After seeing a disconnect between buyers, sellers, and agents in the real estate transaction process, Jim Hodson envisioned a better, more efficient process to complete these transaction and founded Countdown To Buy (CTB), a next generation online real estate marketplace that aims to offer fair and effective ways to buy and sell properties.

Aspen Lake Capital, a real estate solutions provider based in Salem, Oregon, announced Tuesday the launch of its REO and asset acquisition service. The company, which specializes in the secondary mortgage market, seeks to support investment and commercial banks, hard money and warehouse lenders, regional and community banks, and individual investors by acquiring non-performing residential and commercial mortgages and REOs in pools.

The eighth largest Realtor association in the country, the Pennsylvania Association of Realtors (PAR), recently voted to adopt the Catylist Commercial Information Exchange (CIE) service for its 30,000 plus commercial and residential members. This is a great tool for Realtors, said John Derham, chair of PAR’s commercial, industrial, and investment committee.

After being indicted on allegations of mortgage fraud, Phillip Seibel of Edmond, Oklahoma, received his sentencing on Wednesday by United States District Judge David Russell.

In an announcement Thursday, New Jersey-based Max Spann Real Estate& Auction Co., a national auctioneer of elite properties, said since the spring, the company has sold 231 condos at auctions throughout the Northeast.

In an announcement Monday, the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) said it is immediately suspending Equitable Trust Mortgage Corporation (ETM) of Baltimore, Maryland for overcharging borrowers.

According to a recent report, the aggregate value of commercial real estate (CRE) loans priced by Boston, Massachusetts-based DebtX that collateralizes commercial mortgage backed securities (CMBS) decreased slightly to 76.9 percent in October, coming in 0.3 percent lower than September of this year.

According to a report released Monday by the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA), delinquency rates continued to increase in the third quarter for most commercial and multifamily mortgage investor groups.

Cole Taylor Bank, based in Chicago, announced Thursday that it has established a new residential mortgage origination line of business.

Geoffrey Lamb, who did business as The Lamb Group and US Consumer Solutions, has been accused of running a foreclosure scam in Kannapolis, North Carolina.