RealEstateRama

Washington D.C. - November 11, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- On October 16, 2010 the Construction Specifications Institute’s (CSI) Board of Directors officially endorsed six ConsensusDOCS contract documents. CSI joined the ConsensusDOCS® coalition in spring 2010 to contribute in the creation of best practices for construction documentation and communication. CSI participated in drafting sessions as an equal member. The CSI Technical Committee reviewed six documents for adherence to CSI principles, and recommended endorsement of those documents.

New Orleans, LA - November 9, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- The Orleans Parish School Board (OPSB) today announced an agreement with The Counselors of Real Estate® (CRE) and its Consulting Corps program to help evaluate, appraise and recommend efficient means to help sell up to 50 surplus properties.

Detroit, MI - November 9, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- Quicken Loans Inc., the nation’s largest online lender, and a top-five retail mortgage lender, today announced it recently closed its 1 millionth home loan. This milestone comes in the same year the company is celebrating its 25th anniversary.

WASHINGTON, DC - November 9, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) announced today an important program designed to provide enhanced services to low-income Veterans and their families who are at risk of being homeless. Under the Supportive Services for Veteran Families Program, VA will provide grants to private non-profit organizations and consumer cooperatives that will help break the cycle of homelessness among America’s Veterans at risk.

November 5, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- NARI and CEDIA have formed the Remodeling & Home Technologies Council. The mission statement is “to advance home technology awareness within the remodeling industry and to expand business opportunities via partnership between CEDIA and NARI members.”

GENEVA, CH - November 5, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- Earlier today, with the knowledge that a majority of Americans fear for their ability to pay their mortgage or rent, the United States underwent its first-ever Universal Periodic Review (UPR) before the United Nations Human Rights Council. The UPR was a rigorous examination of U.S. human rights policy, and has demonstrated that the U.S. has a long way to go in order to live up to its human rights obligations

WASHINGTON, DC - November 5, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- The best and brightest minds in commercial real estate will convene next Tuesday to offer their predictions for the future during 2020: A Vision for Commercial Real Estate, a symposium presented by the BOMA Foundation and the Georgetown University School of Continuing Studies and its Masters of Professional Studies in Real Estate Program. Featuring a dozen experts from all sectors of the industry, the program will explore where real estate will be ten years from now.“This unique program will provide attendees with an insider look at how real estate will evolve over the next decade and insight into how best to prepare for these changes,” remarked BOMA Foundation Chair Marilyn Wilbarger, director of property management, City of Key West, Fla. “Through lively debate, these thought leaders will explain how we can learn from a down market, create growth and optimize sustainability for future success.”

Alexandria, VA - November 4, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- The latest American Bankruptcy Institute podcast features a conversation between ABI Resident Scholar Prof. Laura Bartell and bankruptcy attorney and Clean Slate blog author Andy Winchell discussing the recent mortgage foreclosure documentation crisis. In addition to his own involvement in consumer cases with poor mortgage documentation, Winchell examines issues related to the large-scale mortgage foreclosure documentation problems recently admitted by Bank of America, JP Morgan Chase and Ally Financial

Alexandria, VA - November 4, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- Examine the lessons learned in both business and consumer bankruptcy cases over the past year and take a look at what trends may lie ahead in 2010 at the American Bankruptcy Institute’s (ABI) 16th Annual Rocky Mountain Bankruptcy Conference, set to take place on Jan. 27-28, 2011, at the Westin Tabor Center in Denver. The Conference will feature 14 panel sessions, including four as part of a separate workshop geared toward consumer practitioners. Attendees at the Rocky Mountain Bankruptcy Conference have the opportunity to earn 10.75/12.5 hours of CLE/CPE credit and 3/3.5 hours of ethics

GARLAND, TX - November 4, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- The Federal Home Loan Bank of Dallas (FHLB Dallas) and Professional Bank are pleased to announce they have awarded a $14,000 Affordable Housing Program (AHP) grant to Habitat for Humanity of Greater Garland (HFHGG) to assist with the construction of two single family homes in Dallas County

ORANGE, TX - November 4, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- Orange Savings Bank and the Federal Home Loan Bank of Dallas (FHLB Dallas) are pleased to announce the opening of Putnam Place, which was awarded a $116,404 Affordable Housing Program (AHP) grant from the banks in 2007. The AHP grant assisted Orange, Texas, nonprofit Roselawn Manor, Inc. with the construction of the facility. Representatives from Orange Savings Bank and FHLB Dallas gathered for a ribbon cutting at Putnam Place on Tuesday, November 2

November 3, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- TIAA-CREF and Good Energies, a global clean energy/clean tech investment firm, today announced a partnership between the firms to make venture capital investments together in the areas of energy efficiency and green building technology. The first of these investments is a $4.5 million private equity investment by TIAA-CREF in Ice Energy, which produces cost efficient, energy saving cooling systems

Jackson, WY - November 2, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- The Partners of Jackson Hole Real Estate Associates are proud to announce that Julie Bryan, founder of the Windermere real estate franchise in both Jackson and Teton Valley, and her agents have become affiliated with Jackson Hole Real Estate Associates. “Julie Bryan has built an incredible organization and we are thrilled to work with them and the outstanding professionals that have comprised the Windermere offices,” stated Bob Graham, a Principal of JHRE Associates.

FORT WORTH, TX - November 2, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- OmniAmerican Bank and the Federal Home Loan Bank of Dallas (FHLB Dallas) have awarded a $20,000 Partnership Grant Program award to Southeast Fort Worth, Inc., a Fort Worth-based economic development organization, to support efforts to revitalize Southeast Fort Worth neighborhoods. The check was presented during an event on Friday, October 29, at OmniAmerican Bank’s headquarters at 1320 S. University Drive in Fort Worth, Texas.

WASHINGTON, DC - November 2, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- HOPE NOW, the private sector alliance of mortgage servicers, investors, mortgage insurers and non-profit counselors released its September 2010 survey data today, which estimates the industry completed close to 150,000 permanent loan modifications for the month.

HERNDON, VA - November 2, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- NAIOP, the Commercial Real Estate Development Association, has named its 2011 leadership, led by S. Alex Klatskin, partner with Forsgate Industrial Partners, a private industrial real estate development and investment firm based in Teterboro, New Jersey. Klatskin will serve as chairman for the leading organization for developers, owners and related professionals in office, industrial, retail and mixed-use real estate.

VIENNA, VA - November 1, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), today released its 2009 Mortgage Loan Fraud (MLF) study which found the number of mortgage fraud suspicious activity reports (SARs) filed in 2009 grew 4 percent compared with the number of mortgage fraud SARs filed in 2008. FinCEN also reported today that just looking at the fourth quarter of 2009, mortgage fraud SAR filings increased 6 percent over the same period in 2008.

WASHINGTON, DC - November 1, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- With mortgage rates at historic lows, Veterans and military personnel continue to use the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) home loan program in record numbers to purchase a home or refinance their existing loans

DALLAS, TX - November 1, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- The Federal Home Loan Bank of Dallas (FHLB Dallas) is pleased to announce that it has awarded more than $2.2 million in Affordable Housing Program (AHP) grants, through certain of its member institutions, to help fund the purchase, construction, or renovation of 284 housing units in Louisiana.

Washington, D.C. - November 1, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- The National Inclusionary Housing Conference will bring state and local housing practitioners and policymakers together with federal policymakers and housing experts to discuss best practices, the latest research and new policy initiatives relative to the creation of mixed income communities. Inclusionary zoning exists in some 300 communities around the country and requires that a portion of homes in new residential developments be created for low and moderate-income households. The conference will also feature a panel of builders, often opposed to these regulations, who have been invited to discuss how to craft ordinances that also work well for developers

DENVER, CO - October 29, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- ICBA Mortgage Solutions, a provider of comprehensive mortgage services to help Independent Community Bankers of America (ICBA) members originate, process, close, fund and sell residential loans, has named Scott Hall, president, and Elizabeth Deal, executive vice president of marketing. Together, Hall and Deal will guide ICBA Mortgage Solutions in helping community banks better manage the mortgage process.

October 29, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- The brand new international property portal HouseInTheSun.com was launched last month. The first 30 days have been a total success with more than 30,000 properties published by a large number of estate agents and property developers from all over the world. - We are very pleased to receive this strong response in such a short time, says CEO and partner, Reidar Svedahl.

Cleveland, OH - October 29, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- Bizdom U, a non-profit boot camp that trains entrepreneurs to launch and grow successful businesses, is coming to downtown Cleveland in 2011. The announcement was made by Dan Gilbert, Majority Owner of the Cleveland Cavaliers and Lake Erie Monsters, Operator of the Quicken Loans Arena (the “Q”) and Founder and Chairman of Quicken Loans Inc., while in Cleveland to accept the Ruth Ratner Miller Award from the Downtown Cleveland Alliance. The award is presented annually to an individual for career achievement in the advancement and enhancement of downtown Cleveland.

Franklin, TN - October 28, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- Construction is starting this week on Circle at Cool Springs apartment community. Developer Crescent Resources has entered into an agreement with Mid-America Apartment Communities, Inc., with MAA purchasing the land and providing construction financing and Crescent serving as the master developer

CHICAGO, LONDON, SINGAPORE - October 28, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- A new report from Jones Lang LaSalle announces that CEO Colin Dyer has joined 1,000 other business leaders in signing the Cancun Communiqué on Climate Change, which sets out the case for action on climate change with renewed urgency.

SAN ANTONIO, TX - October 28, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- The Federal Home Loan Bank of Dallas (FHLB Dallas) and Broadway National Bank are pleased to announce they have awarded a $152,000 Affordable Housing Program (AHP) grant to Methodist Mission Home (MMH) to assist with phase II of its $5.5 million capital campaign.

DALLAS, TX - October 28, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- The Federal Home Loan Bank of Dallas (Bank) today reported net income of $27.4 million for the quarter ended September 30, 2010. For the nine months ended September 30, 2010, the Bank reported net income of $82.4 million

CHICAGO, IL - October 28, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- Luxury Portfolio Fine Property Collection® announced the creation of the first automated 3-D tours of its luxury home listings. These tours are available on its award-winning website, LuxuryPortfolio.com, in a new section called LP3-D. The program was developed using technology licensed from GeoData Technologies and is the first application to integrate high resolution aerial imagery and property photos, 3-D terrain and local data into a multimedia, 3-D tour experience.

WASHINGTON, DC - October 28, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- The Building Owners and Managers Association (BOMA) Foundation will present its first Thought Leaders Symposium, 2020: A Vision for Commercial Real Estate, on November 9 in conjunction with the Georgetown University School of Continuing Studies and its Masters of Professional Studies in Real Estate Program. The symposium will bring together some of the best and brightest minds in commercial real estate in a forum with the academic community and graduate students in the real estate program to explore the future of commercial real estate in 2020. Leaders in the commercial real estate industry will examine environmental and energy issues as well as real estate finance in this thought-provoking program.

CLEVELAND, OH - October 27, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- County Prosecutor Bill Mason and the Cuyahoga County Mortgage Fraud Task Force operating under authorization of Ohio Attorney General Richard Cordray and Ohio's Organized Crime Investigations Commission announced Fred Loewinger pleaded guilty to 25 felony mortgage fraud related offenses on October 27, 2010 for his participation in financing the purchase of 20 houses with $1.4 million in fraudulent loans. Loewinger, 62, of Strongsville, owned Fast Mortgage Services, Inc. and conducted his fraudulent activities as a licensed mortgage broker and loan officer. This case was investigated by the Cleveland office of the FBI in connection with their participation in the Mortgage Fraud Task Force