A new program is bringing hope to thousands of Atlanta residents who are at risk of losing their homes to foreclosure. When 2006 RealtyTrac statistics showed Georgia ranking second nationwide in foreclosures, the city of Atlanta quickly forged a partnership with several nonprofits and created HOPE— a comprehensive foreclosure prevention program that offers a 24-hour, toll-free hotline and face-to-face loss mitigation counseling with experts.

Signs of change in the subprime market continue with JPMorgan Chase & Co. rethinking its holdings strategy. During an investor presentation on Tuesday, Chief Executive Officer James Dimon announced that the company has sold off the majority of the loans it made last year to people with weak credit histories.

Fremont Investment and Loan, a subsidiary of Fremont General Corp., has ended its ties with 8,000 brokers after deeming the brokers partly responsible for a dramatic increase in early payment defaults in 2006.

Julie Ridding has been named coordinator of onsite training at USFN national nonprofit that provides comprehensive default services to the mortgage banking industry. Julie, who brings 20 years of default servicing experience to her new role, will be marketing and managing all onsite training events for USFN and its members.

A new program sponsored by RealtyTrac and Real Estate Champions is helping agents maneuver through the unpredictable waters of the foreclosure market. Dirk Zeller, CEO of Real Estate Champions, developed the Foreclosure Mastery™ program to provide agents with a comprehensive, step-by-step sales and marketing package, which allows agents to carve out a unique niche in the foreclosure market.

A top republican on the U.S. House Financial Services Committee is opposing a reform measure that would require government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs) to create an affordable housing fund utilizing their after-tax profits.

Carlsbad, California-based BasePoint Analytics has announced the availability of FraudMark™ for Origination 2.0, which is the latest version of the company’s predictive analytic technology programs.

The state of Massachusetts is feeling the residual affects of a housing market slump with petitions to foreclose increasing almost 70 percent in 2006 over the prior year, according to The Warren Group, a Boston-based publisher specializing in the distribution of New England real estate data.

Orange County, California-based Mandalay Mortgage LLC has closed its non-prime wholesale loan business Mandalay Mortgage. The company released a statement on its Web site, saying they will no longer accept new loan applications, effective January 24.

Bank of America Countrywide Financial Corp. are discussing a possible alliance that would effectively create the largest mortgage lending group in the United States, according to an article published in Friday’s Financial Times.