It seems that big business is getting a taste of what its been like to be a consumer the last 8 years. President Obama signed a new law giving homeowners and others more rights when it comes to foreclosures.

Today the current administration made good on their promises to help homeowners and other victims of foreclosure. President Barack Obama signed into law new regulations designed to make it easier for homeowners facing foreclosure to refinance their existing mortgage into a fixed loan with lower payments they can afford.

The new law also targets other victims of foreclosure. Prior to the new law, if you were renting a home that was foreclosed on you had no rights or recourse at all. People that had signed a lease or were current on their rent were forced out of the house sometimes with no warning. The new law signed today will give force the foreclosing banks to honor any existing leases on the property. Renters that are on a month to month basis will have 90 days to find a new residence before having to vacate the property. It seems like this is a win-win for everyone involved. The Las Vegas real estate market has the highest foreclosure rate in the country. Sometimes properties sit vacant for six months or more before they are finally sold. Rather than having them sit vacant generating no income, at least the banks will be making some money in the interim. Plus it should slow down the flood of properties for sale hitting the market.

The new law works in conjunction with Hope for Distressed Homeowners program and other prior legislation. Not everyone will qualify for this program as it was designed to target homeowners that are not completely upside down in their mortgage and are losing their home due to either predatory lending practices or as a result of the economy (job loss, etc). Also, only homeowners that have a Freddie Mac or Fannie Mae loan will be eligible.

Hopefully this new law along with the First Time Home Buyer Tax Credit and the new Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Tax Credits will help stablize the housing market and the economy. To find out if you qualify for government assistance, visit www.financialstability.gov and complete the Q & A.

My husband has been busy again adding more communities to our our main site, lvrealty.net. He added a page about Easton Place homes in the master planned community of Providence and a page about La Dolce Vita townhomes. The site has hundreds of pages about different communities around the Vegas valley. I'm wondering if perhaps there is such a thing as too much information.

Let's face it, every site has (or should) MLS access. Big sites like Trulia even offer some listings for consumers to view. Of course, those consumers don't know if that housing division is in the middle of the city or the middle of nowhere. That's why I think there is value in putting up general information like location, amenities, etc about a community. What do you think?

The city of Henderson has been one of the fatest growing cities in Nevada for the last several years running. Prior to its explosive growth, Henderson was best known for its manufacturing plants and not much else.  Some of those original plants are still there, but Henderson is anything but a manufacturing town.

One segment that reflects the overall change in the city best is the townhome market. There were very few townhome communities in Henderson and the Henderson real estate market catered primarily to first time home buyers.  Now Henderson offers some of the most expensive luxury homes and townhomes in the Las Vegas valley. Here are just some of the new luxury townhome communities in Henderson:

• Fiori Townhomes in the Tuscany planned community
• Vita Bella at Lake Las Vegas
• V Townhomes at Lake Las Vegas
• Robindale Villas

There are communities that are targeted to first time home buyers as well, like Eagle Crest townhomes, but most of the newer construction is aimed at the luxury market.  Probably the biggest influence on the market was the construction of Green Valley, the first master planned community in Henderson.  At the time, Green Valley was considered a huge gamble. Nothing like it had been tried before in Henderson, let alone Las Vegas. The overwheming success of Green Valley helped pave the way for several more luxury master planned communities and neighborhoods.