LOGS Network announced Wednesday that it has made a strategic addition to its leadership team with the addition of Scott Brinkley as the organization's new CEO. Before joining LOGS, Brinkley held executive positions for two decades with First American and CoreLogic. He also co-founded a large claims processing business and most recently was CEO of the Illinois foreclosure law firm Pierce and Associates.

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) charged the holding company of Fifth Third Bank and its former CFO with improper accounting of commercial real estate loans during the financial crisis. Fifth Third will pay $6.5 million to settle the charges. Former CFO Daniel Poston must pay a $100,000 penalty and has been suspended from practicing as an accountant for any publicly traded or SEC-regulated company.

The former banking regulator overseeing the National Mortgage Settlement has released a summary of the latest reports he filed with a federal court in Washington, D.C. The reports detail the performance of five major servicers in meeting the terms of the agreement reached with 49 state attorneys general and federal officials. Joseph Smith says he's confirmed six fails in the first quarter of 2013 and one in the second quarter.

Hudson & Marshall will auction more than 150 single-family properties for the FDIC using a specially tailored version of the company's online and offline auction process. Five separate auctions will take place from December 4–10 on properties located in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, and North Carolina.

Kansas City-based Martin, Leigh, Laws & Fritzlen, P.C., was awarded USFN's Award of Excellence for the fourth consecutive year. The Award of Excellence is given annually to USFN member firms that meet rigorous standards which evaluate professional activities, industry volunteerism, and community and charitable involvement.

To address widespread negative equity, at least 15 cities and counties are considering using eminent domain to seize underwater homes and lower borrowers' mortgage principal balances, according to the Urban Institute. The institute conducted a study to see what commonalities these communities share and found that all 15 suffer from high levels of poverty and unemployment, stagnant incomes, and low housing prices.

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac announced changes to their Servicing Guides Monday aimed at helping more borrowers avoid foreclosure through short sales and deeds-in-lieu of foreclosure (DILs). Some of the changes are to align with certain Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) rules and regulations that implement the mortgage servicing provisions of the Dodd-Frank Act, and some are simply to ease eligibility requirements for liquidation workout options.

Analysts expect to see a new face at the helm of the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) now that Senate Democrats have changed the rules so that a filibuster can't be used to block presidential appointments. Now only needing a simple majority for confirmation, Mel Watt's 56 votes in the Senate's first decision on his nomination mean he has enough support to become director of the FHFA--a change analysts say raises policy risk but also credit availability.

The nation's foreclosure inventory has contracted for 18 consecutive months and is now at its lowest point since the end of 2008, totaling 1.28 million loans, or just 2.54 percent of today's active mortgages, according to Lender Processing Services. The company's latest report assessing the performance of mortgage assets through the end of October shows the industry's foreclosure inventory rate has plummeted 29.61 percent from last year.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) is issuing a rule Wednesday requiring lenders to use its disclosure templates to lay out mortgage terms for borrowers. The new ""Know Before You Owe"" mortgage forms will replace existing federal disclosures, and the CFPB says they'll help consumers better understand their options, comparison shop for the best mortgage deals, and avoid costly surprises at closing.