Forest City Enterprises, Inc., an $11.9 billion NYSE-listed national real estate company based in Cleveland, announced Thursday that it has promoted David J. LaRue to the newly-created position of EVP and COO, with responsibility for real estate activities across all of the company's business units.

Utah's first full-service real estate foreclosure center was opened this month in Taylorsville by RCI Realty, a real estate firm based in Cottonwood Heights. The new center has a team of experts trained in all fields to educate homeowners and investors about buying and selling foreclosed properties, and interested individuals have free access to attorneys who can guide them through the legal maze that often accompanies these processes.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency released a report Wednesday, summarizing Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP) modification and Home Affordable Refinance Program (HARP) data for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. As of January 31, the GSEs had converted 73,376 HAMP mods to permanent status and made HARP a larger component of their refinancing strategies.

State regulators have announced a 35-state settlement agreement with CitiFinancial, after a recent examination conducted by the Massachusetts Division of Banks found that the company failed to report 91,127 residential mortgage loans to the federal government as required by the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA). As part of the agreement, CitiFinancial has agreed to pay a penalty totaling $1.25 million.

California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has signed AB 183, which will provide a tax credit of up to $10,000 to Californians who are buying their first home or purchasing a newly-built home. The bill gives the Franchise Tax Board authority to extend a total of $200 million in tax credits to California homebuyers--$100 million for first-time buyers of existing homes and another $100 million for buyers of new, unoccupied homes.

Atlanta-based Prommis Solutions, LLC, a national provider of financial services industry processing solutions, recently announced the appointment of three new executives to its team. Dick Volentine has been named as corporate counsel for Prommis. Jennifer Dorris has been promoted to president from her role as CFO. And George Dunaway has been selected to take over Dorris' former position.

Big 5 Asset Management, an alternative asset management firm based in Denver, announced Thursday that it has acquired a real estate securities fund launched by Credit Suisse. Renamed the Rhino Income Opportunity Fund, it will continue to invest in preferred shares of real estate investment trusts (REITs) and will also join Big 5 Asset Management's flagship global long-short equity fund, Lion Global.

In an effort to help financial institutions overcome the challenges faced in complying with the recent changes to the Real Estate Procedures Act (RESPA), Minneapolis-based Wolters Kluwer Financial Services, a compliance, content, and technology solutions and services provider, has launched its new RESPA Post-Implementation Audit Service.

Bank of America's earned principal forgiveness program has already come under inspection. Barclays Capital has released a first-pass analysis, examining the new modification plan's implications for non-agency mortgage-backed securities.

Citi announced Thursday that it has committed to participate in the administration's second lien modification program (2MP). The New-York based global financial services company is the fourth major servicer to sign on to the program, which was introduced nearly a year ago. Bank of America, Wells Fargo, and Chase have also agreed to participate in the program. Together, these four servicers own $400 billion of the nation's $1 trillion second lien mortgage market.