WFG National Title Insurance Company (WFG National Title) appointed industry veteran Teresa Chiotti to serve as title officer and as a North Florida agency representative. She will be based in Jacksonville.

Potestivo & Associates, P.C. announced the promotion of Lori M. Gainey to director of finance. In her new role, Gainey oversees accounting practices for the Michigan and Illinois offices.

Lender Processing Services, Inc. (LPS) offered an early look at mortgage performance in January 2013 and reported a downward trend for mortgage delinquencies and foreclosures. At the end of January, the mortgage delinquency rate, which includes loans 30 days or more past due, stood at 7.03 percent, representing a 2.03 percent decline from December 2012 and an 8.35 percent decrease from January 2012. Meanwhile, the national foreclosure pre-sale inventory rate averaged 3.41 percent, falling 0.82 percent month-over-month while making a steep 19.39 percent drop year-over-year.

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) and the Federal Reserve Board announced the release of amendments to their enforcement actions against 13 mortgage servicers over mortgage servicing and foreclosure practices. The amendments memorialize foreclosure agreements made between the regulators and 13 servicers. According to the release, 4.2 million borrowers are covered by the amendment and should expect to receive compensation ranging from hundreds of dollars up to $125,000. Rust Consulting, Inc., the paying agent, will contact borrowers by the end of March of this year with payment details.

While still at an elevated level, foreclosure inventory is fading and has fallen for 15 straight months as of January 2013, CoreLogic reported Thursday. According to the data provider's foreclosure inventory report, the number of homes in some stage of the foreclosure process is now down to 1.2 million as of January. Year-over-year, foreclosure inventory has fallen 21 percent from 1.5 million. The number of homes lost to the foreclosure process also declined from a year ago, but increased on a monthly basis.

The U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington dismissed a three-count complaint against MERSCORP Holdings, Inc. (MERS) that alleged wrongful foreclosure and violations of the state's Deed of Trust Act (DTA) and Consumer Protection Act (CPA). In the case Zalac v. CTX Mortgage Corp., the plaintiff was never foreclosed on, and so the wrongful foreclosure claim was dismissed since an element of the claim was missing: a foreclosure sale.

The American Dream of homeownership has been resurrected among strategic defaulters, a foreclosure agency stated in a recent report. After surveying previous clients, YouWalkAway.com found nearly 80 percent expressed a desire to purchase a new home again within the next 12 months. YouWalkAway.com explained it's common for previous customers to desire homeownership since interest rates are low and home buying lessons have been learned.

A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit affirmed a U.S. District Court dismissal of a case against MERSCORP Holdings, Inc. (MERS) and 15 of its members. County clerks representing Christian and Washington County in Kentucky filed suit against MERS, alleging the defendants established MERS to allow members to avoid recording mortgage assignments and to evade paying recording fees to county clerks.

ServiceLink partnered with Home CORE, a national network of nonprofit service organizations committed to providing homeownership opportunities to low-to-moderate income families. Through the partnership, ServiceLink will help Home CORE reach its objective of increasing affordable homeownership opportunities by managing all of the activities needed to transition properties into move-in condition.

Carrington Mortgage Services, LLC revealed plans last week to add about 600 jobs in response to growing demand for specialty servicers. This year, the company expects 150 percent growth at its Fishers, Indiana facility and 100 percent growth at its Santa Ana, California headquarters.