Oregon RealEstateRama

PORTLAND, OR - March 18, 2013 - (RealEstateRama) -- Geoffrey Montani, 36, and Kenneth Jones, 50, both of Portland, Oregon, were sentenced to 15 months in prison in separate hearings following their convictions for wire fraud in connection with a mortgage fraud scheme. Montani was sentenced by the Honorable Robert E. Jones on Friday March 15, 2013. Jones was sentenced by the Honorable Anna J. Brown on Thursday, March 7, 2013. In addition to the prison sentence, each was ordered to pay restitution in an amount exceeding $1.4 million.

Washington, D.C. - March 11, 2013 - (RealEstateRama) -- U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden today urged the U.S. Attorney General to investigate allegations that a mortgage servicing firm is overcharging struggling homeowners on default and foreclosure fees.

PORTLAND, OR - February 12, 2013 - (RealEstateRama) -- David Ovist, 45, of Lake Oswego, Oregon, was convicted Friday, February 8, 2013, of the crimes of bank fraud and wire fraud following a 10-day jury trial. Ovist is scheduled to appear before U.S. District Court Judge Anna J. Brown on May 7, 2013, for sentencing on these charges

WASHINGTON, DC - February 12, 2013 - (RealEstateRama) -- Today, Oregon’s Senator Jeff Merkley and the Oregon Housing and Community Services Department (OHCS) announced that the U.S. Treasury Department has approved a new pilot program to help underwater homeowners in Oregon’s Multnomah County. This pilot draws elements from Merkley’s Rebuilding American Homeownership proposal released in the summer of 2012

SALEM - January 30, 2013 - (RealEstateRama) -- The Oregon Department of Revenue has started its annual review of participant eligibility for the state’s Senior and Disabled Citizens Property Tax Deferral Program.

December 14, 2012 - (RealEstateRama) -- In a good first step toward fairer housing allowances for veterans going to school on the post-9/11 GI bill, the Department of Veterans Affairs is allowing veterans studying at the Oregon Institute of Technology’s Wilsonville satellite campus to receive a housing allowance more in line with their cost of living.

PORTLAND, OR - December 13, 2012 - (RealEstateRama) -- On Friday, December 7, 2012, Tu Ngoc Tran, 38, of Portland, Oregon, was found guilty by a federal jury of conspiracy to manufacture or distribute marijuana, two counts of manufacture of marijuana, making a false statement on a loan application, and wire fraud. He was acquitted on two other charges. The five-day jury trial was held in the Federal District Court in Portland, Oregon, with Judge Michael W. Mosman presiding

December 5, 2012 - (RealEstateRama) -- Oregon lawmakers wrote to the Veterans Administration to object to regulations which shortchange Oregon veterans going to college under the Post-9/11 GI Bill. In a letter to VA Director of Education Services Robert Worley, U.S. Senators Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) and Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) along with Reps. Kurt Schrader (D-Ore.) and Greg Walden (R-Ore.) urged the VA to change the regulations governing how the Post 9-11 GI Bill housing allowance is paid to reflect the cost of living where students actually live and attend classes

Salem, OR - November 21, 2012 - (RealEstateRama) -- Low-income homeowners and renters affected by foreclosure now have access to new a statewide service that provides free legal assistance from an attorney to help address urgent foreclosure issues

WASHINGTON, D.C. - August 28, 2012 - (RealEstateRama) -- A while ago, we wrote about the quiet, rural community of Vernonia, Oregon, which had been through its share of hard economic times. After two “500-year floods” in an 11-year period devastated the area, damaging its schools and the community core, the town finally started to rebuild its school last April. More than a year later, residents of Vernonia had reason to celebrate when Former Governor Ted Kulongoski joined United States Senators Ron Wyden (D-OR) and Jeff Merkley (D-OR), and several other federal- and state-elected officials last week for the ribbon cutting of a new energy efficient K-12 school and community center.

WASHINGTON, DC - July 26, 2012 - (RealEstateRama) -- Oregon’s Senator Jeff Merkley today offered a new plan to tackle one of the most persistent challenges to the sputtering economy: the massive number of Americans who owe more on their mortgages than their homes are now worth. In a white paper containing the proposal, called “The 4% Mortgage: Rebuilding American Homeownership,” Merkley laid out a plan to allow underwater homeowners who are current on their mortgages to refinance to a lower interest rate.

Washington, DC - May 28, 2012 - (RealEstateRama) -- Oregon’s Senator Jeff Merkley introduced the Rebuilding Equity Act, a bill that will lower costs for some homeowners seeking to refinance through the Home Affordable Refinance Program (HARP). Under this bill, if homeowners who are current on their mortgage seek to refinance into a 20-year loan term or shorter, Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac will cover the closing costs, a benefit averaging $3,000 per homeowner. In addition, families will benefit from substantially lower interest payments due to today’s record-low interest rates

WASHINGTON, DC - November 17, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- The Office of the Special Inspector General for the Troubled Asset Relief Program (SIGTARP) today announced that it has shut down 85 alleged online mortgage modification scams that prey on vulnerable homeowners through Web banners and other Web advertisements. SIGTARP investigates mortgage modification schemes in which companies charge struggling homeowners a fee in exchange for false promises of lowering the homeowner’s mortgage through TARP’s housing program known as the Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP). Google, in cooperation with an ongoing criminal SIGTARP investigation of these scams, has suspended advertising relationships with more than 500 Internet advertisers and agents associated with the 85 alleged online mortgage fraud schemes and related deceptive advertising.

Portland, OR - September 6, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Next week, President Barack Obama plans to lay out an agenda to jumpstart the American economy and create jobs. Oregon’s Senator Jeff Merkley is urging him to use that opportunity to take aggressive action to keep families in their homes and to finance energy efficiency renovations to reduce energy use and get Americans back to work.

IRVINE, CA - August 15, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Award-winning KTGY Group, Inc., Architecture and Planning, is pleased to announce that it is providing architectural design services for a new $29 million pedestrian-oriented 132-unit mixed-use senior housing community situated near downtown Portland, Oregon. Developed by the Foursquare Foundation, the city approved entitlements for the project in March 2011. The project is slated to commence construction in the spring of 2012 and be completed in approximately 18 months.