Yearly Archives: 2009

The San Francisco Arts Commission will Manage Funds and Collaboratively Develop and Implement a Predevelopment Plan for the Re-launched Museum. August 7, 2009 - (RealEstateRama) -- On Tuesday, August 4, at a packed public hearing, the San Francisco Redevelopment Agency voted unanimously to approve $280,000 in funding to provide assistance to the Mexican Museum as it begins predevelopment planning for its new home, located adjacent to Jessie Square in the Yerba Buena Cultural District. The San Francisco Arts Commission will manage the disbursement of $250,000 to the Museum and will retain $30,000 for its fiscal oversight and consulting assistance. The Arts Commission will play a key role in implementing the predevelopment plan, which includes specific performance milestones related to facility planning, fundraising, membership and capacity building of the Museum’s Board of Trustees, and partnerships with other key institutions.

SANTA ANA, CA - August 6, 2009 - (RealEstateRama) -- First American National Default Title Services, a division of First American Title Insurance Company, announced today that it has partnered with Fannie Mae to provide national foreclosure title products designed to decrease the costs of foreclosure. First American National Default Title Services has agreed to provide its pre-foreclosure title report to Fannie Mae’s foreclosure counsel in accordance with Fannie Mae’s pricing limits on title costs

Sacramento, CA - August 6, 2009 - (RealEstateRama) -- The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals today gave Attorney General Edmund G. Brown Jr. a "profoundly important decision" in his fight to protect 40 million acres of pristine forest land from development by reinstating a 2001 rule banning road building and commercial logging that had been repealed by the Bush Administration.

Funding will stimulate the production of 65 affordable housing units stalled by recession and create quality jobs. WASHINGTON - U.S. Housing and Urban Development Deputy Secretary Ron Sims today visited Cedar Gateway Developments in San Diego, CA, an affordable housing development that was under construction but came to a halt last March due to the loss of tax credit funding. HUD Tax Credit Assistance Program (TCAP) funding, provided through American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Recovery Act), will now allow the project's construction to restart in November, along with thousands of others throughout the country, creating quality jobs in the hard-hit construction industry.

C.A.R. approves 384 applications for its Mortgage Protection Program for first-time buyers. Association awarded $420,000 Ira Gribin grant to provide additional policies to first-time home buyers. LOS ANGELES, CA - August 4, 2009 - (RealEstateRama) -- More than 380 first-time home buyers have been approved for the CALIFORNIA ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® Housing Affordability Fund (C.A.R.H.A.F.) Mortgage Protection Program (MPP). As of late July, 384 applications have been approved, and an additional 22 applications were in the pipeline awaiting approval.

Inman News integrated with My C.A.R. mobile app. LOS ANGELES, CA - August 4, 2009 - (RealEstateRama) -- The CALIFORNIA ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® (C.A.R.) and Inman News today announced that Inman News stories will appear as a menu item in My C.A.R, the first native iPhone application for use by a REALTOR® association. The mobile application, available at no charge for members of C.A.R. also features: market data for 21 regions in California, current loan information, highlights from C.A.R’s “Market Matters” newsletter, association resources, the ability to search for license renewal and continuing education courses, hot item news alerts, and links to information that may be of interest to C.A.R. directors

Amador County, Paradise, and Plumas associations of REALTORS® join calREDD™, the statewide Multiple Listing Service. LOS ANGELES, CA - August 4, 2009 - (RealEstateRama) -- calREDD™ today announced that the Paradise Association of REALTORS®, Amador County Association of REALTORS®, and Plumas Association of REALTORS® have joined calREDD™, the statewide Multiple Listing Service (MLS).

July 30, 2009 - (RealEstateRama) -- The Long Beach Housing Development Company is sponsoring a series of free foreclosure workshops all over the City. Taking place in each Council District, the workshop will focus on foreclosure prevention, and will address the foreclosure process, foreclosure loan scams, mortgage refinancing, and loan modification programs. It will be facilitated by the Los Angeles Neighborhood Housing Services (LANHS), a HUD-approved housing counseling agency

Authored by Rep. Miller, the Bill Will Provide Assistance to Struggling Homeowners Washington, DC - July 29, 2009 - (RealEstateRama) -- Today, the House of Representatives unanimously passed H.R. 2529, the Neighborhood Preservation Act. This legislation, authored by Reps. Gary Miller (R-CA) and Joe Donnelly (D-IN), will address the persistence of foreclosures and large unsold housing inventories in order to give families a chance to stay in their homes, stabilize home values, and restore overall confidence in the housing market.

Beverly Hills, CA - July 29, 2009 - (RealEstateRama) -- Kennedy Wilson Auction Group, a division of the international real estate services and investment firm Kennedy Wilson, will be conducting a grand opening auction for 35 luxurious, loft-style condominiums at The Dalton in Pasadena. The lure of exceptionally low starting bids is building excitement among frustrated first-time homebuyers shut out of Pasadena's desirable downtown until now.

East Valley Association of REALTORS® Offers Clarus MarketMetrics® as a Member Benefit. LOS ANGELES, CA - July 27, 2009 - (RealEstateRama) -- Real Estate Business Services Inc. (REBS®) today announced that the East Valley Association of REALTORS® has signed an agreement to provide Clarus MarketMetrics® as a member benefit to its more than 850 REALTOR® members. East Valley AOR is the ninth REALTOR® association that uses MRMLS as its multiple listing provider to provide Clarus MarketMetrics® as a member benefit.

C.A.R. reports June home sales increased 20.1 percent, median home price declined 26.4 percent. LOS ANGELES, CA - July 27, 2009 - (RealEstateRama) -- Home sales increased 20.1 percent in June in California compared with the same period a year ago, while the median price of an existing home declined 26.4 percent, the CALIFORNIA ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® (C.A.R.) reported today.

SAN FRANCISCO, CA - July 27, 2009 - (RealEstateRama) -- For the first time, the Environmental Protection Agency’s Green Power Partnership recognized 20 partners from across the nation for generating the most green electricity on site. Eight of the organizations are located in California, listed below

SACRAMENTO,CA - July 23, 2009 - (RealEstateRama) -- Total housing starts saw a significant increase in June when compared to May, which the California Building Industry Association said was additional evidence that the state new-homebuyer tax credit enacted earlier this year is helping to generate new-home sales, and in turn, job-generating home construction.

July 22, 2009 - (RealEstateRama) -- Mayor Gavin Newsom and Supervisor Carmen Chu announced today that the Mayor’s Office of Housing has received a special Mortgage Credit Certificate (MCC) allocation of $9.8 million dollars to prevent families from losing their homes to foreclosure under the 2008 Housing Assistance Tax Act. This funding provides homeowners with a vehicle to refinance sub-prime loans into traditional 30 year loans that they can afford. In addition, the funding can be used by first time homebuyers to purchase bank owned and short sale properties.

LOS ANGELES, CA - July 22, 2009 - (RealEstateRama) -- The CALIFORNIA ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® (C.A.R.) today announced the launch of My C.A.R, the first native iPhone application for use by a REALTOR® association. This mobile application is available at no charge for members of C.A.R. Designed for the iPhone/iTouch, with a companion version available for BlackBerry® and other Web-enabled mobile devices, My C.A.R. features: market data for 21 regions in California, current loan information, highlights from C.A.R’s “Market Matters” newsletter, association resources, the ability to search for license renewal and continuing education courses, hot item news alerts, and links to information that may be of interest to C.A.R. Directors.

CONGRESSWOMAN LUCILLE ROYBAL-ALLARD (CA-34) INVITES THE PUBLIC TO HER FORECLOSURE PREVENTION FAIR

WASHINGTON, DC - July 21, 2009 - (RealEstateRama) -- Congresswoman Doris Matsui (CA-5) today announced an additional $570,000 to help combat homelessness among Sacramento’s veterans through the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing Program (VASH). Vouchers will be made available to the Sacramento Housing and Redevelopment Agency (SHRA) to help provide permanent supportive housing for homeless veterans throughout the Sacramento community. The vouchers will be distributed to 70 displaced veterans and their families in Sacramento immediately

New Servicing Division Provides Rental Strategies for Financial Institutions. SANTA ANA, CA - July 17, 2009 - (RealEstateRama) -- First American National Default Title Services, a division of First American Title Insurance Company, announced today the launch of its new National Residential Rental Services (NRRS) Division, which provides financial institutions with an efficient option for evaluating and executing rental-based loss mitigation strategies for non-rural, non-seasonal, multistate single-family Real Estate Owned (REO) properties.

Washington, DC - July 16, 2009 - (RealEstateRama) -- Attorney General Eric Holder today announced that $500,000 in Recovery Act funds have been awarded to the Support for Harbor Area Women’s Lives (SHAWL) House, a program of the Volunteers of America of Los Angeles (VOALA).