Hawaii’s finalized foreclosures at low end

Hawaii was among five states with the lowest number of completed foreclosures for the year through April, according to business analytics company CoreLogic, based in California.

Hawaii had 601 completed foreclosures, compared to West Virginia (598), North Dakota (541), the District of Columbia (162) and South Dakota (62).

The five states with the most completed year-to-date foreclosures are California (142,000), Florida (92,000), Michigan (60,000), Texas (58,000) and Georgia (57,000), which account for 48.8 percent of all completed foreclosures nationally.

There was one completed foreclosure for every 622 mortgaged homes nationwide, according to Mark Fleming, Core­Logic chief economist.

"Nonjudicial foreclosure markets, like Nevada, Arizona and California, completed 2 1⁄2 times as many foreclosures over the past year as judicial foreclosure states," he said.

Nonjudicial foreclosures were effectively halted in Hawaii after the passage of a new foreclosure law in May 2011.

Utah PV company alights in isle market

Vivint Solar, a Utah-based company that installs and finances residental photovoltaic systems, has expanded to Hawaii.

Like several other mainland companies that have entered the market here recently, Vivint installs PV systems at no cost to homeowners, then sells them the electricity at a rate less that what the local utility charges.

Vivint Solar is a subsidiary of Vivint Inc., a company specializing in technology that controls home systems such as security, air conditioning, lighting, small appliances and video.

Besides Hawaii, Vivint Solar operates in New Jersey and Massachusetts.

Architects open design choice to public

The American Institute of Architects Honolulu Chapter wants the public to vote for their favorites among 31 projects in the running for its Sixth Annual People’s Choice Award.

AIA Honolulu’s Annual Design Awards have been held annually since 1958. Online voting will take place at www.aiahonolulu.org from June 1 through June 15. The winner will be announced June 26 at the Hawaii Prince Hotel.

Internet service draws 26,000 patients

Hawaii Pacific Health said Wednesday more than 26,000 of its patients are now using the MyHealthAdvantage Internet portal.

Hawaii Pacific Health — which operates Kapiolani Medical Center for Women & Children, Pali Momi Medical Center, Straub Clinic & Hospital and Wilcox Memorial Hospital — said patients using the portal can schedule appointments, view test results, request prescription refills and send secure messages to their doctor via the system.

Company offers pay-for-use cloud service

DRFortress, a Honolulu-based cloud computer service, said Wednesday it has started a pay-as-you-use function.

Cloud computing involves storing music, photos, videos or other data on a server at a remote location that can be accessed through any device with an Internet connection.

"Previously, Hawaii organizations interested in pay-as-you-use cloud computing were forced to use a mainland provider, buy hardware boxes and pay maintenance fees or commit to a long-term contract with a local virtualization firm," said Fred Rodi, president of DRFortress. "With our new DRFcloud computing service, we have revolutionized Hawaii’s cloud market by introducing no contract, pay-as-you-need, on-demand utility computing. Clients only pay for the computing power they actually use."

Google drops $25 charge for Zagat reviews

SAN FRANCISCO » Google is giving away the restaurant ratings compiled by its recently acquired Zagat review service as part of an expansion of its listings for local businesses.

The changes announced Wednesday eliminate an annual $25 subscription fee that Zagat had been charging for online access to its surveys of diners. Those diners have rated about 35,000 restaurants in more than 100 cities around the world.

The fee helped protect sales of the burgundy-colored guidebooks that Zagat has been selling since its 1979 inception. For now, Zagat still intends to sell the guidebooks.

Zagat will still charge $10 a year for using an application designed for Apple Inc.’s iPhone and iPad, although Google indicated it may eventually drop that fee.

ON THE MOVE

Meadow Gold Dairies Hawaii has announced Melissa Casale as its key account manager for the company’s sales team. She was previously a regional manager for Wittenberg Weiner Consulting.

The Hawaiian Eye Center has hired:

» Julia Ancheta as an ophthalmic medical assistant.

» Michael Cheeseman as a certified ophthalmic medical technician.

» Candle Tsuchida as a patient accounts specialist for the company’s Wahiawa and Hilo offices.