Yearly Archives: 2010

EUGENE, OR - April 21, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- IDX Inc. is please to welcome Downing Frye Realtor Kerrie Novak to the growing team of real estate professionals choosing to update their websites with IDX Broker software. By doing so, Novak is integrating her website with the Sunshine MLS (SSMLS) listing information, previously unavailable to online home seekers. The innovative IDX Broker software extracts raw listing data from SSMLS and embeds it on Novak's website. Potential home buyers all around Naples, Florida now have access to a full, up-to-date database of listing information right on Novak's site.

Washington, D.C. - April 20, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- News reports on SEC investigations today illustrate what the Wall Street Journal calls “an open secret on Wall Street”: investment banks created products it knew would fail just to give hedge funds an opportunity to bet against them. The fact that these products were being created solely as a way for hedge funds to bet against the housing market was never disclosed to those who invested in them. Banks profited by taking fees for moving these investments, and then got bailed out by taxpayers when the investments went bad. Pension funds, mutual funds, local governments and other investors on Main Street lost heavily

April 19, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- The Michigan Public Service Commission (MPSC) today released a Request for Proposal (RFP) for low‑income energy efficiency grants. The grants are funded by the Low‑Income and Energy Efficiency Fund (LIEEF).

LANSING, MI - April 15, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- The Granholm Administration today unveiled the state's proposed plan to distribute $154.5 million in federal funds beginning this summer that should help more than 17,000 Michigan households avoid foreclosure, including 11,000 homeowners who are currently drawing unemployment benefits and are struggling to make monthly mortgage payments.

April 12, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- In the fall of 2008, America suffered a devastating economic assault. It left deep wounds: millions lost their jobs; millions lost their homes. Good businesses shut down. Financial markets froze, the stock market plummeted, and once valuable securities turned worthless. Storied financial firms teetered on the edge or went under. The contagion spread worldwide. And in October 2008, American taxpayers were hit with a $700 billion bailout of Wall Street.

WASHINGTON, DC - April 9, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development today announced that Washtenaw County, Michigan is being awarded a $250,000 grant to produce 30 new affordable green rental units in Ann Arbor. The County will use Avalon Housing, Inc., an established community-based affordable housing developer, to create these new apartments which will feature a sustainable site design, water-conserving fixtures, energy-efficient appliances/lighting, and environmentally friendly building materials.

LANSING, MI - April 8, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- Recently, Governor Jennifer M. Granholm signed into law a bill establishing a new per occupant fee as part of the licensing and inspection process for migrant labor housing in Michigan. The $5 per occupancy fee is paid by growers at the time of their application to help offset general fund budget reductions to the Michigan Department of Agriculture's (MDA) Migrant Labor Housing Inspection Program

Ann Arbor, MI - April 1, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- Kramer-Triad Management Group, an Associa company, is pleased to announce that Charles “Chick” Bricker Jr. has been elected Vice-President of the Board of Directors of the Michigan Chapter of the CAI for the 2010-2011 term.

LANSING, MI - March 26, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- Michigan Senate Democrats continued to combat the negative impact of home foreclosure on Michigan families today with their effort to lower property taxes for homeowners in communities hit hard by foreclosure. The amendment to Senate Bill 395 would have required tax collectors to consider foreclosed homes in a neighborhood when determining property values and taxes. The amendment was defeated by the Republican Majority on a party line vote.

March 25, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- The Department of Energy, Labor & Economic Growth (DELEG) announces that Michigan Public Service Commissioner Monica Martinez will be speaking at the Urban Green Summit, hosted by the Highland Park NAACP, University of Phoenix, and Rainbow PUSH Detroit. The Summit will focus on empowering urban communities through green education and employment.

LANSING, MI - March 25, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- The Office of Financial and Insurance Regulation (OFIR), the Conference of State Bank Supervisors (CSBS) and the American Association of Residential Mortgage Regulators (AARMR) today announced a settlement with CitiFinancial regarding the firm’s failure to report 91,127 residential mortgage loans, including more than 4,000 in Michigan, to the federal government as required by the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA). The settlement requires CitiFinancial to pay a $63,457 penalty to the State of Michigan, which will be put into the Mortgage Brokers, Lenders, and Servicers Licensing Act Fund and used to support OFIR’s mortgage examination and licensing programs

March 15, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- Comfort Inn & Suites Hotel and Conference Center, located in Mt. Pleasant, has earned Green Lodging Michigan (GLM) Steward certification from the Michigan Department of Energy, Labor & Economic Growth (DELEG).

March 12, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- Today, during National Consumer Protection Week, Michigan's Automobile and Home Insurance Consumer Advocate Melvin Butch Hollowell announced he has been appointed by the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) to the position of Consumer Liaison Representative. The NAIC has also listed Hollowell in its newly-created Consumer Expert Database

WASHINGTON, DC - March 12, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- U.S. Senator Debbie Stabenow (D-MI), a member of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, made the following statement after the committee held a hearing to review proposals designed to create jobs by making buildings energy efficient. The committee heard testimony from Terrence Mierzwa with Consumers Energy, headquartered in Jackson as well as Larry Laseter with Masco Home Services located in Taylor. The committee considered three proposals, including two supported by Senator Stabenow, the Building Star Energy Efficiency Act and the Home Star Energy Efficiency Retrofit Program.

LANSING, MI - March 9, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- Today Senator Gretchen Whitmer (D-East Lansing) offered the following statement on the need to protect Michigan consumers from foreclosure scams, and her legislation to help do so. Senate Bill 930, Whitmer's legislation to develop qualifications and regulations on foreclosure consultants, was introduced in October 2009 and is currently awaiting action by the Senate Banking and Financial Institutions Committee.