Single-family home sales in Connecticut fell 14.25 percent in September from a year earlier, according to a new report by the Warren Group. It's the first month since February that the number of home sales has dropped below the 2,000 mark. Condominium sales in the state also fell sharply by 23 percent to the lowest level recorded in September in more than two decades.

Equator has named industry veteran Mick Goldstein as manager of vendor solutions. Goldstein will support Equator's vendor products and services. Goldstein is former EVP of business development for RealtyData Corp., where he managed sales of the company's products and technology to mortgage lenders and title companies.

IndiSoft now supports electronic signatures with its RxOffice Document Management platform. The company says RxOffice increases the speed of default management processes by allowing users to execute documents without printing, signing, and scanning. The technology is compliant with federal and state handwritten digital signature regulations. The eSignature is bound as part of the document itself.

Oxygen Funding, Inc., a factoring company based in California, recently launched a new service program focusing on the financing needs of real property appraisers. The company says appraisers have been experiencing problems in collecting money owed to them and maintaining a healthy balance of cash flow because banks are holding on to money longer. Oxygen Funding purchases appraisers' outstanding invoices to give them the capital they need immediately to continue operating, less a service fee.

Transwestern, a privately held commercial real estate firm headquartered in Houston, Texas, recently announced that its founder and chairman, Robert Duncan, will be inducted into the 2010 Texas Business Hall of Fame. Duncan will be honored for his accomplishments as a business leader, as well as his impact on the Houston community and major institutions in the state at the foundation's award induction dinner in San Antonio on Monday.

Mortgage originators can now authorize a credit report to be processed through the Nationwide Mortgage Licensing System and Registry (NMLS). Beginning November 1, all licensed residential mortgage loan originators participating in NMLS were required to complete the credit authorization process regardless of any prior state requirements. Providing credit history processing through NMLS fulfills one of the mandates of the Secure and Fair Enforcement for Mortgage Licensing Act (SAFE Act).

M&T Bank Corporation and Wilmington Trust Corporation announced this week that Wilmington Trust will merge with M&T to form one of the largest banks in the eastern United States. Wilmington Trust acknowledges that problems with the credit quality of its loan portfolio led to the merger. M&T has $68.2 billion in assets and extensive operations in the Mid-Atlantic region. Delaware-based Wilmington Trust has $10.4 billion in assets.

LenderLive Network Inc. which provides business process outsourcing and technology to the financial industry, has appointed R. Harold Owens as national account manager for its LenderLive Settlement Services (LLSS) division. A 39-year veteran of the consumer financial services industry, Owens is responsible for obtaining new title business for LLSS and managing client relationships.

Insufficient automation could cause non-compliance issues for mortgage lenders, credit unions, and banks when it comes to the extensive regulatory changes emerging as a result of the Dodd-Frank Reform Act, according to Bruce Backer, president of LoanSifter. Mortgage lenders are most affected by title XIV of the act, which sets national underwriting standards for residential loans, and Backer says even more reforms are headed our way when the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau begins establishing additional regulations for the industry.

The Work Number, a service of Equifax, has launched two new automated products, AuditChek and AccountChek, within its outsourced verification solution. AuditChek enables lenders to computerize the direct retrieval and authentication of tax transcripts and Social Security verification or proof of employment and income. AccountChek automates the process of deposit and asset verification, providing an electronic confirmation of a borrower's account balance and analysis of transaction history.