Orlando, Florida-based Pinnacle Financial Corp., an independently-owned direct mortgage lender, is reaching out to subprime borrowers through its new SOS: Solutions Out of Subprime program. Sadly, not a day goes by without news about the growing number of foreclosures among subprime loans in the U.

DataQuick, a provider of U.S. property information, believes the company’s new Self-Sign tool will revolutionize the way contractors, real estate and divorce attorneys, accountants, and financial advisors conduct research when dealing with issues related to property ownership.

It’s unlikely the subprime fallout will spill over and negatively impact banks and thrift institutions, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said on Thursday. During the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago’s 43rd Annual Conference on Bank Structure and Competition, Bernanke told the audience troubled lenders for the most part, have not been institutions with federally-insured deposits.

More than a hundred consumer groups in California backed the California Reinvestment Coalition this week when the nonprofit asked lenders to halt foreclosures for at least six months. The coalition, which fights for disadvantaged communities and property owners, sent the request to the leaders of Bank of America, Citibank, Countrywide Home Loans, Merrill Lynch, Washington Mutual, and Wells Fargo.

A report that pegs mortgage fraud as a growing epidemic in the U.S. has prompted the Mortgage Bankers Association) to push for additional resources that will help the Federal Bureau of Investigations tackle fraud cases.

Builders in today’s housing market are feeling the pinch of the subprime shakedown and less confident in their ability to make new sales, according to a new report from the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB)/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index.

The sixth-annual National REO Brokers Association (NRBA) 2007 REO Education Conference,:http://www.nrba.com/guide_ecode.html kicked off Wednesday at the Omni Interlocken Resort in Broomfield, Colorado.

The Houston, Texas-based law firm of Hughes, Watters & Askanase, L.L.P. has been selected to participate in the Freddie Mac Designated Counsel Program. The law firm, which is a member of The Default Attorney Group, will begin accepting Texas default referrals into the program on May 15, 2007.

San Diego-based New Vista Asset Management, a minority-owned asset management company, is finding its place in the new market by turning REO properties into investment opportunities for minority and first-time home buyers.

Foreclosure activity across the U.S. fell slightly in April, according to a report from RealtyTrac — the online marketplace for foreclosure properties. In RealtyTrac’s latest April 2007 U.S.