JVI Appraisal Division, LLC, has hired long time appraiser and real estate economist William L. Pittenger as president and chief economist. The appraiser owned and operated appraisal management company, based in Lake Mary, Florida, has been in operation for more than 20 years.

Recent data from Barclays Capital examines the ramifications of the fourth quarter foreclosure debacles on REO roll rates. Data released Friday shows the foreclosure-to-REO rate dropped 57 percent in judicial states the last few months of 2010, and dropped 42 percent in the non-judicial states. In New York, the roll rate ground to a near stop, dropping a whopping 91 percent in December when compared to the rate from January to October 2010.

Private equity real estate funding totaled $35.8 billion globally in 2010, which is the lowest annual total since 2003, when funds raised just over $14 billion, a study found. The numbers are 28 percent lower than the $49.8 billion raised in 2009. The study, conducted by Preqin, an information company for alternative assets, examined private equity funds around the world. It found that funds with a primary focus on North America raised the most capital last year, about $22.5 billion.

According to a report released Thursday by the Woodstock Institute, vacant homes in the city of Chicago are piling up and costing the city millions of dollars while bringing crime and blight to neighborhoods. According to the report, there were more than 18,000 properties on the city of Chicago's vacant buildings index as of September 2010. Vacant and abandoned properties can rapidly spiral into disrepair, affecting the values of neighboring properties and attracting criminal activity.

A recent report by ForeclosureRadar shows unexpectedly mixed foreclosure activity in its five-state coverage area for the month of December. The California-based firm found that foreclosure starts were down in Arizona, California, and Washington; flat in Nevada; and higher in Oregon. Completed foreclosure sales numbers were also mixed across the West Coast states. ForeclosureRadar says the disparity in activity could be due in part to the differing laws between states.

The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) on Wednesday filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) in an attempt to set aside a March ruling by the department that declared loan officers are entitled to overtime pay. In 2006 DOL issued an interpretation to MBA stating that typical loan officers were exempt from overtime pay. But in March of 2010, DOL released an administrative interpretation that rescinded the previous opinion, now mandating that loan officers are entitled to overtime pay.

A recent report examining the role of private mortgage insurance reveals the instrument serves a vital role in helping to establish stability within the housing market. The study, conducted by Promontory Financial Group, provides a review of how private mortgage insurance policies protect mortgage lenders and investors against the risk of defaulted mortgages by taking on a part of that risk, and how they make private capital more readily available to a broader range of potential borrowers.

Reports have surfaced that the FDIC is contemplating stricter requirements that would force banks to disclose what potential ramifications a loan modification on a first lien they service would have on an underlying lien. Industry analysts have speculated that servicers may be reluctant to modify a primary loan because the bank that services the loan also holds the second lien. Such an arrangement could be considered a conflict of interest and prompts some to wonder if investors would be swayed if they knew of the arrangement beforehand.

In November after the robo-signing scandal broke, New York City Comptroller John C. Liu, on behalf of the New York City Pension Funds, called on the directors at Bank of America, Citigroup, JPMorgan Chase, and Wells Fargo - which together service more than half of the nation's mortgages - to conduct an independent audit of their foreclosure practices. This week, Liu issued a demand for the banks to immediately follow through on that request, this time backed by 11 major public pension funds from several states.

The Friday ruling by the Massachusetts Supreme Court that invalidated two foreclosures by U.S. Bank and Wells Fargo has prompted an outpouring of responses from the industry, and many are wondering if the ruling will have far reaching effects on other foreclosure sales. The Supreme Court ruled the banks did not have the legal right to foreclose on homes in the state because they did not have proper documentation to prove they owned the mortgages at the time of foreclosure.