An assortment of real-estate owned properties in Atlanta are hitting the auction block this month, according to real estate auction company Hudson & Marshall. The 400 homes up for grabs are located in Atlanta and Macon, Georgia, and valued somewhere between $30,000 and $500,000.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson told reporters Wednesday that he remains confident the underlying U.S. economy is healthy and that all its troubles are largely contained, according to a report from Bloomberg News.

With troubles in the mortgage market leading to a surge in foreclosures and defaults, Fitch Ratings announced Wednesday that it’s rolling out a new surveillance methodology that will better target risk and performance values within individual securities.

Irvine, California-based RealtyTrac Inc., an online marketplace for foreclosure properties, announced a strategic partnership on Wednesday that allows the company to expand upon its base of potential home buyers.

Another U.S. mortgage company is pursuing strategic options after announcing it does not have the funding to meet current loan obligations. Melville, New York-based American Home Mortgage Investment Corp.

Richmond, Virginia-based LandAmerica Financial Group, Inc., a provider of real estate transaction services, says adjustments in the mortgage market contributed to the company’s recent loss in net income during the second quarter of 2007.

To help default servicing attorneys more easily connect with mortgage servicing clients in the field, USFN its annual Legal Issues Seminar last month in Denver, Colorado. USFN—a nonprofit association of default servicing attorneys, trustee companies, and industry professionals—organizes the event annually so attendees can discuss current legal issues facing the real estate finance and mortgage servicing industries.

Philadelphia-based Radian Group Inc. and MGIC Investment Corp. have found their investments in Credit-Based Asset Servicing and Securitization LLC (C-BASS) in a state that’s materially impaired by risky changes in the subprime market.

New York-based Fitch Ratings says a recent decline in residential mortgage-backed securities (RMBS) has led to a noticeably weaker rating performance for U.S. structured finance when compared to the same period last year.

Pasadena, California-based IndyMac Bancorp Inc., the holding company of IndyMac Bank F.S.B., says losses related to its mortgage lending business contributed to the company’s recent 57-percent decline in net earnings during the second quarter of 2007.