Marix Servicing LLC, a Phoenix, Arizona-based specialty mortgage servicer, will be acquired by Walter Investment Management Corp. through an agreement with Marix's parent company Marathon Asset Management. The acquisition, which is expected to close in the next 30 to 60 days, will create one of the nation's top 10 servicers of subprime mortgages.

Accounting firms Eisner LLP and Amper, Politziner & Mattia, LLP, recently merged to create EisnerAmper LLC's real estate group, doubling the size of the firm's real estate practice. The New York-based firm is now the largest non-Big 4 firm in the greater New York metropolitan region and the 14th largest in the nation. The company now offers developers, property owners and managers, and others in the industry a broader array of professional services.

Holliday Fenoglio Fowler, L.P. (HFF), a provider of commercial real estate and capital markets services, recently announced that Stephen Skok is the firm's new managing director in the debt placement group in its Chicago office. Prior to joining HFF, Skok worked for Jones Lang LaSalle, Cohen Financial, Lincoln Property Company, and CBRE. A 23-year veteran in the commercial real estate industry, Skok has been involved in more than $5 billion of commercial real estate transactions.

CoreLogic has announced the launch of its new Short Sale Monitoring Solution. The company says it's the industry's first short sale fraud prevention and pricing technology. The solution alerts lenders to ""risky"" pending and closed short sales. It matches details against other pending loan applications in CoreLogic's database and public records for the same property, and continues to watch properties for a period specified by the lender after short sales have closed.

Specialized Loan Servicing (SLS) in Littleton Colorado, announced Thursday that Oscar Southall is the company's new SVP of default operations. Prior to joining SLS, Southall held executive positions at Litton Loan Servicing for almost a decade. Most recently, he was VP of default administration. During the past nine months, SLS has added 150 new employees and $8 billion in loans to its servicing portfolio, and the company anticipates continued growth over the next year.

Home sales activity in Illinois paused in July after nearly a year of home sale gains statewide. The lull is reported to be caused by the rush to meet the homebuyer tax credit deadline combined with weak job and economic reports. According to the Illinois Association of Realtors, the state's single-family and condo sales totaled 8,135 in July 2010, down 29.7 percent from July 2009's 11,566 homes. The median price was also down from $167,185 in July 2009 to $160,000 last month.

Last Thursday, lenders reached 100,000 foreclosures in the tri-county South Florida region since the real estate crash began in 2007, according to the consulting firm CondoVultures.com. The company put South Florida's real estate crash into perspective by pointing out that lenders have repossessed an average of 75 properties per day since January 2007. The number of bank repossessions there are expected to decrease, though, since foreclosure filings for the year are down by roughly one-third compared to 2009.

Martin, Leigh, Laws & Fritzlen, P.C. recently announced that it has added three new attorneys to the firm. Richard Gray's practice is focused on litigation in real estate, title insurance, collections, contract dispute, and general tort areas. Jonathan K. Glassman will provide services in the areas of civil litigation and creditors rights. M. Catherine Hartnett's concentration is title insurance defense, bankruptcy, secured transactions, contracts, and all issues involving creditor's rights.

Real Property Management (RPM) and RE/MAX have agreed to exchange property and client referrals to assist renters, distressed homeowners, and investors. Through the agreement, RPM will connect RE/MAX agents with investors ready to sell, and RE/MAX agents will recommend clients to RPM who are ready to rent. RE/MAX agents may also refer properties to RPM for management. This alliance marks the first time a major real estate franchisor and one of the country's largest property management franchisors have joined forces, according to RE/MAX.

July home sales in the state of California were down 19.9 percent from June and 21.9 percent from a year ago, MDA DataQuick reports. In the Bay Area, home sales for that month dropped sharply to their lowest level in 15 years, down 22.8 percent from July 2009. Southern California was also pummeled with its biggest year-over-year drop in more than two years, down 21.4 percent from 2009. On the positive end, the median price paid for a home last month in California was up 7.2 percent compared to a year ago.