Archives

On September 10, Representative Dan Donovan (R-NY) offered a National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) related amendment during the relevant House subcommittee’s markup of the overall Homeland Security Authorization bill. The amendment passed with no opposition and would go to great lengths in assisting multifamily owners in preparing and mitigating against future flood risks. It also seeks to address many of the criticisms of the agency’s handling of the claims process in New York and New Jersey after Hurricane Sandy.

Nine grantees will collectively receive $170,000 in grants to equip affordable single- and multi-family homes with solar power, announced NeighborWorks America, a national nonprofit that creates opportunities for people to live in affordable homes, improve their lives and strengthen their communities. The average household pays nearly $170 each month in energy costs, and the typical homeowner saves more than $1,000 a year on electricity by installing roof-top solar panels

Project developers and community members in Detroit now have an easy reference guide for finding financing from Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFI) for a range of needs, including consumer mortgages, business loans, real estate projects, and mixed-use developments.

In commemoration of the US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)’s 50th anniversary, House Financial Services Chairman Jeb Hensarling (R-TX) has issued a call for ideas to reform HUD and modernize the delivery of federal housing assistance. Hensarling argues that HUD has not lived up to the expectations set for the agency by President Lyndon Johnson when he created the department, stating, “instead of marshaling federal resources towards the

In reaction to updates to the Common Securitization Platform released by the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA), NCRC President and CEO John Taylor made the following statement

“The House Energy and Commerce Committee will meet tomorrow and Thursday to consider a comprehensive energy bill that would advance energy efficiency policy on several fronts: support for federal data center efficiency, assistance to public schools for efficiency retrofits and deployment of distributed generation, promotion of efficiency in the industrial and manufacturing sectors and consensus language to facilitate negotiations on new furnace standards.

A new report from Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF) predicts substantially more solar generating capacity will get built in the United States, and a major industry downturn will be avoided, if the federal solar investment tax credit (ITC) is extended at its current level.

GRID Alternatives, America’s largest non-profit solar installer, today announced a partnership with NeighborWorks America, a national nonprofit that creates opportunities for people to live in affordable homes, improve their lives, and strengthen their communities, to extend the benefits of solar energy to lowincome families in New Jersey, New York, Colorado, and California. The partnership was announced at a three-home solar installation in Camden, N.J., one of the nation’s most economically disadvantaged communities

Long-time workers who lost their jobs for standing up for good pay and a union at 1711 Fulton Street in Bed-Stuy are back on the job today after the building owner agreed to reinstate them, recognize 32BJ SEIU as their union and sign a union contract that restores the pay and benefits they had been earning under the previous owner

The National Institute of Building Sciences Off-Site Construction Council (OSCC) is still looking for input from architecture, engineering and construction (AEC) professionals and manufacturers regarding their software use for off-site construction projects. Earlier this summer, the Council issued a survey to assess the role of software in delivering off-site constructed projects. To ensure a representative sample of industry professionals responds, the OSCC has extended the deadline to Friday, October 9 at 5:00 pm.

Informa Exhibitions and the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) are pleased to announce a new, strategic partnership for 2015. NAHB has signed on to become one of three Greenbuild Top Tier Partners for 2015, in addition to AIA and BOMA

MERSCORP Holdings, Inc. today announced that the United States Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals denied an en banc rehearing of a case that held that Kentucky recording statutes do not require a recording in the land records when promissory notes are transferred.

In a strong show of leadership in the fastest-growing renewable energy industry in America, the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) today issued the SEIA Solar Business Code to further transparency and understanding in solar power transactions, while maintaining high levels of competiveness. The code is the first national guidance document covering interactions between solar companies and consumers and is effective immediately.

In recent years, a number of disasters around the world have caused damage to critical functions in affected communities. Hurricanes Sandy and Katrina; tornadoes in Joplin, Missouri and Moore, Oklahoma; and earthquakes in Christchurch (New Zealand), Bío-Bío (Chile) and Nepal all resulted in severe damage to local hospitals, putting great strain on the healthcare systems of the impacted regions

In an effort to open investment and financial innovation – and to focus that capability on historically underserved sectors of the solar economy – the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) today launched the SEIA Finance Initiative

A federal appeals court recently upheld a lower court ruling with implications for data security practices in the multifamily industry. In the case Federal Trade Commission v. Wyndham Worldwide Corporation, the court ruled in favor of the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) statutory authority to bring enforcement actions against companies for “unfair or deceptive acts or practices in or affecting commerce” under the FTC Act.

The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) today released a new white paper, "The Basic Components of an Information Security Program," that discusses the information security risks facing the mortgage industry and the basic security practices necessary to help mitigate the risks.

More than 300 32BJ members, tenants and elected officials, will join fired building workers from 2116 Chestnut Street by tossing dozens of garbage bags on the side of the luxury high-rise apartment building on Friday at 2:30 p.m. The workers will send a clear message that, “We are not garbage to be thrown away.”

National Association of Realtors® President Chris Polychron testified before the U.S. House Judiciary Subcommittee on Courts, Intellectual Property, and the Internet at a hearing entitled “Unmanned Aerial Vehicles: Commercial Applications and Public Policy Implications.” NAR testified on the growing interest in the use of drones, their commercial application in the real estate industry, and Realtor® perspectives on legislative and regulatory efforts to advance safe drone use in the commercial space

Today, the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) launched a set of resource guidelines to educate both consumers and lenders and their business partners needing to comply with the new Know Before You Owe or TILA RESPA Integrated Disclosure (TRID) regulations that will go into effect on October 3, 2015.