Foreclosure Deals, an online provider of foreclosed home sale listings and information industry, has announced that foreclosures increased by four percent nationwide during July and still have fallen in the month of August. The month's total of 325,225 homes represents a 10 percent decrease from foreclosure totals in June 2009, and indicate that the trend of rising bank repossessions is continuing well into the summer.Read more

The July Mortgage Monitor report released by Lender Processing Services Inc. (LPS) shows that foreclosure starts are on the rise, with seriously delinquent loans—those six or more months delinquent—dominating new foreclosure actions. The increase in foreclosure starts is consistent with the Department of Treasury's latest report that approximately half of all Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP) trial modifications resulted in cancellation, though 45.4 percent of those have resulted in alternative (non-HAMP) modifications.Read more

HOPE NOW, the private sector alliance of mortgage servicers, investors, mortgage insurers and non-profit counselors estimates the industry has completed 1.13 million permanent loan modifications for at-risk homeowners so far in 2010. For the month of July, the data shows the industry completed more than 120,000 proprietary loan modifications for homeowners, which closely matched the number from the previous month. As reported by U.S. Treasury Department, mortgage servicers also completed 36,695 Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP) modifications in July.Read more

U.S. Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Shaun Donovan has announced an agreement with the nation’s top mortgage lenders to offer selected state and local governments, and non-profit organizations a “first look” or right of first refusal to purchase foreclosed homes before making these properties available to private investors. The National First Look Program is a first-ever public-private partnership agreement between HUD and the National Community Stabilization Trust (Stabilization Trust).Read more

National Mortgage Forensic Loan Auditors (NMFLA) , a firm that specializes in residential and commercial loan audit services, has recently opened its doors to homeowners and consumers allowing the public to obtain these services directly from the firm via educational products. NMFLA wants to expand and concentrate their efforts on helping the general population more effectively, obtain loan modifications and ensure enforceable loans.Read more

Richard L. (Rick) Borges II, MAI, SRA, formerly of Seymour, Ind., has been Thursday as 2011 vice president of the Appraisal Institute, the nation’s largest professional organization of real estate appraisers. Borges will serve as vice president of the Appraisal Institute beginning Jan. 1, 2011. The following year he will serve as president-elect, and in 2013 will become the Appraisal Institute’s president for one year, followed by a year as immediate past president.Read more

A homebuying guide published the Appraisal Institute teaches homebuyers when to buy, how to find a real estate agent, how to choose the best home on the market and more … all from the uniquely unbiased perspective of a real estate appraiser.Read more

Attorney General Terry Goddard has announced that Edward L. Carpenter of Phoenix, a minister and former mortgage broker, has been found guilty by a Maricopa County Superior Court jury of 10 charges related to his operation of a fraudulent mortgage "rescue" business. Carpenter was convicted on five counts of fraudulent schemes and artifices, all Class 2 Felonies, and five counts of fraudulent schemes and practices, all Class 5 Felonies.Read more

First American Financial Corporation, a provider of title insurance and settlement services for real estate transactions, has announced the appointments of Max O. Valdes as chief financial officer and Mark E. Seaton as senior vice president, finance. "Max and Mark have been key contributors to our successful initiatives to improve financial performance," said Dennis J. Gilmore, chief executive officer for First American Financial Corporation.Read more

The Housing Recovery Fund of America has announced its formation to establish a real estate investment fund that invests in single and multifamily residential real estate across the United States and to acquire for “all cash,” with no mortgage debt, residential real estate to maximize rental income and resale profit potential. The Fund will target undervalued and/or financially distressed single-family and multi-family properties, at or below replacement cost, through short sales, bank-owned (REO) real estate in prime locations in the Southeast and Southwest USA.Read more