Archives

Washington, DC - October 22, 2009 - (RealEstateRama) -- As thousands of Floridians continue losing their homes to foreclosure, U.S. Rep. Kathy Castor is calling on the Treasury Department to provide detailed information about the number of trial loan modifications offered to at-risk homeowners. Castor joined with Chairwoman Maxine Waters demanding that Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner provide the requested information about the Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP) by next week. Waters, of Los Angeles, is chairwoman of the Subcommittee on Housing and Community Opportunity

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

TALLAHASSEE, FL - September 10, 2009 - (RealEstateRama) -- Attorney General Bill McCollum today announced that his office has obtained a settlement for a Central Florida couple resolving allegations of civil rights violations related to their condominium. Under the settlement, Brevard County developer Tricon Development Corporation paid $15,000 in civil damages to Josephine and Dominic DeRusso, which included the cost of retrofitting the couple’s home.

TALLAHASSEE, FL - September 9, 2009 - (RealEstateRama) -- Attorney General Bill McCollum today announced that a Jensen Beach Pastor and his wife have been sentenced to prison terms for a mortgage fraud scheme. Rodney McGill will serve 20 years in prison and his mortgage broker wife Shalonda will serve a 10-year prison sentence for running a mortgage fraud scheme that enticed victims to participate in a real estate investment “opportunity” but instead was an effort to rid the McGills of their mortgages. In addition to their sentences, each will serve 10 years of probation upon their release. The case was prosecuted by the Attorney General’s Office of Statewide Prosecution in partnership with the State Attorney Bruce Colton of the 19th Judicial Circuit.

ORLANDO, FL - September 8, 2009 - (RealEstateRama) -- For three recent Florida high school graduates now starting college classes, their freshmen year may be a little easier thanks to the $5,000 state scholarship awards each received from Florida Realtors®. The students’ winning essays were written on the topic “How Does a Realtor Professional Benefit the Community?”

September 8, 2009 - (RealEstateRama) -- Jeffrey H. Sloman, Acting United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, Michael J. Folmar, Acting Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Miami Field Office, Daniel W. Auer, Special Agent in Charge, Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation Division, Miami Field Office, and J. Thomas Cardwell, Commissioner, State of Florida’s Office of Financial Regulation, announced that defendant Michael A. Meisner, 52, of Boca Raton, Florida, pled guilty today before the Honorable U.S. Magistrate Judge James M. Hopkins to a three-count Information filed on September 2, 2009, which charged mail fraud, in violation of 18 U.S.C.§ 1341, loan application fraud, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1014, and tax evasion, in violation of 26 U.S.C. § 7201. Bond was set at a $500,000 corporate surety bond, and a $500,000 personal surety bond. Sentencing was set for November 20, 2009, at 9:30 a.m., before the Honorable U.S. District Judge Kenneth A. Marra. Meisner faces a maximum of 55 years imprisonment.