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San Francisco, CA - November 15, 2012 - (RealEstateRama) -- Mayor Edwin M. Lee today at the U.S. Green Building Council Greenbuild International Conference and Expo being held at the Moscone Convention Center announced that the City and County of San Francisco has filed for LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification for eight buildings in San Francisco’s Historic Civic Center District. The LEED application for Existing Buildings Operations and Maintenance category includes over 2.2 million square feet of civic real estate for San Francisco City Hall, Louise M. Davies Symphony Hall, San Francisco Main Library, Asian Art Museum, Bill Graham Civic Auditorium, Department of Public Health Headquarters, War Memorial Opera House and War Memorial Veterans Building

SACRAMENTO, CA - November 15, 2012 - (RealEstateRama) -- Congresswoman Doris Matsui (CA-05) today announced that Sacramento County’s Department of Health and Human Services has received a continuation of their $962,901 grant from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). The grant will support the county’s Health Care for the Homeless Program (HCH), which provides primary medical care for low income, uninsured, and underinsured residents in the Sacramento region.

LOS ANGELES, CA - November 13, 2012 - (RealEstateRama) -- Rising home prices offset lower interest rates, reducing housing affordability in California during the third quarter of 2012, the CALIFORNIA ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® (C.A.R.) reported today.

WASHINGTON, DC - November 12, 2012 - (RealEstateRama) -- A Las Vegas mortgage agent was found guilty today for participation in a mortgage fraud scheme that netted $1.2 million in fraudulent mortgage loans, announced Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney Daniel G. Bogden of the District of Nevada and Special Agent in Charge Kevin Favreau of the FBI’s Las Vegas Field Office.

LOS ANGELES, CA - November 6, 2012 - (RealEstateRama) -- The following is a statement by the CALIFORNIA ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® (C.A.R.) on last week’s announced REO bulk sale transaction between Fannie Mae, the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) and Colony Capital

WASHINGTON, DC - November 2, 2012 - (RealEstateRama) -- A Northern California real estate investor has agreed to plead guilty for his role in conspiracies to rig bids and commit mail fraud at public real estate foreclosure auctions in Northern California, the Department of Justice announced.

LOS ANGELES, CA - November 1, 2012 - (RealEstateRama) -- Favorable home prices and record-low interest rates combined with high demand and a severe shortage of available housing have created a highly competitive housing market in California, with nearly six in ten home sales receiving multiple offers, according to the CALIFORNIA ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS®’ (C.A.R.) “2012 Annual Housing Market Survey.”

WASHINGTON, DC - November 1, 2012 - (RealEstateRama) -- A Northern California real estate investor has agreed to plead guilty for his role in conspiracies to rig bids and commit mail fraud at public real estate foreclosure auctions in Northern California, the Department of Justice announced.

November 1, 2012 - (RealEstateRama) -- A former Southern California resident pleaded guilty today in federal court in Portland, Oregon, to mail fraud charges for orchestrating a mortgage fraud scheme that used fraudulent loan applications and supporting documents to convince lenders to fund more than $20 million in loans on approximately three dozen properties in Orange, Riverside, and San Bernardino Counties

LOS ANGELES, CA - October 26, 2012 - (RealEstateRama) -- Real Estate Business Services® (REBS®), a subsidiary of the CALIFORNIA ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® (C.A.R.), today announced that Ventura County Regional Data Share MLS (VCRDS), which is comprised of the Conejo Simi Moorpark (CSMAR) and Ventura County Coastal (VCCAR) Associations of REALTORS®, is providing the time-saving zipFormMLS-Connect® feature free for its members. This will offer its 3,300 agents easy accessibility to MLS information while inside of their forms and get parties to the signing table quickly. VCRDS is the fifth MLS in California to offer zipFormMLS-Connect®.

San Francisco, CA - October 25, 2012 - (RealEstateRama) -- Mayor Edwin Lee and Lieutenant Governor Gavin Newsom today launched a new Project Homeless Connect service – Every Day Connect – to meet the needs of people every day who are homeless or in danger of becoming homeless.

LOS ANGELES, CA - October 23, 2012 - (RealEstateRama) -- A continued lack of housing inventory constrained California pending home sales in September, while the share of equity sales reached its highest level in four years, CALIFORNIA ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® (C.A.R.) reported today.

LOS ANGELES, CA - October 18, 2012 - (RealEstateRama) -- Lenders have made incremental improvements in closing short sale transactions since last summer, but still have a long way to go, according to findings from the latest Lender Satisfaction Survey conducted by the CALIFORNIA ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® (C.A.R.).

SAN FRANCISCO, CA - October 18, 2012 - (RealEstateRama) -- Edward G. Locker was sentenced this week to 30 months in prison for his role in a real estate investment fraud scheme, United States Attorney Melinda Haag announced. On September 24, 2012, co-defendants Richard F. Tipton and David C. H. Lin were sentenced to 18 and 28 months in prison, respectively, for their role in the same scheme. On August 20, co-defendant James W. Ward was sentenced to 60 months’ imprisonment for his role in the scheme. The court imposed these sentences based upon the defendants’ convictions for engaging in a conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud in connection with their operation of Mountain View private money lenders known as Jim Ward and Associates Inc. and JSW Financial Inc.

LOS ANGELES, CA - October 16, 2012 - (RealEstateRama) -- A San Fernando Valley real estate agent and self-described real estate investor has agreed to plead guilty to running a multi-million-dollar Ponzi scheme out of companies based in the Santa Clarita Valley.

October 16, 2012 - (RealEstateRama) -- Mayor Edwin M. Lee today announced Moscone Center has received LEED Gold certification, the first convention center on the West Coast to attain the green building honor. The LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) rating system was developed by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC).

LOS ANGELES, CA - October 15, 2012 - (RealEstateRama) -- A continued shortage of available homes for sale lowered California home sales in September, while the median price reached the highest level in more than four years, the CALIFORNIA ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® (C.A.R.) reported

LOS ANGELES, CA - October 11, 2012 - (RealEstateRama) -- Real Estate Business Services® (REBS®) today announced that East Bay Regional MLS (EBRMLS), which is comprised of Contra Costa MLS, Bay East MLS, and East Bay Regional Data Inc., is allowing access to the time-saving zipFormMLS-Connect® feature for its members. This will give agents easy access to MLS information while inside of their forms, as well as get parties to the signing table quickly. In addition to Bay East Association of REALTORS® and Contra Costa Association of REALTORS®, four other local associations make up this regional MLS: Alameda, Berkeley, Delta, Oakland, and West Contra Costa Associations of REALTORS

LOS ANGELES, CA - October 11, 2012 - (RealEstateRama) -- The CALIFORNIA ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® (C.A.R.) applauds California Congressman Jim Costa (D-Fresno) for introducing legislation today that will allow responsible homeowners to take advantage of current low interest rates on mortgages

October 10, 2012 - (RealEstateRama) -- United States Attorney Laura E. Duffy announced today that Orange County attorney Stephen Kenneth Chrysler was sentenced to serve 37 months in prison for his role in an $8 million mortgage fraud scheme involving 16 homes in Oceanside, Escondido, San Marcos, Lakeside, and Menifee. His mother, Aida Agusti Castro, a Carlsbad real estate broker who was also sentenced for her role in the scheme, received a 33-month prison sentence. United States District Judge Jeffrey T. Miller also sentenced each defendant to forfeit over $350,000 in illicit proceeds.