The threat of rising adjustable mortgage rates in 2007 has prompted city and nonprofit officials in Minneapolis to announce the creation of the Foreclosure Prevention Funders Council. The nonprofit Family Housing Fund, which provides safe and sustainable homes to families living in the Twin Cities, established the council with the help of the Minneapolis Community Planning and Economic Development and various other nonprofit and government agencies.

Santa Ana, California-based The First American Corp. says its First American Default Information Services Division is helping distressed homeowners by reducing the rates for Trustee Sale Guarantees (TSGs) in California, Arizona, Nevada, and for foreclosure trustee services in the five states where it currently offers those services.

The recent increase in mortgage delinquency rates in the United States will peak by year’s end, according to a study released by the Mortgage Bankers Association titled The Residential Mortgage Market and Its Economic Context in 2007.

Colorado Governor Bill Ritter Jr. will be joining various state and local officials this afternoon to celebrate the success of his state’s Foreclosure Prevention Task Force and 24-hour hotline. The media event, which is from 1:00-1:30 p.

What do you get when you mix Janet Leigh, the Bates Motel, a shower curtain and nail-biting theme musicx Two words: Hitchcock’s best. The infamous shower scene in Psycho has been etched in the back of movie-goer minds since it first came out in 1960, and even though Gus Van Sant made a lofty attempt at a remake—it never really quite came close to the original.

The Colorado Division of Housing is requesting more detailed information from public trustees and county treasurers in an effort to determine how many actual home foreclosures were completed in 2006, according to Ryan McMaken, a spokesperson with the division.

The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) elected new leaders to serve on the 2007 Governance Committee of MISMO, its not-for-profit subsidiary. Based on the latest election results, Ron Duff of Fiserv Lending Solutions will serve MISMO as chair of the governance committee.

US Real Estate Services, Inc., named Connie Hoffman its western regional executive sales representative. Hoffman, who brings a wide-range of experience in the default industry, will be responsible for business development and expansion of services that promote dynamic products for REO management and loss mitigation.

Ken Lewis, CEO of Bank of America, is downplaying rumors about a potential alliance between the banking giant and Countrywide Financial Corp.:http://www.countrywide.com, according to MarketWatch. Earlier this week, reports of a possible merger classified the discussions between Bank of America and Countrywide Financial as unconfirmed and in the beginning stages.

RealtyBid.com, a leader in online real estate auction sales, is toting a newly updated and expanded Web site and a record-breaking 2006 sales record. The site, which is mostly made up of bank-owned real estate listings, has implemented upgraded server technology to improve the site’s overall security and reliability.