Texas RealEstateRama

Washington, DC - May 26, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Today U.S. Congressman Sam Johnson (3rd Dist.-Texas) invited constituents to attend a free foreclosure prevention workshop in Dallas. The event takes place on Friday, June 10th from 3 p.m. to 8 p.m. in Dallas at the Texas Agrilife Research and Extension Center located at 17360 Coit Road.

AUSTIN, TX - May 5, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- H.B. 2671 by State Representative John V. Garza, of San Antonio, will make Home Owners Associations subject to Open Meetings, Open Records and utilize the State’s Record Retention Policy.

AUSTIN, TX - April 19, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Representative Stefani Carter (Dallas) has passed House Bill 1343, which will expand the venues in which incidents of mortgage fraud may be prosecuted.

DALLAS, TX - April 1, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- A 29-count indictment, returned last week by a federal grand jury in Dallas and unsealed this week, charges five individuals with various felony offenses related to a mortgage fraud scheme they ran for nearly three years in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, announced U.S. Attorney James T. Jacks of the Northern District of Texas (NDTX).

April 1, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Crimson Real Estate Fund, L.P., and its co-investment partner, USAA Real Estate Company, have acquired the Aspen Lake office building located in far northwest Austin, Texas from Wells Fargo Bank.

Abilene, TX - March 31, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Gov. Rick Perry today was joined by Texas Agriculture Commissioner Todd Staples, Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association Honorary Director Tom Perini and Abilene Mayor Norm Archibald to discuss legislation that would further protect private property owners' rights in Texas. The governor designated protecting private property rights/addressing eminent domain issues as an emergency item for the legislative session.

AUSTIN, TX - March 2, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- … Crescent Resources, LLC is bringing its innovative apartment-living concept to college students with the development of Circle West Campus at the intersection of West 25th and Longview Streets by the University of Texas

AUSTIN, TX - February 24, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Representative Stefani Carter (Dallas) has filed legislation that will expand the venues in which incidents of mortgage fraud may be prosecuted. Carter worked with the Attorney General's office to craft House Bill 1343, which will enable cases of mortgage fraud to be prosecuted in multiple venues in an effort to alleviate the burden that high case loads are placing on our courts

PLANO, TX - February 21, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- A 68-year-old Dallas man has been indicted in a commercial real estate investment scheme in the Eastern District of Texas, announced U.S. Attorney John M. Bales today

HOUSTON, TX - February 18, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Melvin Lendall Brown, a Houston area resident, has been sentenced to prison for wire fraud arising from a mortgage fraud scheme, United States Attorney José Angel Moreno announced today. This morning, United States District Judge David Hittner sentenced Brown, 48, to 57 months in prison for his wire fraud conviction arising from an elaborate mortgage fraud scheme in which Brown was an organizer and leader. Brown pleaded guilty to a single count of wire fraud arising from the scheme on April 20, 2010. The scheme, carried out between June 2004 and June 2005, involved numerous misrepresentations on mortgage loan applications prepared for recruited straw purchasers and supported by fraudulent documents.

February 15, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Since September 7, 2008 the U.S. taxpayers have sunk $153 billion into Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. And according to Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) the final tab could be as high as $363 billion! As if the news couldn’t get any worse for the American people, an investigation undertaken by this Subcommittee has discovered that the taxpayers have spent more than $162 million defending Fannie, Freddie and their former top executives in civil lawsuits accusing them of fraud. This includes over tens of millions dollars for former executives who knowingly and purposefully manipulated earnings to increase their own compensation, and whose actions directly contributed to the demise of the GSEs.

DALLAS, TX - February 11, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- David Boles, 52, of Colleyville, Texas, who owned Metro Buy Homes, LLC., pleaded guilty this afternoon before U.S. Magistrate Judge Irma C. Ramirez to one count of mail fraud, announced U.S. Attorney James T. Jacks of the Northern District of Texas. Boles faces a maximum statutory sentence of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. In addition, as part of his plea agreement with the government, Boles agrees to pay restitution for losses resulting from all of his criminal conduct and not just limited to losses stemming from his conviction offense. Boles is scheduled to be sentenced by U.S. District Judge Jane J. Boyle on May 26, 2011.

AUSTIN, TX - February 9, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- State Representative Eric Johnson (Dallas) has filed three bills to better protect Texans who stand to lose their property through eminent domain.

HOUSTON, TX - February 1, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Texas) will join the Houston Housing Authority as they roll out the welcome mat for more than 100 low-income families at 2:30 p.m. CT on Tuesday, February 1, at Kennedy Place, 3100 Gillespie, Houston Texas 77020. Kennedy Place is celebrating its grand opening week after being rebuilt with federal funding from the Stimulus Act, which has created thousands of jobs throughout the country while stimulating local economies, including Houston’s

HOUSTON, TX - January 27, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Today, a jury sitting in United States District Judge Sim Lake’s Courtroom found Vincent Wallace Aldridge, former fee attorney for First Southwestern Title Company and attorney for Aldridge and Associates, along with Tori Elyse Aldridge, a former employee of First Southwestern Title Company and Gilbert Barry Isgar, a co-owner of Waterford Homes, guilty of charges of wire fraud and money laundering in a scheme to defraud residential mortgage lenders of more than $3.7 million in loans in connection with home purchases in the Houston area, United States Attorney José Angel Moreno announced today along with FBI Special Agent in Charge Richard C. Powers and Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigations (IRS-CI) Special Agent in Charge Rodney E. Clarke.

WASHINGTON, DC - January 25, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Congressman Randy Neugebauer (R-TX) released the following statement today regarding today’s New York Times report on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac legal defense fees:

WASHINGTON, DC - December 22, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- A Harris County, Texas, commissioner and a Houston-based real estate developer have been charged with bribery conspiracy in an indictment returned yesterday by a federal grand jury in the Southern District of Texas, announced Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer of the Criminal Division.

DALLAS, TX - December 20, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- At separate sentencing hearings today, U.S. District Judge Barbara M.G. Lynn sentenced housing developers Brian L. Potashnik and Cheryl L. Potashnik, who were convicted in what has become known as the “Dallas City Hall Corruption Case,” announced U.S. Attorney James T. Jacks of the Northern District of Texas.

WASHINGTON, DC - December 14, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- Congressman Randy Neugebauer (R-TX), House Financial Services Oversight Subcommittee Chairman, released the following statement today regarding his December 13, 2010 letter to FHFA Director DeMarco

December 10, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- Congressman Silvestre Reyes (D-TX) released the following statement after today’s groundbreaking ceremony for the new 73-unit Paisano Green Community. The $10.4 million project was made possible by an $8.25 million grant from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. El Paso was one of only 36 communities in the nation (and the only one in Texas) awarded with a competitive grant for the construction of ‘green’ affordable housing units. Congressman Reyes was scheduled to speak at today’s ceremony but was unable to attend due to ongoing votes in the U.S. House of Representatives