SOUTH BURLINGTON, Vt., March 3, 2008 (PRIME NEWSWIRE) -- Johnson & Perkinson hereby announces the commencement of a class action lawsuit naming Centerline Holding Company ("Centerline" or the "Company") (NYSE:CHC). Individuals, families, trusts or other entities that purchased Centerline common stock between March 12, 2007 and December 28, 2007, inclusive, have the opportunity to participate as Lead Plaintiffs in the currently pending class action litigation against the Company. To do so, however, you must apply to serve in that capacity by March 18, 2008.

Johnson & Perkinson, a litigation boutique law firm based in South Burlington, Vermont, has extensive experience prosecuting investor class actions and actions involving financial fraud. Attorneys Johnson and Perkinson are both former employees of the Securities and Exchange Commission. Dedicated to maximizing shareholder return, members of Johnson & Perkinson have prosecuted complex class actions alleging securities or consumer fraud/deception on behalf of investors/consumers against numerous public companies since 1985, resulting in the recovery of many hundreds of millions of dollars, and have been singled out for excellence by various courts. The firm is litigating, or has recently resolved litigation, as Lead or Co-Lead Counsel in securities class actions against Xerox, Priceline, Wireless Facilities, i2 and Xchange, and serves on the Executive Committee in the Global Crossing case.

The Complaint alleges that Centerline's officers and directors violated federal securities laws by issuing a series of materially false and misleading statements about Centerline's business model and financial condition, including statements concerning its portfolio of tax-exempt first mortgage bonds, which generated the majority of Centerline's revenues and supported the Company's $1.68 per share annual dividend. Defendants' statements concealed that Defendants were in the midst of structuring a sale of the Company's mortgage revenue bond portfolio to a third party. On December 28, 2007, Centerline announced that the Company had sold its $2.8 billion tax-exempt affordable housing bond portfolio to a third party and, in the process, transformed the Company's business model to a pure asset management firm. As a result of this transaction, Centerline disclosed that it would be slashing its annual dividend from $1.68 per share to only $0.60 per share. Defendants also revealed that they had entered into a related party transaction with a company owned by certain Company insiders, called The Related Companies, L.P. ("TRCLP"), whereby TRCLP agreed to provide Centerline $131 million in financing in exchange for 12.2 million shares of newly-issued convertible preferred stock that will pay Company insiders an 11% dividend. On this news, Centerline stock plummeted 25%, from the previous day's close, to a close of $7.70 per share on December 28, 2007.

If you wish to discuss this action or have any questions concerning this announcement or your rights or interests with respect to these matters, please contact Johnson & Perkinson attorneys James F. Conway, III, Eben F. Duval, or Christopher Allen toll free at 1-888-459-7855; via email at email@jpclasslaw.com; through our website at www.jpclasslaw.com; or by mail at Johnson & Perkinson, 1690 Williston Road, P.O. Box 2305, South Burlington, Vermont 05403. Though Johnson & Perkinson has not filed a Complaint against Centerline at this time, attorneys at Johnson & Perkinson can investigate your potential claims and help you decide if seeking appointment as a Lead Plaintiff is right for you. Your ability to share in any recovery is not affected by your decision to not seek appointment as a Lead Plaintiff.