Community Reinvestment Fund, USA (CRF), a national organization that provides capital to nonprofit community development lenders through its secondary market for loans, recently announced a new foreclosure remediation program for the Twin Cities area of Minnesota.

Denver’s Integrated Asset Services, LLC (IAS) released its latest IAS360 House Price Index on Tuesday, which IAS says is evidence of a continued tailspin for the U.S. housing market. The company reported that nationally, the industry experienced a staggering 3.

President Barack Obama has announced the nomination of three senior advisers for key positions within the U.S. Treasury Department. Hand-picked for assistant secretary positions are David Cohen, to lead the administration’s fight against terrorist financing; Alan Krueger, to steer economic policy; and Kim Wallace, to oversee legislative affairs.

Pennsylvania Gov. Edward D. Rendell announced on Monday an emergency executive action= intended to provide immediate relief to struggling homeowners in the state. The governor is directing $5 million in state funding to be used for mortgage assistance to ensure that recently unemployed workers can keep their homes while they are retraining and finding new jobs, the governor’s office said in a press statement.

On May 1st, the Home Valuation Code of Conduct (HVCC) takes effect, mandating that all new loans sold to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac comply with strict rules established to mitigate the risk assumed by the two GSEs.

The Ohio Legislature has introduced several bills aimed at fighting the foreclosure crisis in the state. Ohio has one of the highest foreclosure rates in the country. Residential foreclosures in the Buckeye State were ranked the 10th highest in the nation in RealtyTrac’s latest market report, with one in every 452 homes receiving a foreclosure filing in January.

TitleVest, a Manhattan-based provider of title insurance and related real estate services, announced today the hire of Michael Birajiclian, Esq. as managing director of business development. Over the past decade, Birajiclian has closed more than $8 billion in real estate transactions in positions held at several leading investment banks, including Bank of America, Nomura Credit & Capital, and Morgan Stanley, and most recently as an attorney in private practice at Stark, Amron & Liner, LLP.

Emeryville, California-based HomeGain, the first website to provide free instant home values, today announced the results of a nationwide survey analyzing homeowners’ and homebuyers’ views on home prices.

According to Michigan-based University Financial Associates (UFA), the risk of default for nonprime mortgages during the first quarter of 2009 is down from Q4 2008. The company’s Default Risk Index for the first three month’s of 2009 fell to 201 from last quarter’s revised index of 209.

Despite a surge in actions taken by bank regulators, overall mortgage litigation eased at the end of last year, according to a study prepared by the D.C. law firm of Weiner Brodsky Sidman Kider PC. The firm tracked a total of 202 active cases in the fourth quarter report.