RealEstateRama

New York, NY & Greenwich, CT - June 30, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Cushman & Wakefield Sonnenblick Goldman and Starwood Property Trust (NYSE: STWD) jointly announced today the completion of a $23 million refinancing and arrangement of up to $13 million in construction financing for the City Club Hotel in Midtown Manhattan. The loan will allow for the construction of up to 66 additional rooms to be built above the existing small luxury hotel, home to Daniel Boulud’s DB Bistro Moderne, which occupies a prime location on 44th Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenues.

WASHINGTON, DC - June 29, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- The U.S. Department of Labor today announced $83,941,360 in grants through the National Farmworker Jobs Program to combat the chronic unemployment and underemployment experienced by migrant and seasonal farmworkers who depend primarily on agricultural labor jobs. A total of $78,253,180 will go to 52 organizations nationwide to provide training, employment and support services for farmworkers and their families. An additional $5,688,600 will go to 16 organizations to provide temporary or permanent housing assistance

WASHINGTON, D.C. - June 29, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- USAA Real Estate Company, co-developer with Cambridge Development Group of The Preserve on Fredericksburg, announced the sale of the 376-unit Class-A multi-family project located in San Antonio, Texas to an undisclosed institutional investor. Will Balthrope with the Balthrope Group of Institutional Property Advisors, a Marcus & Millichap Company, represented USAA in the transaction. Details of the purchase and sale agreement have not been disclosed.

WASHINGTON, D.C. - June 29, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- CRL, the National Consumer Law Center and other groups yesterday filed a joint comment letter on why a new proposal by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency makes no sense, will not stand up in court, and should be withdrawn. [Read the letter: http://www.responsiblelending.org/mortgage-lending/policy-legislation/regulators/comments-to-the-occ-we.html.]

Detroit, MI - June 29, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Quicken Loans Inc., the nation’s largest online home lender, today became the first mortgage provider to offer a mobile app that enables clients to apply for a home loan from the palm of their hand with the launch of “MyQL Mobile.” The app, available for the iPhone, iPod touch and iPad, guides clients from their initial application to the closing table, all part of the company’s mission to provide a home loan experience that is “Engineered to Amaze.”

DALLAS, TX - June 29, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- HomeVestors of America, Inc. (“HomeVestors”), known for its registered trademark We Buy Ugly Houses®, has been diligent in protecting its trademarks. For many years HomeVestors has aggressively pursued a campaign to stop third parties from improperly using the company’s federally registered and protected trademarks in their business activities

DALLAS, TX - June 29, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- HomeVestors of America, Inc., known as the “We Buy Ugly Houses®” company, announced that national public voting is now under way in the “2011 Ugliest House of the Year®” contest in six regional markets across the USA. Have your voice heard and compare your opinion with others by voting in the 2011 “Ugliest House” contest.

VIENNA, VA - June 28, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) today, in its First Quarter 2011 Mortgage Loan Fraud (MLF) analysis, reported that the number of MLF suspicious activity reports (SARs) rose to 25,485 up 31 percent from 19,420 in the first quarter of 2010. FinCEN attributes the increase to large mortgage lenders conducting additional reviews after receiving demands to repurchase poorly performing mortgage loans. In the first quarter of 2011, 86 percent of MLF SARs reported activities which occurred more than two years prior to the filing of the SARs.

Des Plaines, IL - June 27, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- A nationwide survey of remodeling contractors by the National Association of the Remodeling Industry (NARI) reveals a significant increase in the cost of a remodeling project due to current federal regulation. Regulation that according to survey results, is unwelcome to homeowners who do not have small children living in their home. And regulation that is certain to negatively impact scores of small remodeling businesses.

AUSTIN, TX - June 27, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Purchasing a home is the biggest investment that most consumers will ever make, therefore it is vital to have all of the information available about the property prior to signing on the dotted line. To help consumers know detailed information about the "life story" of their new home, BuildFax, the nation's leading provider of historical building permit data, is now offering consumers access to a free detailed report about the home, including relevant permit data regarding key upgrades and repairs made to the property.

NORFOLK, VA - June 23, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- ForRent.com®, the anchor website of For Rent Media Solutions™, announced today that it has achieved significant traction bringing apartment communities onto Facebook through its exclusive partnership with Oodle. Customers that have upgraded to Marketplace Expert gain access to exclusive Facebook Page building and management tools, as well as showcase their apartment units in the Marketplace on Facebook.

INDIANAPOLIS, IN - June 23, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Today an advisory services panel from the Urban Land Institute (ULI) arrives in Indianapolis to examine the General Motors (GM) Stamping Plant to provide recommendations and alternatives for the site’s future use. The City of Indianapolis and Develop Indy, the city’s economic development organization, are both sponsoring the panel.

WASHINGTON, D.C. - June 22, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- On the one-year anniversary of the release of Opening Doors: Federal Strategic Plan to End Homelessness (the Plan), the National Alliance to End Homelessness (Alliance) released a report analyzing the success of the member federal agencies of the US Interagency Council on Homelessness in meeting the Plan’s ambitious goals. The Progress Report reveals that while there was a great deal of activity on the 52 strategies the Plan identified to meet the goals, measurable progress has been made on only 18 strategies. Moreover, preliminary data suggest that instead of going down, homelessness in the country may have increased slightly during the first year of the Plan.

WASHINGTON, D.C. - June 22, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- On June 22, 2010, the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness (USICH) issued the Administration’s federal strategic plan to end homelessness

NORFOLK, VA - June 22, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- For Rent Media Solutions™, a leading resource for apartment searches nationwide and operator of ForRent.com®, a division of Dominion Enterprises, has seen success through the exclusive partnership with VaultWare, an online marketing and leasing solution provider for the multifamily housing industry. This collaboration’s recently introduced version of the VaultWare Places product will now be rolled out to a nationwide audience.

WASHINGTON, D.C. - June 22, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- A diverse coalition of 44 consumer organizations, civil rights groups, lenders, real estate professionals and insurers joined with Members of Congress today urging regulators to make important changes to proposed mortgage lending regulations.

WASHINGTON, D.C. - June 22, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Characterized by its innovative environmental and sustainable features, The Station at Othello Park development in Southeast Seattle now represents the first mixed-use project on Seattle’s Central Link light rail to earn prestigious LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Silver certification from the U.S. Green Building Council.

LOS ANGELES, CA - June 22, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Greater Los Angeles Healthcare System (GLA) posted the Master Plan for the West Los Angeles (WLA) campus, which includes plans to expand the homeless program by renovating buildings on the historic campus.

June 21, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- USAA Real Estate Company announced the sale of 5th Street Crossing, a mixed-use, transit-oriented development located on 3 acres at 351 North 5th Street in Garland’s Old Town Station. The property was sold to Minneapolis-based, Oaks Properties LLC for an undisclosed sum. Mark Stymiest with CB Richard Ellis Group, Inc. represented the seller in the transaction.

WASHINGTON, DC - June 20, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- A former senior vice president and head of Colonial Bank’s Mortgage Warehouse Lending Division was sentenced today to eight years in prison for her role in a more than $2.9 billion fraud scheme that contributed to the failures of Colonial Bank and Taylor, Bean & Whitaker (TBW). Colonial Bank was one of the 25 largest banks in the United States and TBW was one of the largest privately-held mortgage lending companies in the United States in 2009.