Housing & Development

BALTIMORE, MD - February 19, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- Attorney General Douglas F. Gansler announced today that his Consumer Protection Division has issued a final order requiring Home at Last, LLC and its principal to refund payments of $211,076.20 collected from consumers to construct homes in Prince George’s County and to pay penalties of $75,200. The Division found that Jacquelyn Willis, and her company, Home at Last, violated Maryland’s Custom Home Protection Act by failing to place or maintain money paid by consumers into an escrow account or having a surety bond to cover the deposits and payments made. The Division also found that Willis and her company violated the Home Builder Registration Act and the Consumer Protection Act by failing to build homes as promised.

Wilmington, DE - February 18, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- Attorney General Beau Biden announced today that his office has filed a 39-count consumer fraud lawsuit against NVR, Inc., which does business under the name “Ryan Homes.” Ryan Homes built several sections of homes in the Odessa National development, in Townsend, Delaware, where the alleged fraud took place. The civil suit, filed today in New Castle County Superior Court, seeks civil penalties of $10,000 for each violation of Delaware’s Consumer Fraud Act, restitution for 39 home buyer victims, punitive damages, and investigative costs.

RICE LAKE, WI - February 15, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- Seventh District Congressman Dave Obey (D-WI) was in Rice Lake today to participate in the grand opening of Glenwood Commons, student housing to serve UW-Barron County and Wisconsin Indianhead Technical College (WITC) students.

BISMARCK, N.D. - February 12, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- A group of 11 state and federal agencies and nonprofit developers are working together to develop solutions to North Dakota’s housing challenges.

SACRAMENTO, CA - February 17, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- Housing affordability in California continued to fall throughout most of the state during the fourth quarter of 2009, the California Building Industry Association said today.

Trenton, N.J. - February 9, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- Today Governor Chris Christie signed Executive Order 12 creating the Housing Opportunity Task Force, which will initiate an immediate review of the Commission on Affordable Housing and its continued existence.

KIRKSVILLE, MO - February 16, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- State Treasurer Clint Zweifel (ZWY-ful) was in Kirksville today to announce that since January 2009 his administration had made more than $36 million in low-interest loans to farms and small businesses in the northeast Missouri. While at a stop at the Bank of Kirksville, Treasurer Zweifel said 469 loans had been made impacting 398 jobs and 387 farmers in the region. Borrowers in the region will save an estimated $608,000 in interest annually using loans made through the Missouri Linked Deposit Program.

BOSTON, MA - February 16, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- February 16, 2010 – As part of an ongoing effort to make it easier for the rental housing industry to interact with the Agency, MassHousing launched masshousingrental.com, a new website that consolidates information, documents, and applications for the Agency’s rental housing business partners to one location. Masshousingrental.com is part of a larger effort to make it easier and more efficient for property owners and managers, rental housing developers, general contractors, auditors and other rental housing partners to do business with MassHousing. Previously, MassHousing’s business partners had to visit one of four Agency websites to conduct different types of business.

SACRAMENTO, CA - February 16, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- The pace of home sales at California new-home communities was moderately lower than levels seen a year ago, the California Building Industry Association reported today.

February 16, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- Local residential construction started off the New Year with a 9 percent jump in new-home permits in January, according to statistics compiled by the Home Builders Association of Greater Kansas City (HBA). The organization tracked a seasonally adjusted total of 220 single-family homes permitted last month, up from a revised 198 units for December.

COLUMBUS, OH - February 10, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- Lisa Patt-McDaniel, Director of the Ohio Department of Development, today announced that Habitat for Humanity of Ohio and the Coalition on Homelessness and Housing in Ohio will receive grants totaling $337,500 through the Ohio Housing Trust Fund Discretionary Grant Program, administered by the Department’s Office of Housing and Community Partnerships.

February 15, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- With the help of a few key partners, the YWCA Greater Los Angeles (YWCA GLA) and its LA Job Corps program have successfully embarked upon building a new Urban Campus which will be the prototype for Job Corps programs around the country.

LOS ANGELES, CA - February 15, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- The percentage of households that could afford to buy an entry-level home in California remained at 64 percent in the fourth quarter of 2009, compared with 61 percent (revised) for the same period a year ago, according to a report released today by the CALIFORNIA ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® (C.A.R.).

Hattiesburg, MS - February 12, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- The Mississippi Home Corporation (MHC) will host a Financial Health Workshop on Thursday, February 25, 2010 at the Jackie Dole Sherrill Community Center, 220 West Front Street in Hattiesburg. MHC will host the free workshop from 4:00 p.m. until 7:00 p.m. The workshop will be particularly helpful for individuals who are worried about losing their home, are having trouble making ends meet, who believe they have a mortgage that is unfair, or simply want to learn how to manage their finance better. Attendees will have the opportunity to meet trained counselors who can review their finances, find other programs that can over assistance, and learn how to avoid financial pitfalls in the future.

BOSTON, MA - February 12, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- Thursday, February 11, 2010 – As part of the Patrick-Murray Administration's Massachusetts Recovery Plan, Governor Deval Patrick today announced that the state will utilize $7.06 million in federal weatherization recovery funds to replace old, inefficient heating systems with new state-of-the-art units for 19 local public housing authorities across the Commonwealth.Those upgrades will mean lower energy costs for tenants of family developments in Bedford, Belmont, Brockton, Clinton, Dedham, Easthampton, Fitchburg, Gardner, Greenfield, Marblehead, Mattapoisett, Medford, Methuen, North Andover, North Attleborough, Stoneham, Stoughton, Uxbridge and Westfield. The improvements will also lead to an improved living environment through the delivery of smart, clean, energy-efficient warmth to their homes (award details below)

AUGUSTA, ME - February 12, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- Governor John E. Baldacci today swore in Dale McCormick as Director of MaineHousing. The Governor had nominated McCormick for reappointment on Jan. 5, and she was confirmed by the full Senate on Feb. 4.

FRANKFORT, KY - February 12, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- The State Property and Buildings Commission (SPBC) will hold a meeting on Monday, February 15, 2010 at 2:00 p.m. in Room 182 of the Capitol Annex, Frankfort, Kentucky.

SACRAMENTO, CA - February 12, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- A preliminary report released today by the California Homebuilding Foundation (CHF) in conjunction with the Center for Strategic Economic Research (CSER), shows that the downturn in new-home building has resulted in the loss of hundreds of thousands of jobs and tens of billions of dollars in economic output to California’s economy.

Two programs serve low-income residents, create jobs. CHICAGO, IL - February 11, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- A new round of $15.4 million in federal affordable housing funds will help low-income residents, including seniors and persons with disabilities, and landlords rehabilitate more than 420 homes across the state, the Illinois Housing Development Authority (IHDA) announced today.

Home Partnership Foundation responds in time of need. BOISE, ID - February 11, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- The Home Partnership Foundation, brought to you by Idaho Housing and Finance Association, has awarded 13 emergency response grants in the amount of $69,600 to homeless shelters and service providers across the state. These funds are intended to support the greatest needs of housing service providers statewide including shelter operations and capital improvements, funding for motel vouchers (when shelters are full), as well as homelessness prevention efforts.

CHICAGO, IL - February 10, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- The Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services (HFS) today announced the approval of 18 new Supportive Living Facilities (SLFs) in Illinois. The state’s Supportive Living Program offers an alternative to nursing home care for low income seniors, and people with physical disabilities

TAMPA FL - February 10, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- As the Mid-Atlantic region begins to dig out from under one blizzard, and faces another serious snowstorm this week, the Institute for Business & Home Safety (IBHS) is offering guidance on how business and home owners can protect their property from winter weather-related perils, such as roof collapse due to heavy snow loads.

PEMBERTON TOWNSHIP, N.J. - February 4, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- Pemberton Township Mayor David Patriarca today joined representatives of the New Jersey Housing and Mortgage Finance Agency (HMFA) at the Municipal Building, 500 Pemberton-Browns Mills Road, to announce that the Township is the newest member of the Live Where You Work program.

Portland, OR. - February 4, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- Oregon’s Senator Jeff Merkley joined HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan, Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D- Ore.) and Governor Ted Kulongoski via video today to announce the creation of the Office of Sustainable Housing and Communities within HUD.

ST. CHARLES, MO - February 5, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- State Treasurer Clint Zweifel (ZWY-ful) was in St. Charles today to announce a $575,000 small business loan impacting 23 local jobs. Treasurer Zweifel made the announcement at Sams Carpet Cleaning and Repair. The low-interest loan, made through the Missouri Linked Deposit Program, will save the company an estimated $37,000 in interest costs. Qualifying borrowers generally save 30 percent on the cost of the loan.

WASHINGTON, DC - February 5, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- U.S. Housing and Urban Development Secretary Shaun Donovan today announced HUD will speed federal disaster assistance to 24 counties in Arkansas and provide support to homeowners and low-income renters forced from their homes by severe storms and flooding during the period of December 23rd and January 2nd.

Wilmington, DE - February 4, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- Today, Attorney General Beau Biden announced that Jamaar Manlove, Larry Manlove, Rhonda Manlove, Master Builders for Christ and Vision Builders Christian Center have been charged in a 21-count indictment for crimes related to a mortgage rescue scam. Warrants have been issued for their arrest and racketeering liens have been placed on their assets. This represents what is believed to be one of the largest mortgage rescue fraud indictments in Delaware history. The indictment alleges that Jamaar Manlove ran a criminal enterprise involving theft, money laundering, and forgery in which he preyed on vulnerable homeowners who faced imminent foreclosure. In these scams, struggling homeowners sell their homes to third parties to avoid foreclosure based on the false promise that they can repurchase their homes through a complex sale/lease-back arrangement when their financial situations improve. In reality, this never happens.

Washington, DC - February 4, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- On Saturday, February 6, 2010, Rep. Calvert, in conjunction with the Housing Opportunities Collaborative of the Inland Empire, the Federal Housing Administration, Housing and Urban Development, the City of Corona and Crossroads Christian Church, will host a homeownership preservation workshop

CONSHOCKEN, PA - February 4, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC) PA/Southern NJ/DE state director and president of Metro Commercial Real Estate, Steven Gartner, will host the annual Economic Review and Forecast on February 9, 2010 at the Radisson Hotel Valley Forge

New York, NY - February 4, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- Halstead Property Development Marketing and RGS Holdings, LLC, in conjunction with Goldman Sachs Urban Investment Group and JP Morgan Chase Community Development, today announced that 2280 Frederick Douglass Boulevard has been approved by the Federal Housing Administration’s mortgage program. The 12-story new construction condominium development in Harlem, will now allow qualified buyers to purchase a new home with a down payment between 5 and 10%.