Yearly Archives: 2009

TAVARES, FL - October 22, 2009 - (RealEstateRama) -- The Lake County Board of County Commissioners is hosting three public workshops on Nov. 2, 5 & 9 from 6 to 7:30 p.m. to give stakeholders — residents, property owners, business owners, municipalities and other local and regional entities — an opportunity to voice concerns, questions and suggestions about the proposed Lake County Comprehensive Plan, titled Planning Horizon 2030.

TALLAHASSEE, LF - October 20, 2009 - (RealEstateRama) -- Florida CFO Alex Sink today highlighted two initiatives she started to bring real, tangible help to Florida homeowners facing foreclosure, and heard from community groups and homeowners who are on the frontlines of tackling the state’s housing crisis.

Orlando, FOL - October 14, 2009 - (RealEstateRama) -- Congressman Alan Grayson, U.S. Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Shaun Donovan, and Mayor Buddy Dyer toured a neighborhood and highlighted two successful programs helping resolve the problems of foreclosure and slumping property values today in Orlando.

TALLAHASSEE, FL- October 13, 2009 - (RealEstateRama) -- Florida Housing's upcoming Board of Directors' Meeting will be held on Friday, October 23 in Tallahassee. The meeting will begin at 8:30 a.m. For Board Package information,

Washington, DC - October 13, 2009 - (RealEstateRama) -- Tomorrow, Tuesday, October 13, Congressmen Robert Wexler (FL-19), Mario Diaz-Balart (FL-25), and Ron Klein (FL-22) and State Senator Ted Deutch will be joined by President Barack Obama’s Secretary for Housing and Urban Development, Shaun Donovan, for a tour of a Boynton Beach home afflicted by contaminated drywall. Reps. Wexler and Diaz-Balart, the co-chairs of the Congressional Caucus on Contaminated Drywall, will emphasize to Secretary Donovan the devastating impact the tainted drywall has had on the lives of the Roberts family, who own a home in the community of Cobblestone Creek. Dr. Steve Roberts and his wife Jennifer Roberts have struggled with their 16 month-old daughter’s frequent respiratory infections, and the fact that their home has lost hundreds of thousands of dollars in value as a result of this toxic product

TALLAHASSEE, FL - October 13, 2009 - (RealEstateRama) -- Reports recently received by Florida Housing Finance Corporation (Florida Housing) show a significant increase in the number Floridians finding affordable rental housing using www.FloridaHousingSearch.org, which is the Corporation’s FREE online rental housing locator. According to the data in the report, provided by Socialserve.com®, 39 percent of the rented units on the state’s Search.org affordable rental housing locator were located by consumers using www.Floridahousingsearch.org or the Locator's call-center.

Washington, DC - October 9, 2009 - (RealEstateRama) -- Congressman Vern Buchanan (FL-13) will hold a foreclosure assistance workshop on Saturday, October 10, 2009. Lenders, federal agencies, and local housing and counseling agencies will help assist residents of Florida’s 13th District from 10:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. in the student union at State College of Florida, 5840 26th St. West, Bradenton, Florida

Washington, DC - October 8, 2009 - (RealEstateRama) -- Congresswoman Suzanne Kosmas (FL-24) voted in favor of the Service Members Home Ownership Tax Act (H.R. 3590), which will make changes to home-buying provisions in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act to benefit active-duty servicemen and women currently, or soon to be, deployed overseas. The bipartisan legislation passed by a vote of 416-0.

WASHINGTON, DC - October 8, 2009 - (RealEstateRama) -- Congressman Connie Mack (FL-14) praised unanimous passage of legislation in the House of Representatives today that will extend the $8,000 first-time homebuyer tax credit for one year for qualifying U.S. servicemen and women.

TAMPA, FL - October 6, 2009 - (RealEstateRama) -- Fire Prevention Week (Oct. 4 – 10) is a perfect time for home and business owners to assess their properties to determine how vulnerable they may be to fire coming from both outside and inside - and then take actions to prevent losses, the Institute for Business & Home Safety (IBHS) said today.

House Gives Final Approval to $5.5 Million for Wares Creek, $500,000 for Sarasota Renewable Energy Center, $305,000 for Lido Beach, $100,000 for Anna Maria Island Beach Re-nourishment, $100,000 for Port Manatee and up to $5 million for Sarasota Bay Restoration. Washington, DC - October 2, 2009 - (RealEstateRama) -- Congressman Vern Buchanan (FL-13) has won final approval in the House of $8.3 million in federal funding for environmental projects in Florida’s 13th District. The House voted 308-114 for the fiscal year 2010 energy and water appropriations bill (H.R. 3183) today.

TAMPA, FL - October 1, 2009 - (RealEstateRama) -- The Institute for Business & Home Safety (IBHS) today praised the work Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano is doing to ensure that Americans are prepared for disasters. As National Preparedness Month (NPM) comes to a close, Secretary Napolitano is delivering a major speech today challenging all Americans to view disaster preparedness as a shared responsibility, and urging communities to build a year-round culture of readiness and resilience.

TAVARES, FL - September 30, 2009 - (RealEstateRama) -- As part of the Annual Fire Prevention Week (Oct. 4-10), the Lake County Department of Public Safety, Fire Rescue Division, is stepping up its public-education efforts to remind residents how to keep homes fire safe and prevent painful burns.

Lenders, Federal and Local Agencies to Provide Free Assistance October 10. Washington, DC - September 28, 2009 - (RealEstateRama) -- Congressman Vern Buchanan (FL-13) announced today that he will hold a foreclosure assistance workshop on Saturday, October 10, 2009. In attendance will be several lenders, federal agencies, and local housing and counseling agencies, which will be available to assist residents of Florida’s 13th District from 10:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. in the student union at State College of Florida, 5840 26th St. West, Bradenton, Florida.

September 24, 2009 - (RealEstateRama) -- Jeffrey H. Sloman, Acting United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, and Michael J. Folmar, Acting Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation, announced today that defendant Adriana Cruz, 27, of Miami, was sentenced by United States District Judge Alan S. Gold on September 18, 2009, for her role in a mortgage fraud scheme that resulted in the granting of two fraudulent home equity loans totaling approximately $1 million

ORLANDO, FL - September 24, 2009 - (RealEstateRama) -- Florida’s existing home sales rose in August – marking a full calendar year (12 months) that sales activity increased in the year-to-year comparison, according to the latest housing data released by Florida Realtors®.Existing home sales rose 28 percent last month with a total of 13,850 homes sold statewide compared to 10,813 homes sold in August 2008, according to Florida Realtors. The state association also reported a 45 percent increase in last month’s statewide sales of existing condos compared to the previous year’s sales figure

Washington, DC - September 23, 2009 - (RealEstateRama) -- Today, Congressman Alcee L. Hastings (D-Miramar) introduced the Support for Ending Long-Term Homelessness Act of 2009. This bill will establish a grant program to provide permanent supportive housing for chronically homeless individuals and families that have needs not addressed by traditional affordable housing. The companion bill has been introduced in the Senate by Senator Richard Burr (R-NC). (Please find attached a copy of the bill.)

Loan to Florida Community Loan Fund is one of the largest of its type among community foundations. ORLANDO, FL - September 22, 2009 - (RealEstateRama) -- In response to the growing need for affordable rental housing, the Community Foundation for Palm Beach and Martin Counties http://www.yourcommunityfoundation.org announced today an unprecedented $4 million low-interest loan to the Florida Community Loan Fund (FCLF) http://www.fclf.org/ , a nonprofit statewide lending institution. This investment in affordable housing is one of the largest ever made nationwide by a community foundation to a Community Development Finance Institution[i]. The announcement took place at the Florida Housing Coalition's statewide affordable housing conference in Orlando.

TAVARES, FL - September 15, 2009 - (RealEstateRama) -- The Lake County Property Appraiser’s Office will close its downtown Tavares office in the Lake County Historic Courthouse, located on the third floor of 317 W. Main St., on Friday, Sept. 18, as it moves its offices to its new quarters across the street at 320 W. Main St.

TAMPA, FL - September 14, 2009 - (RealEstateRama) -- Government minimum flood elevation requirements for properties vulnerable to storm surge throughout the Gulf Coast region are woefully inadequate, according to a new study of property damage caused by Hurricane Ike, which struck the Bolivar Peninsula near Galveston, Texas one year ago yesterday, Sept. 13, 2008.