Foreclosure

NeighborWorks Center for Foreclosure Solutions announced yesterday that it has received a donation in the amount of $50,000 from Smith Barney, a division of Citigroup Global Markets Inc. The contribution was awarded to help support foreclosure intervention and prevention strategies.

An activist for the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN) has been charged with fourth degree burglary for helping a Southeast Baltimore woman break into her former home last week as part of a protest demonstration against foreclosures.

To provide faster service and acceptance of loan restructurings, Wingspan Portfolio Advisors, a Carrollton, Texas firm specializing in saving seriously delinquent loans from foreclosure, has selected electronic mortgage solutions from Houston-based SigniaDocs.

California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger approved a bill appended to the state’s budget package last week that institutes a 90-day foreclosure moratorium throughout the Golden State. Introduced by Sen.

RealtyTrac, a national online marketplace for foreclosure properties based in Irvine, California, and Caspio, Inc., a provider of a Web-based point-and-click platform for creating Web applications, today announced the launch of a new foreclosure Web application that features historical foreclosure activity data by state or by county and a real-time nationwide search of properties in foreclosure.

Minneapolis-based Wolters Kluwer Financial Services recently announced that two members of its compliance management services team have earned the prestigious Certified Regulatory Compliance Manager (CRCM) designation from the American Bankers Association’s (ABA’s) Institute of Certified Bankers (ICB).

The nation’s four largest organizations of professional real estate appraisers—the Appraisal Institute, American Society of Appraisers, American Society of Farm Managers and Rural Appraisers, and the National Association of Independent Fee Appraisers urging the federal government to require that market values of homes rescued under President Obama’s Homeowner Affordability and Stability Program be determined by professional appraisers who are state certified and licensed.

According to a report released today by Boston-based The Warren Group, foreclosure deeds in Massachusetts climbed during the month of January. Foreclosure petitions were also up from December, but actually declined 39 percent from a year earlier, the research company said.

Livonia, Michigan-based ELK Software LLC, a short sale and loan modification software and services provider for the industry, has released version 1.5 of its Web-based Short Sale Commander technology. Among the system’s enhancements are upgrades that simplify data entry and allow users to run a completely paperless short sale business.

The response streaming in from leaders and regulators across the banking and mortgage industries is overwhelmingly positive for President Obama’s Homeowner Affordability and Stability Plan unveiled on Wednesday.