In an effort to help detect occupancy issues related to mortgage fraud, California-based Interthinx has enhanced its flagship FraudGUARD product. These changes come in response to a disturbing trend the company uncovered in its quarterly fraud risk report, showing a 16 percent increase in fraud risk associated with occupancy status.

President Obama's Home Affordable Foreclosure Alternative (HAFA) program has been under intense fire this week. On Monday, a coalition of appraisal groups sent a letter to the Treasury opposing the program's use of BPOs, and on Thursday, the chief foreclosure expert at Ushud.com warned that HAFA is ""rife with problems that will adversely impact real estate professionals and consumers alike.""

In the fourth quarter of 2009, delinquency rates continued to increase for most commercial and multifamily mortgage investor groups, the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) reported Thursday. Although delinquencies are still rising, MBA said earlier this week that commercial and multifamily mortgages are performing better than all other types of loans.

Colliers International, a global real estate services company headquartered in Boston, recently secured the No. 2 spot in the annual Lipsey Survey of the top 25 brands in the commercial real estate industry. The firm jumped a notch from its third place position, which it has held since 2004.

Marking the second consecutive week of declines, Freddie Mac reported Thursday that mortgage rates dipped once again this week. For the week ending March 11, 2010, the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 4.95 percent with an average 0.7 point, and the 15-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 4.32 percent with an avearge 0.7 point.

Keller Williams Realty, an Austin, Texas-based real estate franchise operation, recently announced the launch of Keller Williams Southern Arizona. This new operation, formerly with Realty Executives, includes seven offices with more than 375 real estate agents and staff.

Marking the sixth straight month of declines, national house prices fell 2.3 percent in January, according to the latest IAS360 House Price Index (HPI) released Wednesday by Denver-based Integrated Asset Services, LLC (IAS). The culprit? IAS says unusually severe winter weather in large regions of the country may have added to housing market woes. The January numbers resulted in the largest single-month decline in the IAS360 in more than a year.

At a public hearing scheduled for Tuesday, March 16, 2010, the Nevada Supreme Court will consider amendments to the rules governing the state's Foreclosure Mediation Program (FMP). If the amendments are approved, this will be the third set of rule changes since the FMP was enacted on July 1, 2009.

On Wednesday, the National Association of Realtors (NAR) and DocuSign unveiled the DocuSign Realtor Edition, an exclusive online eSignature service designed specifically for Realtors. The new Realtor Edition allows NAR members to electronically sign agreements with buyers and sellers, which saves Realtors time and provides client convenience.

Lender Processing Services, Inc. (LPS) recently announced that its LPS Auction Solutions division will conduct an online auction of foreclosed homes from the hard-hit states of Arizona, California, and Nevada.