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Bill Shelton, director of the Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD), received the Lifetime Achievement Award at the Excellence in Virginia Government Awards (EVGA) Luncheon hosted by the Virginia Commonwealth University L. Douglas Wilder School. This award recognizes a Virginian whose career represents the highest values of public service and citizenship and who has made a substantial contribution to the good of the commonwealth

Volunteers and donations are needed for the upcoming Project Homeless Connect, which helps thousands of people who are homeless and at-risk or becoming homeless connect with agencies and organizations that offer housing, job training, mental health counseling, substance abuse treatment and other services

Senator John Hoeven today joined state, local and university leaders in dedicating the North Dakota Agriculture Experiment Station Research Greenhouse Complex, a $33.5 million state-of-the-art facility at North Dakota State University (NDSU) that provides enhanced education and advanced research in plant breeding, genetics, horticulture, entomology, plant pathology, plant nutrition and associated disciplines.

Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman today announced the settlement of a dissolution action against a cooperative housing corporation, Ft. George Apt. Corp., and its shareholders, the affiliated entities Fort George Property, LLC, Fort George Realty, LLC, and NY Tryon Realty LLC. The settlement resolves allegations that Ft. George Apt. Corp. exploited the rent stabilization exemption available to housing cooperatives – an exemption that is meant to promote homeownership by protecting individual homeowners, not landlords. Under the settlement, all tenants residing in the building will be entitled to rent-stabilized leases at affordable rents.

The Arlington County Board today adopted an amendment to its refuse code that will bring year-round yard waste curbside collection services to households beginning April 1, 2016. The new program is expected to divert up to 9,000 more tons of compostable material from the waste stream, increasing Arlington’s recycling rate by up to 13 percent. The County’s current residential recycling rate is among the highest in the region, at 47.2 percent.

Best Lawyers®, the oldest peer-review publication in the legal profession, recently named Huie, Fernambucq & Stewart (HFS) partner Kelly May the Best Lawyers' 2016 Birmingham Litigation – Real Estate "Lawyer of the Year".

The County of Maui Dept. of Parks and Recreation announced that the South Maui Community Park Playground and upper parking area will be closed for renovations from Monday, Nov. 16 through Wednesday, Nov. 18 from 6 a.m. – 4:30 p.m.; the parking lot only will open after 4 p.m. Partial closure of the playground area will take place Thursday, Nov. 19 through Monday, Nov. 30, 2015.

Miami-Dade County real estate posted a robust third quarter as total residential sales, single-family home transactions, existing condo transactions and median prices grew compared to the same period in 2014, according to a new report by the 40,000-member MIAMI Association of REALTORS® (MIAMI) and the local Multiple Listing Service systems

The Kentucky Public Transportation Infrastructure Authority (KPTIA) has been approved for membership in E-ZPass Group, which operates a common electronic toll payment program in 15 other states.

Mayor Edwin M. Lee today launched a new Family Homelessness Initiative to ensure that families with elementary school children never have to spend a night on the street due to lack of available shelter or housing. The Mayor has directed the City’s Human Services Agency to work with the San Francisco Unified School District, the philanthropic community, and community partners to present a plan for inclusion in his upcoming FY 2016-17 budget, with the stated multi-year goal of clearing the existing family shelter waitlist and creating a system to assist homeless families with elementary school-aged children.

The Baker-Polito Administration announced a program that will provide homeless veterans with housing services. Under the Massachusetts Rental Voucher Program, the administration is allocating 65 rental vouchers to chronically homeless veterans who were identified by the local veterans’ committees across the Commonwealth. These vouchers can be used to pay for rental units and will assist the Commonwealth in its goal of ending veteran’s homelessness.

On Veterans Day, Rep. Pete Aguilar announced the creation of his Veterans Advisory Board. The committee of local veterans, veteran assistance non-profit organizations, education facilities, and veteran employment groups met with Rep. Aguilar earlier this week in San Bernardino to discuss local and national initiatives to connect veterans with job opportunities.

Erie County’s Department of Social Services will begin accepting applications for Home Energy Assistance Program regular benefits next week, with county officials anticipating receiving more than 20,000 HEAP applications by the end of December

The Federal Housing Administration (FHA) today published new guidelines under its condominium approval process intended to increase affordable housing options for first-time and low- to moderate-income homebuyers.  Effective immediately, FHA’s temporary guidance will streamline the agency’s condominium recertification process and expand the eligibility of acceptable ‘owner-occupied’ units to include second homes that are not investor-owned.

Michael David Scott, 51, of Mansfield, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Richard G. Stearns to 135 months in prison, five years of supervised release, and ordered to pay restitution of over $11,374,201and to forfeit $7,413,712. In June 2015, Scott pleaded guilty to counts of 32 counts of wire fraud, 14 counts of bank fraud, and 22 counts of money laundering.

Mayor Kasim Reed announced today that the City of Atlanta and its partners are close to reaching the goal of housing all homeless veterans in the city by the end of 2015. At an event hosted by United Way of Greater Atlanta, Mayor Reed joined President and CEO Milton Little, Jack Hardin, Chair of the Regional Commission on Homelessness, Leslie Wiggins, Director of the VA Medical Center of Atlanta, and a formerly-homeless veteran who shared his story of struggle and hope.

Top federal and state environmental officials today announced 22 grants totaling more than $1.3 million to local government and community groups in New York and Connecticut to improve the health and ecosystem of Long Island Sound.

U.S. Congressman Paul A. Gosar, D.D.S. (AZ-04) released the following statement after the Arizona Supreme Court unanimously ruled in favor of the Arizona Department of Water Resources (ADWR) and upheld the agreements codified by the Congressman’s legislation, H.R. 4924 , the Bill Williams Water Rights Settlement Act, Public Law No: 113-223, paving the way for the settlement of certain claims within the Bill Williams River Watershed among the Hualapai Tribe, the United States, the Arizona Game and Fish Commission and Freeport-McMoRan

Photovoltaics added value to homes in six markets, according to a new report titled “Appraising into the Sun: Six-State Solar Home Paired-Sales Analysis,” led by a researcher from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) and a home appraisal expert. Researchers engaged a team of seven appraisers from across the six states to determine the value that solar photovoltaic (PV) systems added to single-family homes using the industry-standard paired-sales valuation technique, which compares recent sales of comparable homes to estimate the premium buyers would pay for PV.

Governor Charlie Baker today announced a new mortgage program designed to make it easier for Massachusetts veterans to purchase their first home. MassHousing’s Operation Welcome Home loan is available to active duty members of the Armed Forces, members of the Reserves and Massachusetts National Guard, honorably discharged veterans and Gold Star Family members.