Regions

Provo, Utah– Property Solutions has announced that payments processed through ResidentPay Check Scanning will integrate with most popular property management software. The company has been integrating online credit card and ACH payments for several years. The Check 21 system now allows managers to scan and post payments made paper checks and money orders electronically, reducing data entry and eliminating daily trips to the bank.         “The time savings provided by Property Solutions’ Check Scanning is tremendous,” says Mary Lundy of KMS Management in St Louis Park, Minn. “By scanning checks and money orders rather than entering payments manually, our test properties…

By Erika Schnitzer, Associate EditorSeattle–Sperry Van Ness has signed a 10-year area development agreement with Tom and Shawn Hoban, the owners of Coast Real Estate Services, an Everett, Wash.-based real estate company.“We have chosen to co-brand in this market to make sure people are aware that both the strength of the local company at Coast and the strength and brand name of the national company (Sperry Van Ness) are immediately recognized,” explains Tom Hoban (pictured), CEO of Coast Real Estate Services and managing director of the newly formed Coast Sperry Van Ness.“This is very appealing model for the way commercial…

By Anuradha Kher, Online News EditorPhiladelphia–Gebroe-Hammer Associates recently closed the sale of two Philadelphia rental properties totaling 329 units. The Courts (pictured), a 167-unit apartment complex located in the University City neighborhood, was sold for $22.35 million, and Fairmount Terrace Apartments, a 162-unit garden community near Center City, was sold for $15.375 million.Powelton Avenue LLC sold The Courts to The Courts LP and ASI Management sold the Fairmount Terrace Apartments.“The Courts is part of a very unique neighborhood of students, university professors, medical professionals, executives and long-time residents,” says Joseph Brecher, senior vice president, Gebroe-Hammer Associates. “It is an attractive…

By Anuradha Kher, Online News EditorARA Hires Robert Ryan in its National Affordable Housing Practice GroupAtlanta–Robert Ryan has joined Apartment Realty Advisors’ (ARA) recently launched National Affordable Housing Practice Group, based in Dallas.According to ARA’s Cliff McDaniel, a principal in the Affordable Housing Group, “The addition of Ryan to our team solidifies our service delivery to clients who invest in this highly specialized product type. He has more than 17 years of appraisal experience and we’ll bring that extensive valuation expertise to bear for our clients.”Ryan (pictured) will be based in ARA’s Atlanta office and will be responsible for sourcing…

Washington, D.C.–The Senate confirmed President Bush’s pick for the new head of the Housing and Urban Development Department, the New York Times reported Thursday.Steven Preston–former Small Business Administration Administrator and prior executive at ServiceMaster Co., a network of more than 5,000 home care businesses–will be the new housing secretary.Preston will serve as a key representative in the ongoing debate over the legislation to allow the Federal Housing Administration to insure up to $300 billion in refinanced mortgages, the Times said.

Washington, D.C.–As construction jobs disappear, Hispanics–who comprised the majority of the building work force during housing’s growth years–are struggling, according to a new study by the Washington, D.C.-based Pew Hispanic Center.In the first quarter of 2008, Hispanics’ seasonally adjusted unemployment rate hit 6.5 percent; the unemployment rate for non-Hispanics was 4.7 percent, according to The Wall Street Journal.The construction decline cost Hispanics jobs in the past year. Weekly earnings dropped from $512 a week in 2006 to $480 a week in the first quarter of this year.The housing slump didn’t affect Hispanics at first–even as the decline began, they were…

New York–Large credit rating agencies are close to reaching an agreement with New York Attorney General Andrew M. Cuomo about reworking their business practices, the Washington Post reports.Standard & Poor’s said it had settled on a plan but details were still being finalized to “help ensure our ratings process continues to be of the highest quality.”The other two major agencies–Moody’s Investors Service and Fitch Ratings–declined to comment, the Post said.As a result of the mortgage market collapse, Cuomo has been investigating how ratings agencies–which have been criticized for inaccurately judging mortgage investment risks in the past–charge bond issuers.

Edinburgh–U.K. home prices showed their most severe annual decline in 15 years, according to a new survey from Edinburgh-based Halifax, which is the nation’s biggest mortgage lender.The median home price dropped 2.4 percent in May. Prices are down 3.8 percent compared to the same period in 2007, the Telegraph said.The decline in home prices–along with the fact the government hasn’t given itself much space to cut taxes–has created an unsteady forecast for the British economy. On Wednesday, the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development said that the U.K. could be vulnerable to the worst economic decline since the 1990s.

By Rachel Block, ReporterIrvine, Calif.–LeasingDesk recently integrated corporate housing functionality into its resident screening product.“I think our clients helped us choose to go this route,” says David Carner, vice president of LeasingDesk Resident Screening. “A lot of applicants are renting for companies — our customers need to run criminal and sex-offender background checks and make sure they will pay the rent. The old way was to take an application and fax to the screening company, then pull up the Dun and Bradstreet report (the most well-known business report) and fax a copy of the results back to the customer.” The…

By Anuradha Kher, Online News EditorAlton, Ill.–Gundaker Commercial Group and the Illinois Housing Development Authority recently completed a $12.4 million workforce housing project located in Alton, Ill.“Alton Pointe replaces a blighted apartment complex that for years was the center of gang-related activities and drug deals,” says Andrew Koenig, AIA, and the project’s architect. “The fact that unit applications were pouring in during the first week of the project being on the market is proof that this is a long-awaited and needed project for the community.”Alton Pointe Apartments fills a much-needed demand for affordable housing in Madison County, according to Koenig….