over 1,800 lives, displacing more than one million people, severely damaging over 300,000 housing units, and causing at least $81 billion in damages.

Sacramento, CA - October 15, 2009 - (RealEstateRama) -- Attorney General Edmund G. Brown Jr. today issued a consumer alert warning California homeowners to avoid individuals and businesses that charge up up-front fees for foreclosure relief services in light of a just-enacted state law that makes this "abusive practice" subject to prosecution.

SANTA ANA, CA - October 13, 2009 - (RealEstateRama) -- First American CoreLogic, a member of The First American Corporation (NYSE: FAF) family of companies and America’s largest provider of advanced property and ownership information, analytics and services, today introduced its free patent-pending ePropertyWatch Professional service, which is designed to help real estate and mortgage industry professionals stay in touch with customers and drive repeat business and referrals.

SANTA ANA, CA - October 13, 2009 - (RealEstateRama) -- First American CoreLogic, a member of The First American Corporation (NYSE: FAF) family of companies and America’s largest provider of advanced property and ownership information, analytics and services, today announced that it has built the mortgage industry’s most comprehensive national fraud data repository to help clients combat all types of mortgage fraud and to further enhance the predictive performance of its anti-fraud solutions.

Washington, DC - October 9, 2009 - (RealEstateRama) -- The Subcommittee on Housing and Community Opportunity, chaired by Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-CA), held a hearing today on “The Future of the Federal Housing Administration’s Capital Reserves: Assumptions, Predictions and Implications for Homebuyers”. FHA plays an increasingly important role in the nation’s housing market. Recent news articles have raised concerns about the FHA’s capital reserve fund, the account the agency uses to pay insurance claims to lenders when borrowers default on home loans. Assistant Secretary for Housing and FHA Commissioner David Stevens, testified today regarding steps FHA is taking to boost capital reserve levels.

Washington, D.C. - October 9, 2009 - (RealEstateRama) -- Today, Rep. Anna G. Eshoo (D-Palo Alto) voted for two key measures for service members and veterans. H.R. 1016, the Veterans Health Care Budget Reform and Transparency Act, speeds the delivery of funding for veterans health care and H.R. 3590, the Service Members Home Ownership Tax Act, assists service members looking to buy or sell their homes and extends home-buying incentives.

Defendant Used Fraudulent Deed to Obtain More Than $130,000 in Equity from Residence in Bankruptcy Proceeding. SAN JOSE, CA - October 8, 2009 - (RealEstateRama) -- Vallejo, Calif., resident Myra Holmes was indicted by a federal grand jury with concealment of assets and bank fraud, United States Attorney Joseph P. Russoniello announced.

Money will Help Local Organization Disburse Home Loans to Low-Income Sacramentans. WASHINGTON, DC - October 2, 2009 - (RealEstateRama) -- Congresswoman Doris O. Matsui (D-CA) announced today that the U.S. Treasury Department has released $1,000,000 to Sacramento Neighborhood Housing Services, Inc. (SNHS). SNHS is a loan fund that provides gap funding and comprehensive home ownership and foreclosure prevention counseling for local low-income individuals and families. Their work has helped countless families achieve the dream of home ownership, and many more stay in their homes despite the recent economic downturn.

October 2, 2009 - (RealEstateRama) -- Congresswoman Lucille Roybal-Allard (CA-34) applauded passage in the U.S. House of Representatives today of the appropriations bill that provides federal funding for critical local water projects in the Los Angeles area.

Guarantee Leverages Newly Patented Pattern-Recognition Technology That Identifies Twice the Level of Fraud Verses Alternative Solutions. SANTA ANA, CA - October 1, 2009 - (RealEstateRama) -- First American CoreLogic, a member of The First American Corporation (NYSE: FAF) family of companies and America’s largest provider of advanced property and ownership information, analytics and services, today announced its 2X mortgage fraud guarantee. This first-of-its-kind guarantee assures current and prospective clients that they will identify twice the level of potential fraud using First American CoreLogic’s fraud detection technology than when using technology from any other fraud solutions vendor, or the trial period will be free.

Project Represents Second Recent Award for Turner At Camp Pendleton. New York, N.Y. - September 25, 2009 - (RealEstateRama) -- Turner Construction Company, the nation’s leading general builder, in a joint venture with TB Penick & Sons, Inc., has been awarded a $109 million design-build contract by the United States Marine Corps to construct four Bachelor Enlisted Quarters (BEQ) at Camp Pendleton, California. The project is scheduled for completion in August 2011. This project follows the $104 million contract awarded to the team in August for four additional Bachelor Enlisted Quarters (BEQ) also at Camp Pendleton, California.

Stark hails funds for Alameda Point Collaborative to create job opportunities for formerly homeless. WASHINGTON, DC - September 23, 2009 - (RealEstateRama) -- Rep. Pete Stark (D-CA) today announced that the Alameda Point Collaborative (APC) has been awarded a $625,000 Community Economic Development grant from the Office of Community Services in the Department of Health and Human Services. APC is a community that provides housing and services to help formerly homeless families and individuals flourish.

SACRAMENTO, CA - September 22, 2009 - (RealEstateRama) -- United States Attorney Lawrence G. Brown announced today that a criminal complaint was filed this morning charging IRENE SOTIRIADIS, 23, and HELEN SOTIRIADIS, 49, both of Manteca, with conducting a mortgage fraud scheme from March 2006 through November 2007 that caused losses to lenders estimated at approximately $5 million. Arrest warrants were issued Sunday afternoon by United States Magistrate Judge Gregory G. Hollows after a special agent of the FBI received information that the two suspects may have been intending to flee to Greece.

September 21, 2009 - (RealEstateRama) -- Homeowners were invited to attend a free, comprehensive Foreclosure Counseling Fair on Saturday, September 12, to learn about foreclosure prevention and homeownership preservation. The event took place at Jordan High School on Atlantic Avenue near Artesia Boulevard in North Long Beach from 10:00 am to 3:00 pm. Registration began at 9:00 am; however, homeowners started lining up at 7:30 am.

Washington, DC - September 21, 2009 - (RealEstateRama) -- On Tuesday, the House unanimously passed the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) Multifamily Loan Limit Adjustment Act, a bill coauthored by Congressman Miller, to address the need for new construction or substantial rehabilitation of multifamily units in extremely high cost areas of the country.

New-build property features new sign and brand standards as part of the worldwide brand relaunch. ATLANTA, GA - September 17, 2009 - (RealEstateRama) -- IHG (InterContinental Hotels Group) [LON:IHG, NYSE:IHG (ADRs)], the world's largest hotel group by number of rooms, announced today that the Holiday Inn Irvine South/Irvine Spectrum will open within a month.