March 18, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- REALTORS®, Homebuilders, consumer groups urge federal regulators to avoid arbitrarily high mortgage down payments, which would hurt the economy by unfairly and unnecessarily closing the door to home ownership for many middle-class families

March 18, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- USAA Real Estate Company has earned the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) prestigious ENERGY STAR, the national symbol for protecting the environment through superior energy efficiency. This signifies that the building performs in the top 25 percent of similar facilities nationwide for energy efficiency. USAA Real Estate Company’s accomplishments will be recognized at an awards ceremony in Washington, D.C. on March 18, 2010. USAA Real Estate Company is the only real estate company in America that has won nine ENERGY STAR awards.

DENVER, CO - March 18, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Kentwood Real Estate, Colorado’s Premier Real Estate Company, has announced a strategic marketing partnership with Denver.com, Denver’s leading intuitively-branded home on the Web. The partnershi...

Upper Marlboro, MD - March 18, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Today, the NAHB Research Center hosted an online presentation for building product manufacturers on which products were most (and least) frequently used in homes Green Certified to the National Green Building Standard last year. The information was gathered and analyzed by the company’s market research division.

WASHINGTON, D.C. - March 18, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- The operator of a defunct money-making scam has agreed to settle a federal court judgment the Federal Trade Commission obtained against him in 2007 for falsely claiming his “wealth building” program would teach consumers how to make substantial income in a short time by buying and selling privately held mortgages. Under the settlement, John Stefanchik will pay the FTC $900,000 plus the proceeds from the sale of his house and substantially all of his personal property.

WASHINGTON, D.C. - March 18, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) are issuing an updated remediation protocol for homes with problem drywall. A study conducted on behalf of CPSC by Sandia National Laboratories in New Mexico, finds no evidence of a safety hazard to home electrical systems. Sandia simulated long-term exposure of wiring and other electrical components to hydrogen sulfide gas, which is associated with problem drywall.

WASHINGTON, DC - March 18, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- U.S. Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Shaun Donovan announced today that 17 communities will be the first recipients of Planning Grant funding through the Department’s new Choice Neighborhoods Initiative.

Washington, DC - March 18, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- A month-long Home Ownership Matters Bus Tour hosted by the National Association of Realtors® makes a stop this week outside the Denver Home Show on Saturday, March 19. NAR leaders and invited local officials will be on hand to hear from consumers and speak with them about how shifting priorities and public policies in Washington could affect home ownership here in Denver

March 17, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Congressman Jim Langevin (D-RI) voiced strong objections to a bill brought forward by House Republicans today that threatens to eliminate resources that would create jobs and affordable housing in Rhode Island. The Neighborhood Stabilization Program (NSP) Termination Act (H.R. 861) would end a proven successful effort to revitalize neighborhoods, as well as save and rehabilitate buildings and foreclosed property. NSP has already resulted in 100 new homebuyers purchasing and restoring previously foreclosed properties in Rhode Island and 165 foreclosed homes being acquired for non-profit

SALT LAKE CITY, UT – March 17, 2011 – (RealEstateRama) — For more than 20 years, the Pamela Atkinson Homeless Trust Fund tax campaign has encouraged the citizens of Utah to pledge a donation on their tax return to the fund. This year,...

LINCOLN, NEB. - March 17, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- The Nebraska Department of Economic Development (DED) has awarded $350,000 in HOME funding to Southeast Nebraska Community Action Council, Inc., a nonprofit 501 (c)(3) in Humboldt, Neb., to provid...

WASHINGTON, DC - March 17, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development today announced that Charles Schwab Bank has agreed to pay $30,000 settling allegations that the bank refused to accept a loan application from the adult son of a Metairie, Louisiana woman with disabilities. The son, who was acting with his mother’s power of attorney, tried to apply for a loan on his mother’s behalf, but was told that the bank did not accept powers of attorney for “incapacitated borrowers.”

BATON ROUGE, LA - March 17, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Today, Governor Bobby Jindal announced an effort to reform and streamline the state’s disparate housing agencies, including the Louisiana Housing Finance Agency (LHFA), into one streamlined Louisiana Housing Corporation that would oversee all housing funds in the state, uniting almost 30 separate programs currently managed by five organizations.

WASHINGTON, D.C. - March 17, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Yesterday, the House of Representatives voted to terminate the Neighborhood Stabilization Program (NSP), one of the Administration's key foreclosure response programs. This vote came despite the devastating impacts the recession and foreclosure crisis continue to have on neighborhoods across the country -- including increased homelessness.

WASHINGTON, D.C. - March 17, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Today, Fannie Mae announced the results of its annual Help the Homeless Program, which raised $6.5 million in 2010 for non-profit beneficiary organizations that work to prevent and end homelessness in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area.

Dover, DE - March 17, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Attorney General Beau Biden and bipartisan coalition of legislators unveiled five bills today to respond to the home foreclosure crisis in Delaware and help the economy grow . Recent years have seen a re...

Washington, D.C. - March 17, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- The American Institute of Architects (AIA) has selected the 18 recipients of the 2011 Housing Awards. The AIA’s Housing Awards Program, now in its 11th year, was established to recognize the best in housing design and promote the importance of good housing as a necessity of life, a sanctuary for the human spirit and a valuable national resource.

WASHINGTON, DC - March 17, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Members of the Building Owners and Managers Association (BOMA) International will bring their message to lawmakers around the country the week of March 20 as part of BOMA’s annual National Issues Conference. As part of an industry that supports one million jobs in the United States and contributes $118 million to GDP in office building operating outlays alone, BOMA members will meet with their Representatives and Senators to explain the critical role commercial real estate plays in a thriving economy and to gain support for key industry issues. Because of the new Congressional work schedule, the conference, which usually takes place in Washington, D.C., will be held locally around the U.S while lawmakers are in their home districts.

McLean, VA - March 17, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Freddie Mac (OTC: FMCC) today released the results of its Primary Mortgage Market Survey®> (PMMS®), which shows the 30-year fixed-rate dropping to 4.76 percent while the 15-year fixed-rate hit its lowest rate at 3.97 percent since December 2010.

Washington, DC - March 17, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- The level of commercial/multifamily mortgage debt outstanding decreased by 0.5 percent in the fourth quarter of 2010, to $2.4 trillion, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) analysis of the Federal Reserve Board Flow of Funds data. On a year-over-year basis, the amount of mortgage debt outstanding at the end of 2010 was $67 billion lower than at the end of 2009, a decline of 2.7 percent.