Mortgage Contracting Services (MCS), a Florida-based provider of property preservation, inspections, and REO property maintenance services, has introduced its Vendor eLearning Portal. The online platform enables 24/7 access to educational modules and reference documents on preservation guidelines as well as compliance topics. MCS maintains a nationwide network of licensed and insured preservation subcontractors.

The average 30-year fixed-rate mortgage came in at 3.99 percent this week, according to data released Thursday by Freddie Mac. It's the second time this year the rate has dropped below the 4.00 percent mark, and is the second lowest reading in the history of the GSE's survey. It averaged 3.94 percent for the week ending October 6, 2011. Freddie Mac described rate movement overall as ""changing little"" amid a mix of economic data reports, with most loan products up or down just 1 to 2 basis points.

Mortgage insurer Radian Guaranty Inc. trimmed its inventory of delinquent loans during the month of October by 136, as new delinquencies and cures came close to breaking even. The company ended the month with 110,614 loans in its primary delinquent portfolio, down from 110,740 at the beginning of October. The company says it wrote $2.07 billion in new primary mortgage insurance coverage during the month of October.

Lawmakers are outraged at the amount of bonus pay awarded to executives at Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac...and they're not stopping with hot-tempered rhetoric. Rep. Spencer Bachus, chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, has scheduled a committee vote for next Tuesday on a bill that would suspend the compensation packages awarded to the GSEs' top executives. Sens. Jay Rockefeller and John McCain say they plan to follow suit with a similar bill in their own chamber.

IndiSoft, a technology development firm that focuses on systems for the default services industry, has promoted Kapil Dhakad from project manager to VP of custom solutions. Dhakad is now responsible for ensuring that product configurations are tailored to meet the specific needs of each client. Dhakad joined IndiSoft in 2004 as a team leader and spearheaded implementing the company's flagship RxOffice platform for several clients. He became project manager in 2007.

Foreclosure filings in October rose 7 percent from the previous month, RealtyTrac said Thursday. Including default notices, scheduled auctions, and bank repossessions, filings were reported on 230,678 U.S. properties in October. That's down nearly 31 percent from a year earlier, when servicers began putting the brakes on foreclosure actions due to paperwork issues. But RealtyTrac has documented a rise in filings for three consecutive months now - a sign that servicers are working through the backlog of cases that have been delayed.

RE/MAX has deployed CoreLogic's HomeStandings technology, which is configured with a reporting component that the companies say can help agents quickly identify potentially profitable foreclosed properties that are eligible for resale. The HomeStandings report combines property, neighborhood, and market characteristics to provide a complete local understanding of a home's value, marketability, and rent potential. HomeStandings then generates a grade for each property, enabling RE/MAX agents to assess the overall purchase quality of a home.

The nation's largest mortgage company says it lost $5.1 billion during the third quarter of this year. That combined with a $2.5 billion dividend payment to Treasury for past bailout money left Fannie Mae with a $7.8 billion hole to fill. Upon receipt of those funds, Fannie Mae's total debt obligation to U.S. taxpayers will be $112.6 billion. The GSE held 122,616 single-family REO properties as of the end of September, and completed 87,533 foreclosure prevention actions during the quarter.

Capsilon, a provider of cloud-based document sharing, imaging, and collaboration solutions, announced that Sheila Plunkett has been named VP of sales, responsible for spearheading business development for the San Francisco-based company. Plunkett has more than 25 years' experience in enterprise-level technology sales and marketing management. Through much of her career, she has worked with clients in the financial services and mortgage industries.

The Default Attorney Group (DAG), a consortium of creditors' rights law firms from across the United States, recently announced that Claims Recovery Financial Services (CRFS) has joined its ranks as an associate member. CRFS delivers post-foreclosure claim processing management solutions and is based in Albion, New York. The company's products are designed to maximize the recovery of financial advancements from the servicing of a mortgage loan.