Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) Deputy Director John Pistole told a Senate Judiciary Committee on Wednesday that mortgage fraud investigations are intensifying in both volume and scope as the economic crisis worsens.

On Wednesday, the Office of Thrift Supervision (OTS) – the primary regulator of federal savings holding companies and thrifts, including the nation’s largest banks and mortgage lenders – called on the more than 800 OTS-regulated institutions to suspend foreclosures on owner-occupied homes until the Financial Stability Plan’s home loan modification program is finalized.

Reisenfeld & Associates LPA, LLC, a Cincinnati, Ohio-based foreclosure and bankruptcy law firm, held a ribbon-cutting and dedication ceremony marking the official opening of the Sylvan P. Reisenfeld Law Building on January 20th.

RealtyTrac released its January 2009 Foreclosure Market Report today, which shows foreclosure filings — default notices, auction sale notices and bank repossessions — were reported on 274,399 U.

Mortgage rates for a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) averaged 5.16 percent with an average 0.7 point for the week ending February 12, 2009, according to Freddie Mac’s newly released Primary Mortgage Market Survey.

Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner outlined the Obama administration’s economic recovery strategy on Tuesday – dubbed the Financial Stability Plan – and on Wednesday, Geithner was called before Congress to defend the tactics he proposed.

American homeowners’ perceptions of the value of their own homes moved more in line with reality at the end of 2008, at least when it came to hindsight, based on a report released by online real estate marketer Zillow on Wednesday.

AmeriBid, an auction provider with over 60 years of collective auction experience, and Condo.com, a condominium marketplace, recently announced a strategic partnership aimed at the growing inventory surplus of repossessed condominium homes.

Cincinnati, Ohio-based Gerner & Kearns Co., L.P.A. (G&K) recently announced the appointment of Bernard J. LoVerde Jr. as the firm’s director of marketing and business development. The firm’s affiliated entity, Newport, Kentucky-based Turnkey Asset Management Solutions (Turnkey), has named David P.

According to a panel of financial experts at the 2009 Economic and Investment Forecast Dinner in Los Angeles last week, more pain lies ahead for the U.S. and global economies as they adjust from a long period of credit-fueled prosperity to a new era in which both economic growth and investment returns are likely to be lower.