Wells Fargo says in the first half of 2009, through lower rates, refinances, and modifications, it alone has helped nearly one million American homeowners lower their mortgage payments or restructure their mortgage.

Herb Allison, the Treasury’s new assistant secretary for financial stability and former CEO of Fannie Mae, told lawmakers at a Senate Banking Committee hearing last week that the administration is considering another housing proposal that would require lenders to allow previous homeowners to stay in their foreclosed homes as renters.

Bensalem, Pennsylvania-based ISGN, a provider of core servicing, default management, and origination services and products, has unveiled a new loss mitigation technology that will be available on a pay-per-closed-loan basis.

Community banks are continuing to fold under the pressures of the nation’s economic crisis. Four banks – two in California, one in Georgia, and one in South Dakota – were shut down by their banking regulators on Friday.

Robert J. Hopp & Associates, LLC, a regional provider of legal, default, disposition, and title services headquartered in Denver, Colorado, has announced the addition of four associate attorneys to its legal team: Boyd Rolfson, Stacy Sutherland, Jennifer Trachte, and Brittany Wood.

Subprime mortgage servicer Ocwen Financial Corporation announced Thursday that Steven B. Nesmith has joined the company as SVP and assistant general counsel for strategic and government initiatives. Nesmith was most recently a partner at Holland & Knight where he served in the affordable housing, financial services, and international trade practice areas.

The number of mortgage servicers under contract to perform government-sanctioned loan modifications as part of the administration’s Making Home Affordable program has expanded to 27. The nation’s largest lenders – JP Morgan Chase, Wells Fargo, Citi, the Bank of America-Countrywide conglomerate, and GMAC – have agreed to provide mortgage modifications under the federal guidelines, as well as specialty subprime servicer Ocwen Financial and a host of other well-known mortgage companies, including several credit unions and a servicer out of Puerto Rico.

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and prosecutors in 19 states have filed 189 legal actions against companies and individuals they say are carrying out loan modification scams and deceptively marketing foreclosure rescue services.

The American Securitization Forum (ASF) has proposed a new set of guidelines that would shift more of the risk associated with residential mortgage-backed securities (RMBS) to the originating lenders and the investment firms that package the loans for sale to the secondary market.

Regulatory compliance professionals at community banks expect to spend a significant amount of their time meeting Truth-in-Lending Act (TILA) and Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (RESPA) requirements during the next 12 months, according to a recent survey by Minneapolis-based Wolters Kluwer Financial Services.