Yearly Archives: 2010

Tampa, FL - March 1, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- The tragedies of the recent earthquakes in Chile and Haiti serve as a reminder that parts of the United States are highly vulnerable to the devastating effects of this unpredictable natural disaster.

ORLANDO, FL - March 1, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- Florida’s existing home sales rose in January, marking 17 months that sales activity has increased in the year-to-year comparison, according to the latest housing data released by Florida Realtors®.Existing home sales increased 24 percent last month with a total of 10,465 homes sold statewide compared to 8,444 homes sold in January 2009, according to Florida Realtors. January’s statewide sales of existing condos rose 81 percent compared to the previous year’s sales figure

ORLANDO, FL - February 23, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- Do you have kids currently in college, or maybe one who is about to graduate high school? Are they interested in a possible real estate-related career? Then find out more about the Florida Association of Realtors® Education Foundation Inc., a new not-for-profit corporation established to provide real estate-related educational scholarships and grants. But act fast: The application deadline for this year’s program is March 15

WASHINGTON, DC - February 23, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- Kendrick Meek today released the following statement regarding President Obama's decision to use funding from the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) to support Florida homeowners and stabilize the housing market

ORLANDO, FL - February 11, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- Salesof existing single-family homes in Florida rose 44 percent in fourth quarter 2009 compared to the same period a year earlier, according to the latest housing statistics from Florida Realtors®. A total of 43,926 existing homes sold statewide in 4Q 2009; during the same period the year before, a total of 30,610 existing homes sold. It marks the sixth consecutive quarter that Florida has seen higher existing year-to-year home sales, according to the state association.Statewide sales of existing condominiums in the fourth quarter rose 93 percent compared to the same time the previous year. This marks the fifth consecutive quarter for increased statewide sales in both the existing home and condo markets compared to year-ago levels.

ORLANDO, FL - February 10, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- Meet the neighbors and find your Florida dream home at the same time by taking part in Florida Open House Weekend, set for April 10-11, 2010. Realtors will host open houses on behalf of home sellers in neighborhoods and communities across the Sunshine State, giving buyers a rare opportunity to visit many homes for sale in just one weekend. This first-ever statewide open house weekend is sponsored by the 115,000-member Florida Realtor

TAMPA FL - February 10, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- As the Mid-Atlantic region begins to dig out from under one blizzard, and faces another serious snowstorm this week, the Institute for Business & Home Safety (IBHS) is offering guidance on how business and home owners can protect their property from winter weather-related perils, such as roof collapse due to heavy snow loads.

TALLAHASSEE, FL - February 4, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- Attorney General Bill McCollum today announced that his office has filed a lawsuit against a California company providing loan modification services to homeowners facing foreclosure. According to the lawsuit filed today in Orange County, 21st Century Legal Services, Inc. allegedly charges consumers up-front fees in violation of Florida’s Foreclosure Rescue Fraud Prevention Act.

TALLAHASSEE, FL - February 3, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- Attorney General Bill McCollum and Office of Financial Regulation Commissioner J. Thomas Cardwell today announced that a Seminole County man was sentenced to six years in prison after pleading guilty to a criminal racketeering scheme that involved mortgage fraud in home purchasing. Upon his release from prison, Stanford Morgan, president and owner of Homes for Sale by Owner, Inc., must also pay full restitution, including $200,000 to an investing couple in one transaction and compensation to the lending institutions he defrauded in other transactions. Morgan was prosecuted by the Attorney General’s Office of Statewide Prosecution.

TALLAHASSEE, FL - January 29, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- Florida CFO Alex Sink is urging Florida taxpayers to find out if they may be one of the estimated 10,000 Floridians who qualify for the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC), a federal tax credit for low-income working individuals and families, on Earned Income Tax Credit Awareness Day 2010. Eligible Floridians are due back an estimated $15 billion, on top of what they already may be claiming on their taxes, if they all claimed the EITC.

WASHINGTON, DC - January 28, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- The Joint Economic Committee (JEC) – a bicameral Congressional Committee composed of ten members from the Senate and House of Representatives – today released a new economic snapshot report on Florida. The report provides a comprehensive overview of how the nation inherited the current Recession from the previous Administration and Republican Party and shows where growth and recovery have begun to take hold in areas such as home prices and personal income.

ORLANDO, FL - January 26, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- Florida’s existing home sales rose in December, marking 16 months that sales activity has increased in the year-to-year comparison, according to the latest housing data released by Florida Realtors

WASHINGTON, DC - January 18, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- The U.S. Department of Labor today announced a $1,661,173 grant to assist about 600 workers affected by layoffs at the Taylor, Bean and Whitaker Mortgage Corp. and its subsidiary companies in north/central Florida.

WASHINGTON, DC - January 18, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric K. Shinseki announced the award of a $53 million contract to a Florida firm to construct a new clinic in Cape Coral. The new building will replace a Fort Myers facility and expand diagnostic and treatment capacity for southwest Florida’s Veterans

Washington, DC - January 14, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- In one of the most significant investments for the Tampa Bay region under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, Tampa Housing Authority is receiving $38 million to revitalize the Central Park Village area and transform it into a new community that will uplift this historic neighborhood and create hundreds, if not thousands, of jobs. Since last year, Congresswoman Kathy Castor has pressed officials from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to award this money to the residents in the heart of Tampa through Tampa Housing Authority. Just last week, Castor urged HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan to invest in redeveloping Central Park Village and bolster our economic recovery.

TALLAHASSEE, FL - January 12, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- Florida Housing Finance Corporation (Florida Housing) recently launched a new Web site aimed at encouraging green building practices in affordable housing across the state of Florida. The site, www.floridahousing.org/GreenBuilding, is another example of Florida Housing’s recent push to “Go Green.”

ORLANDO, FL - January 11, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- Attention Florida high school seniors: Time is running out for you to win up to $6,000 to help pay for college tuition next year. Better start writing – there’s only a month to go until the Feb. 8, 2010, deadline to enter Florida Realtors® 2009-2010 Scholarship/Essay Contest for High School Seniors, which offers a total of $28,000 in scholarship funding