In an effort to develop new strategies for stabilizing neighborhoods that experience large numbers of foreclosures, dozens of local officials from 12 of the regions hit hardest by the housing crisis are meeting at Harvard University this week for the Neighborhood Stabilization Boot Camp.

Bank of America completed 20,666 permanent modifications under the Home Affordable Modification Program as of February 28, 2010, up from 12,761 a month earlier. The bank also has 22,303 additional permanent HAMP modifications that are pending and leads the mortgage servicing industry with more than 240,000 active trial modifications under HAMP.

As of February 28, 2010, Wells Fargo & Co. had 505,832 active trial and completed modifications through its own modification programs and the federal Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP). According to the administration's February HAMP report card released Friday, Wells Fargo completed more permanent modifications than any other HAMP servicer.

Five team members of Safeguard Properties were recently promoted to newly-created positions within the company. These new positions are part of an organizational restructuring to better serve clients and accommodate Safeguard's current and anticipated growth, the company said.

Despite the continued struggles of the housing and mortgage markets, Idaho Falls, Idaho-based DocuTech Corp. finished 2009 with an increase in market penetration of more than 140 percent, the company announced Thursday. The mortgage document compliance company added 84 new customers last year and forged key partnership with loan origination software (LOS) providers to ensure a seamless connection with loan data and loan documents.

During the 2010 Multicultural Real Estate & Policy Conference last week in Washington D.C., the National Association of Hispanic Real Estate Professionals (NAHREP), the Asian Real Estate Association of America(AREAA), and the National Association of Real Estate Brokers (NAREB) introduced The Five-Point Plan: Creating a Sustainable Path to Minority Homeownership.

In testimony before a House subcommittee Thursday, Charles McMillan, immediate past president of the National Association of Realtors (NAR), said the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) remains financially strong because it has taken steps to ensure solid underwriting standards and responsible lending practices.

A new survey conducted by the Title/Appraisal Vendor Management Association (TAVMA) and the annual appraisal industry survey from Coester Appraisal Group shed light on what is really happening in the appraisal industry.

The Congressional Oversight Panel recently released a report finding that throughout the federal bailout of GMAC, Treasury missed opportunities to increase accountability and better protect taxpayers' money. Despite the $17.2 billion investment the government has made in the company, the panel says there is still no clear business plan for GMAC, and questions why the Treasury didn't just allow the lender to go into bankruptcy. Administration officials estimate that $6.3 billion of the funds given to GMAC may never be repaid.

On Thursday, Starwood Capital Group, LLC (SCG), a private investment firm with a core focus on global real estate, appointed Steven Hankin as managing director, portfolio operations, giving him oversight over the company's portfolio of corporate investments.