Real Estate Disposition Corporation (REDC), the nation’s largest real estate auction company, said yesterday that it has completed the sale of a 50 percent interest in the company to Trident IV, L.

RealtyTrac released its October 2008 U.S. Foreclosure Market Report today, which shows foreclosure filings — default notices, auction sale notices, and bank repossessions — were reported on 279,561 U.

The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) released its final rule under the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (RESPA) yesterday to improve disclosures in the home financing process. RESPA, a law originally enacted in 1974, now includes new Good Faith Estimate (GFE) and HUD-1 Settlement Statement forms, which require lenders and mortgage brokers to clearly disclose key loan terms and closing costs.

In its latest attempt to thaw the country’s credit freeze, the U.S. Department of the Treasury, Federal Reserve, and Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) issued a joint statement yesterday urging banks to start lending again.

Webster Bank N.A., a subsidiary of Webster Financial Corporation, announced today that it is halting foreclosures for 90 days, becoming the latest bank to expand its mortgage assistance program to keep more families in their homes.

Craig Long LLC, a real estate law firm with offices in Cumming and McDonough, Georgia, announced today that Ashley Carroll has joined the firm as an associate attorney. In this role, Carroll will conduct closings and handle other general legal practice matters for the firm’s McDonough office.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson announced this afternoon that the government’s plan to purchase financial institutions’ under-performing mortgages has been put on hold. In fact, based on Paulson’s remarks, it is unlikely that the Treasury will conduct any auctions to purchase bad loans and other troubled assets – the original intention of the $700 billion bailout package.

Home values in the United States posted their seventh consecutive quarterly decline, falling 9.7 percent year-over-year to a Zillow Home Value Index of $202,966, according to the third quarter Zillow Real Estate Market Reports released today.

Florida-based eMASON Inc., a software provider specializing in web-based process automation for the financial services industry, today announced the addition of several key team members, as well as the expansion of its corporate headquarters location.

Fidelity National Financial Inc. said late last week that it will acquire title insurer LandAmerica Financial Group Inc. The all-stock deal is valued at about $128 million, in which LandAmerica shareholders will receive 0.