RealEstateRama

Washington, D.C. - December 7, 2012 - (RealEstateRama) -- Rebuilding Together has elected Carrie Petty, Mary Busey Harris, Meredith Rosenberg, Jane Eskelund, and Sherry Chris to their National Board of Directors in Washington, D.C.

Washington, DC - December 7, 2012 - (RealEstateRama) -- As the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee meets today for a hearing on the fiscal challenges facing the Federal Housing Administration (FHA), bipartisan legislation approved 402-7 in the House to help the FHA meet those challenges awaits Senate action.

New York, NY - December 3, 2012 - (RealEstateRama) -- The New York Fed today released a new interactive tool that provides data on the state of the housing market recovery in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut.

WASHINGTON, D.C. - November 30, 2012 - (RealEstateRama) -- The Justice Department announced today that the manager and owner of the Geneva Terrace Apartments Inc. in La Crosse, Wis., have agreed to pay $57,500 to settle a lawsuit alleging they violated the Fair Housing Act by discriminating against African-Americans who were seeking to rent apartments at the complex.

Washington D.C. - November 30, 2012 - (RealEstateRama) -- In response to Governor Cuomo’s request for strategies to ensure that the State of New York is resilient in the face of future natural disasters, the Consumer Federation of America (CFA) called for state regulators to immediately identify coverage gaps that could result in consumer frustration and to adopt policies that clarify coverage and prevent unjustified denial of claims.

WASHINGTON, D.C. - November 29, 2012 - (RealEstateRama) -- The Justice Department announced today that it has settled a lawsuit against Sussex County, Del., and the Planning and Zoning Commission of Sussex County for race and national origin discrimination in violation of the Fair Housing Act.

WASHINGTON, D.C. - November 29, 2012 - (RealEstateRama) -- The Center for Responsible Lending and the Financial Services Roundtable today asked Congress to extend the Mortgage Forgiveness Debt Relief Act, which is set to expire at year’s end. “This tax law has bi-partisan support and is critical to helping homeowners and communities struggling with the ongoing foreclosure crisis,” the two organizations said in joint letters to House and Senate leaders. “Furthermore, the housing market is beginning to show signs of a recovery, and expiration of this law would threaten the recovery.”

WASHINGTON, DC - November 28, 2012 - (RealEstateRama) -- As part of President Obama’s commitment to empower tribal nations and strengthen their economies, Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar and Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs Kevin K. Washburn today announced final regulations that will streamline the leasing approval process on Indian land, spurring increased homeownership, and expediting business and commercial development, including renewable energy projects.

WASHINGTON, D.C. - November 27, 2012 - (RealEstateRama) -- Community-shared solar can allow individuals and organizations unable to take advantage of on-site renewable generation to participate in distributed generation and support the development of renewable energy. Community facilities can also take advantage of economies of scale in a way that on-site generation often cannot, resulting in lower prices for participants. Municipal utilities, cooperatives, investor-owned utilities, and other organizations, such as non-profits, have implemented successful community-shared solar programs that meet their community’s particular needs and interests.

WASHINGTON, D.C. - November 27, 2012 - (RealEstateRama) -- The Homeownership Preservation Foundation (HPF), an independent national nonprofit dedicated to helping distressed homeowners navigate financial challenges and avoid mortgage foreclosure through its Homeowner’s HOPE™ Hotline at 888-995-HOPE™, today announced that Sanjeev Handa was elected as Chairman of the Board of Directors, effective November 14, 2012.

NEW YORK, NY - November 21, 2012 - (RealEstateRama) -- Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman today filed a Martin Act complaint against Credit Suisse Securities (USA) LLC and its affiliates for making fraudulent misrepresentations and omissions to prom...

November 21, 2012 - (RealEstateRama) -- Connecticut's distressed homeowners have another opportunity to explore loan modification and foreclosure prevention options with their banks at the free day-long, state-sponosred Mortgage Assistance Event on Wednesday, November 28, 2012 at the Conference Center at CoCo Key in Waterbury.

WASHINGTON, D.C. - November 20, 2012 - (RealEstateRama) -- The Research Support Facility (RSF) on the campus of the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) in Golden, Colo. has earned its second LEED® Platinum designation for new construction from the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), a non-profit organization dedicated to sustainable building design and construction.

Washington, D.C. - November 20, 2012 - (RealEstateRama) -- When Superstorm Sandy battered the East Coast with high winds and a massive storm surge, 111 homes in the Queens, New York neighborhood of Breezy Point were destroyed by a fast-spreading fire. First responders, including firefighters, owned a significant number of these homes.

WASHINGTON, D.C. - November 19, 2012 - (RealEstateRama) -- FHA has played a critical role during the housing crisis and the economic downturn. It provided credit to families who otherwise would not have been able to buy homes. This has helped new home owners, but also helped stabilize neighborhoods and communities and boost the economic recovery overall. It is essential that FHA continue to fulfill this role, especially as the recovery continues

– Chronic Homelessness Rate Drops 36 Percent – RICHMOND – November 15, 2012 – (RealEstateRama) — Governor McDonnell announced today the state is making significant headway toward the goal of reducing statewide homelessness. Citing...

November 14, 2012 - (RealEstateRama) -- A report by NYU’s Furman Center for Real Estate and Urban Policy and the Moelis Institute for Affordable Housing Policy, prepared for the Poverty & Race Research Action Council, finds that children living in Public Housing and Project-based Section 8 developments and children in households receiving Housing Choice Vouchers live near schools with lower test scores than the schools available to other low-income households. The Low Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) program is the only one of the four studied programs in which participating families live in neighborhoods with schools that perform slightly better than those available to other poor households.

Washington, DC - November 14, 2012 - (RealEstateRama) -- The Community Development Financial Institutions Fund (CDFI Fund) is pleased to invite Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs) involved in microfinance or small dollar lending to participate in the Capacity Building Initiative training series Scaling Up Microfinance. The training will enhance the exposure of microfinance CDFIs to best practices in the field, explain tools for determining appropriate strategies to scale microfinance operations, and include advanced technical assistance opportunities. The series will be provided by Opportunity Finance Network (OFN).

NEWARK - November 12, 2012 - (RealEstateRama) -- U.S. Senator Frank R. Lautenberg wrote to President Obama expressing concern about the availability of housing options for New Jersey residents displaced by Hurricane Sandy. While the Federal Emergency ...

WASHINGTON, D.C. - November 12, 2012 - (RealEstateRama) -- The National Association of the Remodeling Industry offers tips for homeowners affected by Superstorm Sandy to avoid home repair scams.