December 17, 2009 - (RealEstateRama) -- Today, Mayor Thomas M. Menino announced that the City of Boston has joined with the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in seeking $60 million of American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) funding to support energy efficiency statewide and the Renew Boston Rental Property Retrofit Program. Under the grant proposal, $15 million would support the Renew Boston program with targeted investments along the Blue Hill Avenue corridor utilizing a full compliment of incentives to afford landlords the opportunity to invest in energy efficient upgrades that benefit their tenants. Over 60 percent of corridor residents living in rental housing and many residents spend more than 10 percent of household income on energy. The program will also compliment the city’s green jobs program, including a pending $4 million U.S. Department of Labor Pathways Out of Poverty grant request.

WASHINGTON, D.C. - December 17, 2009 - (RealEstateRama) -- Congressman Jerry Moran introduced legislation this week to help more disabled veterans modify their homes to achieve independent living following injuries sustained during military service. The Specially Adapted Housing Assistance Enhancement Act would improve an important Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) grant program that assists veterans with disabilities construct or modify homes to meet their mobility needs

Wilmington, DE - December 17, 2009 - (RealEstateRama) -- Today Attorney General Beau Biden announced that two builders associated with the company “Bavari Corporation” have been sentenced in connection with a construction fraud scam against four sets of home owners and 23 sub-contractors and suppliers. On Friday, December 11 the owner and president of the company, Andrew T. Jones, was sentenced to seven years in prison and ordered to pay more than $400,000 in restitution

December 16, 2009 - (RealEstateRama) -- The Colorado Coalition for the Homeless and Renaissance Housing Development Corporation, its development subsidiary, is constructing a new, mixed income, supportive housing development at the northwest corner of Colfax Avenue and Pearl Street in the Uptown neighborhood to meet the varied housing needs of Denver. The site is a vacant 25,000 square foot parcel.

JEFFERSON CITY, MO - December 16, 2009 - (RealEstateRama) -- State Treasurer Clint Zweifel, Chair of the Missouri Housing Development Commission, today announced the housing agency's December 18 meeting would be webcast live for the first time ever. The meeting's webcast will be a test for the agency as it looks for the best way to provide the service at all future meetings.

People across the state will get help to stay in homes, find new housing. LANSING, MI - December 16, 2009 - (RealEstateRama) -- Governor Jennifer M. Granholm today met in Kalamazoo with residents struggling to stay in their homes who are finding help through a federal program designed to keep families from becoming homeless and to help the newly-homeless find stable housing.

LANSING, MI - December 16, 2009 - (RealEstateRama) -- Governor Jennifer M. Granholm today highlighted benefits of the state's Weatherization Assistance Program (WAP) in helping to reduce energy costs and improve energy efficiency in the homes of low-income families throughout the state. Michigan received more than $243 million from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (Recovery Act), which will fund weatherization projects in more than 30,000 homes over the next three years.

Washington, DC - December 16, 2009 - (RealEstateRama) -- U.S. Representative John Boozman (R-AR) today introduced the WARMER (Warriors Adapting Residences with Mortgages for Energy Renovations) Act to ensure our veterans can finance money-saving energy efficiency improvements to their homes

New York, N.Y. - December 16, 2009 - (RealEstateRama) -- Turner Construction Company, the nation’s leading general builder, has been awarded a $130 million contract to provide construction services for the Deloitte University learning and leadership development center located in Westlake, Texas.

Salem, OR - December 15, 2009 - (RealEstateRama) -- The State Housing Council approved additional funding to housing developers throughout the state, boosting the number of affordable housing units statewide.

Hauppauge , NY - December 15, 2009 - (RealEstateRama) -- Suffolk County Executive Steve Levy today will file a resolution via Certificate of Necessity seeking immediate passage of a measure to provide Suffolk’s towns and villages with more than $26 million of mortgage tax revenues.

BALTIMORE, MD - December 16, 2009 - (RealEstateRama) -- Attorney General Douglas F. Gansler announced today that his Consumer Protection Division has won a judgment in the Circuit Court for Baltimore City of nearly $1 million against Rodney Spellen, Mid Atlantic Consulting, Inc., Jemel Lyles, Absoloot Ventures Inc., Brian Boyd, 1st Choice Property Management Firm, Inc., Sahar Ali, Alan Muniu, Phillip George, Certified Title & Escrow, Inc., and Reggie Simmons based on violations of Maryland laws against foreclosure rescue scams.

NEW CASTLE, DE - December 16, 2009 - (RealEstateRama) --Gov. Jack Markell, New Castle County Executive Chris Coons and other government and non-profit leaders to announce the county’s Neighborhood Stabilization Program will use a state grant to purchase and rehabilitate foreclosed and abandoned homes

Washington, D.C.- December 16, 2009 - (RealEstateRama) -- Faith Schwartz, Executive Director, of the HOPE NOW Alliance, testified today before the State Assembly Select Committee on the Safety and Protection of At-Risk Communities in California. Schwartz testified that through October 2009, more than 279,000 California homeowners received mortgage workout solutions. This compared to about 139,000 foreclosure sales in the state this year shows that workout solutions outpace foreclosures in sales 2 to 1 in California

ALBANY, NY - December 14, 2009 - (RealEstateRama) -- Andrew T. Baxter, United States Attorney, Rene Febles, Special Agent in Charge, United States Department of Housing and Urban Development,

Harrisburg, PA - December 4, 2009 - (RealEstateRama) -- Governor Edward G. Rendell today reminded eligible older adults and people with disabilities that Dec. 31 is the deadline to apply for rebates up to $975 from Pennsylvania’s Property Tax/Rent Rebate program.

WALTHAM, MA - December 15, 2009 - (RealEstateRama) -- The Massachusetts Association of REALTORS® Charitable Foundation made a $3,000 donation to Homes for Our Troops, a national non-profit organization that provides homes at no cost to severely injured Servicemen and Servicewomen and their immediate families. The donation was presented to Homes for Our Troops at the “Build Brigade” for the construction of the home for Army Sergeant Michael Downing on Friday, December 11, 2009 in Middleboro. Downing was on his second deployment when he was left a double amputee after an IED explosion in Afghanistan in September 2008.

Springfield, IL - December 15, 2009 - (RealEstateRama) -- More optimism in terms of year-over-year home sales increases is projected in 2010 while the declines in median prices continue but at a lower rate of decline, according to the 2010 Illinois Housing Market Forecast released by the Illinois Association of REALTORS® and prepared by economists from the University of Illinois Regional Economics Applications Laboratory (REAL).

JEFFERSON CITY - December 15, 2009 - (RealEstateRama) -- State Treasurer Clint Zweifel, Chair of the Missouri Housing Development Commission, today announced the housing agency's December 18 meeting would be webcast live for the first time ever. The meeting's webcast will be a test for the agency as it looks for the best way to provide the service at all future meetings.

Albany, NY - December 15, 2009 - (RealEstateRama) -- Governor David A. Paterson today announced that New York State will offer cash advances of up to $8,000 on the Federal homebuyer tax credit for borrowers using a State of New York Mortgage Agency (SONYMA) mortgage to purchase a home.

Albany, NY - December 15, 2009 - (RealEstateRama) -- Governor David A. Paterson today signed into law comprehensive foreclosure legislation which provides additional critical protections for New York State homeowners, tenants and neighborhoods in the wake of the ongoing foreclosure crisis.

New York, N.Y. - December 15, 2009 - (RealEstateRama) -- Turner Construction Company, the nation’s largest general builder of education facilities, has been selected by Drexel University to manage construction of the Constantine Papadakis Integrated Sciences Building on the University’s main campus in Philadelphia, Pa. Upon completion in June 2011, the138,000 sq. ft. facility will house thirty-nine research and teaching laboratories for bio-medical engineering, biology and chemistry and a fossil preparation lab.

NEW YORK, NY - December 15, 2009 - (RealEstateRama) -- Attorney General Andrew M. Cuomo today announced his office has obtained an interim court order shutting down the New York City-based not-for-profit group United Homeless Organization, Inc. (“UHO”).

WASHINGTON, D.C. - December 15, 2009 - (RealEstateRama) -- Congressman Allen Boyd (D-North Florida) today introduced bipartisan legislation that would help protect private property owners from becoming victims of eminent domain seizures by state and local governments. The Strengthening the Ownership of Private Property (STOPP) Act would significantly discourage governments from taking property from one private party and giving it to another private party through a series of aggressive financial disincentives. Congressman Boyd has been a long-time proponent of protecting the rights of property owners, having introduced similar legislation in past years

Omnibus Appropriations Bill Now Headed to President’s Desk. December 15, 2009 - (RealEstateRama) -- Mark Udall and Michael Bennet, U.S. Senators for Colorado, today announced Senate approval of critical funding for Jefferson County to aid local efforts to fight methamphetamine use and provide housing for homeless veterans.

December 15, 2009 - (RealEstateRama) -- Owners of residential rental property (individuals, corporations, LLCs) are required to register with Maricopa County Assessor’s Office and update any status changes within 10 days, stipulated in Neighborhood Preservation Ordinance Sec. 39 – 48.

Washington, DC - December 14, 2009 - (RealEstateRama) -- Today, Congressman Al Green (TX-09) voted to pass historic legislation that will bring about the biggest changes in financial regulation since the New Deal, by voting in favor of H.R. 4173, the Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act.

December 14, 2009 - (RealEstateRama) -- Montgomery County Executive Ike Leggett’s Tenant Work Group today released the results of the first-ever survey of County tenants, a survey that highlighted concerns about rent increases and affordability

Aberdeen, MD - December 14, 2009 - (RealEstateRama) -- Congressman C.A. Dutch Ruppersberger (D-MD) today participated in a “double” groundbreaking of two buildings that will house top defense contractors, Raytheon and L-3, within Aberdeen Proving Ground. In a unique agreement known as an enhanced use lease, St. John Properties will lease land directly from the Army for “The GATE” development project and 100 percent of the lease payments will go directly to the post for infrastructure and facility improvements.Ruppersberger was joined by Harford County Executive David Craig, Aberdeen Mayor Michael Bennett, Colonel Orlando Ortiz, Aberdeen Proving Ground Garrison Commander Orlando Ortiz, as well as executives from St. John Properties, Raytheon Company and L-3 Communications

WASHINGTON, D.C. - December 11, 2009 - (RealEstateRama) -- Congressman Chaka Fattah (D-PA)’s $3 billion Homeowners Emergency Mortgage Assistance – already a proven success at blocking foreclosures for unemployed Pennsylvanians – was approved today by the House of Representatives.