Stewart Information Services Corp. announced Wednesday the members of its new executive team. Recently appointed CEO Matt Morris created the executive team to align the organization for growth in the real estate services industry. Seven members make up Stewart's new executive team: Glenn Clements, George Houghton, Jason Nadeau, Mike Skalka, Allen Berryman, Murshid Khan, and John Arcidiacono.

The delinquency rate for loans held in U.S. commercial mortgage-backed securities (CMBS) fell 26 basis points to 9.51 percent in November, according to Trepp, LLC. That's the second biggest decline recorded by the firm this year, surpassed only by August's 36 point drop. The rate has now fallen in four of the 11 months of 2011. Recent declines, however, likely aren't the makings of a trend, Trepp says. The company is expecting increases in coming months as 2007 vintage loans start to reach their five-year balloon maturity dates.

Attorneys General Kamala Harris of California and Catherine Cortez Masto of Nevada have entered into a joint investigation alliance targeting mortgage servicers and perpetrators of mortgage fraud. The alliance will link their offices' civil and criminal enforcement teams in order to speed up investigations and prosecutions. The partnership forged between Harris and Masto illustrates the deep rifts that have developed within the attorney general camp over robo-signing settlement negotiations.

Potestivo & Associates, P.C. recently announced the hiring of their 21st attorney, Kim Batcha. Based in the Illinois office, Batcha will serve as an associate attorney in the firm's litigation department, where her focus will be on federal debt collections, commercial litigation, and real estate litigation.

Foreclosures are going to go up before they go down, according to Craig Nickerson, president of the National Community Stabilization Trust. Nickerson says estimates put foreclosure tallies at 850,000 this year, as high as 1.5 million in 2013, and then back to the levels we're at today by 2015. With all these distressed properties potentially making their way to an already stressed marketplace, Nickerson, along with a panel of industry professionals at the inaugural MPact Conference advocated for bulk short sales to investors and nonprofits.

The foreclosure crisis has had a long and destructive run - five years and counting, with millions put out of their homes. According to the Center for Responsible Lending (CRL), we're not even halfway through the devastation. The organization's analysis of 27 million mortgage loans originated over a five-year period found that 6.4 percent of mortgages made between 2004 and 2008 have ended in foreclosure, and an additional 8.3 percent are at immediate, serious risk.

Michael L. Zevitz, shareholder at South & Associates, P.C. has been selected by his peers for inclusion in the 2012 edition of The Best Lawyers in Kansas City in the area of mortgage banking foreclosure law. Selection is based on more than 2.8 million confidential peer-review evaluations. In addition, shareholder Nancy M. Wilson has been selected for the inaugural edition of the Martindale-Hubbell Bar Register of Preeminent Women Lawyers - exclusively for women attorneys who have achieved the highest possible rating in both legal ability and ethical standards from their peers.

For the second consecutive year, Safeguard Properties was recognized as the fastest growing large company in Northeast Ohio at the annual Weatherhead 100 awards ceremony held on December 1. Safeguard, which is headquartered in Valley View, Ohio, led in the Centurion category that includes companies with annual net sales in excess of $100 million. Safeguard, which is headquartered in Valley View, Ohio, led in the Centurion category that includes companies with annual net sales in excess of $100 million.

Looking for an REO buyer? It's becoming harder to find owner-occupants to fit that bill. New Vista Asset Management has published the results of a three-year study on buyers of foreclosed homes, covering 18 counties hit hardest by the mortgage crisis. The company says the percentage of REO homes sold to owner-occupants has decreased in almost every market. In Los Angeles, for example, the share of owner-occupant REO buyers dropped from 80 percent in 2009 to 60 percent by the third quarter of 2011.

Ally Financial's GMAC Mortgage says it will stop doing business with third-party lenders in Massachusetts. The announcement was made just one day after the state's attorney general said she is suing GMAC and four other mortgage servicers over documentation and recording errors related to foreclosures. Effective Monday, December 5, GMAC will cease purchasing new mortgage loans in the state that are originated by correspondent lenders and wholesale brokers.