Certain legislative proposals on Capitol Hill have the potential to undermine the positives of FHA loan modernization by putting taxpayers at undue risk and by over-federalizing the housing market, Brian Montgomery, assistant Secretary—U.

ForeclosuresMass.com, a company that offers the latest data on foreclosures in the Bay State, released a report Wednesday, saying lenders filed some type of foreclosure-related activity against 9,114 Massachusetts properties between the months of January and March—a 37.

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) is offering an additional 30 days for the public and mortgage industry to comment on a Bush administration proposal to reform the current Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (RESPA).

Fayetteville, North Carolina-based law firm Hutchens, Senter & Britton, P.A., has promoted Foreclosure Supervisor Debra Milligan to the position of Foreclosure Department Manager. Milligan has been with Hutchens, Senter & Britton for the past 12 years and has nearly three decades of experience in the area of foreclosure.

Government-sponsored enterprise (GSE) Fannie Mae reported Tuesday that the company experienced a net loss of $2.2 billion during the first quarter of this year, compared to a net loss of $3.6 billion during the final quarter of 2007.

Lansdale, Pennsylvania-based Keystone Asset Management, Inc., a company that provides the default servicing industry with an array of services, recently held a successful training program for agents and brokers.

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke told a crowd in New York during the Columbia Business School’s 32nd Annual Dinner this week that borrowers and lenders both benefit when homes are saved from foreclosure.

Despite what seemed to be a healthy and solid real estate market, Connecticut is now feeling the pinch of the housing slowdown after experiencing a 27.9-percent drop in single-family home sales between March of 2007 and March of this year, according to a new report from real estate and financial publisher The Warren Group.

Global Investment Banking and Asset Management platform UBS reported a net loss attributable to shareholders of 11,535 million CHF (Suisse Francs) for the first quarter of 2008 and said it expects approximately 5,500 staff reductions%{=FONT-SIZE: 11pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 115%; FONT-FAMILY: Calibri,sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: ‘Times New Roman’; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA}—many of which will occur as part of the natural attrition process{=FONT-SIZE: 11pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 115%; FONT-FAMILY: Calibri,sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: ‘Times New Roman’; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA}—%to take place by the end of this year due to global complications in the financial services sector.

Residential builders continue to grapple with a slowing housing market. A new report from Hovnanian Enterprises, Inc., says its second quarter, which ended April 30, 2008, finished with 2,494 homes delivered during the period, a decrease of 21-percent when compared to the same period a year earlier.