The administration unveiled its revamped Home Affordable Refinance Program (HARP) last week to allow borrowers who owe significantly more than their home is worth take out new loans with lower interest rates. CoreLogic says the impact will be targeted to those markets and local economies that have suffered the most from the housing collapse. The company believes HARP 2.0 will be positive for the GSEs and the origination market, negative for bondholders, and neutral for housing itself because distressed borrowers and shadow inventory are left out of the equation.

Continental REO has promoted Gina Gray to the position of closing coordinator. Gray has worked in the residential real estate industry for the last 10 years as a licensed agent, office manager, and a marketing and advertising coordinator. She joined Continental REO in October 2010. Gray has also served as a paralegal, an independent real estate transaction administrator, an agent branding consultant, and in marketing for a national pharmaceutical distributor.

State attorneys general and the nation's five largest mortgage servicers could be within weeks of reaching a $25 billion agreement to settle allegations that foreclosures were improperly processed. Details of the settlement terms obtained by DSNews.com indicate that individual servicer penalties will be based on the number of foreclosures they've completed. Collectively, $5 billion would come in the form of cash fines and $20 billion would be satisfied with principal-reducing modifications and refinancing for underwater borrowers.

State and federal regulators shuttered All American Bank in Des Plaines, Illinois, over the weekend, bringing this year's failed-bank tally to 85. The FDIC brokered a deal with International Bank of Chicago to take over the failed lender's operations and purchase all of its assets. All American Bank is the ninth FDIC-insured institution in the state to go under this year.

Federally funded mortgage relief programs continue to struggle to reach homeowners, according to the Special Inspector General of the Troubled Asset Relief Program (SIGTARP). A new report from the watchdog agency says only $2.5 billion of the $45.6 billion in TARP funds earmarked for housing programs has been spent. Regarding the Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP), the agency estimates that as many as 600,000 homeowners who are eligible will not receive a permanent mod before the program expires next fall.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) has lowered its projection for just how much taxpayer funding is needed to support the nation's two largest mortgage financiers. FHFA estimates that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will need between $220 billion and $311 billion from the American people when all is said and done. Those figures represent capital assistance from September 2008, when the two mortgage giants were placed into conservatorship, through the end of 2014.

The National Groups has named Carla Ulufanua managing director of REO management. Ulufanua previously held the role of REO operations manager handling business for the GSEs. In her new role, Ulufanua will run the day-to-day operations of the REO team across both government and private sector clients. The National Groups provides outsourcing services that span the spectrum of default servicing, including loss mitigation, REO management, valuations, and settlement and title services.

The industry's four largest mortgage servicers all say they will be taking part in the revamped Home Affordable Refinance Program (HARP). Bank of America, Chase, Citigroup, and Wells Fargo have each expressed their support of the program and the changes that will allow more underwater homeowners to refinance. Government officials expect the program's revisions to expand its reach and increase competition for mortgage refinancing, with an estimated 1 million homeowners to receive assistance under the new guidelines.

Rep. Scott Garrett, chairman of the House subcommittee responsible for matters related to the nation's two largest mortgage financiers, says Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are not only systemically dangerous to economic security, but their government-sanctioned structure is ""un-American."" Garrett has unveiled his plan for putting housing finance reform on the fast track by ensuring private investors are ready to take up the slack from the GSEs. The sheer dominance of the two companies, however, leads some in the industry to err on the side of caution.

Clear Capital announced Thursday the appointments of Gabriel Nacht as CFO and Brian Wick as VP of marketing. Both individuals bring more than 24 years of experience to their positions with the company. A few weeks ago, Clear Capital also announced the appointment of Erik Lundquist to head its commercial valuations team, and the company says it's looking to add further to its staff, with a number of key positions currently available.