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AUSTIN, TX - June 17, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- The Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs (TDHCA) today announced that the state has secured a $619,696 federal grant that will significantly further its efforts to reduce the number of home foreclosures across Texas and help stabilize families, declining home values, and local government coffers.The grant, awarded through the National Foreclosure Mitigation Counseling (NFMC) Program – Round 5, will provide counseling to potentially as many as 1,500 Texas homeowners in or facing a home foreclosure and help them avoid foreclosure

HOUSTON, TX - June 3, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Adrian Levale Cole and Albert Terrance Watkins, both of Houston, have been sentenced to prison for their roles in a multi-million-dollar mortgage fraud scheme, United States Attorney José Angel Moreno announced today.

AUSTIN, TX - May 27, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- The Texas House of Representatives passed HB 2761 which requires Texas Home Owners Associations to operate openly. Under HB 2761, HOAs may no longer foreclose on an assessment lien if the debt consists solely of fines assessed by the association, attorney's fees incurred by the association solely associated with fines assessed by the association or amounts added to the owner's account for open record requests.

May 26, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- With only ten minutes remaining in the Texas House for consideration of non-local Senate Bills, Speaker Straus recognized Representative Bonnen for an important motion

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 10, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- The Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs (TDHCA) today announced a $190,2651 award to a Houston-based nonprofit housing finance agency assisting eligible residents in eight southeast Texas counties and 11 cities purchasing a home of their own, providing greater stability to area low income families and a shot in the arm to the local economy.TDHCA made the award through its HOME Investment Partnerships (HOME) Program to the Southeast Texas Housing Finance Corporation (SETHFC), which the organization will use to provide nine households with down payment and closing cost assistance and helping them achieve the American Dream of homeownership.

AUSTIN, TX - May 6, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- The Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs (TDHCA) today announced two awards totaling $787,000 to the City of Center to help promote and maintain homeownership while providing a shot in the arm to the local economy.TDHCA awarded the city $265,000 in homebuyer assistance funds which it will use to provide down payment and closing cost assistance to help an estimated 10 eligible residents purchase a home of their own.

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 - May 4, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has announced a $3.3 million Continuum of Care grant to Texas which will directly fund seven local organizations providing housing and supportive services to an estimated 246 homeless individuals or those at risk of homelessness, helping to transition them out of poverty and toward self-reliance.

Cotulla, TX - April 27, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- USDA Rural Housing Administrator Tammye Treviño today announced support for health care, public safety and education projects to create jobs and improve the quality of rural life in 15 Texas communities. “USDA is providing funds to help communities in rural Texas create jobs, attract businesses and provide improved services to their residents,” Trevino said. “The Obama Administration is helping Texas win the future by building the infrastructure needed for quality health care services, modern library facilities and school buildings, and reliable emergency services equipment.”

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.

Washington, DC - April 14, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- This week, Congressman Al Green (TX-09) introduced two amendments which focus on housing counseling and the Housing and Urban Development Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing (HUD-VASH) program to the Department of Defense and Full-Year Continuing Appropriations Act, 2011 (H.R. 1473).

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

Dallas, TX - February 23, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) and First American Financial Corporation (First American) today partnered with the Dallas (Texas) Area Habitat for Humanity for a Habitat for Humanity homebuilding project in the Cedar Creek Ranch community in Dallas.

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.