Insurance giant American International Group (AIG), Inc. is the latest major corporation to face a probe by the Securities and Exchange Commission over allegations that the company misinterpreted or overvalued contracts with ties to subprime mortgages, Bloomberg news said on Friday.

San Diego, California-based Accredited Home Lenders Holding Co. said Friday that Jeff Walton, who previously served Bear Stearns Residential Mortgage Corp. in the roles of president, chief executive officer and senior managing director, has been named chief executive officer of Accredited Home Lenders Holding Co.

President George W. Bush attended the swearing in of Steve Preston, the new Secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), on Friday. This is a time of turbulence in the housing market and slow growth for our overall economy, Bush said.

Frankfort, Kentucky-based law firm Christopher M. Hill & Associates, P.S.C., has hired attorney Wendell R. Clark, III, as an associate attorney. The firm, which represents creditors in state and bankruptcy courts, will benefit from Clark’s areas of practice in foreclosures, creditors’ rights, civil litigation, evictions and bankruptcy.

New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo held a press conference Thursday to announce that his office is signing an agreement with the nation’s major credit rating agencies—Fitch:http://www.fitchratings.

St. Louis, Missouri-based Players National Locator, Inc., a skip tracing firm that helps clients track down existing customers and borrowers, is now the subject of a makeover as two mortgage industry veterans—David Fingerhut and Steve Williams—take the reigns in the middle of a busy market.

The delinquency rate for mortgage loans on one-to-four unit residential properties rose 53-basis points between the fourth quarter of 2007 and the first quarter of 2008 to reach a rate of 6.35-percent of all loans in delinquency on a seasonally-adjusted basis, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) latest National Delinquency Survey.

Steve Preston was confirmed by the U.S. Senate as secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) on Wednesday, according to Reuters news agency. Preston’s most recent post as head of the Small Business Administration prompted President George W.

Walnut Creek, California-based PMI Mortgage Insurance Co., a subsidiary of The PMI Group, Inc., said Wednesday that the company hopes to help consumers through the launch of a new Web site that includes Web videos and content on how to save a home from foreclosure.

Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley announced Tuesday that her office has filed suit against mortgage lender Option One Mortgage Corp., a subsidiary of H&R Block, Inc., and is accusing the company of contributing to the state’s foreclosure crisis by issuing deceptive loan products and targeting black and Latino borrowers.