RealEstateRama

Reston, Virginia - April 3, 2013 - (RealEstateRama) -- Below is a monthly summary of major legal decisions involving either the use of the MERS® System database or Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems, Inc. (MERS) and its role in the mortgage process. Please feel free to contact the Office of Communications at MERSCORP Holdings, Inc. with any questions and visit the MERS Newsroomfor a full list of news releases.

Bel Air, MD - April 3, 2013 - (RealEstateRama) -- Referred to the Compass Home Group by a lending partner, Compass Home Group met and fell in love with The Rivera’s right away! William & Angela were highly motivated and ready to find a new home for their family! The truest blessing was that their children, Bella, Alex, Noah, & Olivia were just as invested in finding new space to call home. Each and every child was well behaved and excited as we search properties for the one that precisely fit their needs.

WASHINGTON, D.C. - April 2, 2013 - (RealEstateRama) -- CHAPA is pleased to announce the recipients of its Welcome Home Massachusetts Technical Assistance Grants. Selected through a competitive process, these grant recipients demonstrate a wide range of activities to further promote the need for, and benefits of, affordable housing. Small grants have been awarded to

Norfolk, VA - April 2, 2013 - (RealEstateRama) -- For Rent Media Solutions™ has announced that ForRentUniversity.com®, the student housing resource that connects college students and their parents with off-campus housing communities, is now available for advertisers who want to expand their digital reach.

WASHINGTON, D.C. - April 2, 2013 - (RealEstateRama) -- Check out the affordable housing fund allocations included in Mayor Gray’s recent budget release! Sometimes we rally our advocacy voices and wonder if all of our time, energy and efforts are worthwhile. This week we can see the tangible results of housing funds allocated for fiscal years 2013-2014.

ERIE COUNTY, NY - March 29, 2013 - (RealEstateRama) -- The Erie County Department of Social Services (“ECDSS”) reported today that 2,198 individuals were placed in emergency homeless shelters in 2012, an increase of 14% from 2011. Families with children accounted for approximately one-third of those placements, and are the fastest growing segment of the homeless population. On an average night, 45 families and 76 homeless single adults are placed in shelter by ECDSS. As of March 26, 2013, ECDSS has made 518 placements in emergency shelter, with 148 of those being families with children.

CHICAGO, IL - March 29, 2013 - (RealEstateRama) -- New Markets Support Company (NMSC) invested $91 million during 2012 and helped create more than 1,900 jobs by utilizing the federal New Markets Tax Credit program to spur redevelopment of blighted areas.

WASHINGTON, D.C. - April 1, 2013 - (RealEstateRama) -- In recent years, revitalization efforts have increased across the City of Detroit, MI. The recently announced renovation of downtown Detroit’s David Whitney Building is another prime example of these efforts. Originally built in 1914, this historic building will be renovated to include retail space, a new boutique hotel, and residential apartments.

WASHINGTON, D.C. - April 1, 2013 - (RealEstateRama) -- The Morris County Municipal Utilities Authority will conduct a free Household Hazardous Waste Disposal and Computer/Electronics Drop-off event on Sunday, May 19, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Jefferson Township Department of Public Works, 1033 Weldon Road, Lake Hopatcong

WASHINGTON, D.C. - April 1, 2013 - (RealEstateRama) -- Over a fifth of home buyers who did not take out a home survey are saddled with a property they would never have bought had they been aware of its true condition before purchase, according to new research by RICS.

WASHINGTON, D.C. - April 1, 2013 - (RealEstateRama) -- Senior households now have more equity in their homes than at any time since mid-2009, according to data released by NRMLA. The new information comes from the NRMLA/RiskSpan Reverse Mortgage Market Index (RMMI), which analyzes trends in the home values, home equity, and mortgage debt of homeowners 62 and older. The RMMI is updated quarterly and tracks back to the start of 2000.

BOSTON AND WASHINGTON, D.C. - April 1, 2013 - (RealEstateRama) -- The Building Owners and Managers Association (BOMA) International and the Greater Boston Real Estate Board (GBREB) announced today the release of “An Economic Perspective on Building Labeling Policies,” a report co-authored by Harvard University Environmental Economist Robert N. Stavins that examines the extent to which mandatory building energy labeling results in reduced energy use. The research and the resulting report were sponsored by BOMA International and GBREB.

WASHINGTON, D.C. - April 1, 2013 - (RealEstateRama) -- In accordance with the Stewart B. McKinney Homeless Assistance Act, HUD published a Notice in the March 29, 2013, Federal Register identifying Federal buildings and other real property HUD has reviewed for suitability for use to assist the homeless. The properties were reviewed using information provided to HUD by Federal landholding agencies or by GSA regarding their inventories of excess or surplus property. The list includes buildings and properties across the country.

Lake City, MN - April 1, 2013 - (RealEstateRama) -- Real estate companies are poised to make substantial gains in 2013, but many brokers fail to recognize the benefits of designing optimized real estate company websites to take advantage of increased Internet usage by both buyers and sellers of all kinds of property.

ATLANTA - March 29, 2013 - (RealEstateRama) -- IHG (InterContinental Hotels Group) [LON: IHG, NYSE: IHG (ADRs)] one of the world’s largest hotel companies, announces its newest hotel development for Oklahoma City, in the vibrant Bricktown entertainment area. In partnership with NewcrestImage, the new-build Holiday Inn Express® will join the neighborhood at 101 E. Main St. Construction is expected to be completed by year end, with an anticipated opening of early 2014

WASHINGTON, D.C. - March 29, 2013 - (RealEstateRama) -- A federal court has ruled that the City of Dallas may not enforce a law that prevents religious organizations from providing food to homeless persons living outdoors.

SAN FRANCISCO and COLUMBIA, MD - March 29, 2013 - (RealEstateRama) -- National Center for Healthy Housing (NCHH), a national nonprofit dedicated to creating safe and healthy homes for children and their families, and Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE: WFC) today announced the Wells Fargo Housing Foundation has committed up to $850,000 over three years to help launch the “Healthy Housing Challenge.” This new initiative seeks to bring home improvement help to seniors, veterans and low-income families currently living in homes with potential safety and health threats. Rebuilding Together, a nonprofit dedicated to creating safe and healthy housing for America’s families, will lead the home improvement work on the 1,500 homes

WASHINGTON, D.C. - March 29, 2013 - (RealEstateRama) -- In an ongoing effort to investigate the extent to which individuals attempting to use Housing Choice Vouchers face discrimination in the District of Columbia, today the Equal Rights Center released a report highlighting a 28% rate of discrimination against voucher holders. The report, Will You Take my Voucher?, follows up on 2005 and 2010 reports that documented overwhelming, but improving, rates of discrimination against voucher holders in the District.

WASHINGTON, D.C. - March 29, 2013 - (RealEstateRama) -- The release of $474.5 million to help the states of Connecticut, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, and Rhode Island in the recovery from Hurricane Sandy was announced today by Acting Assistant Secretary of the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) George Sheldon. All funds will be awarded no later than Sept. 30, 2013, and states will be able to use funds through Sept. 30, 2015.

SAN DIEGO - March 29, 2013 - (RealEstateRama) -- Housing performance in February continued to steadily improve as it has in prior months with an increase in home prices and a decrease in foreclosures, despite a decrease in sales, according to a monthly Property Intelligence Report (PIR) from DataQuick®, a provider of advanced real estate information solutions powered by data, analytics and decisioning