Colorado Attorney General John Suthers today announced a $550 million nationwide state-federal settlement with mortgage lender and servicer SunTrust Mortgage Inc. to remedy mortgage origination, servicing, and foreclosure abuses. To resolve past SunTrust abuses, some Colorado borrowers are now eligible for $4,448,533 in principal reduction loan modifications, refinancing for underwater mortgages, foreclosure payments and other relief. Coloradans who experienced servicing abuses and were foreclosed by SunTrust from January 1, 2008 through December 31, 2013 may be eligible for a payment from a national $40 million fund. Payment amounts will depend on how many borrowers file claims

Business and community leaders joined forces this morning in supporting Mercy Housing, Inc., a national non-profit based in Denver that builds and manages affordable housing in Colorado and nationwide.

Colorado Attorney General John Suthers and Boulder District Attorney Stan Garnett today announced the dismantling of an asphalt paving and roofing ring that targeted and scammed Colorado senior citizens.

Colorado U.S. Senator Michael Bennet today discussed the crucial need to repair, improve, and upgrade our infrastructure to help maintain the United States’ competitiveness in the changing global economy at the “America’s Infrastructure Opportunity: Bridging the Financing Gap” conference

U.S. Senators Mark Udall and Michael Bennet joined U.S. Housing and Urban Development Secretary Shaun Donovan and Gov. John Hickenlooper today to announce Colorado will receive an additional $199.3 million to help communities recover from the September 2013 flood. The recovery funds, provided through HUD's Community Development Block Grant- Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) Program, will support long-term disaster recovery efforts in areas with the greatest extent of unmet need, primarily in Boulder, Weld and Larimer counties

Congressman Scott Tipton highlighted legislation being considered in the House this week that would help provide relief for families struggling to pay rising costs to heat their homes. The legislation includes measures to provide relief to families by eliminating unnecessary bureaucratic restrictions that drive up the cost of energy production and increase the time it takes to transport energy resources to the communities that need them.

Late yesterday, Judge Dennis Hall of the Jefferson County District Court ruled on a series of motions regarding the Lower North Fork Fire. The judge granted motions by the state to dismiss all but the negligence claims that had been authorized by the General Assembly in the weeks immediately following the Lower North Fork wildfire. Judge Hall found that homeowners failed to allege facts and circumstances in support of other theories that would permit them to exceed limitations on claims contemplated under Colorado law

Colorado Attorney General John Suthers announced today that he is reallocating $23 million from Colorado’s National Mortgage Settlement funds to affordable housing programs with special emphasis in funding affordable housing in areas hardest hit by the recent flood and wildfires. The money is part of the overall $51.17 million in custodial funds Colorado recovered from the National Mortgage Settlement.

As part of his longtime push to ensure firefighters have the resources they need to protect Colorado communities from wildfire, Mark Udall joined a bipartisan effort today in the U.S. Senate to modernize the funding structure for fighting and preventing wildfires. The bipartisan, money-saving bill prevents federal agencies from draining funding from proactive and cost-saving wildfire prevention programs and allows access to emergency funding to support immediate fire response.

Mark Udall, a senior member of the U.S. Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, welcomed the committee's vote today to pass legislation he championed to help Summit County support local businesses and jobs through expanded workforce housing. The Lake Hill Administrative Site Affordable Housing Act would convey 40 acres of federal administrative land from the U.S. Forest Service Dillon Ranger District to Summit County and allow the county to build more affordable, workforce housing.

Thanks to legislation Mark Udall introduced and shepherded through Congress, the U.S. Forest Service this week completed a critical land swap with the Sugar Loaf Fire Protection District in Boulder County. Udall heralded this victory for the approximately 500 households the fire district safeguards west of Boulder, calling it emblematic of how Congress can strengthen Colorado communities' abilities to fight wildfires and protect lives.

DENVER - December 6, 2013 - (RealEstateRama) -- U.S. Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Shaun Donovan today announced nearly $63 million to the State of Colorado to help communities recover from severe storms in September that produced devastating floods and mudslides. The recovery funds are provided through HUD's Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) Program to support long-term disaster recovery efforts in areas with the greatest extent of 'unmet need,' primarily in Boulder, Weld and Larimer Counties.

DENVER - November 25, 2013 - (RealEstateRama) -- Colorado Attorney General John Suthers announced today that a civil lawsuit was filed and Temporary Restraining Order obtained against Andre Shatyko (D.O.B. 01/01/86), Alexander Kurdyukov (D.O.B. 04/18/87), and their air duct cleaning companies, Seabreeze Air, LLC; Seabreeze Air; Quality Air; Quality Air “LLC”; and Fresh Air, LLC. They are accused of advertising their cleaning services for very low prices, only to significantly increase their prices once inside a customer’s homes. This business model violates the Colorado Consumer Protection Act.

WASHINGTON, D.C. - November 21, 2013 - (RealEstateRama) -- Mark Udall, who serves on the U.S. Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, urged his colleagues at today's hearing of the Subcommittee on Public Lands, Forests and Mining to support two public lands bills that would protect Colorado wilderness and expand affordable housing options in Summit County

DENVER - November 18, 2013 - (RealEstateRama) -- The Statewide Grand Jury indicted nine individuals for targeting distressed homeowners as part of a fraudulent short-sale scheme that allowed the defendants to ultimately defraud the banks and lenders who held the mortgages for the distressed homeowners. The announcement was made today by Colorado Attorney General John Suthers; Ronald Sloan, Director of Colorado Bureau of Investigation (CBI); Inspector General David Montoya of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development-Office of Inspector General (U.S. HUD-OIG); Acting Inspector General Michael P. Stephens of the U.S. Federal Housing Finance Agency-Office of Inspector General (U.S. FHFA-OIG), and Marcia Waters, Division Director of the Colorado Division of Real Estate