WASHINGTON, DC - May 7, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- The U.S. House of Representatives passed legislation Thursday that will provide rebates to homeowners who install energy-saving products and reduce energy costs in their homes, while also creating an estimated 168,000 construction, manufacturing and retail jobs in the United States. U.S. Congressman Bart Stupak (D-Menominee) voted in favor of H.R. 5019, the Home Star Energy Retrofit Act, which had bipartisan support in the House

May 5, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- Michigan Department of Energy, Labor & Economic Growth (DELEG) Director Stanley "Skip” Pruss today announced the Michigan Occupational Safety and Health Administration (MIOSHA) has cited GRL Properties, LLC, of Grand Rapids, with $115,000 in proposed penalties for allegedly failing to adequately protect employees and the general public from serious asbestos hazards at the John Bean Building in Lansing

WASHINGTON, DC - April 26, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- Representatives of the Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force met in Detroit today for the third of a series of Mortgage Fraud Summits. The task force, established by President Barack Obama in November 2009 to wage an aggressive, coordinated, and proactive effort to investigate and prosecute financial crimes, is composed of representatives from a broad range of federal agencies, regulatory authorities, inspectors general, and state and local law enforcement.

GRAND RAPIDS, MI www.hud.gov/news/ The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development today presented over $1.1 million to five fair housing organizations to help fight housing discrimination in Michigan. John Trasviña, HUD's Assistant Secretary for Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity, made the grant presentations to Fair Housing Center of Metropolitan Detroit, Fair Housing Center of Southeastern Michigan, Legal Services of Eastern Michigan, and Fair Housing Center of West Michigan (see attached list below for project descriptions)

WASHINGTON, DC - April 22, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- U.S. Sens. Debbie Stabenow and Carl Levin, both D-Mich., announced today that the state has been awarded $30 million for the Michigan Retrofit Ramp-Up Initiative (MRRI). The funding comes from the Department of Energy’s Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grants through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

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.