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Quality Mortgage Services Offers Foreclosure Audits

Quality Mortgage Services (QMS) provides mortgage quality assurance and mortgage compliance solutions nationwide, and the company says it's able to perform foreclosure audits for any servicers that need or what a retrospective review. In April, federal regulators directed 14 of the nation's largest mortgage servicers to hire third-party firms to conduct a 'look-back' audit of their foreclosure cases from 2009 and 2010. QMS says all servicers should be ensuring they are, and have been, fully compliant with proper foreclosure procedures.

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Administration: Investors Wanted to Rent out Government REOs

The Obama administration is setting the stage for a public-private collaboration to tackle the growing inventory of REO homes. On Wednesday, federal officials called on private investors and industry stakeholders to share their recommendations on how best to dispose of foreclosed homes held by Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and FHA. Together, the three hold nearly 250,000 REO homes. Federal officials believe the most effective tactic is to sell off pools of properties to responsible investors who will employ an REO-to-rental strategy.

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NCUA Faults Goldman Sachs with Credit Union Failures

The National Credit Union Administration (NCUA) is suing Goldman Sachs in hopes of recovering losses it incurred as the result of two failed credit unions - U.S. Central and Western Corporate federal credit unions. The complaint filed in a California district court alleges Goldman Sachs misrepresented the risks associated with residential mortgage-backed securities bought by the two credit unions, ultimately leading to their demise. It's the fourth securities-related suit NCUA has filed, and the agency says there's more to come.

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Washington Attorney General Accuses ReconTrust of Illegal Foreclosures

Washington Attorney General Rob McKenna and Assistant Attorney General Jim Sugarman have filed suit against ReconTrust Company, a subsidiary of Bank of America, for illegally foreclosing thousands of Washington homes. McKenna and Sugarman are requesting the court require ReconTrust to abide by state laws in addition to inflicting civil penalties of up to $2,000 per violation and restitution for affected homeowners.

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New York Governor Enacts Land Banks to Transform Vacant Properties

New York Governor Andrew M. Cuomo has signed a law which allows state municipalities to establish land banks to redevelop vacant properties for the betterment of communities. Local land banks will be authorized to control the use of vacant, abandoned, or tax-delinquent properties. Operating under the New York State Urban Development Corporation, the land banks will allow properties to be redeveloped or resold, thus utilizing existing, vacant buildings to address local demand.

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The Future of Mortgage Interest Deduction Remains Unstable

After much hype about the possibility of an elimination of the mortgage interest deduction (MID) as part of the debt ceiling agreement, the August 2nd accord included no such provision. However, the new law does call for major deficit reductions -- $2.4 trillion total -- to go into place over the next several years. A $917 billion reduction over the next 10 years is automatic. An additional $1.5 trillion reduction must be decided by November 23rd. The bipartisan committee dedicated to determining those cuts could find the MID an easy target.

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Market Conditions Make for Even Longer ‘Extended Period’ in Fed’s Eyes

The Federal Reserve put a conditional timestamp on its interest rate policy Tuesday - a different voice from the ""extended period"" mantra heard from the U.S. central bank for the past two-and-a-half years. The Fed's board again voted to hold the target range for the rate at which banks lend to one another at 0 to 0.25 percent, but this time they included an advisory that the rate would remain at this level for the next two years. Officials cited the ""depressed"" state of the housing market as one of the economy's biggest hindrances.

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Freddie Mac Shows Loss for Q2, Needs $1.5B from Treasury

Freddie Mac said Monday that it logged a $2.1 billion net loss for the second quarter. The company has requested $1.5 billion in taxpayer funding from Treasury, bringing the total amount of its capital draws while in conservatorship to $66.2 billion. Freddie's latest financials represent a slide from the previous quarter, when it posted a $676 million profit and needed no money from Treasury. The GSE acquired 24,799 REO properties through foreclosure in the second quarter but sold 29,355, shrinking its inventory of repossessed homes.

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Regulators Close Down Lenders in Illinois and Washington

This year's failed-bank tally rose to 63 over the weekend, as state and federal regulators seized control of two more community-based lenders -- Bank of Whitman in Colfax, Washington, and Bank of Shorewood in Illinois. Together, the two closings are expected to cost the FDIC $160 million. Though still elevated, the number of bank seizures has tapered off considerably from earlier in the crisis. At this time last year, the count of FDIC-insured institutional failures stood at 109 for the 2010 calendar year.

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Geithner to Remain on as Treasury Secretary

The U.S. Treasury Department's top officer is staying put, despite Republican lawmakers' public appeals for him to step down. After speculation that he might resign once the debate over the government's debt ceiling was resolved, Tim Geithner has decided to remain in his post as Treasury secretary, the administration says. Republican members of Congress began calling for Geithner's immediate resignation after S&P downgraded the United States' credit rating.

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