Foreclosure

California officials on Wednesday arrested five individuals who allegedly ran a statewide housing scheme involving the fraudulent seizure of at least 23 homes in nine counties. Allegedly, since 2006, the group--which includes two attorneys and one individual who remains at large--unlawfully used the state's adverse possession laws to obtain titles on properties they had identified as abandoned.

Prospect Mortgage, LLC is expanding its footprint. The Dallas-based lending company has acquired certain assets of the retail mortgage branch operations of Excel Mortgage Servicing, Inc. Impac Mortgage in four Western states.

Congressman Bill Foster of Illinois introduced legislation on Tuesday that would extend the mortgage debt tax exemption that's been in place since 2007 for another two years. The Mortgage Debt Relief Act of 2007 gives tax-exempt status to debt that is reduced or cancelled through a loan modification or forgiven through a foreclosure or short sale. This tax relief, however, expired on December 31, 2013.

The veteran-, minority-, and woman-owned default services law firm founded by Marisol Morales, Esq., recently announced its expansion into Puerto Rico and a name change from Morales Law Group, PA, to Millennium Partners. The firm says the new name better reflects its expanded market reach and growth in staff.

Home equity loans and lines of credit are on the rise, as delinquencies continue to plummet across the nation, according to recent research from Black Knight Financial Services. The data and analytics division of Black Knight Financial Services--formerly the LPS Data & Analytics division--released its November Mortgage Monitor Report, which found that total delinquencies are at extremely low levels in every product category.

Rosenberg & Associates, LLC, added two new attorneys to its ranks--Caroline Fields and Tracy Leyba. Both are recent graduates of the University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law and admitted to practice law in the state of Maryland.

As the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's mortgage rules took effect on Friday, Director Richard Cordray addressed an audience in Phoenix, publicly lauding the new regulations. Cordray referenced Frank Lloyd Wright's common witticism, """"There is nothing more uncommon than common sense,"""" as epitomizing the years preceding the financial crisis and stressed that the new rules are a """"back to basics approach.""""

Wingspan Portfolio Advisors, a diversified mortgage services company headquartered in Texas, named longtime industry expert Arleen Scavone to the newly created post of COO. Scavone has more than 30 years' experience in the financial services arena.

Freedman Anselmo Lindberg, LLC, a Chicago-based creditors' rights law firm, announced the hiring of Anum Muhiuddin. She joins the firm as associate counsel in the default practice group, specializing in mortgage foreclosures. Muhiuddin is a graduate of the Northern Illinois College of Law and is licensed to practice in the state of Illinois.

The industry's shadow inventory of homes with mortgages 90 or more days delinquent, in foreclosure, or held as REO by mortgage servicers but not currently listed for sale stood at 1.7 million as of October 2013, according to CoreLogic. The supply of homes hidden in the shadows carries a value of $256 billion and is at its lowest level since August 2008. Shadow inventory has decreased at an average monthly rate of 46,000 units over the last year.