The California Attorney General's office awarded a $1 million grant to the National Housing Law Project (NHLP) for assistance in implementing the California Homeowner Bill of Rights.

Although prices are improving and foreclosures are declining, there's still room for economic uncertainty to ""dampen"" housing activity, according to DataQuick's Property Intelligence Report (PIR) for February. For February, DataQuick found home prices grew in 34 of the 42 counties on a monthly and quarterly basis. DataQuick also noted four hard-hit states-Arizona, California, Florida, and Nevada-saw double-digit price growth over the last year, while other markets are averaging growth at 2.5 percent.

Carrington Property Services, LLC (Carrington) and LendingXpress, a platform from SWBC, formed an exclusive partnership to bring REO asset management services to smaller-scale financial institutions. As part of the agreement, LendingXpress will market Carrington's REO asset management solution to its customer base of credit unions and community banks.

Data from CoreLogic shows 54,000 homes were lost to foreclosure in February of this year, a 7 percent decline from January's downwardly revised 58,000. The data provider reported a steeper 19 percent year-over-year decrease for completed foreclosures. ""February's 54,000 completed foreclosures is the lowest level nationally since September 2007, with most major metropolitan areas experiencing improvements,"" said Dr. Mark Fleming, chief economist for CoreLogic.

Foreclosure inventory seems to be making a comeback after experiencing steady declines following the national mortgage settlement, RealtyTrac revealed in a report Thursday. In the first quarter of 2013, the number of properties that were in the foreclosure process or bank-owned rose 9 percent year-over-year to 1.5 million, according to data from the online foreclosure marketplace. The most recent figure represents a 12 percent increase from the five-year low seen in May 2012. The report also found 35 percent of the homes in the foreclosure process were abandoned by the homeowner.

As of the end of December, 89.4 percent of mortgages were still current and performing, an increase from 88.6 percent in the third quarter and an improvement from 88 percent during the same quarter a year ago, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) reported. Servicers also began a fewer number of foreclosures after initiating 156,773 new foreclosures in Q4, the the lowest number since Q1 2008, which is when the OCC began the report. In addition, servicers helped borrowers remain in their homes by implementing more home retention actions than home forfeiture actions.

CitiMortgage announced 11 locations and dates for the first phase of its homeowner outreach tour. Known as the 2013 Road to Recovery Tour, the program will host events with Citi's mortgage assistance professionals who will consult customers in need of mortgage help on a one-on-one basis.

The National Association of Hispanic Real Estate Professionals (NAHREP) announced the installation of Juan Martinez as the 2013-2014 president. He first joined the national leadership team in 2010 as a member of the national board.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) introduced a new tool to help seriously delinquent borrowers avoid foreclosure. Starting July 1, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac servicers will lift loan modification barriers by offering eligible borrowers reduced payments without asking for financial or hardship documentation. Through the FHFA's Streamlined Modification Initiative, eligible borrowers who are 90 days to 24 months past due will receive a solicitation offer with a trial period plan that lasts for three months. The offer will include a dollar amount for a new mortgage.

Single-family home sales in Massachusetts were down year-over-year in February after 13 consecutive months of increases, The Warren Group reported. Home sales for February stood at 2,246, down 5 percent from 2,366 sales in February 2012. According to the real estate data provider, February marked the first decrease since December 2011.