In response to federal regulators encouraging lenders and servicers to participate in the Federal Housing Administration’s (FHA’s) HOPE for Homeowners program, Wolters Kluwer Financial Services announced today it has begun to develop a comprehensive suite of solutions to help financial institutions comply with the program’s requirements.

First American CoreLogic, a member of The First American Corporation, a provider of advance property and ownership information, analytics, and services, today released its September 2008 LoanPerformance Home Price Index (HPI).

Freddie Mac announced today that its Conventional Mortgage Home Price Index (CMHPI) Purchase-Only Series registered a 7.3 percent annualized decline in U.S. house prices during the third quarter of 2008.

Data through September 2008, released yesterday by Standard & Poor’s for its S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Indices, shows continued broad based declines in the prices of existing single family homes across the United States – a trend that has prevailed since 2007, the research firm said.

HOPE NOW, the private sector alliance of mortgage servicers, counselors, and investors whose mission is to prevent foreclosures and keep homeowners in their homes, yesterday announced that the mortgage industry prevented 225,000 foreclosures in October.

First American CoreLogic, a member of The First American Corporation family of companies, today released the latest issue of its Core Mortgage Risk Monitor (CMRM). The CMRM forecasts delinquency risk for the real estate and mortgage industry, providing a barometer on the areas that are the most and least risky in terms of homeowners facing foreclosures due to mortgage default.

Title insurer LandAmerica Financial Group Inc. filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on Wednesday. The company also said that it has agreed to sell three of its underwriting subsidiaries to competitor Fidelity National Financial Inc.

Mortgage Cadence Inc., a provider of Enterprise Lending Solutions (ELS) for the financial services industry, recently announced that it has expanded its compliance and regulatory expertise, with the addition of Tim Counterman as director of compliance.

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke has acknowledged that he was in error when he forecast that the subprime-mortgage era, and the resulting credit crunch, would not spiral into the crisis we have today, according to a feature story in the December edition of %{=FONT-STYLE: italic} The New Yorker:http://www.

Unquestionably, the number of foreclosures in Arizona has reached an unprecedented high. The state has consistently ranked within the top 5 in terms of properties with foreclosure filings, according to RealtyTrac, a national database of foreclosure and bank-owned properties.