Archives

WASHINGTON, D.C. - May 23, 2013 - (RealEstateRama) -- U.S. Senator Angus S. King, Jr. (I-ME) today introduced legislation, cosponsored by Senator Susan Collins (R-ME), that would recognize and promote the economic and environmental benefits of biomass thermal energy. TheBiomass Thermal Utilization Act of 2013, or BTU Act, would amend the federal tax code to incentivize biomass energy, as it already does for several other forms of renewable energy. Currently, a host of renewable energy technologies qualify for investment tax credits for capital costs incurred in residential and commercial installations. This legislation seeks to achieve parity between those renewable systems and thermal biomass systems

WASHINGTON, D.C. - May 17, 2013 - (RealEstateRama) -- A workshop to provide landlords with information on the federal Fair Housing Act and the Maine Human Rights Act is scheduled for May 28 simultaneously in Bangor and Presque Isle

WASHINGTON, D.C. - March 29, 2013 - (RealEstateRama) -- Two workshops providing landlords with information on the federal Fair Housing Act and the Maine Human Rights Act are scheduled for April in Augusta and Westbrook.

WASHINGTON, D.C. - January 30, 2013 - (RealEstateRama) -- U.S. Senators Susan Collins (R-ME) and Angus S. King, Jr. (I-ME) today announced that two projects in Maine will receive $1.3 million in national coastal wetland conservation grants from the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service.

WASHINGTON, D.C. - January 18, 2012 - (RealEstateRama) -- Maine’s Insurance Superintendent Eric Cioppa announced Friday that the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) has released two reports showing an improvement in Maine’s national ranking for two lines of property and casualty insurance: personal auto and homeowners. The NAIC shows Maine in the top ten, meaning the cost for these types of insurance is lower than in most other states.

AUGUSTA - January 03, 2012 - (RealEstateRama) -- Attorney General William J. Schneider announced that eligible Maine borrowers who lost their homes due to foreclosure between January 1, 2008 and December 31, 2011 must file a National Mortgage Settlement Claim form by January 18th in order to receive a cash payment from a $1.9 million fund set aside for this purpose.

November 15, 2012 - (RealEstateRama) -- The Foreclosure Diversion Program (FDP) is considering implementation of a policy to address potential conflicts of interest for FDP mediators in the context of foreclosure diversion mediation.

AUGUSTA - November 9, 2012 - (RealEstateRama) -- As temperatures drop, the Maine Department of Environmental Protection is offering two free workshops to help private and public snowplow operators and property managers learn to apply de-icing salt in a way that protects the environment and saves money.

AUGUSTA - October 22, 2012 - (RealEstateRama) -- As National Lead Poisoning Prevention Week begins, Maine’s renters now can search for healthy homes through a lead-safe property search feature that goes live today on the state’s leading online housing website, www.MaineHousingSearch.org

October 17, 2012 - (RealEstateRama) -- The Maine Supreme Judicial Court, sitting as the Law Court, invites briefs of amici curiae in Hebron Academy v. Town of Hebron, Law Court docket number Oxf-12-95, scheduled to be argued during the December 2012 session of the Court. The appeal involves the classification of a private secondary and postsecondary school as a "literary" or "scientific" institution for purposes of the property-tax statute, 36 M.R.S. � 652(1)(B) (2011).

WASHINGTON, D.C. - October 2, 2012 - (RealEstateRama) -- A final report from the Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Inspector General (IG) finds that the Maine State Housing Authority mismanaged its program and failed to ensure that participants in its Housing Choice Voucher program were living in decent, safe, and sanitary conditions.

AUGUSTA, DC - September 13, 2012 - (RealEstateRama) -- Governor Paul LePage joined with 13 other Governors across the country to submit a letter requesting Congress fully fund the federal government’s Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) this winter. In a letter written to the leadership of the House and Senate Committees on Appropriations, the Governors requested that the LIHEAP program be funded at last year’s levels in any funding agreements for FFY 2013. This includes a potential six-month continuing resolution to fund the federal government through March 2013.

September 5, 2012 - (RealEstateRama) -- Congresswoman Chellie Pingree today congratulated LearningWorks and the Biddeford Housing Authority on receiving a $685,000 Department of Labor grant to start a YouthBuild program in Biddeford

September 5, 2012 - (RealEstateRama) -- The Joint Standing Committee on Labor, Commerce, Research, and Economic Development (LCRED) approved Governor LePage’s nominee, John G. Gallagher, of Bath, to serve as Director of the Maine State Housing Authority (MSHA). In a vote of 9-0, LCRED unanimously recommended Gallagher’s nomination as director of MSHA to the Maine Senate. Gallagher will now appear before the Maine Senate for a confirmation hearing and vote on Thursday, September 6, 2012. If confirmed, he will serve as Director of the Maine State Housing Authority.

AUGUSTA - August 31, 2012 - (RealEstateRama) -- Maine’s Board of Pesticide Control and Department of Environmental Protection are partnering to provide homeowners a free opportunity this fall to dispose of old pesticides that may be stockpiled on their properties.