Yearly Archives: 2010

LANSING, MI - December 27, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- A recently released report shows homeownership counseling networks in Michigan and nationwide are bringing significant relief to over a million families struggling to avoid foreclosure, Michigan State Housing Development Authority (MSHDA) Executive Director Gary Heidel announced today. MSHDA is part of a national effort through the National Foreclosure Mitigation Counseling (NFMC) program bringing major counseling assistance to over a million families.

December 27, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- The Department of Energy, Labor & Economic Growth's (DELEG) Bureau of Energy Services Director Amy Butler, today announced that DELEG is awarding five different grants $15,000 each for Home Seminars and Tours projects. Home Seminars and Tours projects provide hands on examples for citizens on how to make homes more energy efficient

November 16, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- Following a public comment period, the Federal Trade Commission has approved a proposal by Fidelity National Financial, Inc. to sell rights to certain assets used in conducting real estate title searches. Fidelity is required to sell these rights to comply with an FTC Order that settled charges that Fidelity’s 2008 acquisition of three LandAmerica Financial subsidiaries reduced competition in markets for real estate title information services. This proposal resolves Commission concerns that Fidelity would be the only provider of title plant information services in the Detroit, Michigan, metropolitan area

Detroit, MI - November 15, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- Quicken Loans Inc., the nation’s largest online lender and top-five retail mortgage lender, and Quizzle LLC, a free online tool that helps consumers better manage their home, money and credit, today announced they ranked #1 in the Detroit Free Press’ Top Workplaces in Michigan 2010 list

November 8, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- Applications are now available from the Department of Natural Resources and Environment for funding under the DNRE's fiscal year 2011 Scrap Tire Cleanup Grant Program. Property owners with abandoned scrap tires and scrap tires at collection sites are eligible for funding assistance under this program.

November 5, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- The Bureau of Fire Services (BFS) in the Department of Energy, Labor & Economic Growth urges consumers to change batteries in their smoke alarms and carbon monoxide detectors when changing their clocks to Standard Time (setting clocks back one hour) that officially begins on Sunday, November 7 at 2 am. Having working smoke detectors with fresh batteries can provide a family with crucial extra seconds to escape a burning home.

October 29, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- The Michigan Department of Civil Rights (MDCR) released the following statement as a status update on an investigation into allegations of illegal housing advertisement discrimination. The allegations related to a roommate wanted posting in a Grand Rapids area church which indicated a preference for a "Christian roommate."

Lansing, MI - October 19, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- The Michigan State Housing Development Authority (MSHDA) announced today Ellen Kisinger-Rothi, Executive Director of Housing Resource, Inc. in Kalamazoo, is the recipient of the 2010 Carla Javits Award for her dedicated service and forward thinking in the Campaign to End Homelessness in Michigan

WASHINGTON, DC - October 18, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- U.S. Sens. Carl Levin and Debbie Stabenow, both D-Mich., today announced that two Michigan housing development firms will receive a combined $6 million in federal awards designed to help develop affordable housing in low-income communities. Lansing-based Great Lakes Capital Fund Nonprofit Housing Corporation will receive $4 million and Detroit-based Southwest Housing Solutions will receive $2 million through the U.S. Treasury’s Community Development Financial Institutions Capital Magnet Fund.

LANSING, MI - October 18, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- Governor Jennifer M. Granholm yesterday called on the nation's top lending institutions that service mortgages in Michigan to suspend all foreclosures pending investigation of possibly fraudulent foreclosure filings. The governor also repeated her call for the nation's top lenders to fully participate in the Michigan's Helping Hardest Hit Homeowners Fund to help homeowners avoid foreclosure

October 12, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- On Monday, Oct. 11, 2010, the Michigan State Housing Development Authority (MSHDA) will announce that it has provided counseling to 17,000 Michigan families since 2008 thanks in part to funding from the National Foreclosure Mitigation Counseling (NFMC) Program. The NFMC Program recently announced that more than 1 million homeowners in Michigan and across the nation have sought and received foreclosure intervention counseling from more than 1,700 nonprofit counseling organizations funded by the program, including MSHDA.

WASHINGTON, DC - October 11, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- U.S. Senator Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) today made the following statement about the ongoing foreclosure crisis and Bank of America’s announcement: “Families living in neighborhoods across Michigan continue to suffer from the economic downturn, declining home values and foreclosures. That’s why I welcome today’s announcement that Bank of America has suspended foreclosures in every state. I am concerned that too many Michigan families are losing their homes as a result of faulty paperwork and I hope that this motivates all institutions to reevaluate their processes and make sure homeowner’s are being treated fairly.

WASHINGTON, DC - October 11, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., and three Senate colleagues wrote on Friday to the CEOs of JPMorgan Chase and Ally Financial, asking them to halt foreclosure proceedings in 27 states, including Michigan, where they have not already done so

Washington, DC - October 7, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- Today, Congressman John Conyers, Jr. (MI-14) and Congresswoman Carolyn C. Kilpatrick (MI-13) called on lenders to extend their foreclosure moratorium to Michigan and other states and to cease administering foreclosures until the problem of fraudulent paperwork is resolved.

WASHINGTON, DC - October 5, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- U.S. Sens. Debbie Stabenow and Carl Levin, both D-Mich., announced a $589,273 grant for homeless veterans in Northern Michigan today. The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs made the grant to Goodwill Industries of Northern Michigan in Gaylord to provide 24 beds in transitional housing to homeless veterans