Yearly Archives: 2014

WASHINGTON, D.C. - May 28, 2014 - (RealEstateRama) -- Whether building new or remodeling your existing home, make it highly energy efficient, sustainable and green, recommends the Bureau of Construction Codes in the Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs as it recognizes the fourth week of Building Safety Month

LANSING, Mich. - May 26, 2014 - (RealEstateRama) -- Gov. Snyder and Michigan State Housing Development Authority (MSHDA) Executive Director Scott Woosley today announced a new tool to stimulate the housing markets in eight Michigan cities.

LANSING, Mich. - May 23, 2014 - (RealEstateRama) -- Gov. Snyder and Michigan State Housing Development Authority (MSHDA) Executive Director Scott Woosley today announced a new tool to stimulate the housing markets in eight Michigan cities

WASHINGTON, D.C. - May 16, 2014 - (RealEstateRama) -- The Michigan Occupational Safety and Health Administration (MIOSHA), in partnership with the Home Builders Association of Michigan (HBA of Michigan), is launching a “Residential Construction Initiative” to assist employers in protecting their workers from the most common hazards associated with residential construction. The year-long initiative will start today, May 15, 2014, and run through May 15, 2015

DETROIT - May 15, 2014 - (RealEstateRama) -- Today, Congressman John Conyers, Jr. (D-Mich.) sent a letter to Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) Director Mel Watt requesting immediate action to assist distressed homeowners in Detroit as the City works its way through Chapter 9 bankruptcy proceedings. Specifically, the letter calls for the FHFA – which regulates the Federal National Mortgage Association (Fannie Mae) and the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (Freddie Mac),

WASHINGTON, D.C. - May 8, 2014 - (RealEstateRama) -- Today, the House Committee on Financial Services unanimously passed H.R. 3211, The Mortgage Choice Act of 2013, introduced by Congressman Bill Huizenga (MI-02). H.R. 3211 is a bipartisan piece of legislation that would amend and clarify the qualified mortgage definition in the Dodd-Frank Act thereby improving access to credit and qualified mortgages for low and moderate income borrowers while protecting consumers from bad loans. Following passage, Congressman Huizenga released the following statement on The Mortgage Choice Act of 2013

LANSING - April 17, 2014 - (RealEstateRama) -- Attorney General Bill Schuette today announced that his Criminal Division has charged R.O. Savage Funeral Chapel, and its owner Richard Weishuhn, 68, of Standish with multiple felony embezzlement charges for allegedly embezzling money from his customers' prepaid funerals

WASHINGTON, D.C. - April 10, 2014 - (RealEstateRama) -- U.S. Representative Candice Miller (MI-10) issued the following statement on the Michigan Strategic Fund’s $100,000 grant to Landmark Port Huron, LLC for the renovation of the Cavis building located at Huron and Michigan Avenues:

WASHINGTON, D.C. - April 4, 2014 - (RealEstateRama) -- U.S. Senator Debbie Stabenow, a senior member of the Senate Finance Committee, today praised Committee passage of her Mortgage Forgiveness Tax Relief Act, bipartisan legislation that protects underwater homeowners from being hit with huge, unfair tax bills by the IRS. Her provision, included in legislation to extend expiring tax provisions (the EXPIRE Act), ensures that homeowners who owe more on their mortgages than their homes are now worth would not be hit with additional income tax if a portion of their mortgage is forgiven as part of an agreement with their lender. Without Sen. Stabenow's legislation, homeowners - for the first time since housing crisis began - would be required to pay taxes on this phantom income when they refinance or sell their homes in what are commonly called short sales

GRAND RAPIDS, - April 2, 2014 - (RealEstateRama) -- Lt. Gov. Brian Calley today signed the remaining eight bills of a bipartisan package of legislation that provides more stable local government revenue for essential services, including police and fire protection, as the obsolete, job-killing personal property tax is phased out

WASHINGTON, D.C. - April 2, 2014 - (RealEstateRama) -- The Michigan State Housing Development Authority (MSHDA) has announced an exciting new loan program for repeat homebuyers. MSHDA’s MI Next Home has been created to make down payment assistance available to repeat buyers. The program was designed specifically for those applicants who may not qualify for MSHDA’s existing MI First Home program due to their previous homeownership status

DETROIT - March 31, 2014 - (RealEstateRama) -- Yesterday afternoon, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced that $1,000,000 in Great Lakes Restoration Initiative Shoreline Cities grant funding would be provided to the Detroit Water and Sewerage Department’s Near East Side Drainage District for two green infrastructure projects to ensure clean water in the region by preventing stormwater from contaminating the Great Lakes. In particular, a portion of the EPA grant would fund a program to convert vacant publicly owned lots in Detroit’s Lower Eastside into green space; the remainder of the EPA grant will be allocated towards the installation of green infrastructure at Detroit’s Recovery Park

LANSING, Mich. - March 31, 2014 - (RealEstateRama) -- Gov. Rick Snyder on Friday signed the first of a series of bipartisan bills that will provide more stable local government revenue for essential services including police and fire protection as the obsolete, job-killing personal property tax is phased out.

DETROIT - March 28, 2014 - (RealEstateRama) -- The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency today announced the award of two Great Lakes Restoration Initiative grants totaling $1.25 million to fund green infrastructure projects in Southeast Michigan to improve water quality in the Great Lakes. EPA Region 5 Administrator / Great Lakes National Program Manager Susan Hedman was joined at the Southeast Michigan Council of Governments Offices by Detroit Water & Sewerage Director Sue McCormick, St. Clair Shores Mayor Kip Walby, John Erb, President of the Erb Family Foundation, and Kathleen Lomako, Executive Director of the Southeast Michigan Council of Governments

LANSING - March 27, 2014 - (RealEstateRama) -- Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette has issued a formal Attorney General Opinion stating that the fees listed in the Building Officials and Inspectors Registration Act usually applicable to building officials, plan reviewers, and inspectors, should be waived for honorably discharged veterans.