A new survey conducted by government-sponsored enterprise Freddie Mac and the Roper Public Affairs and Media institution says 57-percent of adult homeowners are still unaware of the many loss mitigation options available to them in today’s mortgage marketplace.

Merrill Lynch & Co. is facing an investigation spearheaded by Massachusetts Secretary William Galvin in which Galvin accuses the company of selling risky subprime mortgage securities to the city of Springfield, according to a report filed by Reuters news agency.

The law firm of Hutchens, Senter & Britton, P.A., announced recently that two of its attorneys—H. Terry Hutchens and Rebecca J. Britton—have been named to the 2008 Super Lawyers® list.

The Dallas, Texas-based law firm of Barrett, Burke, Wilson, Castle, Daffin & Frappier, LLP., announced this week that attorney Michael Barrett has been elected to membership in the Fellows of the Texas Bar Foundation.

Lewisville, Texas-based EMC Mortgage Corp., a subsidiary of The Bear Stearns Companies Inc. and a company that provides servicing on residential mortgage loans, recently promoted Dana Dillard to the post of executive vice president of the office of the customer and Lloyd Farnam to the position of senior vice president within the Human Resources Division.

Atlanta, Georgia-based Beazer Homes USA Inc., said Friday that the builder is exiting the mortgage origination business and no longer issuing loans through Beazer Mortgage Corp. Instead, Beazer says it will form a strategic relationship with Countrywide Financial Corp.

Dallas, Texas-based Barrett, Burke, Wilson, Castle, Daffin & Frappier, LLP, is announcing some major changes—one of which is the official change of the law firm’s name to Barrett, Daffin, Frappier, Turner & Engel, LLP.

The U.S. Senate Finance Committee passed the Senate’s much-anticipated economic stimulus package this week with provisions that will increase the cap amounts on who is eligible for rebates and with benefits that include seniors with little earned income and disabled veterans who are not required to file tax returns.

Jacksonville, Florida-based Fidelity National Information Services has been named in a Houston lawsuit filed by two Chapter 13 debtors, and all other debtors, who allege the giant processor of financial and mortgage-related services tacked on hidden legal fees while serving as an intermediary between the debtors’ mortgage servicing companies and the law firms appearing in court on the creditors’ behalf.

Robert Steel, the U.S. Treasury Under Secretary for Domestic Finance, told a U.S. Senate committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs this week that the mortgage industry helped 370,000 homeowners in the second half of 2007, according to data provided by the HOPE NOW Alliance—a program made up of government agencies, foreclosure prevention platforms and mortgage servicers who are trying to prevent foreclosures nationwide.