WASHINGTON, D.C. - May 18, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Mortgage applications increased 7.8 percent from one week earlier, according to data from the Mortgage Bankers Association’s Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ending May 13, 2011. The Market Composite Index, a measure of mortgage loan application volume, increased 7.8 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis from one week earlier. On an unadjusted basis, the Index increased 7.1 percent compared with the previous week. The Refinance Index increased 13.2 percent from the previous week and is at its highest level since the week ending December 10, 2010. The seasonally adjusted Purchase Index decreased 3.2 percent from one week earlier. The unadjusted Purchase Index decreased 3.3 percent compared with the previous week and was 1.7 percent lower than the same week one year ago

Las Vegas, NV - May 18, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Lori Ballen, Team Leader for The Ballen Group, is diligent about hiring the right talent for her team. With Richard Ballen leading the listing team, Lori is able to focus now on expanding the home buyers and investment divisions. "Our recent move to Keller Williams Realty Las Vegas has allowed us more freedom and motivation to build. An expansion that includes the right agents, and with the proper guidance, will allow us to work with more first time home buyers, investors, military relocations, and so on.”

NEWPORT BEACH, CA - May 18, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Mark Lucescu, President of Lucescu Realty, one of the most active real estate investment brokerage firms in the U.S., announced today that the firm has closed, or currently has in escrow, approximately $500 million in retail property transactions and has opened a new office in Las Vegas to better serve its clients. Lucescu Realty most recently represented separate sellers, and procured the buyers, in the sale of Park West Place, a 757,000 sq. ft. power center in Stockton, Calif., which was acquired for $92.5 million; and Gilroy Crossing, a 474,000 sq. ft. power center in Gilroy, Calif., which was acquired for $68.5 million.

AUSTIN, TX - May 17, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Keller Williams Realty, Inc. announced today that it has entered into an agreement with Old Republic Home Protection to offer a variety of services to the company’s associates and their clients.

Raleigh: - May 17, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- A Winston-Salem foreclosure rescue operation that targeted financially distressed homeowners with claims to help them save their homes from foreclosure is barred from collecting any money from consumers for foreclosure assistance or loan modifications, Attorney General Roy Cooper announced.

May 17, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Loudoun County Treasurer H. Roger Zurn Jr. reminds taxpayers that the deadline for payment of the first half business tangible personal property tax is Monday, June 6, 2011.

Mt. Laurel, NJ - May 17, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- MAMCO Property Management, an Associa company, is pleased to announce that is has expanded its already diverse New Jersey client base and will now offer full management services to Kings Crossing Townhomes and financial management for the Meadows at Greentree.

EUGENE, OR - May 17, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- IDX, Inc. is pleased to announce Matt Gibson has become the latest real estate professional to join the growing network of agents and brokers who have employed the dynamic IDX Broker software. Gibson now makes the Laredo, Texas property search monumentally simpler for area home seekers. As a member of the Laredo MLS (LBRMLS), Gibson has long had access to thousands of detailed property listings. Now, Gibson gives his clients and other potential buyers unprecedented accessibility to the LBRMLS database of homes. Never before have buyers been able to experience such innovative real estate search tools from the convenience of the website of Gibson, or the IDX Broker application for iPhone and iPad.

WASHINGTON, DC - May 17, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) announced today that special disaster assistance may be available to Veterans with VA-guaranteed home loans who have been affected by recent tornados in the South. Veterans living in the designated disaster areas in Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Mississippi and Tennessee may receive mortgage assistance through their loan servicers

Washington, DC - May 17, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Realtors® have been focusing more on training to help them better meet the needs of clients in a housing market with unique challenges, according to the 2011 National Association of Realtors® Member Profile.

Washington, DC - May 17, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- As Realtors® and their clients becoming increasingly more mobile, Realtors® must ensure that buyers and sellers can reach them at a moment’s notice. Ifbyphone, a voice-based marketing automation platform, provides a solution that enhances voice transactions and is now available to members of the National Association of Realtors® through the REALTOR Benefits® Program.

WASHINGTON, D.C. - May 17, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Nationwide housing starts fell 10.6 percent in April to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 523,000 units as concerns regarding competition from foreclosures, a lack of consumer confidence in the housing market and the inability to secure production credit caused builders to slow production, according to newly released figures from the U.S. Commerce Department.“While mortgage rates are low and house prices are as affordable as they’ve been in a generation, the decline in April’s housing starts is indicative of the low level of confidence that consumers have in the housing market,” said Bob Nielsen, chairman of the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) and a home builder from Reno, Nev.

May 17, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa has been tracking wasteful spending at public housing authorities including those in Philadelphia, Los Angeles, and Puerto Rico. He made the following comment on an audit released today, s...

WASHINGTON, DC - May 17, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- All across America, there are homes that can actually harm those who live in them. From lead-based paint that can poison children, to cancer-causing radon, to cockroach and bedbug infestations. Next month, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) is hosting a National Healthy Homes Conference in Denver that will explore the latest research and interventions from dozens of public health, housing, and environmental experts from more than 200 organizations.

SHELTON, CT - May 17, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Early sales success at Shelton’s Cranberry Hill Estates has accelerated the start of Phase 2 construction at the Armstrong Road community, announced John Tarducci, Senior Vice President of the New Homes Division at William Raveis Real Estate, Mortgage & Insurance.

CHICAGO, LONDON, SINGAPORE - May 17, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Jones Lang LaSalle’s second quarter 2011 Global Market Perspective, which assesses the impact of economic forces on the world’s major real estate markets, predicts this year will be the strongest performance and real estate trade volume since the market height of 2007.

Miami, FL - May 17, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- CB Richard Ellis Group, Inc. has been named to the FORTUNE 500 list of the largest U.S.-based companies for the fourth straight year. CB Richard Ellis is the only commercial real estate services firm ever to be included in the FORTUNE 500.

Edison, NJ - May 17, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Real Estate Mortgage Network, Inc. (REMN), a national mortgage lender based in River Edge, N.J., is pleased to announce the launch of Menlo Park Funding, a new branch opportunity for select independent brokers and bankers. Menlo Park Funding will be the fourth business channel in REMN’s existing wholesale, retail and consumer direct divisions.

May 16, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Loudoun County Treasurer H. Roger Zurn Jr. reminds taxpayers that the deadline for payment of the first half real property tax is Monday, June 6, 2011. Payments postmarked after June 6, 2011, will incur a 10% late payment penalty. The penalty date will not be extended for bills where assessment questions have been filed with the Board of Equalization. Additional interest at the rate of 10% per annum will be assessed

DURHAM, N.C. - May 16, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Business owners interested in making signage or building improvements in targeted areas inside the city limits should take note of three grant opportunities now available through the City of Durham.

The Indiana congressional delegation sent a letter to President Donald Trump in support of Governor Mike Braun’s August 20, 2026, request for a major disaster declaration following severe storms, tornadoes, and flooding that began on August 11.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture today released its proposed rule and draft environmental impact statement seeking to rescind the Roadless Area Conservation Rule, a bedrock law that protects 45 million acres of national forests managed by the U.S. Forest Service.

Sen. Tim Nangle, D-Windham, is celebrating the residents of Hidden Circle Mobile Home Park in Jay, who completed their $1 million purchase of the park on July 30, securing local ownership of the land beneath their 31 homes.

On the campaign trail, Trump promised to “end government corruption,” yet nearly every day, Trump and his administration are finding new ways to profiteer off public office. As he sells out American families and weaponizes his government against them, Trump has handed billionaires, cronies, and donors cabinet posts and lucrative government contracts.

Over the past 12 years the Texas Affiliation of Affordable Housing (TAAHP) has awarded more than $930,000 in scholarships to students pursuing higher education. Eligibility is limited to residents of affordable housing communities owned or managed by TAAHP members. The scholarship program was created to support some of Texas’s most vulnerable students as they pursue education as a pathway to self-sufficiency and long-term success.

Senator Jack Reed (D-RI) and Congressman Gabe Amo (D-RI-01) toured the RI Builders residential construction training program in Central Falls and hosted a press conference to highlight the passage of the 21st Century Road to Housing Act, a new law that cuts through red tape, places restrictions on private equity firms buying single family homes, helps communities build new housing, and provides assistance to homeowners to repair their homes.

Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-CA), the top Democrat on the House Financial Services Committee, issued the following statement after U.S. District Judge David O. Carter temporarily blocked the Trump Administration from suspending the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority (LAHSA) from federal homelessness grant programs, protecting approximately $241 million in dedicated federal funding as well as immediate future funds supporting programs that serve more than 11,000 people.

New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) Board Chair Jamie Rubin and Chief Executive Officer Lisa Bova-Hiatt issued the following joint statement in response to receipt of the RAD Conversion Commitments from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) for the redevelopment of Fulton and Elliott-Chelsea.

This week, U.S. Senator Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), Ranking Member of the U.S. Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, U.S. Representatives Jared Huffman (D-Calif.), Ranking Member of the House Natural Resources Committee, and Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.), Ranking Member of the House Homeland Security Committee, along with Pablo José Hernández (D-P.R.), investigation into Puerto Rico’s drinking water shortage

The New York State Division of Consumer Protection (DCP) is alerting consumers about the dangers of television (TV) tip-over hazards. Millions of New Yorkers will watch the Super Bowl this Sunday either on TVs at home or at parties with friends. DCP is taking this TV-focused occasion to remind consumers of critical TV safety tips.

Fast-growing Florida has been a favorite of real estate investors for many years. With so much interest having been focused on the state, though, investors need to take care to seek the best available opportunities.

Office of General Services Commissioner RoAnn Destito today announced that the Senator Walter J. Mahoney State Office Building located at 65 Court Street in Buffalo will be sold at auction in 2020. A work group formed earlier this year made up of City, County, and State officials working with professional real estate consultants CBRE, determined that in the current competitive and robust Buffalo real estate market

The Bureau of Land Management today announced that Karen Mouritsen has been named the new California State Director—a key leadership position based in Sacramento. As State Director, Mouritsen will direct a team that manages lands encompassing 15% of the Golden State’s total land mass

The New York State Office of Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Services (OASAS) today announced the opening of the new JLC Recovery and Wellness Center in New York City. JLC is operated by Exponents Inc. and provides free help and support services for people affected by addiction and for their families.

In spite of a robust U.S. economy, a strong employment rate, and steadily increasing 401(k) plan earnings, Black homeownership rates continue to drop. Drawing from the 2019 release of the National Association of Real Estate Brokers

Yesterday, U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), ranking member of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, asked the Department of the Interior about its commitment to the Yakima River Basin during a hearing on the president’s FY 2017 budget request. Deputy Secretary of the Interior Michael Connor agreed with Sen. Cantwell that the Yakima River Basin plan “is a model for the rest of the nation in water management.”

“Consumers Energy is thankful to be a part of holiday celebrations across the state as warm Thanksgiving memories are being made, and we are committed to providing many more generations of Michigan families with reliable, affordable energy in all seasons,” said Garrick Rochow, Consumers Energy’s vice president and chief customer officer

WASHINGTON, D.C. - December 13, 2013 - (RealEstateRama) -- Six federal financial regulatory agencies today issued a final rule that creates exemptions from certain appraisal requirements for a subset of higher-priced mortgage loans. The exemptions are intended to save borrowers time and money while still ensuring that the loans are financially sound

Atlanta, Georgia - November 13, 2013 - (RealEstateRama) -- the Georgia Department of Banking and Finance (“Department”) entered into a Consent Order with Equity Loans, LLC, License Number 23300, located at 1150 Hammond Dr., Building E, Suite 650, Atlanta, Georgia 30328, to resolve allegations pertaining to violations of the Georgia Residential Mortgage Act