Safeguard Properties has announced that its move to its new Valley View, Ohio, headquarters is complete, doubling the company’s office space and staffing capacity. The new facility, with approximately 63,000 square feet of finished space for the company’s current 700 employees has expansion capacity to 75,000 square feet to accommodate nearly twice the number of staff.

The Federal Reserve’s new Regulation Z requirements under the Home Ownership and Equity Protection Act (HOEPA) are set to take effect on October 1, 2009. The changes will require institutions to comply with several new rules tied to a new class of mortgages the Fed identifies as higher-priced.

Can housing – which triggered the current economic downturn – also provide the stimulant to recoveryx According to a new study commissioned by the Housing Alliance of Pennsylvania, the answer is yes.

Irvine, California-based Financial Asset Services, Inc. (FAS) recently received recognition from the Orange County chapter of Habitat for Humanity as a supporter of the organization’s Home Build Out program.

In late April, Missouri Attorney General Chris Koster launched a zero tolerance campaign against mortgage scams in his state, pledging he will aggressively investigate any suspicion of mortgage deception and use all means in the legal system to prosecute and shut them down or end their deceptive practices.

Marix Servicing LLC www.marixservicing.com, a specialty default servicer located in Phoenix, Arizona, recently announced that the company has been approved by Freddie Mac:http://www.freddiemac.com as a servicer for the GSE’s home mortgage (1-4 unit) program.

DS News‘ Distressed Asset Roundtable and Exchange kicked off today in New York City. DS News shares the view of many analysts and government officials that the path to a housing and economic recovery must involve the private equity and investment markets.

The National Fair Housing Alliance , headquartered in Washington, D.C., has issued a report claiming that housing discrimination in the United States has spiked for two reasons: the worsening foreclosure crisis and Internet advertising that violates fair housing laws.

Two more servicers have been added to the government’s list of mortgage companies officially under contract to provide federal loan modifications through its Home Affordable Modification Program — Carrington Mortgage Services, of Santa Ana, California, and Aurora Loan Services of Littleton, Colorado.

The U.S. House of Representatives passed the Mortgage Reform and Anti-Predatory Lending Act (H.R. 1728) on Thursday, by a vote of 300 to 114. Lawmakers say the legislation is intended to protect homeowners and the nation’s economy from the questionable and predatory lending practices that have led to record home foreclosures and triggered the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression.