Monthly Archives: May 2011

WASHINGTON, DC - May 31, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- The “new normal” favors more renting, which requires new thinking about our housing policy, according to speakers at the National Multi Housing Council’s (NMHC) Mid-Year Apartment Strategies/Finance Conference and Board of Directors meeting held this week in Palm Beach, FL.

SAN FRANCISCO, CA - May 31, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- PCCP, LLC has announced that it has partnered with Principal Real Estate Investors, the fourth largest institutional real estate manager in the United States, to acquire a 253,769 square foot class A office building located at 705 5th Avenue South in Seattle. The property is located within the Pioneer Square submarket, which is situated just south of the Seattle CBD, and is 98 percent vacant. The joint venture acquired the property from a private owner in an off market transaction.

WASHINGTON, D.C. - April 29, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- The Federal Trade Commission is offering information to help homeowners avoid unscrupulous sales agents who go door-to-door during the summer months. These scammers use deceptive, high-pressure tactics to get people to buy expensive, and sometimes substandard, home security systems they often don’t need.

AUSTIN, TX - May 27, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- The Texas House of Representatives passed HB 2761 which requires Texas Home Owners Associations to operate openly. Under HB 2761, HOAs may no longer foreclose on an assessment lien if the debt consists solely of fines assessed by the association, attorney's fees incurred by the association solely associated with fines assessed by the association or amounts added to the owner's account for open record requests.

May 27, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Former Treasure Valley residents Shane M. Hymas and Laurie Kreschelle Hymas, both age 32, now of American Fork, Utah, were sentenced today in district court in Boise for bank fraud, announced U.S. Attorney Wendy J. Olson.

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.

SACRAMENTO, CA - May 27, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- United States Attorney Benjamin B. Wagner announced that United States District Judge Morrison C. England, Jr. sentenced Ralondria Stafford, 37, of San Francisco, and Necole Ward, 32, of Las Vegas, (both formerly of Vallejo, Calif.) for their roles in a mortgage fraud scheme carried out in Vallejo between 2005 and 2006. Judge England sentenced Stafford to 21 months in prison and Ward to 12 months and a day in prison. The prison sentences are to be followed by three years of supervised release and both defendants were ordered to pay $200,000 in restitution. Stafford and Ward pleaded guilty on June 10, 2010.

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

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. - May 27, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Cushman & Wakefield’s first quarter statistics for the U.S. industrial market show leasing activity in New Jersey increased in the first three months of 2011, as the U.S. market continued towards recovery.

WASHINGTON, DC - May 27, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development today announced the final Fiscal Year 2011 block grant allocations to approximately 1,200 state and local governments under the Community Development Block Grants (CDBG), HOME Investment Partnerships (HOME), Housing Opportunities for Persons with AIDS (HOPWA), and the Emergency Shelter Grant Program (ESG). Read more about how HUD’s block grant programs will be allocated at the state and local level.

IRVINE, CA - May 27, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Award-winning KTGY Group, Inc., Architecture and Planning, is pleased to announce that KTGY’s Principal Ken Ryan has been invited to participate in the Orange County Chapter’s Building Industry Association (BIA) and Urban Infill Committee and Asset Opportunities Group's program, “Creating a Community within a Community: Neighborhood Spotlight: La Floresta Brea," on Thursday, June 2, 2011. The meeting will be held at the Irvine Ranch Water District's Duck Club meeting room located in the San Joaquin Wildlife Sanctuary, 3512 Michelson Drive and Riparian View in Irvine, CA 92612.

WASHINGTON, DC - May 27, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development awarded today nearly $15 million to more than 200 public housing authorities across the U.S. to help public housing residents find jobs that lead them toward economic independence. For information on local funding amounts, visit HUD’s

EUGENE, OR - May 27, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Today, IDX, Inc. is pleased to welcome Audrey Brodie to the growing network of agents and brokers who have modified their professional real estate websites with a customizable IDX solution. Brodie can now...

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.

EUGENE, OR - May 27, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- IDX, Inc. has integrated the dynamic IDX Broker software onto yet another professional website. This time, Smokey Mountains properties are displayed on the website of Tennessee agent Marty Loveday, creating a thorough and complete database of listings for his clients to conveniently search through. Loveday, a member of both the Greater Smokey Mountains MLS (GSMMLS) and the Knoxville MLS (KAARMLS), can now deliver his home seeking clients with a fruitful, effective and efficient online real estate search, revolutionizing the way potential buyers find homes online.

Washington, DC - May 27, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Pending home sales fell in April with regional variations following increases in February and March, with unusual weather and economic softness adding to ongoing problems that are hobbling a recovery, according to the National Association of Realtors®.

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

COLUMBUS, OH - May 26, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- The Ohio Housing Finance Agency (OHFA) is partnering with The Ohio State University (OSU) to launch the Homeownership Investment Program. The program will provide additional support for OHFA homeowners before and after they purchase their home, to increase their mortgage sustainability and overall financial well-being. The new program will enhance the streamlined homebuyer education currently offered by the Agency in conjunction with OHFA's successful affordable mortgage program for first-time homebuyers.

Memphis, Tenn. - May 26, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Memphis Area Association of REALTORS® has teamed up with REALTOR® associations across the country for the Nationwide Open House Weekend from Saturday, June 4 through Sunday, June 5.

May 26, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- With only ten minutes remaining in the Texas House for consideration of non-local Senate Bills, Speaker Straus recognized Representative Bonnen for an important motion