Lenders who have pledged to halt foreclosure proceedings are apparently proceeding with foreclosure actions anyway, according to a recent BusinessWeek:http://www.businessweek.com/bwdaily/dnflash/content/dec2008/db2008123_362200.

First American Document Solutions, a post-closing and servicing solutions provider and a First American Corporation company, has announced the availability of ePostClosing.com, its new online portal designed to help lenders and servicers reduce their post-closing document management costs and improve investor compliance.

Robert L. Johnson, founder and chairman of Bethesda, Maryland’s The RLJ Companies and chairman of Urban Trust Holdings Inc., introduced his $1 billion proposal to help homeowners avoid foreclosure during a speech at the National Housing Forum sponsored by the Office of Thrift Supervision (OTS) this week.

The Arizona Department of Housing (ADOH) announced last week that it has received $683,060 to support the continuation of the state’s foreclosure prevention counseling efforts. The much-needed boost will enable an existing network of 13 community-based organizations across Arizona to provide continued assistance to homeowners in danger of foreclosure, ADOH said in a press statement.

South & Associates P.C. has hired two new lawyers in its Overland Park, Kansas office – Kelvin Fisher and Stephanie Mendenhall. Fisher graduated with a Bachelors Degree from the University of Missouri Kansas City in 2000, and received his Juris Doctorate from the University of Missouri Kansas City School of Law in 2004.

Des Plaines, Illinois-based VHT, a provider of visual marketing services for the real estate industry, announced this week that they are now offering YouTube distribution services with their video property tours.

West Palm Beach, Florida-based Ocwen Financial Corporation, one of the nation’s largest servicers of subprime mortgages, has reported solid success with its program to modify substantial numbers of troubled loans in a way that avoids redefault, and keeps borrowers in their homes and loans performing for investors.

RealtyTrac released its November 2008 U.S. Foreclosure Market Report today, which shows foreclosure filings – default notices, auction sale notices, and bank repossessions – were reported on 259,085 U.

Four more community banks have collapsed under the pressures of the country’s economic and housing crises – two in Georgia and two in California. The recent failures bring the total number of institutions on the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation’s (FDIC’s) failed bank list to 23 in 2008.

JAM Equity Partners LLC, a money management firm focused on long-term, high-return investments in financial services businesses, and JAM’s affiliates recently announced a $2.5 million investment in Wingspan Portfolio Advisors, a Dallas-based mortgage servicer specializing in highly delinquent loans.