Loans will preserve a total of 931 affordable apartments in Reading, Wellesley, Falmouth, Needham, Abington, Sturbridge, Winchester, Norton, Sudbury and Maynard. BOSTON, MA - May 17, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- MassHousing announced $110.6 million in loan commitments today for the acquisition and preservation of affordable housing for seniors and families in 10 communities

BOSTON, MA - May 13, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- AG Coakley has reached settlements with a Fairhaven real estate company and a real estate broker for delivering alleged deceptive notices to tenants living in foreclosed properties in Roxbury and southeastern Massachusetts in an effort to unlawfully break their lease agreements and remove them from the properties. The notices allegedly threatened to remove the tenants and their belongings from the premises if the defendants were not immediately contacted.The Assurances of Discontinuance filed yesterday in Suffolk Superior Court against RE/MAX Classic of Fairhaven and real estate broker Simone Schettino provide a broad range of relief and preventive measures to ensure their future compliance with state and federal consumer protection laws

Worcester, MA - May 12, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- As the real estate industry changes, the needs of the professionals in the industry change with it. The techniques and coaching programs that worked as a little as one year ago do not get the same results today. That’s why Real Estate Inner Circle™, the nation’s fastest growing real estate coaching company, created the Real Estate Inner Circle University™. “REIC-U” is Real Estate Inner Circle’s dedicated teaching and training division. It features affordable online courses that meet the sales, marketing, and training challenges real estate professionals face every day.

Funding will benefit sober housing programs in Roxbury, New Bedford and Tewksbury BOSTON, MA - May 12, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- MassHousing has awarded $180,000 in funding to help create new units of affordable sober housing for women in Roxbury and New Bedford and housing stabilization services for women in Tewksbury

HOLYOKE, MA - May 11, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- Acres of contaminated property located between the Connecticut River and the Front Canal in historic downtown Holyoke will be cleaned up and redeveloped as a result of a Brownfields Covenant Not to Sue Agreement that Attorney General Martha Coakley’s Office has entered into with the prospective developer of the site.The covenant agreement limits the liability related to contamination on the six parcels in exchange for the redevelopment and cleanup. The property was once home to American Writing Paper and Brown Paper Mills in the 19th and 20th centuries, but the majority of the buildings on the site have been largely vacant in recent decades. Under the agreement, Quantum Properties LLC will clean up the parcels in accordance with Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (MassDEP) standards and redevelop them into modern industrial and commercial buildings. The parcels are contaminated with oil and hazardous materials from their industrial history

BOSTON, MA - May 11, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- A former Adams man has been ordered to pay $185,657 in damages and civil penalties for engaging in mortgage fraud that resulted in a string of foreclosures in Adams, Greenfield, North Adams, and Pittsfield, Attorney General Martha Coakley’s Office announced today.AG Coakley’s Office obtained a Final Judgment against Richard E. Doherty, 65, of Norwich, Connecticut, resolving claims of mortgage fraud that were outlined in a 2008 lawsuit. The final judgment, entered by Suffolk Superior Court Judge Elizabeth Fahey last week, determined Doherty violated the Consumer Protection Act when he obtained loan proceeds by fraudulently procuring mortgages on multi-family homes and commercial buildings in communities in Western Massachusetts.

ANDOVER, MA - May 11, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) officials have heard it all when it comes to homeowners who tell them why they aren’t going to apply for a low-interest disaster loan.

WALTHAM, MA - May 11, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- The Massachusetts Association of REALTORS® (MAR) today announced that for the first time since MAR started collecting survey data in January 2008, the REALTOR® Market Index is on the positive side of the 100-point scale for April. For the third straight month REALTORS® are optimistic on price as the REALTOR® Price Index also continues to be in positive territory.

BOSTON, MA - May 6, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- MassHousing announced a $26.9 million construction loan commitment today for Phase One of the Old Colony public housing redevelopment in South Boston. Beacon Communities of Boston is developing the first phase of the Old Colony project, which will replace seven distressed and blighted apartment buildings with 116 new apartments for low-income families in one mid-rise building and four clusters of town homes. Phase One also includes the construction of a new 10,000-square-foot community center, which will be operated by the Boston Housing Authority (BHA)

WOBURN, MA - May 6, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- A Marblehead attorney has been indicted by a statewide Grand Jury for allegedly attempting to retrieve over $1.3 million dollars in mortgage funds in connection with a sophisticated mortgage fraud scheme. Leon Gelfgatt, age 49, allegedly used false documents to create the appearance that mortgages on several Massachusetts properties which were scheduled for impending sale had been transferred to a fake company created by Gelfgatt. Gelfgatt allegedly did this in order to obtain the payoff funds sent by real estate closing attorneys when the properties were sold.

Will advise Fannie Mae on best practices to create affordable housing. BOSTON, MA - May 4, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- MassHousing Executive Director Thomas R. Gleason has been selected to serve on Fannie Mae’s inaugural Affordable Housing Advisory Council, which will advise Fannie Mae on how it can best support the creation of affordable housing.

WALTHAM, MA - May 4, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- The Massachusetts Association of REALTORS® (MAR) reported today that the number of single-family homes put under agreement in April was up 25 percent over the same time last year, while condominiums were up 22 percent. April is the tenth straight month that the number of both single-family homes and condominiums put under agreement had increased over the year before.

NORTH ATTLEBOROUGH, MA - April 28, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- A former manufacturing facility in North Attleborough that was contaminated with metals, chemical solvents and oil will be cleaned up and commercially redeveloped as a result of a Brownfields Covenant Not to Sue Agreement Attorney General Martha Coakley’s Office entered into with the owner and prospective developer of the site

BOSTON, MA - April 21, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- Senator John Kerry and Congresswoman Niki Tsongas today announced that the Carbon-Neutral Lowell Park and Preservation District initiative will receive $5 million in Recovery Act funding from the U.S. Department of Energy.

ANDOVER, MA - April 21, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- Rebuilding or repairing a home after a disaster, like the recent March flooding, can be a daunting task. But with the right suggestions, homeowners can build back smarter and stronger