Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller wants lawmakers to extend a state law that requires creditors to provide notices of free, confidential mortgage counseling services to homeowners in the state facing foreclosure. Under a law that expires July 1, lenders must inform delinquent borrowers about Iowa Mortgage Help, a provider of counseling and mediation services for struggling homeowners to help them pursue an alternative to foreclosure.

According to a notice from Fannie Mae, all future foreclosures in Hawaii must be commenced as judicial foreclosures due to Hawaii's recently passed legislation, SB 651. In addition, the GSE directed servicers to dismiss and convert all pending Fannie Mae non-judicial foreclosures that have not proceeded to sale to judicial foreclosures. Some recent REO acquisitions may also need to be re-foreclosed due to potential title insurance issues.

Florida Realtors president, Patricia Fitzgerald, was in Canada last week with Gov. Rick Scott and other business leaders to encourage Canadian companies to do business in Florida, a move expected to benefit the state's troubled real estate markets. Fitzgerald notes that a large percentage of Florida property sales each year are to international buyers, with Canadians making up 36 percent of all international property sales in the Sunshine State.

Equi-Trax Asset Solutions LP says it has surpassed industry expectations with the high percentage of right party contacts (RPCs) it achieves during its first visit to a borrowers home. An RPC is a successful effort by a loan servicer to speak with a borrower about resolution of a delinquency. The company says its success hinges on hiring qualified and skilled people to work as field agents who also have knowledge of the mortgage business.

Servicers using the XetusOne Loan Management System already exceed the minimum requirements for the Treasury Department's new guideline mandating a single relationship manager for Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP) borrowers. Available via California-based Xetus, the system provides servicers with compliance through its Web-based Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) platform.

The Wolf Firm, a provider of legal services throughout California to residential and commercial lenders, servicers, investors, and insurers, added three new associate attorneys to its ranks. Joy E. Mason and Kristin S. Webb joined the firm's litigation department, and Ryan M. Davies will serve in the firm's bankruptcy department.

Freddie Mac announced new leadership this week for its three lines of business, including its new single-family and operations and technology unit. The new division consolidates previously separated single-family business lines as well as the technology unit. Anthony Renzi has been named EVP to head up the new division. In addition, David Brickman was named SVP in charge of the multifamily division, Carol Wambeke was promoted to SVP and chief compliance officer, and Devajyoti Ghose will assume the roles of SVP of the investments and capital markets division and company treasurer.

NetDirector, a provider of a centralized data exchange service headquartered in Florida, recently launched its NetTracker docket monitoring service. The company says it created the service in response to current delays in the court systems surrounding foreclosure actions and the amount of time its mortgage industry partners spend checking docket statuses on numerous cases.

NeighborWorks America announced this week that $67.7 million has been awarded to 37 state housing finance agencies, 17 HUD-approved housing counseling intermediaries, and 84 community-based organizations to provide counseling to homeowners facing foreclosure. Demand for this latest round of grant money exceeded the amount of funding available, with more than $212.7 million requested from eligible applicants. NeighborWorks estimates the money will support assistance for nearly 184,000 families facing foreclosure.

Mortgage Cadence, LLC, a provider of enterprise lending solutions (ELS), default servicing technology, and document services for the financial services industry, will spin off its compliance, content, and document preparation division, Mortgage Cadence Finale, into a separate entity. The new standalone service provider will go by the name Finale Document Services and allows lenders and servicers to create modification and short sale packages, as well as other financial documents.