McCalla Raymer, LLC announced the celebration of its 30th year on May 1, 2012.

National home prices saw both quarterly and yearly gains in June, and all four regions across the U.S. posted quarterly increases, according to the Home Data Index (HDI) released by Clear Capital Tuesday. Home prices rose by 1.7 percent in June from the previous quarter and a year ago, and growth is expected to continue into the second half of the year at a rate of 2.5 percent, Clear Capital reported. Broad-based regional gains and expanding progress are reasons for the current gains and expected future growth.

The president of the National Association of Women REO Brokers (NAWRB) will be honored with the 2012 Women Impacting Public Policy (WIPP) business leadership social media award.

The most significant impact of the $25 billion robo-signing settlement has been the clarification of foreclosure standards for servicers, which has led to a higher number of initiated foreclosures, Fitch Ratings said in a note. Foreclosure initiation rates rose to roughly 12 percent in June, the highest figure since first half-2009, according to Fitch. While there has been an increase in principal reductions, Fitch said the growing use of principal reduction may be a continuation of an earlier trend, not a result of the settlement. In February, state and federal officials reached a landmark settlement with five of the largest servicers - Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase, Wells Fargo, Citi, and Ally over foreclosure practices.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) proposed mortgage disclosure forms designed for understanding on Monday. The forms are a result of research, testing, writing, and review and are being created to help consumers comprehend the terms of their mortgage and the costs involved. The proposed forms are part of the agency's Know Before You Owe project and are to be provided after applying for a loan and before closing.

Freddie Mac selected William H. McDavid to serve as executive vice president, general counsel, and corporate secretary on Monday. McDavid will begin his new role on July 16 and replace Alicia Myara, who has worked as interim general counsel since November 2011.

As of July, Vendor Resource Management became the exclusive provider of property management services for the Department of Veterans Affairs' (VA) foreclosed homes.

In a shareholder class-action lawsuit, former executives of IndyMac Bankcorp agreed to settle for $6.5 million following the bank's 2008 collapse, the Associated Press reported Sunday.

Fewer mortgaged-related businesses had to shut down their doors during the first six months of this year compared to the same time period a year ago in 2011, according to the Mortgage Graveyard report released by Mortgage Daily.

In May, foreclosure starts outnumbered foreclosure sales by a near 3-1 ratio, according to report from Lender Processing Services (LPS). Even though foreclosure starts and sales saw similar monthly increases, the actual number of foreclosure starts was significantly higher, with starts numbering 202,707 while foreclosure sales totaled 73,439. Also, foreclosure inventory maintained historically high levels at 4.14 percent. LPS Applied Analytics SVP Herb Blecher said the situation is more nuanced when looking at the breakdown between states that apply judicial versus non-judicial foreclosure processes.