Potestivo & Associates, P.C., a legal provider in the real estate finance and credit industry, will represent the FDIC as outside counsel in Michigan and Illinois, according to a statement from the firm. The AV-rated firm, which includes more than 100 team members, handles all aspects of default servicing, including residential and commercial foreclosures, bankruptcies, landlord tenant, title resolution, home retention services, REO disposition, and litigation.

Bank of America will leverage the federal government's Hardest Hit Fund (HHF) through participation in unemployment assistance programs in all 18 eligible states and the District of Columbia. The HHF targets states with sustained unemployment rates at or above the national average and falling property values. Collectively, state housing finance agencies have about 2,700 applications for unemployment assistance in process for BofA customers and have provided $2.8 million toward mortgage payments for the benefit of more than 700 customers.

The Ohio Attorney General's office and Ohio Department of Commerce have announced an assurance of voluntary compliance (AVC) with Carrington Mortgage Services, LLC to resolve a 2009 lawsuit. The AVC will also provide relief to Ohio homeowners facing foreclosure. The three parties agreed to several mortgage servicing standards that will apply to all Ohio loans serviced by Carrington Mortgage Services, including providing borrowers who complete a modification application with a single point of contact.

Oklahoma Governor Mary Fallin recently signed legislation to restrict Wall Street home resale fees, also known as private transfer fees. The fees require that a private third party receive a percentage of the final sale price of a home every time the property is sold, typically for 99 years. Oklahoma is the 30th state to restrict their use. On the federal level, the Federal Housing Finance Agency has issued a proposed rule that would prevent Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac from investing in mortgages with these fees.

In an effort to align and communicate with the vendor community, the REO property preservation firm Field Asset Services has formed a Vendor Advisory Council. This panel brings together field service providers from across the country and will provide the company with guidance regarding responsiveness, predictability, quality, turn times, bid response rates, and technology adoption.

Quandis, Inc., a provider of default management technology solutions, recently launched a service that runs searches on active military personnel. The technology was developed to allow mortgage servicers to comply with the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (SCRA), which dictates that servicers and foreclosure attorneys must follow certain processes before foreclosing on an active person in the U.S. military.

The U.S. housing market could experience a severe double-dip contraction marked by lower home sales and depressed house prices if Congress fails to raise the federal debt ceiling, according to the Center for American Progress, a nonprofit research group. The Center says inaction to raise the debt limit would spark a return of the economic pain of the past few years as foreclosures would remain at record highs for an even longer stretch. Not raising the limit by early August threatens to put the U.S. itself on the verge of default.

Under the terms of a settlement reached with HUD late last week, U.S. Bank will pay $1.2 million to resolve allegations that it failed to comply with Federal Housing Administration (FHA) requirements in connection with 27 mortgage loans. U.S. Bank is the FHA's eighth largest mortgage lender. U.S. Bank did not admit any liability, but HUD documented losses of more than $465,000 in relation to these loans.

MMREM, a national asset management firm for federal agencies and private sector servicers, investors, and insurers, launched its partial subsidiary Sperlonga Data and Analytics last week. Sperlonga provides servicers, title agents, real estate brokers, appraisers, and originators with a centralized repository of homeowner association (HOA) information and payment demands.

California's distressed home sales dropped in April for the second consecutive month, according to the state's local Realtors group. The California Association of Realtors reports that the total share of all distressed property types sold statewide - including REOs and short sales - declined to 48 percent, down from 51 percent in March. The group says bargain hunters and investors were joined last month by homebuyers who are timing their decisions to coincide with the start of the spring season and targeting more non-distressed properties.