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The Realtors Commercial Alliance of the MIAMI Association of REALTORS® (MIAMI) has elected Coral Gables Realtor Maria G. Juncadella, CCIM, MBA, as its 2016 president. She and the entire Board of Directors were installed Feb. 12 at MIAMI’s Annual Inaugural and Awards Luncheon.

The Jupiter-Tequesta-Hobe Sound Council of the MIAMI Association of REALTORS® endorses Dorothy Jacks in the election for Palm Beach County property appraiser. The JTHS Public Policy Committee unanimously voted to support Jacks on Feb. 3

The MIAMI Association of REALTORS® (MIAMI) has elected Sue Gaieski, e-PRO, SFR as the 2016 President of the Jupiter-Tequesta-Hobe Sound Association of Realtors (JTHS) Council. She and the entire 2016 JTHS Board of Governors were installed Dec. 11 at Frenchman’s Creek Beach & Country Club in Palm Beach Gardens

U.S. Representative Patrick E. Murphy (FL-18) applauded the announcement made by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers that they will increase flows from Lake Okeechobee south into Everglades National Park. Raising the water levels of the L-29 canal, which runs parallel to the Tamiami Trail, can help reduce the negative impact heavy rainfall has caused throughout the entire Everglades system, including the discharges east and west from the lake that are harming the St. Lucie River and Indian River Lagoon on the Treasure Coast.

Miami-Dade County single-family home sales set an all-time annual record in 2015, and sales for all existing properties posted the third-most transactions in history, according to the 41,000-member MIAMI Association of REALTORS® (MIAMI) and the local Multiple Listing Service (MLS) system.

The Florida Attorney General’s Office today announced a multi-million dollar settlement with home builder KB HOME and its Florida subsidiaries. The Attorney General’s Office entered a stipulated consent decree and final judgment to resolve a three-year investigation of KB HOME for violations of the Florida Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act. KB HOME allegedly failed to make certain disclosures to home buyers regarding the construction of some of its homes and improperly denied warranty coverage to certain homeowners who were otherwise covered.

Attorney General Pam Bondi today announced that the U.S. Supreme Court ordered an immediate halt to President Barack Obama’s unlawful power plan. The Court order is in response to a legal challenge brought by a bipartisan coalition of 29 states and state agencies, including Florida. While the stay is a major victory, the states’ litigation to stop the administration’s unlawful overreach continues in the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals.

Property service workers, represented by 32BJ Service Employees International Union (SEIU), announced today its support of Mayor Phillip K. Stoddard for Mayor of South Miami.

The Landings at Cross Bayou is a 184-unit Rental Assistance Demonstration (RAD) program redevelopment of public housing that had become functionally obsolete and deteriorating as a result of inadequate funding. Located near St. Petersburg, Florida, this redevelopment of a Pinellas County Housing Authority property offers an instructive example of how public-private partnerships can effectively leverage the funding opportunities provided by the RAD program for low-income housing redevelopment

A groundbreaking for a new apartment building in Downtown Tampa.  The 23-story tower will house 362 apartment units and 8,000 square feet of street-level retail. Additionally, the site will include a fitness center and an eight-story, 460-space parking garage topped off by an eight-story amenity deck that will include a pool and garden area and club room

Florida lawmakers from both parties and both chambers united to push for Congressional authorization of the Central Everglades Planning Project (CEPP) in the upcoming Water Resources Development Act to allow this vital project to move forward without further delay. Once completed, CEPP will increase water flow south of Lake Okeechobee, reducing the harmful discharges to the St. Lucie and Caloosahatchee rivers to the east and west of the lake. Congressman Patrick E. Murphy (FL-18) led this effort in the House with Congressman David Jolly (FL-13) alongside support from U.S. Reps. Gus Bilirakis (FL-12), Corrine Brown

All offices of the Lake County Board of County Commissioners, Clerk of Courts, Property Appraiser, Supervisor of Elections and Tax Collector will be closed Monday, Feb. 15 for Presidents Day. Offices will reopen with regularly scheduled hours on Tuesday, Feb. 16

Attorney General Pam Bondi today announced a $470 million joint state-federal settlement with HSBC to address mortgage origination, servicing and foreclosure abuses. The settlement with the mortgage lender and servicer provides direct payments to Florida borrowers for past foreclosure abuses and requires the company to provide loan modifications and other consumer relief.

The University of Florida’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) Extension in Lake County is offering two educational horticulture classes in February.

The U.S. House today passed an amendment introduced by Rep. Vern Buchanan (R-FL) that will tighten income and asset verification requirements for public housing after an audit revealed that 25,000 families earned too much to qualify for these subsidies.

What will Florida’s real estate markets look like in the coming year? That was the question on the minds of a standing-room-only crowd of about 400 Realtors® at the 2016 Florida Real Estate Trends event last week during Florida Realtors® Mid-Winter Business Meetings

Lawmakers from Florida in both the U.S. House and Senate today introduced legislation, co-sponsored by Congressman Curt Clawson (FL-19), to expedite all Everglades-restoration projects that the Army Corps of Engineers deems ready to begin. The leaders of the Everglades Caucus took the Everglades for the Next Generation Act to the floors of both Congressional chambers.

The U.S. House is expected to vote today on Rep. Vern Buchanan’s (R-FL) amendment to tighten income and asset verification requirements for public housing after an audit revealed that 25,000 families earned too much to qualify for these subsidies. The amendment is to H.R. 3700, the Housing Opportunity Through Modernization Act.

The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) today issued Geographic Targeting Orders (GTO) that will temporarily require certain U.S. title insurance companies to identify the natural persons behind companies used to pay “all cash” for high-end residential real estate in the Borough of Manhattan in New York City, New York, and Miami-Dade County, Florida. FinCEN is concerned that all-cash purchases – i.e., those without bank financing – may be conducted by individuals attempting to hide their assets and identity by purch

Congressman Steve Pearce issued the following statement after the House passed H.R. 3700, the Housing Opportunity Through Modernization Act of 2016