Archives

March 3, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Doug Lasher, Clark County Treasurer, announced that first-half 2011 property statements have been mailed. Property statements include property tax levy amounts and special assessments. There were 108,796 statements mailed. “Taxpayers whose taxes and assessments are not paid through a mortgage company and have not received their statement within ten days should visit the web site at www.clark.wa.gov/treasurer or call the Treasurer’s Office at (360) 397-2252.” Taxpayers are responsible for paying their first-half property taxes by Monday, May 2, in order to avoid interest and penalties.”

Seattle, WA - March 2, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Seattle City Council unanimously adopted legislation Monday to address overgrown vegetation and junk storage on Seattle's residential properties by streamlining enforcement. The new changes create a consistent set of standards to help negligent property owners understand the rules and clean up their yards.

Vancouver, WA - February 16, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Clark County property owners soon will receive their 2011 property tax statements in the mail, and the Department of Assessment wants to inform them about the impact ballot measures approved last year will have on their tax bills.

Washington, D.C. - February 11, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Today, Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee Chairman, Senator Patty Murray, released the following statement on the Department of Veterans Affairs and Housing and Urban Development’s joint report on veterans homelessness which was released today.

Washington, D.C. - February 9, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Yesterday, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Chairman of the U.S. Senate Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, sent a letter to Holly Petraeus, head of the Office of Servicemember Affairs in the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau at the U.S. Treasury Department, in response to concerns that some financial institutions were not offering protections to servicemembers provided under the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act. Among the safeguards in the SCRA, which is under the jurisdiction of the Senate Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, are a number intended to ease concerns over financial situations at home for servicemembers. Recently, however, it has come to light that some servicemembers have been improperly overcharged on their mortgages or even been foreclosed upon by lenders

SEATTLE, WA - February 4, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) --A power outage this morning in Ballard affected nearly 5,400 homes and businesses. The outage started about 10 a.m. when a wire fell during maintenance work near Ione Place and Tallman Avenue. Crews expected to have most customers back in service by 10:45 a.m. and estimated full restoration of service would happen about 1 p.m.

SEATTLE, WA - January 19, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- The Office of Housing today announced nearly $23 million in capital funding, divvied up amongst eight nonprofit housing developers, to create and preserve affordable apartments. The investment will help create 375 new units for seniors, homeless individuals and low-income working families, plus rehabilitate another 291 apartments currently home to seniors and people with disabilities

Vancouver, WA - January 10, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- The Washington Homelessness Housing and Assistance Act mandated in May 2005 the creation of 10-year homeless housing plans for each of the state’s counties. Clark County’s Homelessness Plan Task Force invites neighborhood leaders, elected officials, landlords, educators, low-income people and all other interested citizens to attend a planning session on Wednesday, January 12, 6-7:30 p.m. at the Center for Community Health, 1601 E. Fourth Plain Blvd., Bldg. 17, Vancouver

Olympia, WA - December 24, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- The Washington State Department of Financial Institutions (DFI) is pleased to announce a settlement has been reached in a consumer protection case regarding Countrywide Home Loans (CHL) that has been ongoing for more than two years

SEATTLE, WA - December 2, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- The start of the wet season has begun in Seattle and heavy rain can increase the chance of landslides due to soil saturation, which reduces slope stability. Property owners of landslide-prone sites are advised to clear drains and take other simple preventive measures, such as: checking downspouts, to make sure they are functioning and routed to a safe location; and inspecting sloping areas of their property for indications of slope movement (such as cracks in the ground, and newly tilting trees) and erosion.

SEATTLE, WA - November 18, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- A cul-de-sac of new homes tucked behind a new multifamily apartment building at the corner of South Rose Street and Rainier Avenue South was on the verge of becoming another fatality of the foreclosure epidemic sweeping the nation.

SEATTLE, WA - November 9, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- The start of the wet season has begun in Seattle and heavy rain can increase the chance of landslides due to soil saturation, which reduces slope stability. November is Seattle’s wettest month. Since Nov. 1, 2.51 inches of rain has fallen at Sea-Tac Airport—exceeding the seasonal average by 1.2 inches, and pushing the area over the landslide threshold.

OLYMPIA, WA - November 5, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- The Washington Supreme Court issued a decision today in which justices unanimously agreed with the Washington Attorney General’s Office that the financial privacy provisions of the federal Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (GLBA) don’t preempt the state Public Records Act. The ruling also clarified that information about individual mortgage borrowers is still protected as intended under federal law due to exemptions set forth under state law.

November 4, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- The entire 24-acre Capehart Housing Area at Discovery Park became the property of the City on Friday, October 22, 2010. The $11.1 million purchase was funded by a combination of state and county grants, as well as from proceeds from the sale of surplus City property

OLYMPIA, WA - November 2, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- The Attorney General’s Office today settled a lawsuit against the Master Builders Association of King and Snohomish Counties (MBA-K&S) for violating the state’s campaign finance disclosure law.

VANCOUVER, WA - October 25, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- A Vancouver-based exterior home remodeler that allegedly built up sales by misleading customers agrees to comply with state consumer protection laws. Northwest First Choice settled claims brought by the Washington Attorney General’s Office.

October 19, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- Doug Lasher, Clark County Treasurer, stated that second-half 2010 property taxes are due on Monday, November 1, because October 31 falls on a Sunday this year. “If you have not received your 2010 second-half tax statement or have lost it, you can visit our web site at www.clark.wa.gov/treasurer or call 397-2252 for a duplicate statement.”

SEATTLE, DC - October 18, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) today released its 2009 Seattle Metropolitan Area Housing Survey, the most comprehensive analysis of the area's housing stock since the Department's last substantive assessment in 2004. HUD estimates that there were nearly 1.5 million housing units in King, Pierce and Snohomish Counties in 2009, more than 15 percent of which were constructed since 2000 (see attached data).

SEATTLE, WA - October 13, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- Washington Attorney General Rob McKenna announced today that his office has uncovered evidence that suggests foreclosure trustees are ignoring consumer protection laws in Washington, adding a new layer to a stack of problems reported in the mortgage-servicing industry. He sent letters today to 52 trustees outlining his concerns and calling on them to suspend any questionable foreclosures in the state.

SEATTLE, WA - October 13, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- Washington Attorney General Rob McKenna and Scott Jarvis, director of the state Department of Financial Institutions, announced that they have joined attorneys general and banking regulators nationwide in forming a multistate group to investigate whether mortgage servicers have improperly submitted affidavits or other documents related to foreclosure in their states