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Today, May 1, 2015, Donnell Spivey, a native of Baltimore, Maryland and the National President of the National Association of Real Estate Brokers (NAREB), the oldest association of black real estate professionals with over 90 chapters in 34 States is calling on the federal government to assist property owners in the city. As an owner of Exit Spivey Professional Realty in the Baltimore area, President Spivey has his hands on the pulse of the local real estate market.

The responsibility for building and maintaining civic trust rests with every sector of society, from criminal and juvenile justice agencies to our human services system, and from faith-based groups to families. In its report to the president, the Task Force on 21st Century Policing said that technologies like body-worn cameras “can improve policing practices and build community trust and legitimacy,” and recommended several actions aimed at ensuring their effective and transparent use.

As a leading national nonprofit in safe and healthy housing, we are focused on becoming a stronger, sustainable organization. We believe that becoming a stronger community revitalization partner will better position us to meet the ever-increasing needs of America’s low-income homeowners and communities nationwide.

Wildfires can occur anywhere in the country with the potential to destroy homes, businesses, infrastructure, natural resources, and agriculture. Last year, the United States experienced over 63,000 wildfires that burned more than three million acres. National Wildfire Community Preparedness Day is Saturday, May 2, and people across the nation will dedicate time to making their communities a safer place should a wildfire occur

This week the U.S. Department of Commerce Bureau of Economonic Analysis (BEA) released its “Personal Income and Outlays” report for March, 2015, which showed that the price index for personal consumption expenditures rose by just 0.3% from one year earlier (1.3% when food and energy are excluded).  What is striking about this extremely low inflation rate is that the U.S. Department of Labor estimates that rents were up 3.5% in March from a year before

Today’s big data revolution is transforming the energy sector. Since 2013, our government has been releasing treasure troves of open data with positive impact for the clean energy economy, entrepreneurs, companies of all sizes, and ultimately our country.

Bipartisan legislation introduced in the Senate yesterday would prevent the Environmental Protection Agency and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers from implementing a proposed rule that could result in millions of acres of private property to be regulated as wetlands under the Clean Water Act.

House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) released the following statement praising House passage of the energy & water appropriations bill (H.R. 2028)

The Arlington Mill Community and Senior Center and Residences has been awarded a 2015 Urban Land Institute Washington Trends Award for “Excellence in Housing Development.”

This week, the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Transportation, Housing and Urban Development (THUD) passed their fiscal year 2016 funding bill. The bill includes funding for the Department of Transportation, the Department of Housing and Urban Development, and other related agencies

Today, the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) announced that in March it welcomed 11 new regular members to its ranks, which currently numbers more than 2,200 member companies

U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, today began consideration of legislation to improve how Americans use energy as part of her work to get the first broad energy bill signed into law in nearly a decade. The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee received testimony on 22 energy efficiency proposals that address a wide range of issues, including building retrofits, federal energy management, appliance efficiency, workforce development, and efficiency grants.

Neera Tanden, President of the Center for American Progress, released the following statement today on the Raise the Wage Act, legislation introduced by Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA) and Rep. Bobby Scott (D-VA) to raise the minimum wage to $12 by the year 2020

The bill would alter the Foreign Investment in Real Property Tax Act of 1980 which requires foreign investors to pay taxes on profits earned when selling properties or real estate securities in the United States. It also exempts from the FIRPTA tax foreign pension funds investing in commercial real estate.

Builder confidence in the single-family 55+ housing market remains in positive territory for the first quarter of 2015, according to the National Association of Home Builders’ (NAHB) 55+ Housing Market Index (HMI) released today. Compared to the previous quarter, the single-family index edged down slightly by one point to 58, which is the fourth consecutive quarter above 50.

After months of public comment and exhaustive review, Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. today joined top federal officials to unveil plans that accelerate restoration of the Delta's ecosystem and fix the state's aging water infrastructure

The National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) today testified before both chambers of Congress in support of legislation that would encourage meaningful energy savings for residential construction that are achievable and cost-effective.

To kick off National Home Remodeling Month in May, the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) Remodelers released survey results on the most popular remodeling jobs by its members. Remodelers report that kitchen and bathroom remodels remain the most popular, and that home owners’ top motivation for remodeling was to upgrade with newer, better features in their homes.

When Federico Peña ran for mayor of Denver in 1983, he envisioned a city no one had imagined to date – and his campaign slogan, “Imagine a Great City,” resonated with voters, propelling him to become the city’s youngest mayor (at 36) and the first of Hispanic heritage. Now, three decades later, Peña addressed the midyear conference of The Counselors of Real Estate, held in Denver April 19 - 22, to reassess his vision -- and the reality

In 2007, Congress decided that the federal government would lead by example and improve the efficiency and carbon footprint of all new and majorly renovated federal buildings. Congress set the ambitious but achievable goal of ensuring that all federal buildings constructed in 2030 or later would be net-zero consumers of fossil fuels.