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WASHINGTON, D.C. - December 20, 2013 - (RealEstateRama) -- Today the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, authorities in 49 states, and the District of Columbia are filing a proposed court order requiring the country’s largest nonbank mortgage servicer to compensate consumers for years of systemic and significant servicing errors. Ocwen Financial Corporation and its subsidiary, Ocwen Loan Servicing, must refund $125 million to people who have already lost their homes. And they must provide $2 billion in relief to current homeowners who are underwater and in danger of losing their homes

WASHINGTON, D.C. - December 20, 2013 - (RealEstateRama) -- Today, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), authorities in 49 states, and the District of Columbia filed a proposed court order requiring the country’s largest nonbank mortgage loan servicer, Ocwen Financial Corporation, and its subsidiary, Ocwen Loan Servicing, to provide $2 billion in principal reduction to underwater borrowers. The consent order addresses Ocwen’s systemic misconduct at every stage of the mortgage servicing process. Ocwen must also refund $125 million to the nearly 185,000 borrowers who have already been foreclosed upon and it must adhere to significant new homeowner protections

WASHINGTON, D.C. - December 17, 2013 - (RealEstateRama) -- In accordance with the Stewart B. McKinney Homeless Assistance Act, HUD published a Notice in the Dec. 13, 2013, Federal Register identifying Federal buildings and other real property HUD has reviewed for suitability for use to assist the homeless. The properties were reviewed using information provided to HUD by Federal landholding agencies or by GSA regarding their inventories of excess or surplus property. The list includes buildings and properties in California

WASHINGTON, D.C. - December 12, 2013 - (RealEstateRama) -- GSA’s Green Proving Ground program is exploring new ways to mitigate the impact of our built environment on the natural environment. The Green Proving Ground tests promising sustainable building technologies in the real-world setting of federal facilities to evaluate their potential to reduce resource consumption and improve building performance. Additionally, the Green Proving Ground seeks to provide data and insights that will accelerate the broader commercialization and deployment of sustainable building technologies.

WASHINGTON, D.C. - December 11, 2013 - (RealEstateRama) -- Statement by National Low Income Housing Coalition President and CEO Sheila Crowley on the Confirmation of Mel Watt as Director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency. Today, the U.S. Senate confirmed Representative Mel Watt (D-NC) as the new director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, marking a great day for the millions of low income Americans in need of decent, affordable homes.

WASHINGTON, D.C. - December 6, 2013 - (RealEstateRama) -- Mayor Vincent C. Gray, Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development Victor L. Hoskins, Deputy Mayor for Public Safety and Justice Paul Quander, DC Fire and Emergency Medical Services Chief Kenneth B. Ellerbe, Department of General Services Director Brian Hanlon and members of the E Street Development Group will break ground on a new development that will house a fire station and a Hyatt Place Hotel.

WASHINGTON, D.C. - November 20, 2013 - (RealEstateRama) -- The average home buyer looks to friends and family first when gathering information on the home-buying process, ahead of realtors by more than two to one and mortgage lenders by more than four to one in the latest homeownership survey from NeighborWorks America, one of the country’s leading housing and community development nonprofit corporations

Washington, D.C. - November 19, 2013 - (RealEstateRama) -- On Thursday, November 21, the Center for American Progress will host a discussion on unethical discrimination in the U.S. housing market. Widespread discriminatory and unethical lending was a major contributor to the collapse of the U.S. housing market and the subsequent loss of more than 4 million homes due to foreclosure. In this forum, panelists will explore the current state of housing discrimination, segregation, and integration in the United States.

ERIE COUNTY, NY - October 24, 2013 - (RealEstateRama) -- Today, Erie County Executive Mark C. Poloncarz joined Daniel Burstein, Executive Deputy Superintendent of the New York State Department of Financial Services’ (“DFS”) Real Estate Finance Division, along with other members of the Division and homeowners at the Mobile Command Center (“MCC”) during the MCC’s daylong visit to the ELIM Christian Fellowship on Chalmers Avenue in Buffalo. The MCC is staffed with DFS personnel equipped to provide foreclosure prevention assistance to struggling homeowners, assess individuals’ specific situations, and intercede on behalf of homeowners with their mortgage lenders or servicers, among other services

WASHINGTON, D.C. - October 23, 2013 - (RealEstateRama) --Nearly 1.6 million homeowners have received foreclosure prevention counseling by local nonprofits, national intermediaries and state housing finance agencies participating in the National Foreclosure Mitigation Counseling (NFMC) program. The NFMC program is administered by NeighborWorks® America, one of the nation’s largest community development corporations.

WASHINGTON, D.C. - October 11, 2013 - (RealEstateRama) -- The Federal Reserve Board on Thursday announced that it has reached an agreement in principle with SunTrust Banks, Inc., and certain of its subsidiaries (SunTrust) regarding the issuance of $160 million in monetary sanctions. The monetary sanctions would be assessed for unsafe and unsound processes and practices in residential mortgage loans servicing and foreclosure processing

WASHINGTON, D.C. - October 7, 2013 - (RealEstateRama) -- Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have completed more than 2.9 million foreclosure prevention actions since the start of conservatorship in 2008. These actions have helped approximately 2.4 million borrowers stay in their homes, including more than 1.4 million who received permanent loan modifications. During the first half of 2013, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac completed more than 247,000 foreclosure prevention actions, 117,000 of these in the second quarter. The majority of these allowed troubled borrowers to save their homes. The results are detailed in the Federal Housing Finance Agency’s second quarter 2013 Foreclosure Prevention Report, also known as the Federal Property Manager’s Report

WASHINGTON, D.C. - October 3, 2013 - (RealEstateRama) -- The Homeownership Preservation Foundation (HPF), an independent national nonprofit dedicated to helping distressed homeowners navigate financial challenges and avoid mortgage foreclosure through its Homeowner’s HOPE™ Hotline at 888-995-HOPE™, today issued guidance to federal employees anticipating difficulties meeting their monthly mortgage obligations due to a government shutdown-related loss of income.

WASHINGTON - September 17, 2013 - (RealEstateRama) -- U.S. Housing and Urban Development Secretary Shaun Donovan today announced HUD will speed federal disaster assistance to the State of Colorado and provide support to homeowners and low-income renters forced from their homes due to severe storms, flooding, landslides and mudslides

WASHINGTON, D.C. - September 17, 2013 - (RealEstateRama) -- A former investor in the Alabama real estate foreclosure auctions industry pleaded guilty today to one count of making false statements, the Department of Justice announced.

WASHINGTON, D.C. - August 16, 2013 - (RealEstateRama) -- On August 12, the American Bar Association (ABA) House of Delegates passed a resolution calling on the U.S. government at all levels to promote and implement the human right to housing.

WASHINGTON, DC - August 14, 2013 - (RealEstateRama) -- HOPE NOW, the voluntary, private sector alliance of mortgage servicers, investors, mortgage insurers and non-profit counselors, released its Q2 2013 data, which shows that approximately 204,000 homeowners received permanent loan modifications from mortgage servicers from April through June of this year.

SAN DIEGO, - August 13, 2013 - (RealEstateRama) -- DataQuick®, a provider of advanced real estate information solutions powered by data, analytics and decisioning, has expanded the availability of its pre-foreclosure intelligence from 156 US counties to 872 counties—significantly enhancing distressed property analysis capabilities for originators, risk managers and servicers.

WASHINGTON, D.C. - August 6, 2013 - (RealEstateRama) -- Glen Alan Ward, 48, a former Los Angeles resident who fled to Canada and was a federal fugitive for 12 years, was sentenced today to serve 132 months in prison for aggravated identity theft and bankruptcy fraud in connection with his leading role in a nearly 15-year foreclosure-rescue scam that fraudulently postponed foreclosure sales for more than 800 distressed homeowners

WASHINGTON, DC - August 2, 2013 - (RealEstateRama) -- Almost 3 million people have cashed or deposited more than $2.6 billion in checks related to the Independent Foreclosure Review (IFR) Payment Agreement through August 1, 2013.