Mortgage fraud continues to escalate as troubles in the housing sector deepen. According to the 2008 Mortgage Fraud Report released this week by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), fraud can be blamed for billions of dollars in losses in the mortgage industry.

Mortgage rates across the board fell this week, amid concerns of a weakening labor market and rising unemployment numbers. It was the second week in a row of declines, with the average rate for 30-year mortgages hitting its lowest level in six weeks.

The U.S. Treasury Department announced the names of nine asset managers it has selected to run the public-private partnership funds that will buy up so-called toxic, underperforming mortgage-backed securities (MBS) — assets that have been blamed for draining markets of much-needed liquidity.

Fiserv, Inc., the financial services technology provider based in Brookfield, Wisconsin, announced Wednesday that its loan servicing platform, with loan modification and loss mitigation features, is fully compatible with the U.

Reflecting continued weakness in the housing sector, delinquencies in the home equity category reached record-high levels during the first three months of the year, according to the quarterly Consumer Credit Delinquency Bulletin issued by the American Bankers Association (ABA) this week.

Atlanta’s Prommis Solutions and Philadelphia-based Radian Guaranty, Inc. are working together to offer assistance to thousands of Americans who are in jeopardy of losing their homes through foreclosure.

The number of bank-owned property sales in Rhode Island has ballooned to nearly 20 percent of single-family home sales transactions so far in 2009, according to a new report from The Warren Group, a real estate research firm covering the New England area.

ProVest LLC , a legal support services firm catering to the financial and mortgage industries, recently announced the expansion of its service area to Kentucky. Initially offering service of process and related solutions in nine counties, the company says plans are underway to continue growing the ProVest brand throughout the Bluegrass State.

According to new figures released by the National Association of Realtors (NAR), pending home sales show a sustained uptrend, rising for four consecutive months. NAR says more affordable conditions for purchasing a home and the first-time buyer tax credit have boosted activity.

The city of Baltimore launched a relentless campaign back in January of last year against one of the nation’s largest banks, Wells Fargo. Baltimore is suing Wells Fargo under the Fair Housing Act for reverse redlining, meaning the bank allegedly targeted black neighborhoods in Baltimore for predatory residential mortgage loans.