Archives

February 15, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- On January 26 the Los Angeles Worksource Investment Board (WIB) recognized the Housing Authority of the City of Los Angeles with its prestigious Four Star Performance Award. This is the third consecutive year that HACLA receives the award. The award recognizes the outstanding Workforce Investment Act performance for program year 2009-2010.

SACRAMENTO, CA - February 15, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- United States Attorney Benjamin B. Wagner announced today that United States District Judge William B. Shubb sentenced Iftikhar Ahmad, 40, of Stockton, to 21 months in prison, to be followed by three years of supervised release, and restitution in the amount of $382,750 for multiple counts of mail fraud relating to a scheme involving the fraudulent submission of mortgage loan applications. Ahmad pleaded guilty on April 28, 2008

LOS ANGELES, CA - February 15, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- California home sales rose in January, marking three consecutive monthly increases and posting their highest level since May 2010, while the statewide median price declined to its lowest level since June 2009, according to data from the CALIFORNIA ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® (C.A.R.). “With lower home prices and rates edging up from their historic lows of late last year, prospective home buyers should consider the opportunities in today’s market,” said C.A.R. President Beth L. Peerce.

Washington, DC - February 14, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-Calif.), the Ranking Member on the Financial Services Subcommittee on Capital Markets and Government Sponsored Enterprises, released the following statement today after the Obama Administration unveiled its plan, “Reforming America’s Housing Finance Market

LOS ANGELES, CA - February 14, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- In response to the White House’s recommendations today to phase out Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the CALIFORNIA ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® (C.A.R.) said the elimination of government involvement would raise borrowing costs for home buyers and severely restrict a safe and affordable flow of financing, further impeding the still-fragile housing market recovery

LOS ANGELES, CA - February 10, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- First-time buyer housing affordability matched or set new record-high levels in all regions of the state during the fourth quarter of 2010, the CALIFORNIA ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® (C.A.R.) reported today. Led by historic-low interest rates and a slight decline in home prices, housing affordability surpassed or maintained current levels in both quarter-over-quarter and year-over-year comparisons statewide.

February 7, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- A real estate executive pleaded guilty today in U.S. District Court in Sacramento, California, to conspiring to rig bids and commit mail fraud at public real estate foreclosure auctions held in San Joaquin County, California, 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

LOS ANGELES, CA - February 3, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Attorney General Kamala D. Harris today announced a $6.5 million settlement of a predatory lending case against Angelo Mozilo and David Sambol, former officers of Countrywide Financial Corporation. Attorney General Harris announced the settlement money will be used to establish an innovative statewide California Foreclosure Crisis Relief Fund to combat the effects of California's high rates of foreclosure and mortgage delinquency

LOS ANGELES, CA - January 25, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- A Tacoma, Washington man has been found guilty of federal fraud charges for running a scheme that defrauded the owners of distressed homes by promising to delay or prevent foreclosure through a program that supposedly used notes backed by Treasury bonds to pay off mortgages.

January 24, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Mayor Edwin M. Lee today announced that the U.S. Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has awarded San Francisco $18.7 million in HUD’s Continuum of Care grants to fund a wide variety of programs from street outreach and assessment programs to transitional and permanent housing for individuals and families experiencing homelessness. The HUD Continuum of Care grants are awarded competitively to local programs to meet the needs of their homeless clients, and this year, 51 San Francisco-based organizations and programs received grant awards.

BAKERSFIELD, CA - January 24, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- David Marshall Crisp, 31; Carlyle Lee Cole, 63; Julie Dianne Farmer, 42; Sneha Ramesh Mohammadi, 49; Jayson Peter Costa, 38; Jeriel Salinas, 29; Robinson Dinh Nguyen, 30; Michael Angelo Munoz, 31; Jennifer Anne Crisp, 29; and Caleb Lee Cole, 35, were charged in a 56-count indictment with conspiracy to commit bank, mail and wire fraud, and with individual counts of mail fraud, U.S. Attorney Benjamin B. Wagner announced today. Certain of the defendants were also charged with wire fraud, bank fraud and conspiracy to launder money. The indictment was returned Jan. 13 by a federal grand jury in Fresno and unsealed today

SAN MATEO, CA - January 24, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Congresswoman Jackie (D-San Francisco/San Mateo) and other members of Congress sent a letter (attached) today to Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke and Acting Comptroller of the Currency John Walsh urging them to hold JPMorgan Chase accountable for overcharging thousands of military families on their mortgages and even wrongfully foreclosing on 14 families

LOS ANGELES, CA - January 24, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- California home sales rose in December, posting their highest level since May, according to data from the CALIFORNIA ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® (C.A.R.). The statewide median price increased from November, but was down from a year ago

SACRAMENTO, CA - January 24, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- California homebuilders put up the second-lowest number of homes for a single year in 2010, posting a modest improvement over the record-low that was set in 2009, the California Building Industry Association announced today

Washington, D.C. - January 21, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Today, Representatives Mike Honda (D-Campbell) and Zoe Lofgren (D-San Jose) announced $9,989,955 in Continuum of Care Homeless Assistance grants from the Department of Housing and Urban Development. These funds will go to local organizations providing a range of assistance to homeless persons and families, including transitional housing, permanent housing, and other supportive services. Local grantees are:

Washington, D.C. - January 20, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA) today lauded the announcement by Housing and Urban Development Secretary Shaun Donovan that California organizations will receive more than $227 million in federal grants to provide housing and other assistance to Californians who are homeless.Senator Boxer said

WASHINGTON, D.C. - January 14, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- “Today, we heard that banks seized a record 1.05 million homes in 2010, topping the prior record from 2009. This is despite a massive slowdown in foreclosures at the end of the year due to several major banks initiating voluntary moratoria as homeowner lawsuits, news reports and Congressional hearings – like the one I chaired on November 18 – created a groundswell of public pressure demanding reform

Los Angeles, CA - December 30, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- Los Angeles County Assessor John R. Noguez today reminded property owners who may have been affected by the recent storms to contact his office as soon as possible for information about potential tax relief if rain, mud or related damage amounts to $10,000 or more.

EUGENE, OR - December 30, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- iPhone enabled property search is now available on the website of Gerri-Lynn Fives, thanks to the application IDX, Inc. has enabled on her page. The innovative IDX technology extracts raw listing data from the San Diego Regional MLS (SANDICOR) database and places it on the search page Fives hosts. Here, home seekers can quickly and easily scan the SANDICOR listings to find the perfect home for their budget, needs and location preferences. Never before has such a dynamic online property search been so accessible and simple.

Long Beach, CA - December 29, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- The City of Long Beach Department of Health and Human Services (Health Department) will conduct the fifth biannual homeless count in Long Beach on Thursday, January 27th, 2011.