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SACRAMENTO, CA - May 10, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- United States Attorney Benjamin B. Wagner announced today that a federal grand jury returned an indictment charging Jake Weathers, 34, Elk Grove, Glenn Watkins, 40, Elk Grove, Kevin Watkins, 25, Elk Grove, Frederick Davis, 40, Elk Grove, and Paul Yearby Jr., 29, of Fair Oaks, with 11 counts of mail fraud relating to their alleged operation of a mortgage fraud scheme that involved the defendants changing their names to Muslim names in order to obtain new credit and to conceal poor credit histories and other liabilities in their birth names.

SACRAMENTO, CA - May 3, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- The homebuyer tax credit signed into law earlier this year by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger will be available beginning Saturday, May 1. Governor Schwarzenegger in March signed into law AB 183 by Assembly Member Ana Caballero, D-Salinas, and co-authored by Senator Roy Ashburn, R-Bakersfield, which establishes a tax credit of $10,000 or 5 percent of the purchase price of a newly built home and a $10,000 tax credit for first-time purchasers of existing homes. The credit will be available beginning May 1 and be good through December 31, 2010, or when funding is exhausted, whichever comes first. The $200 million allocated for the program is split evenly with $100 million going to purchasers of new homes and $100 million going to first-time buyers of existing homes

SAN FRANCISCO, CA - May 3, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development today presented over $2.2 million to several fair housing organizations to help fight housing discrimination in Northern California. John Trasviña, HUD's Assistant Secretary for Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity, made the grant presentations to Bay Area Legal, California Rural Legal Assistance, Fair Housing of Marin, Greater Napa Fair Housing Center, Housing and Economic Rights Advocates, Project Sentinel, Pacific News Media and Fair Housing Council of Central California (see attached list below for project descriptions).

SACRAMENTO, CA - April 26, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- Total housing starts in California continued to climb for the third straight month in March signaling that the worst of the housing downturn may finally be over, the California Building Industry Association announced today

April 23, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- The Long Beach Housing Development Company, together with Councilman Dee Andrews and Long Beach Weed & Seed, invite the public to learn about a new homeownership opportunity at Olive Court on Saturday, April 24 from 9:00 to 11:00 am at Renaissance Square/Union Bank Building; 1900 Atlantic Ave.

LOS ANGELES, CA - April 23, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- Home sales increased 2.5 percent in March in California compared with the same period a year ago, while the median price of an existing home rose 20.8 percent, the CALIFORNIA ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® (C.A.R.) reported today.

LOS ANGELES, CA - April 22, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- The CALIFORNIA ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® (C.A.R.) today launched its 2010 Consumer Advertising Campaign. The campaign raises awareness of the REALTOR® brand and reinforces the professionalism of California REALTORS®, while addressing concerns home buyers and sellers may have about today’s market. The campaign’s theme, “Your Piece of California. Your Peace of Mind,” will be heard or seen across the state nearly 130 million times via television, radio, and online.

SAN FRANCISCO, CA - April 22, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has announced $2.6 million in brownfields grants to communities Northern California. Sacramento, Placer County, Nevada City, the Northcoast Environmental Center, Oroville Redevelopment Agency, the Esparto Unified School District and the Rancho Cordova Community Redevelopment Agency are all receiving funding through the Brownfields Assessment, Revolving Loan Fund, and Cleanup Grants program.

SAN FRANCISCO, CA - April 21, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has announced $2.6 million in brownfields grants to communities Northern California. Sacramento, Placer County, Nevada City, the Northcoast Environmental Center, Oroville Redevelopment Agency, the Esparto Unified School District and the Rancho Cordova Community Redevelopment Agency are all receiving funding through the Brownfields Assessment, Revolving Loan Fund, and Cleanup Grants program.

SAN FRANCISCO, CA - April 21, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has announced $1,542,085 million in brownfields grants to the Southern California communities of Brea, LA County, Rialto and San Diego, all receiving funding through the Brownfields Assessment, Revolving Loan Fund, and Cleanup Grants program.

April 20, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- The City of Long Beach launched the Residential Energy Efficiency Rebate Program on Monday April 19, in support of Earth Week 2010. The Residential Energy Efficiency Rebate Program provides rebates and no-cost permits to the first 500 applicants who install qualifying energy efficient products such as Energy Star rated solar hot water-heaters, tank-less water-heaters, windows, doors, skylights and roofs.

LOS ANGELES, CA - April 16, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- Real Estate Business Services Inc.® (REBS®) today announced that Centris®, a division of the Greater Montreal Real Estate board and technology arm of the Quebec Federation of Real Estate Boards (QFREB), has signed a 3-year agreement to provide Clarus MarketMetrics® as a member benefit to QFREB’s approximately 15,000 members. Centris® is the first entry into the Canadian market by Clarus MarketMetrics

SACRAMENTO, CA - April 15, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- The pace of home sales at California new-home communities was once again notably lower than levels seen a year ago, the California Building Industry Association reported today

EUGENE, OR - April 13, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- Prudential California Realty professional, Adrian Cafuentes of Norwalk, California, has recently upgraded and advanced his website, by adding the innovative IDX Broker software. With this new IDX incorporation, potential home buyers can now easily search an endless amount of the most current and up-to-date property listings within the California Real Estate Technology Service MLS (CARETS), through five unique and informative search categories, including: a basic, advanced, map, address, and listing ID search. This custom IDX solution has the technology to extract raw data from the CARETS, and then formats the information to be viewed as a seamlessly integrated part of Cafuentes' website. This CARETS listing information is automatically updated, on a daily basis, providing him with more time to spend personalizing the online property search process for each individual consumer.

SANTA ANA, CA - April 9, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- In a clear "warning shot" to unscrupulous loan-modification consultants, Attorney General Edmund G. Brown Jr. today announced that two women have each been sentenced to one year in jail and ordered to repay dozens of homeowners who were charged thousands of dollars in up-front fees for non-existent foreclosure-relief services.

San Francisco, CA - April 8, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- The Federal Home Loan Bank of San Francisco has allocated $14.6 million to its 2010 Workforce Initiative Subsidy for Homeownership (WISH) and Individual Development and Empowerment Account (IDEA) first-time homebuyer programs. In this award cycle, 30 of the Bank’s member financial institutions reserved $10.25 million in WISH funds and $4.35 million in IDEA funds to help lower-income families and individuals become homeowners in Arizona, California, Nevada, and other states where Bank members do business. Nine institutions are participating in these programs for the first time.

LOS ANGELES, CA - April 8, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- California homeowners sued Bank of America (NYSE: BAC) on Tuesday claiming the lending giant is intentionally withholding government funds intended to save homeowners from foreclosure, announces Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro

San Mateo, CA - April 7, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) --The San Mateo County Association of REALTORS (SAMCAR) has announced that the association is participating in the REALTOR® Nationwide Open House event Saturday, April 10 and Sunday, April 11. The nationwide effort is to increase consumer awareness of the benefits of buying a home and give sellers an opportunity to increase the exposure for their home for sale. Most importantly, the open house event is a collective effort on behalf of SAMCAR and its participating members to continue to spread the word about the expanded first-time homebuyer and long-term homebuyer tax credits, which end April 30. Qualified buyers wishing to take advantage of the credits, which provide up to $8,000 for first-time homebuyers and up to $6,500 forexisting homeowners, must enter into a contract by April 30 and close no later thanJune 30.

WASHINGTON, DC - April 7, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- Congresswoman Laura Richardson is reminding families in the market for a new home to act soon so they can benefit from the First Time Homebuyer (FTHB) tax credit, which has been extended an additional 30 days to a deadline of May 1, 2010.

LOS ANGELES, CA - April 2, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- Real Estate Business Services (REBS) today announced that the Chico Association of REALTORS® has signed an agreement to provide Clarus MarketMetrics® as a member benefit to its nearly 400 REALTOR® members. Chico AOR joins the Merced County Association of REALTORS®, both part of the calREDD™ MLS system, in offering this REALTOR® benefit