Three more community banks in Texas, California, and Florida have fallen under the pressures of the country’s economic and housing crises, bringing the total number of institutions on the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation’s (FDIC’s) failed bank list to nineteen in 2008.

Ohio-based Associated Software Consultants Inc. (ASC), recently introduced an enhanced technology solution designed to help community banks, credit unions, and emerging lenders manage their secondary mortgage market activities.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) today announced the conforming loan limit for next year will remain $417,000 for most areas in the United States, with specified higher limits in certain cities and counties.

Fidelity National Real Estate Solutions (FNRES), a division of Fidelity National Financial Inc., announced today that it is now offering its MLS customers reInsight Tax, a new solution that generates more comprehensive neighborhood and public record data, the company said in a press statement.

Five financial trade associations released the results of an industry survey yesterday which examined more than 400 firms’ views of participation in the federal government’s Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP).

Pending home sales in September fell on the heels of a strong gain a month earlier as credit tightened and economic conditions deteriorated, according to the National Association of Realtors (NAR). The association released its Pending Home Sales Index (PHSI) today, which is a forward-looking indicator based on contracts signed in September.

As mandated by the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008 (HERA), as of October 1, the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) stopped accepting seller-funded down payments. The National Association of Realtors (NAR) recently issued a report warning about programs being created to get around this new requirement.

Banks and mortgage companies facing a rising tide of mortgage delinquencies may begin looking to their insurance providers to offset a large portion of their losses. But mortgage insurers, hit with a flood of claims, are casting a cold eye at the fraudulent loan practices and underwriting that ran rampant as the housing bubble inflated — and are rescinding coverage when they find fraud in the applications.

The Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW) Realtors group is the first local real estate association in the United States to offer the National Association of Realtors (NAR) Green Designation Course. Specifically designed for member Realtors, the course provides an in-depth understanding of what green means for every aspect of real estate: residential, commercial, and property management.

California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger unveiled an aggressive proposal yesterday that he says will bring down foreclosure rates in the state by helping both borrowers and lenders modify existing home loans in ways that benefit both parties, and at the heart of his plan is a state-wide 90-day halt on foreclosure proceedings.