Nonprofits across the country are partnering up with lenders and government agencies to minimize neighborhood blight caused by vacant foreclosed properties. The topic was part of the curriculum at the Five Star Default Servicing Conference and Expo, and the panelists found themselves speaking to a full house. Paul Kaboth with the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland started the discussion by stressing that a marketplace strained with high levels of REOs and vacancies will persist for at least another five years.

Field Asset Services (FAS), a nationwide provider of field services to the REO industry, announced the availability of a new pre-foreclosure service called Avert this week. The company explained that by utilizing integrated technology and building on FAS's experienced staff, Avert offers banks and servicers, for the first time, a single source solution to reduce default expenses and avoid foreclosures.

Foreclosure starts soared during the month of August in states along the country's western coast, reversing what had been a declining trend over the past several months, according to ForeclosureRadar. The firm keeps close tabs on foreclosure activity in the states of Arizona, California, Nevada, Oregon, and Washington. It recorded a spike in the first notice filed in the foreclosure process across the five-state coverage area, driven by a 116 percent month-over-month increase in activity from Bank of America.

John J. Mack will step down as chairman of Morgan Stanley and leave the board as expected at the end of the year. Mack also will retire from a full-time role at Morgan Stanley and become a senior advisor to the firm at that time. James P. Gorman, president and CEO, was elected by the board to also take on the role of chairman, effective January 1, 2012.

Home price depreciation over the past few years has made housing more undervalued relative to incomes than ever before, yet home sales have continued to decline. Even more striking is that the dampened activity can be largely attributed to a weakening in demand from cash buyers and investors, according to the researchers at Capital Economics. The firm has found that since January, the number of homes purchased by cash buyers and investors has fallen by 26 percent.

Freedman Anselmo Lindberg, LLC has been added to Freddie Mac's Designated Counsel and Trustee network for the state of Illinois. The firm is already part of Fannie Mae's retained attorney network for Illinois and is now able to provide total GSE services to further meet its clients' needs. Freedman Anselmo Lindberg has been offering representation in Illinois as a full-service creditor's rights firm since 1980.

IndiSoft, a technology development firm that focuses on systems for the default services industry, has expanded its management team, hiring Rosa Linnear as a new project manager and tapping Nandini Thosar as a software engineer. The company says as the industry's need for default management technology and expertise increases and more organizations select IndiSoft, it is paramount that the firm not only expands its team but finds the right individuals to best serve clients.

The lingering effects of the foreclosure moratoriums enacted after evidence of improper foreclosure processing came to light appear to be fading. Data released by RealtyTrac Thursday shows foreclosure filings heading upward during the month of August, with all of the increase coming from new default notices. The tracking company says overall filings jumped 7 percent between July and August. Default notices posted their biggest month-to-month increase since August of 2007, up 33 percent.

Carrington Property Services, LLC (CPS), a residential asset management company headquartered in California, has hired Michael Harris as its new president. Harris joins Carrington from Stewart Asset Recovery (STAR) where he served as president, responsible for its day-to-day operations, including business development, product and service enhancements, and its vendor network.

New Jersey's Superior Court has lifted the last of six injunctions handed down late last year, giving Ally Financial and its GMAC Mortgage unit the go-ahead to resume foreclosure actions in the state. The Superior Court judge issued an order this week stating that GMAC had demonstrated the ""reliability of its processes"" and is ""permitted to resume prosecution of uncontested foreclosure proceedings."" Five other servicers were given the green light to begin the regular order of processing foreclosures in the state last month.