RealEstateRama

WASHINGTON, DC - June 14, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- As part of the Obama Administration's efforts to improve commercial building efficiency 20 percent by 2020, U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu today announced a partnership with The Appraisal Foundation that will help expand access to energy efficiency and building performance information for commercial buildings and help American businesses to reduce energy waste. Under the new partnership, the Department of Energy and The Appraisal Foundation will work to ensure that appraisers nationwide have the information, practical guidelines, and professional resources they need to evaluate energy performance when conducting commercial building appraisals. This will help enable investors, building owners and operators, and others to accurately assess the value of energy efficiency as part of the building's overall appraisal.

WASHINGTON, DC - June 14, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Fannie Mae (FNMA/OTC) announced the expansion of incentives to encourage sales of HomePath REO properties to owner occupants. Now through October 31, qualified buyers and selling agents can receive financial incentives on sales of HomePath properties, which can be found at www.homepath.com. The incentives are part of Fannie Mae's commitment to neighborhood stabilization, and are available on sales to buyers who will reside in the home as their primary residence.

June 14, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- HomeFinder.com has launched the new social application from Google known as “+1” , integrating it into the HomeFinder.com Single Property Website platform. HomeFinder.com is the first in the online real estate space to utilize Google +1, and joins online portals for Nordstrom, Best Buy and The Huffington Post in being first adopters of this new Google product.

SILICON VALLEY, CA - June 14, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Intero Franchise Services, Inc. announced its continued expansion with the launch of Intero Rancho Cucamonga and the upcoming launch of Intero El Dorado Hills at the end of June and Intero Scottsdale later this summer.

WASHINGTON, DC - June 14, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- U.S. Housing and Urban Development Secretary Shaun Donovan and U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric K. Shinseki announced today that HUD will provide $5.4 million to public housing authorities in 18 states to supply permanent housing and case management for 676 homeless Veterans in America. This is the fourth and final round of the FY 2010 Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing Program (HUD-VASH) funding to support homeless Veterans

SAN JOSE, CA - June 9, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- The Law Foundation of Silicon Valley (the Law Foundation), the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law (Lawyers’ Committee), and pro bono counsel Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP (Orrick) filed a class action lawsuit on behalf of California homeowners who have been victimized by a network of scam artists preying on vulnerable homeowners. As a result of this alleged loan modification scam, the victims have lost hundreds of thousands of dollars.

RANDALLSTOWN, MD - June 9, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Baltimore County Executive Kevin Kamenetz, Baltimore County Councilman Kenneth N. Oliver, District 4, and other federal, state and local dignitaries today joined Enterprise Homes, Inc. at a ceremony to celebrate the grand opening of The Greens at Liberty Road Senior Apartments. Located on the Liberty Road corridor, the newly constructed $15.6 million development is comprised of 81 one-bedroom and 24 two-bedroom apartments, 12 of which are fully accessible and three units with features for sensory impaired seniors. The development was certified as meeting the requirements of the Enterprise Green Communities Criteria.

WASHINGTON, DC - June 9, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) continues to develop housing opportunities for homeless and at-risk Veterans by adding 34 VA locations across the country. This strategy will increase the Department’s available beds by over 5,000. VA currently has 15,000 transitional beds available to homeless Veterans.

AUSTIN, TX - June 9, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- BuildFax, a division of BUILDERadius, today announced that it has successfully closed a new $4 million round of funding, led by DMGI and with the support of Environmental Data Resources Inc. (EDR) which is wholly owned by DMG Information Inc., the business information division of Daily Mail and General Trust, plc. Today’s round of funding follows a $9 million investment by the same group in 2009, bringing the total amount of funding for BuildFax to $13 million

HERNDON, VA - June 9, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- NAIOP, the Commercial Real Estate Development Association, is bringing its annual industrial real estate conference to the Renaissance Long Beach in Long Beach, Calif., on June 22-23.

San Francisco, CA - June 8, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- The Federal Home Loan Bank of San Francisco (FHLBank San Francisco) awarded $28.4 million in Affordable Housing Program (AHP) grants in the first round of its 2011 funding competition. The grants approved by the Bank’s Board of Directors in AHP Round A were awarded to 45 projects that address the diverse housing needs of communities in Arizona, California, Illinois, Nevada, Pennsylvania, Texas, and Washington, and will produce or preserve 2,787 housing units that are affordable to lower-income individuals and families.

WASHINGTON, DC - June 8, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Secretary of Labor Hilda L. Solis today announced a competition for grants totaling more than $5 million through the U.S. Department of Labor's Homeless Veterans Reintegration Program to provide approximately 3,000 homeless veterans with job training and other services to help them succeed in civilian careers

CHARLOTTE, N.C. - June 8, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Crescent Resources selected veteran real estate developer Margaret Jennesse to lead its residential interests in Florida and Georgia as senior vice president.

Austin, TX - June 7, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- BuildFax, the industry's exclusive creator of the largest commercial and residential permitting database in the United States, today announced that it has joined forces with Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) to give property & casualty insurance carriers a more complete view of underwriting risks while uncovering any key changes to their portfolio since policy inception. Now, Equifax customers can gain immediate access to BuildFax’s unique, differentiated data assets, which include property history information representing 60 percent of the nation’s building permit volume. Through this relationship, insurance carriers can improve the accuracy of underwriting valuation models to develop more effective pricing strategies and reduce the potential for fraud

NORFOLK, VA - June 6, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Partnering for their first joint promotion, For Rent Media Solutions™ and Homes Media Solutions™ launch the ForRent.com® and Homes.com® “Coolest Space in Your Place” photo contest for a chance to win a $2,500 prize! Both apartment renters and homeowners are encouraged to enter the contest by submitting a photograph of a favorite space in the contestant’s residence.

WASHINGTON, D.C. - June 6, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- CHFA is currently accepting 2011 applications for the Housing Tax Credit Contribution (“HTCC”) Program.

WASHINGTON, D.C. - June 2, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- As students across the country receive their final grades for the semester, the National Law Center on Homelessness & Poverty has released a report card grading the United States on its response to homelessness and its compliance with the human right to housing. "Simply Unacceptable": Homelessness and the Human Right to Housing in the U.S. issues failing grades in more than one category, according to international standards.

SAN MARCOS, TX - June 2, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Local lumber and hardware retailer McCoy’s Building Supply was listed by IDG’s CIO Magazine as one of the top 100 companies in the world that is using information technology (IT) to deliver a competitive advantage for their company.

WASHINGTON, D.C. - June 2, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Kenneth W. Edwards, Policy Counsel for the Center for Responsible Lending, presented the following remarks at a press briefing held to discuss the impact of the proposed Qualified Residential Mortgage (QRM) rule on consumers. Other groups participating in the conference were the Mortgage Bankers Association, Consumer Federation of America, the National Community Reinvestment Coalition, and the National Housing Conference

NEW YORK, N.Y. - June 2, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Mortgage rates fell for an eighth consecutive week, with the benchmark conforming 30-year fixed mortgage rate falling to 4.69 percent, according to Bankrate.com's weekly national survey. The average 30-year fixed mortgage has an average of 0.39 discount and origination points.

WASHINGTON, DC - June 2, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Mayor Vincent C. Gray today announced that the District will hold the 3rd Annual D.C. Housing Expo and Foreclosure Clinic on Saturday, June 4, 2011, at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center. The Expo includes resources for all District residents, including information for renters, homeowners, potential homeowners, landlords and those facing foreclosure.

WASHINGTON, DC - June 1, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- U.S. Housing and Urban Development Secretary Shaun Donovan today announced Green Refinance Plus a program between HUD's Federal Housing Administration (FHA) and Fannie Mae to allow owners of existing affordable rental housing properties to refinance into new mortgages that include funding for energy- and water-saving upgrades, along with other needed property renovations

WASHINGTON, DC - June 1, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Secretary of Labor Hilda L. Solis today announced 122 grants totaling more than $28 million to provide approximately 17,000 veterans who are homeless or at risk of being homeless with job training to help them succeed in civilian careers.

Greenbelt, MD - June 1, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Bozzuto Management Company, a subsidiary of The Bozzuto Group of companies, today announced the addition of 11 additional properties to its portfolio. The assets, totaling 3,200 units, are a combination of new openings and property takeovers, and collectively increase the company’s portfolio to 33,000 units. Bozzuto Management is honored to now serve 55 clients in 115 properties across eight East Coast states from Richmond, Virginia to Boston, Massachusetts.

MILFORD, CT - May 31, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- TMS Funding, the wholesale residential lending channel of Total Mortgage Services, LLC, announced today the hiring of five additional Wholesale Account Executives, with 72 years of combined experience in developing new business relationships and supporting high quality mortgage brokers. These new hires increase the number of Wholesale Account Executives at TMS Funding to 12, servicing 10 states.

MILFORD, CT - May 31, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- TMS Funding, the wholesale residential lending channel of Total Mortgage Services, LLC, announced today the hiring of five additional Wholesale Account Executives, with 72 years of combined experience in developing new business relationships and supporting high quality mortgage brokers. These new hires increase the number of Wholesale Account Executives at TMS Funding to 12, servicing 10 states.

WASHINGTON, D.C. - May 27, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- The latest National Delinquency Survey issued by the Mortgage Bankers Association for the first quarter shows late mortgage payments and foreclosure starts have been dropping since the end of 2009. However, when you view the bigger picture, the housing market remains shaky, with millions of homeowners still at risk of losing their home.

LOS ANGELES, CA - May 27, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Attorney General Kamala D. Harris announced she has subpoenaed Lender Processing Services, Inc. (LPS), as part of her continuing probe into "robosigning" of mortgage documents and other illegal activities in the mortgage servicing industry, especially misconduct affecting borrowers facing, or in the midst of, foreclosure

NEW YORK, NY - May 27, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Chase this month opens three of the 31 new centers it will add this year to help even more borrowers in hard-hit communities stay in their homes. Chase counselors already have met face to face with 144,000 struggling homeowners in centers since 2009.

WASHINGTON, DC - May 26, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- The Justice Department today announced settlements with two lenders under the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (SCRA) to resolve allegations that the lenders wrongfully foreclosed upon active duty servicemembers without first obtaining court orders, in violation of the SCRA. Combined, the settlements provide more than $22 million in monetary relief for the victims