April 26, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- The National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) wants members of the military, foreign service and intelligence communities to know that they may have an additional year to buy a home and claim the home buyer tax credit, which expires for most Americans on April 30

BEAVER, WV - April 26, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- Repairing or rebuilding a flood-damaged home? Working on ways to make your home more disaster-resistant? Have questions about flood insurance?

Udall: Credit Score is Critical to Buy Home or Car; Vital Information Should be Free. Washington, D.C. - April 26, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- Today, U.S. Senator Mark Udall continued his effort to level the playing field for consumers by introducing a bill that would provide consumers with free access to their credit scores.

Irvine, CA - April 26, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- The organizers of Orange County’s annual Affordable Housing Award (AHA) selected Jamboree Housing Corporation’s The Arbor at Woodbury community as the 2010 Project of the Year. The Affordable Housing Award presentation is co-hosted by the Kennedy Commission, Orange County Housing Corporation, and the Affordable Housing Clearinghouse, three of the county’s leaders in the affordable housing industry.

Miami, FL - April 26, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- Condo.com, the world’s largest marketplace has appointed Cristian Sturek as their Chief Technology Officer. The announcement marks an exciting time for the Company as its technology platform has positioned the Company into an industry-leading domain and world-class search site. Choosing the right IT leader was of vital importance to Condo.com as their IT strategy so closely aligns with their overall corporate strategy and objectives. Hiring an industry expert like Mr. Sturek will greatly impact operations since site development and technological components have been a leading forefront to much of the Company’s success to date. Mr. Sturek’s addition to the team opens a new window of growth and opportunity yet to be discovered by the Company and its category domain

TALLAHASSEE, FL - April 26, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- Florida CFO Alex Sink today released a letter to OIR Commissioner Kevin McCarty inquiring whether any additional actions may be necessary by OIR prior to hurricane season to ensure authorized property insurers are financially capable of meeting their obligations through the course of the 2010 hurricane season. A copy of the letter follows below

April 26, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- The Affordable Housing Department will hold an evaluation committee meeting to review a Request for Qualifications they held for a group home provider. The meeting is scheduled for Monday, April 26, from 3 p.m. - 5 p.m., in the Code Enforcement Training Room, 10119 Windhorst Road., Tampa.

CHICAGO, IL - April 26, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- Governor Pat Quinn today attended the third annual Illinois Warrior Summit resource fair and encouraged Illinois’ veterans to access available state and federal services. The event is a first-of-its-kind welcome home celebration for servicemembers returning from deployment and provides them with information about housing, healthcare, education, jobs and other benefits

WASHINGTON, DC - April 26, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- Representatives of the Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force met in Detroit today for the third of a series of Mortgage Fraud Summits. The task force, established by President Barack Obama in November 2009 to wage an aggressive, coordinated, and proactive effort to investigate and prosecute financial crimes, is composed of representatives from a broad range of federal agencies, regulatory authorities, inspectors general, and state and local law enforcement.

April 26, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- Troy David Chaika, age 43, has been indicted by a federal grand jury in Minneapolis for conspiring with others to bilk mortgage lenders out of more than $43 million by making materially false representations and concealing material information. The indictment, originally filed in U.S. District Court on April 12, was unsealed today following Chaika’s initial appearance in federal court. Specific charges include seven counts of wire fraud, three counts of mail fraud, one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and mail fraud

April 26, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- Two Prior Lake men and a man from California were charged in a federal indictment unsealed today in the District of Minnesota. The indictment, originally filed with the U.S. District Court in Minneapolis on April 21, 2010, alleges that Beau Wesley Gensmer, age 28, and Christopher Glenn Kennedy, age 30, both of Prior Lake, along with Cameron Roland Baird, age 29, of Los Altos, California, orchestrated a scheme to defraud mortgage lenders out of $3.1 million by causing mortgage loans to be funded based on false information. Specifically, each defendant was charged with 15 counts of wire fraud, one count of wire fraud conspiracy, and two counts of engaging in a monetary transaction derived from unlawful activity.

EUGENE, OR - April 26, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- IDX, Inc., the nation’s leading Internet Data Exchange (IDX) software provider, is pleased to welcome Lee Rabanal with Savvy Realty & Loans in Honolulu, Hawaii, to the rapidly expanding network of elite rank real estate professionals who have chosen to integrate IDX Broker search tools into the search forms of their websites. With the addition of this highly customizable search tool application, Rabanal is able immediately link potential home buyers interested in Honolulu area properties, to an endless amount of listings from his local Multiple Listing Service (MLS), the Hawaii Central MLS (HiCentralMLS). This will enable home seekers to search literally each and every characteristic and detail of a home, on their own time, from their own personal computers, creating an effortless, simple and convenient online real estate search experience.

EUGENE, OR - April 26, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- With the help of IDX, Inc., Bob Dratler with Team 1 Real Estate, has recently incorporated a custom IDX solution into his site, developing a truly custom and user-friendly search experience for prospective home buyers browsing properties in Naples, Florida and its surrounding areas. This innovative and advanced Internet Data Exchange (IDX) software and its unique relationship with the MLS of Naples (Naples), enables Dratler to provide home seekers with the ability to view thousands of the most up-to-date property listings on the market, in a simple and timely fashion. IDX Broker gives him the resources to quickly and prominently display properties matching consumers specified search preferences, by extracting raw data from Naples, and then displaying the information on his own personal website, in a seamlessly integrated format

EUGENE, OR - April 26, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- Keller Williams Realty professional, Fiona Mairs, has joined the constantly expanding amount of real estate agents and brokers choosing to renovate the functionality of their website, through the addition of a custom IDX solution. A Corpus Christi, Texas resident, Mairs is a member of the Coastal Bend MLS (CCARMLS). Potential home buyers throughout Nueces County can now browse through thousands of CCARMLS listings, right on Mairs' site, thanks to the customizable IDX Broker software, which integrates the raw data information of each listing, and displays it on the Keller Williams agent's site.

Santa Fe, NM - April 26, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- Canyon Gate Real Estate Services, an Associa company, is excited to announce the opening of its Santa Fe office, the second Canyon Gate office in New Mexico

WASHINGTON D.C. - April 26, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- With many buyers rushing to take advantage of the federal home-buyer tax credit set to expire in April, sales of newly built single-family homes surged 26.9 percent in March to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 411,000 units, the Commerce Department reported today. Sales increases were posted in all four regions of the country.

BETHEL, CT - April 26, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- Countdown To Buy, a next generation online real estate marketplace that offers fair and effective solutions to buy and sell properties, has opened the door for home buyers in Illinois to easily purchase an affordable and recently foreclosed home right in their local community. Declining prices, record inventories and the current favorable interest rate environment, has made homes more affordable. However, many potential home buyers in Illinois remain on the sidelines because of the lack of trust, transparency, and the increased risk and anxiety surrounding purchasing an “as-is” property in foreclosure.

Washington, DC - April 22, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- U.S. Representative Mary Jo Kilroy’s (OH-15) bill HR 4099, the Energy Efficiency Modernization Act passed the House Financial Services Committee as part of HR 2336, the GREEN Act (Green Resources for Energy Efficient Neighborhoods) by a voice vote.

BURLINGTON, VT - April 22, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- Vermonters who rent live in the 15th least affordable state in the nation, according to a new report jointly released by the National Low Income Housing Coalition (NLIHC), a Washington, DC-based housing advocacy group, and the Vermont Affordable Housing Coalition.

WASHINGTON, DC - April 23, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- Today, U.S. Senators Frank R. Lautenberg (D-NJ) and Robert Menendez (D-NJ) announced nearly $1 million in funding for two New Jersey organizations to provide counseling to families and individuals facing foreclosure.

COLUMBUS, OH - April 21, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- Today the Ohio Housing Finance Agency (OHFA) Board approved over $9.3 million of Tax Credit Exchange (TCE) and Tax Credit Assistance Program (TCAP) dollars created in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), together with more than $4.1 million from OHFA’s Housing Development Assistance Program (HDAP) and $9.1 million from the Neighborhood Stabilization Program (NSP).

Event to Educate on Federal and City Fair Housing Rights

Albany, NY - April 23, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- The New York state housing market continued its strong start to 2010 compared to a year ago as first quarter sales were up nearly 18 percent compared to the 2009 first quarter, according to preliminary single-family sales data accumulated by the New York State Association of REALTORS.

April 23, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- The Long Beach Housing Development Company, together with Councilman Dee Andrews and Long Beach Weed & Seed, invite the public to learn about a new homeownership opportunity at Olive Court on Saturday, April 24 from 9:00 to 11:00 am at Renaissance Square/Union Bank Building; 1900 Atlantic Ave.

Brooklyn, NY - April 23, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- 184 Kent, the new rental building on the Williamsburg waterfront, announced today that it has signed 100 leases since it began renting in February. The building, located between North Third and North Fourth streets at the edge of the East River, offers a collection of 340 lofts in studio, one-, two- and three-bedroom configurations.

LOS ANGELES, CA - April 23, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- Home sales increased 2.5 percent in March in California compared with the same period a year ago, while the median price of an existing home rose 20.8 percent, the CALIFORNIA ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® (C.A.R.) reported today.

Des Moines, IA - April 23, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- On Friday, April 23, 2010, the Iowa Department of Administrative Services and the Department of Public Safety will receive an award from the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC). The DPS building is the only LEED certified building on the State of Iowa Capitol Complex. LEED stands for: Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design. The LEED Building Rating System is a voluntary, consensus based standard to support and certify successful green building design, construction and operations

INDIANAPOLIS, IN - April 23, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- Homeowners on the verge of foreclosure face an overwhelming amount of information - from the Internet and TV, well-intentioned friends and family members, and scammers looking to take advantage of the financially distressed. Attorney General Greg Zoeller today announced 11 free workshops are scheduled to take place around the state beginning April 27th. The workshops are intended to cut through the noise and offer straight-forward advice to homeowners looking to understand their rights and options for avoiding foreclosure.

April 23, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- Rep. Frank Kratovil applauded today’s announcement that Maryland has been awarded $20 million in Recovery Act funding to expand energy efficiency building retrofit programs.

GRAND RAPIDS, MI www.hud.gov/news/ The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development today presented over $1.1 million to five fair housing organizations to help fight housing discrimination in Michigan. John Trasviña, HUD's Assistant Secretary for Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity, made the grant presentations to Fair Housing Center of Metropolitan Detroit, Fair Housing Center of Southeastern Michigan, Legal Services of Eastern Michigan, and Fair Housing Center of West Michigan (see attached list below for project descriptions)