Baltimore Housing

Long & Foster acquires Salisbury realty firmLong & Foster Real Estate Inc. has acquired Porter & Associates Realty, an independent real estate company based in Salisbury.Long & Foster's Eastern Shore regional operation and the Salisbury sales office will be consolidated into Porter & Associates offices in the Gateway Building on West Main Street.Hursey Porter, owner of Porter & Associates for the past 23 years, and most of the agency's agents are to become sales associates with Long & Foster.

What rental property owners need to do to comply with the new Maryland lead paint law and regulations will be discussed at a forum from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. May 1 in building RQ at Catonsville Community College.The program will also tell landlords how to bring their property up to code and the consequences of violations.Speakers will include Alfred Singer of Singer Realty, Jeffrey Blumberg and Howard Mazor of Property Inspection Services, Amy Boblitz of Connor Environmental Service, Richard Anderson of the college's Environmental Project and attorney Andrew Hartman.

I have a lot of bad habits, including doing entirely too much research on minor purchases ($50 and below) and not enough on major ones --- you know, the kind that come with front and back yards that you hope to live in for years to come. But that's why I'm sharing this offer of a free BuildFax report , which assembles public information about permits that have been issued into one document for users. You can get one of these reports for your home for free through July 31, after which the price returns to $39.99.

A month before he left office, Baltimore Housing Commissioner Daniel P. Henson III wrote a glowing letter of recommendation to Washington officials on behalf of A&R Development, a local company seeking a multimillion-dollar contract. "What is important to note about A&R is that they always find a way to make things happen," Henson wrote in the letter, submitted to Washington officials Nov. 5, 1999. Two months and a day later, A&R, headed by Theo C. Rodgers, made the former housing commissioner a partner in the very project for which he had written a recommendation.

FOR A NUMBER of years, the Baltimore Housing Partnership was held up as a model of what a nonprofit developer can achieve in cooperation with governments and the private sector. It kept expanding and taking gambles. In the end, it overextended itself so badly it is now going out of business.The partnership's collapse is a wake-up call to the nonprofit-development sector -- just like the demise of the City Life Museums last year was a red flag to the museum community. Being classified as nonprofit for tax purposes does not mean that an organization can live in defiance of fundamental economic laws.

Sen. Joan Carter Conway temporarily halted consideration yesterday of her bill to merge the Baltimore Housing Authority Police with the Baltimore Police Department amid questions about the proposal's cost to the city. Conway, a Northeast Baltimore Democrat, told the Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee she is waiting to learn whether the federal government would continue to pay for the housing officers if they became part of the city force. If federal authorities do not respond within the next few weeks, Conway said she will ask the committee to postpone consideration of the merger until next year.

Historic Baltimore Housing and the University of Maryland are conducting educational programs to help landlords comply with the state's new lead paint law and regulations.Property owners are required to register rental housing built before 1950 with the state Department of the Environment.The registration of homes built between 1950 and 1978 is optional.Owners of older rental properties can qualify for limited liability protection and more affordable insurance by using accredited workers to remove lead hazards.

The housing rescue act signed by President Bush yesterday won't bring an end to the national foreclosure crisis, but it does take crucial steps to help lessen its impact in Baltimore and across the nation. Most important, the legislation protects the liquidity of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the lending giants that hold or insure nearly half of America's mortgages. Nobody likes bailing out these federally chartered lenders. But Federal Reserve oversight will ensure that mortgage money will continue to flow, nationally and around the world, a vital condition for a housing recovery.

Nettie Irene Harvey, a human services worker with the Baltimore housing department for almost 40 years, died of a heart attack April 10 at her Rosedale home. She was 61. Born and raised in Baltimore, the former Nettie Jefferson graduated from Dunbar High School in 1962. Several years later, she began working at the Baltimore Community Action Agency, handling referrals. "If you were hungry, she would call churches to get you food, clothing," said her daughter, Kimberly Harvey. Ms. Harvey held various roles as a mentor, fund-raiser and resource developer.

Rita Wilburn has watched her husband die from a gunshot wound and has seen a daughter killed in a house fire. None of that has stopped the mother of six from trying to be a success in life.Mrs. Wilburn, a high school dropout, returned to school as an adult to get her diploma. She learned the insurance business well enough to become a top agent. And this year she began learning a new skill -- construction -- to help her set up in business.That last step, however, has taken Mrs. Wilburn off course.