Massachusetts RealEstateRama

August 31, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- Governor Deval Patrick today joined Congressman John Olver, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Shaun Donovan and other officials to celebrate the start of construction on the long-vacant Heywood Wakefield furniture manufacturing mill.(Photo credit: Matt Bennett/Governor's Office)

WOBURN, MA - August 31, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- A North Chelmsford real estate company and its agent have been sued for violating state anti-discrimination law, Attorney General Martha Coakley’s Office announced. The Attorney General’s Office filed a housing discrimination complaint yesterday against Prime Properties, Inc., and its agent, Joan Eident, in Middlesex Superior Court alleging that the defendants refused to rent to a single mother because she has a young child.“The Commonwealth’s anti-discrimination law prohibits landlords and real estate professionals from refusing to rent to prospective tenants because they have children,” AG Coakley said. “Massachusetts is facing critical housing needs and compliance with these laws is of the upmost importance in ensuring that residents are afforded the fair treatment and equal opportunity that they deserve.”

BOSTON, MA - August 24, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- Monday, August 23, 2010 - As part of the Patrick-Murray Administration's Massachusetts Recovery Plan, Governor Deval Patrick today announced that the state will target $1,700,033 in federal weatherization assistance recovery funds to replace old, inefficient heating systems in buildings operated by 13 public housing authorities throughout the Commonwealth. These upgrades will create jobs, deliver clean, efficient warmth and lower heating costs for tenants of family public housing developments in Barnstable, Carver, Concord, Fairhaven, Falmouth, Framingham, Franklin, Haverhill, Lowell, Norton, Sandwich, Sudbury and Wrentham."Today's awards will not only help keep our environment clean, but these heating system upgrades will boost business, put people to work and improve conditions for families living in state public housing," said Governor Patrick

BOSTON , MA - August 24, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- Attorney General Martha Coakley’s Office has obtained consent judgments against five defendants that perpetrated an unlawful foreclosure rescue scheme against multiple homeowners facing foreclosure that stripped and retained hundreds of thousands of dollars of the victims' home equity.The judgments, entered against Primary Mortgage Resource, Leo Desire, Sr., Robert Marks, Pierre Joseph and Daphne Mompoint, provide for payments of restitution to victims and civil penalties to the Commonwealth and prohibit the defendants from engaging in certain activities that facilitated the scheme

August 16, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- Gerardi, Foote, and Willen look at economists' assessments of the housing market prior to its collapse to see whether they saw signs of a bubble. While some economists did warn of a bubble, this was a minority view. Other economists advanced well reasoned counterarguments.

BOSTON, MA - August 16, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- MassHousing announced a loan closing today of $5.9 million to preserve affordability for low-income families at the 86-apartment St. Michael’s House in Northampton.

WORCESTER, MA - August 13, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- An Oxford man was arraigned in Worcester Superior Court for his role in a complex scheme in which fraudulent documents were used to defraud homeowners and mortgage lenders in numerous real estate transactions involving distressed properties in the Worcester County area. Allen Seymour, age 42, is charged with Forgery (4 counts), Uttering (8 counts), Inducing a Lender to Part with Property (12 counts) and Larceny by False Pretenses. Yesterday, Massachusetts State Police transported Seymour from federal prison in New Jersey to Massachusetts.Three other co-defendants have been charged in connection with this case. On December 1, 2009, Raymond A. Desautels III, age 43, of Oxford, was sentenced to serve two years in State Prison after pleading guilty to the charges of Inducing a Lender to Part with Property (5 counts).

BOSTON, MA - August 10, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- The Patrick-Murray Administration's Division of Banks today announced the issuance of 43 temporary cease-and-desist orders against licensed mortgage loan originators in Massachusetts for failing to meet requirements for licensure under state law. The mortgage loan originators did not meet the standards set in a 2009 law, an Act Adopting the Federal Secure and Fair Enforcement for Mortgage Licensing Act of 2008, also known as the SAFE Act.A significant provision of the 2007 foreclosure prevention legislation filed and signed by Governor Deval Patrick was the extension of licensing requirements to individual mortgage loan originators employed by licensed non-bank mortgage lenders and mortgage brokers. This law was updated in 2009 by Chapter 44 to ensure compliance with the federal SAFE Act which was largely patterned after the existing Massachusetts law

BOSTON, MA - August 10, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- Attorney General Martha Coakley announced today that her office has obtained a consent judgment and filed two lawsuits against multiple real estate companies and their agents for allegedly violating state anti-discrimination, lead paint, and consumer protection laws by posting advertisements mentioning the lead status of rental properties and thereafter refusing to rent to families with young children.Under Massachusetts law, it is illegal to refuse to rent or steer families away from rental properties because they have young children whose presence triggers an owner’s duty to eliminate lead hazards that pose serious health risks. The judgment and lawsuits are the result of a partnership with the Fair Housing Center of Greater Boston (“Fair Housing Center”) and part of an ongoing statewide investigation into reports of widespread discriminatory Internet advertising on Craigslist.org.

BOSTON, MA - August 6, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- Attorney General Martha Coakley’s Office concluded its case against former Brockton attorney Alec G. Sohmer and five other defendants over their roles in a 2006 foreclosure rescue scheme.The judgments entered today by Judge Thomas Connolly against Sohmer in the amount of $620,000 and against the four remaining defendants collectively in the amount of $364,000, together with the judgment obtained last May in the amount of $41,204, resolve allegations that Sohmer, with the assistance of the other defendants, orchestrated an unlawful foreclosure rescue scheme against 26 homeowners

BOSTON, MA - August 5, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- Attorney General Martha Coakley today announced that she has provided testimony to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) regarding how to better protect investors relating to the subprime mortgage investment crisis.

August 4, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- "The new space will provide the Asian American Lawyers Association (AALAM) with a place to call home. Equally important, it will go a long way toward fostering ever closer relationships between AALAM, other affinity bar organizations, and the BBA for the benefit of the members that we serve.

NEW BEDFORD, MA - July 29, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- A consent judgment has been obtained against a South Dartmouth landlord resolving allegations that he made discriminatory statements in rental advertisements posted on the popular classified advertising website Craigslist.org (“Craigslist”), Attorney General Martha Coakley announced today

WALTHAM, MA - July 27, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- The Massachusetts Association of REALTORS® (MAR) reported today that single-family home sales were up in June, marking the 12th straight month of year-over-year increases. Both single-family and condominium median prices were also up in June and in Q2 compared to the same time last year.

Lynn, MA - July 26, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- Today, Congressman John Tierney (D-MA) announced that Bridgewell, a Lynnfield-based nonprofit, received a $1,715,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, to build ten units of housing for local seniors and residents with developmental disabilities in Lynn. The program and apartments are designed to allow residents to live independently.