Martin, Leigh, and Fritzlen Laws announced the addition of Desarae Harrah as partner, and Aaron Elking and Benjamin Musholt as new associates.
News
Treasury Announces a $25B Return Through its MBS Portfolio
Through $225 billion in mortgage backed securities (MBS) investments, the U.S. Department of the Treasury announced a return of $25 billion for taxpayers through its portfolio. The Treasury invested in the MBS between 2008 and 2009 through the Housing …
March Builder Confidence Flat As String of Increases Ends
Builder confidence was flat in March, matching a downwardly revised February index of 28, the first time in six months the index has not increased, the National Association of Home Builders reported Monday. The builder assessment of present home sales …
Lenders One Names Industry Veteran as New CEO
Lenders One Mortgage Cooperative named Jeffrey R. McGuiness as its new CEO. McGuiness’ appointment follows the announcement of CEO and co-founder Scott Stern’s decision to leave to pursue other entrepreneurial opportunities. McGuiness has more than two…
New Valuation Product Combines Three BPOs
Valuation Vision, based in California, has released a new valuation product that relies on the assessments of not one but three real estate professionals. BPOMerge offers servicers and investors a comprehensive report with broker price opinions (BPOs) …
HUD Grants $42M to Housing Counselors
HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan announced Friday the distribution of $42 million in grants to 468 housing counseling agencies nationwide. In his announcement Friday, Donovan called housing counseling programs nothing less than indispensable. After national…
California AG Appoints Professor as State’s Settlement Monitor
Katherine Porter, a professor at the University of California, Irvine School of Law was appointed as the California monitor to ensure compliance from the five largest servicers – Bank of America, JPMorgan, Wells Fargo, Citigroup, and Ally Financial – a…
Sales in California Up in February, Median Prices Down
Home sales in California showed signs of improvement for February compared to the previous month of January and year before in February 2011, according to data from the California Association of Realtors (C.A.R.). For February, sales were up 2.1 percen…
First and Second Lien Holders to Share Losses Through Settlement
Details of the $25 billion settlement involving state and federal officials and the five largest servicers will change how liens are prioritized, and in turn, opponents say, will benefit banks but hurt investors. Typically, in cases involving delinque…
Fed Study: Overpriced Foreclosures Hiking REO Carrying Costs
Appraisers, lenders, and investors appear to be routinely overestimating the values of homes prior to foreclosure, especially in the weakest housing markets, according to two economists with the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland. Their report suggests …
