Charlotte, North Carolina-based Bank of America (BofA), which recently entered into a merger agreement to acquire Countrywide Financial Corp., announced today that its first quarter net revenue for the year 2008 dropped significantly in the midst of increased credit costs, a slowing housing sector, and additional write-downs on collateralized debt obligations.

New York-based Merrill Lynch (NYSE: MER), an international banking platform, announced this week that the company experienced a net loss of $1.97 billion, or $2.20 per diluted share, for the first quarter of 2008—a significant drop when compared to the $2.

Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty is relying on several new foreclosure prevention tools to help homeowners across his state avoid foreclosure. The governor’s updated plan includes an expansion of the state’s loss mitigation counseling courses, an agreement with lenders to curtail Minnesota foreclosures and additional funding to support third-party mediation services when counseling sessions fail to result in mutually-beneficial workout solutions.

Sensing investors, brokerages, fiduciaries and other companies are feeling the subprime pinch in their investment portfolios, the Boston-based law firm of Burns & Levinson, LLP, has formed a Subprime Advisory Team to assist financial investors who are struggling in the aftermath of the subprime meltdown.

President George W. Bush has appointed Steve Preston, head administrator of the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA), to the position of U.S. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). Preston is taking HUD’s reigns after former Secretary Alphonso Jackson resigned in the midst of extensive criticism related to allegations of cronyism and political favoritism.

The Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) Robert Mueller told a Senate panel this week that his agency is investigating 1,300 active fraud cases related to the subprime mortgage meltdown and 19 larger cases involving financial institutions, according to testimony provided by Congressional Quarterly.

MISMO, a subsidiary of the Mortgage Bankers Association) that conceptualizes e-commerce standards for the residential and commercial real estate industries, announced the availability of the MXCompliance Title v2.

The California Reinvestment Coalition (CRC), a nonprofit that focuses on economic and community development, recently partnered with several financial institutions and two foundations to supply 39 mortgage counseling agencies in the West Coast state with an additional $5 billion in funding, the agency said in a press release.

Government-sponsored enterprise (GSE ) Freddie Mac has signed a pact with CitiMortgage, Wells Fargo Home Mortgage, Chase, and Washington Mutual that will allow the GSE to lesson pressures in the jumbo mortgage market by acquiring billions of conforming jumbo loans from the four lenders.

Leaders with the nation’s two government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs)—Fannie Mae:http://www.fanniemae.com and Freddie Mac alongside consumer advocacy representatives and housing counseling agencies at the U.