Archives

FRESNO, CA - July 22, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- More than half of Central Valley REALTORS® characterized closing short-sale transactions as “difficult” or “extremely difficult,” according to a Lender Satisfaction Survey conducted by the CALIFORNIA ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® (C.A.R.). The survey gauges REALTORS®’ experience working with lenders in their most recent transaction. The majority of those surveyed dealt with short-sale transactions – transactions in which the lender or lenders agree to accept less than the mortgage amount owed by the current homeowner.

Washington, DC - July 21, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Congresswoman Waters (CA), Ranking Member on the Subcommittee on Capital Markets and Government Sponsored Enterprises, today led 11 of her colleagues in the House of Representatives urging U.S. bank regulators to publicly release information regarding the steps that mortgage servicers are taking to prevent illegal foreclosure practices. An identical letter was sent by U.S. Senator Robert Menendez (NJ), Chairman of the Senate Subcommittee on Housing, Transportation, and Community Development, and nine additional Senators.

SAN FRANCISCO, CA - July 19, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- PCCP, LLC provided a senior participating loan to Basin Street Properties to finance the REO acquisition of Sequoia Center, a three-building Class A office property totaling 210,000 square feet. The buildings are located within the desirable Redwood Business Park, a 1.1 million square-foot master-planned business park in Petaluma, Calif. Sequoia Center was vacant at the close of escrow, however a 96,000-square-foot lease has been signed with Enphase Energy which will bring the occupancy up to 46 percent by the end of 2011. The property includes a three-story building built in 1998 located at 1400 North McDowell Blvd., a three-story building built in 2000 located at 1420 North McDowell Blvd., and a four-story building built in 1999 located at 5341 Old Redwood Hwy.

Las Vegas, CA - June 30, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Las Vegas region home sales held at a five-year high last month, rising modestly from both April and a year earlier as sales of distressed properties continued to account for nearly 70 percent of the resale market. Price measures moved little month-to-month but the declines from a year earlier steepened amid higher levels this year of foreclosure resales and sub-$100,000 transactions, a real estate information service reported.

EUGENE, OR - May 24, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- IDX, Inc. and Marty Maradiaga have joined forces to present Southern California home seekers with access to thousands of up-to-the-second real estate listings. Maradiaga has adopted IDX Broker software, giving him the ability to host an innovative, five-tiered approach to the online property search process. The California Real Estate Technology Services (CARETS) database, which lists and displays thousands of area properties, is now seamlessly integrated and linked to the website of Maradiaga. The IDX enabled search page Maradiaga hosts has revolutionized the way potential California home buyers find homes online.

SAN FRANCISCO, CA - May 19, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- PCCP, LLC has announced that it has partnered with Signature Development Group to acquire Tralee Village, a nearly complete Class A apartment project in Dublin, California. Once complete the high-end, condominium quality apartment community located in the Bay Area will include 130 units. Over the coming months, Signature Development Group out of Oakland, California, will manage various aspects of project completion. PCCP will then transition the property to full-time third party property management in the fall of 2011. Pre-leasing is expected to begin in July with first occupancy for the completed units occurring in August.

May 2, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- This week in Sacramento, the banking committees of both houses considered two bills designed to mitigate the effects of California's foreclosure crisis, and both failed in hearing rooms packed with supporters. Both bills, however, will be re-heard next week

San Francisco, CA - April 27, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Tomorrow, the California State Senate Banking & Financial Institutions Committee will vote on SB729, the California Homeowner Protection Act. Introduced by Senator Mark Leno and Senator Darrell Steinberg, SB729 would require loan servicers to give struggling borrowers who apply for a loan modification a yes or no answer before starting the formal foreclosure process.

Washington, DC - April 18, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) yesterday reintroduced H.R. 1567, the Foreclosure Prevention and Sound Mortgage Servicing Act of 2011. Congresswoman Waters has introduced similar legislation since the 110th Congress, and has long maintained that the servicing industry is broken. By reintroducing and updating the bill, Congresswoman Waters continues to demonstrate her commitment to ending the foreclosure crisis and holding servicers accountable.

San Francisco, CA - April 7, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- The Federal Reserve, Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, and Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation have drafted consent decrees with the nation’s largest mortgage servicers that would purportedly improve their foreclosure practices. These legal agreements represent an inadequate attempt by regulators to address illegal servicing practices that have caused countless people to lose their homes.

SAN JOSE, CA - March 18, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Tara Denise Bonelli, 31, of Santa Cruz, Calif., was arrested today by agents from the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation. United States Attorney Melinda Haag announced. Yesterday, a federal grand jury in San Jose indicted Bonelli, charging her with 18 counts of wire fraud, one count of mail fraud, and three counts of money laundering

Washington, D.C. - March 17, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Over the past two weeks Congressman Howard Berman (CA-28) has voted against three separate Republican proposals that would hurt struggling homeowners and further exacerbate the foreclosure crisis facing California. Congressman Berman has been working to help homeowners struggling to avoid foreclosure and recently hosted a Homeowners Assistance and Retention Workshop in Van Nuys where over 100 Valley residents received free counseling.

LOS ANGELES, CA - March 16, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Following three months of sales gains, California home sales posted a weaker-than-expected performance and declined in February, according to data from the CALIFORNIA ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® (C.A.R.).

Washington, DC - March 10, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-Calif.), a senior member of the Financial Services Committee, spoke out today against Republican attempts to terminate the Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP) and the Neighborhood Stabilization Program (NSP). This was the second markup in as many weeks where Committee Republicans ended programs to help people stay in their homes and help communities weather the foreclosure crisis.

SACRAMENTO, CA - March 7, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- A real estate investor pleaded guilty today in U.S. District Court in Sacramento to conspiring to rig bids and commit mail fraud at public real estate foreclosure auctions held in San Joaquin County, Calif., Christine Varney, Assistant Attorney General of the Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division, and Benjamin B. Wagner, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of California, announced.

Oakland, CA - March 7, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- California State Sen. Mark Leno (D-San Francisco) and Senate President pro Tem Darrell Steinberg (D-Sacramento) vowed at the end of last year’s legislative session that they would not give up on trying to prevent wrongful foreclosures of California homeowners. Their 2010 bill, which would have put an end to banks’ pursuing foreclosures while simultaneously considering loan modifications, passed the Senate but failed in the Assembly

Washington, DC - March 4, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) --Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-Calif.), a senior member of the Financial Services Committee, took Committee Republicans to task today for voting to defund two programs that help struggling homeowners.

Washington, DC - March 2, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- In response to the recent rise in home foreclosures, Congresswoman Susan Davis (D-San Diego) introduced legislation to give veterans access to mortgage refinancing opportunities. The Veterans Home Loan Refinance Opportunity Act (H.R. 834) will allow veterans in Alaska, Oregon, California, Wisconsin, and Texas to take advantage of low-interest home loan refinancing options available from the state. Currently, veterans in these states can use the home loans to purchase a primary residence -- but not to refinance.

Los Angeles, CA - February 28, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- In the last two years, families in Los Angeles County lost their home to foreclosure every 15 to 18 minutes. Dataquick Information Systems reports 26,707 Los Angeles County families lost their home to foreclosure in 2010. In January 2011, 2,196 families lost their home to foreclosure1, indicating that not much has or will change in 2011. Exacerbating the issue is high unemployment and the low volume of permanent loan modifications being made available to families facing foreclosure.

Washington, DC - February 25, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-Calif.), a senior member of the Financial Services Committee, released the following statement today after Republicans on the Committee announced their intention to defund foreclosure prevention programs