HOPE LoanPort's roster of participants seems to be ever-growing. Consumer Credit Counseling Services of Delaware Valley, with 19 offices in the Philadelphia metro area, is the latest to join the more than 200 counseling agencies and 10 major servicers already committed to the new Web portal.

Global DMS, a Lansdale, Pennsylvania-based provider of appraisal process management solutions, recently released MARS SME, the secondary market edition of its MARS MISMO Appraisal Review System technology. The company said this new sytem offers investors and asset managers a fast and easy way to value entire loan pools, all automatically within just a few minutes.

Minneapolis-based Wolters Kluwer Financial Services and Columbia, South Carolina-based Avista Solutions have formed a new partnership, under which the companies have integrated Wolters Kluwer Financial Services' Expere Integrated Enterprise (Expere IE) solution with the Avista Agile Loan Origination System. As a result of this integration, Avista Agile users will now have automatic and seamless electronic access to Wolters Kluwer Financial Services' VMP Mortgage Solutions compliance documents and disclosures through Expere IE.

In order to provide mortgage lenders and their investors unprecedented assurances of appraisal quality and value accuracy, Solidifi U.S., a New York-based provider of full fee appraisal services, recently launched the Solidifi CoverageMAX and Solidifi CoveragePLUS insurance programs. Created in conjunction with Companion Specialty Insurance Group and Wells Fargo Special Risks, Inc., these appraisal warranty insurance programs aim to attend to the risk mitigation concerns of mortgage lenders and their investors.

Houston-based Stewart Title Company, a wholly owned subsidiary of Stewart Information Services Corp., announced Monday that it has appointed Melissa Schewe as chief experience officer (CXO). In her new position, Schewe will be responsible for the definition, communication, and enhancement of the customer experience at Stewart Title.

Mortgage Contracting Services (MCS), a nationwide provider of property preservation, inspections, and REO asset management to the financial services industry, announced Monday that it has expanded its Dallas office space to support current growth initiatives, accommodate both new business and future company hires, and further increase the service level to its clientele and industry partners. The company said it sees this expansion as a continuation of its nationwide service through three decades.

DebtX, a full-service loan sale advisor based in Boston, announced Monday that it will sell approximately $500 million of mostly commercial real estate (CRE) loans on behalf of three financial institutions. ""Sellers are moving aggressively to dispose of loans and benefit from stronger balance sheets,"" said Kingsley Greenland, DebtX CEO. ""Investors have an opportunity to buy a wide range of both performing and non-performing loans from these sales.""

In an effort to deliver assurance to the investment community in today's rapidly changing marketplace, BrokerPriceOpinion.com, a provider of broker price opinions and appraisals, has joined forces with American Title, Inc., to offer warranties on collateral valuations. In the past year, American Title said it has consistently heard about concerns from financial institutions about the quality of the valuation products they use, so the company created Collateral Valuation Warranty product, which provides coverage for potential losses due to incorrect collateral valuation.

Mortgage Delivery Specialists (MDS), a provider of mortgage servicing rights acquisition due diligence analysis services, and Indecomm-Mortgage Dynamics Inc. (IMDI), a mortgage banking management consulting and outsource services firm, recently announced a strategic partnership. As a result, IMDI will immediately begin incorporating MDS's mortgage servicing analysis product into its suite of mortgage servicing solutions.

As the real estate market continues to fight an uphill battle towards recovery, the dream of homeownership seems to be dying out for some consumers, at least for the time being. According to a new online survey conducted in May, 76 percent of consumers deemed renting to be the more favorable option to owning a home in the current real estate market, a 5 percent jump from the 2008 survey results.