According to RealtyTrac, an online marketplace for foreclosure properties, national foreclosure activity for the month of July was up eight percent from the previous month and 55 percent compared to a year ago.

On Monday, the Federal Reserve auctioned $25 billion in loans to banks, for the first time lengthening the pay-back period from 28 days to 84. The extension marks the central bank’s latest initiative to provide financial institutions with extra capital to combat the current credit crisis and climbing mortgage losses.

Lender Processing Services, Inc., the mortgage-focused spin-off of Fidelity National Information Services, Inc., last week reported an annual increase in its second quarter 2008 revenues of 8.3 percent.

The Mortgage Bankers Association released its Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ending August 8, 2008 today, showing the number of mortgage applications was down only slightly compared to the previous week.

The Atlanta, Georgia-based law office of Morris, Schneider, Prior, Johnson & Freedman, LLC announced last week that it has promoted litigation attorney Lawrence W. Kelly as partner. Kelly is a member of the firm’s litigation department.

Freddie Mac announced yesterday that it will stop purchasing mortgage loans in New York that fall within the state’s definition of subprime home loans. Last week, New York Governor David A. Patterson signed into law a subprime lending reform bill (S.

In a late regulatory filing Monday, U.S. investment bank JPMorgan Chase said it expects to write off $1.5 billion in mortgage-backed securities so far for the third quarter. The July loss exceeds the company’s $1.

Zaio Corporation’s CEO Douglas Vincent announced last week the appointment of James A. Kirchmeyer as president of the company, which provides approximately 500 lenders nationwide with appraisal services through its real estate database and technology.

Wachovia Corporation said yesterday in its quarterly filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), that it will cut 600 more jobs than it previously projected. The cuts are part of Wachovia’s efforts to reduce expenses to combat losses tied to troubles with mortgage lending.

The Federal Reserve released the results of its Senior Loan Officer Survey yesterday, showing most institutions reported having tightened their lending standards and terms on all major loan categories over the previous three months.