There are six U.S. institutions at risk for failure, according to Richard X. Bove, banking analyst at Ladenburg Thalmann & Co. Inc. However, he says that collectively, banks and thrifts in the United States are nowhere near the precarious climate that existed in the late 1980s and early 1990s.

Mortgage Contracting Services, a provider of property preservation and inspection services to the mortgage industry, yesterday announced that it has named Lorne DeFour director of quality assurance compliance.

Treasurer Jim Rokakis of Cuyahoga County, Ohio has developed a long-term redevelopment strategy to address the county’s growing number of abandoned properties. If approved by the state legislature, this initiative will enable the institution of Community Improvement Corporations with decentralized county governance, and it will allow counties to design individual plans that are tailored to meet the needs of their communities.

RealtyTrac, an online marketplace for foreclosure properties nationwide, and First Team Real Estate, the No. 1 independent real estate brokerage in Southern California, announced today a strategic alliance that will allow consumers using the First Team Web site to search for foreclosure properties.

RedVision, a national real estate property research organization, yesterday announced the completion of its acquisition of Colorado Record Data and its sister company CRS Title Services. We believe our combined technologies and national service infrastructure will offer all our customers even greater advantages in efficiencies and products, as well as, wider coverage for our national clients, said Brian Twibell, RedVision’s CEO.

The Housing Predictor released an update today to its list of the Worst 25 Market Forecasts, which is traditionally issued at the beginning of each year. The Housing Predictor made this update because their worst 25 markets are experiencing increasingly rapid deflation as foreclosures remain at epidemic levels.

Lydian Data Services, a provider of end-to-end outsourcing services for mortgage lending operations, announced today the establishment of Lydian Data Government Services, a new subsidiary to provide expert mortgage processing, closing, postclosing, and quality control services for Federal Housing Administration (FHA) and Veterens Administration (VA) loans.

Just Price SolutionsTM, the nonprofit technology subsidiary of Neighborhood Housing Services of America, today announced a new process to determine workable loss mitigation solutions for borrowers, loan servicers and lenders – BestFITTM.

ServiceLink, a provider of origination and default services and the national mortgage services platform for the Fidelity National Financial family of companies, today announced customer-interface improvements to its iClose web-based closing product.

ProVest, a process server provider for the default servicing industry, announced today the appointment of Jim McDermott as VP of operations. In this position, he will be responsible for managing active clients, employees, and new service processing cases while working with attorneys, mortgage servicers and government personnel to improve efficiencies in the service process.