The Idaho Supreme Court dismissed a plaintiff’s wrongful foreclosure complaint against Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems, Inc. (MERS) and defendants, affirming a district court ruling. The plaintiff in Edwards v. MERS et. al brought action against the defendants to stop a non-judicial foreclosure and argued MERS, the named beneficiary, could not legally act as the beneficiary.

Fitch Ratings found cumulative U.S. CMBS defaults moved higher in the first quarter as the office sector struggled. The U.S. CMBS cumulative default rate for fixed-rate CMBS rose to 13.6 percent in Q1 2013, up 18 basis points from the previous quarter, according to the rating agency.

The Hunoval Law Firm, PLLC announced the addition of Les Blankenship to the firm. The South Carolina attorney joined the practice with an expertise in default and contested foreclosure processes.

Citi introduced a new program that allows its New York tri-state area customers to earn rewards to pay off their mortgage. Under the new program--Citi Offset Mortgage--bank customers can use their Citibank Day-to-Day Savings Account balances to earn rewards that are used to bring down or ""offset"" their mortgage balance.

WFG National Title Insurance Company (WFG National Title), a provider of title insurance and real estate settlement services for lender, commercial and residential transactions nationwide, appointed industry veteran Lee Ann Fenske to lead as SVP of compliance and as a national training officer.

ISGN CorporationTM (ISGN), a Florida-based provider of end-to-end technology solutions and services to the mortgage industry, teamed up with TRUPOINT Partners, an independent regulatory compliance organization, to offer a comprehensive Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) Mock Audit.

Although credit scores play a crucial role in the homebuying process, a recent FindLaw.com survey found nearly a quarter of Americans have never bothered to check their credit report. Overall, 22 percent of the 1,000 adults surveyed said they've never checked their credit report even though credit reporting agencies are required to provide free copies when requested. Out of the 78 percent who said they have checked their credit report, 46 percent checked within the last year.

Continental Title Holding Co., Inc., a St. Louis-based independent title insurance agency, expanded its operations with the acquisition of Assured Title Company of Warrenton, LLC.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's (CFPB) ambitious effort to build a National Mortgage Database was not taken lightly by lawmakers during a Senate committee hearing Tuesday. Senators expressed discomfort over the idea of having a federal agency track consumer behavior, despite CFPB director Richard Cordray's continued emphasis on the anonymity the database will provide to individual consumers. Cordray also explained that without the database, the agency can't do its job.

Before deciding on an REO-to-rental investment, it's important to understand distressed property trends on a neighborhood-level, according to DataQuick. This is why the San-Diego-based company has made available the REO-to-Rental Neighborhood Rankings for servicers and investors.