Government

Title Alliance, Ltd. , headquartered in Media, Pennsylvania, announced on Wednesday that it has acquired America Land Title Affiliates, LLC. America Land Title Affiliates is made up of a group of Realtors in the Akron, Ohio area, each producing over $2 million per year.

The Treasury Department said this week that Making Home Affordable servicers have extended 150,000 loan modification offers to distressed homeowners, and about 55,000 borrowers are already enrolled in the three-month modification trial.

New Jersey’s Mortgage Stabilization and Relief Act (MSRA), also know as S1599, became effective April 1, 2009. The legislation imposes additional requirements on lenders trying to foreclose, and it allocates $40 million to fund two state mortgage relief programs.

The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) released its Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey on Wednesday, which showed that home loan applications dropped to their lowest level since last November, as rising mortgage interest rates have led to an increase in borrowing costs.

President Barack Obama laid out the administration’s plan for a new financial regulatory landscape on Wednesday. Obama says it is clear now that the government could have done more to prevent the current financial crisis from spiraling out of control and threatening the overall economy.

Sen. Johnny Isakson (R-Georgia), along with nine bipartisan cosponsors, has introduced S. 1230, The Homebuyer Tax Credit Act of 2009. The bill would increase the federal tax credit for the purchase of a home from the current amount of $8,000 to $15,000.

Washington state’s PROOF program, which stands for Prevent or Reduce Owner-Occupied Foreclosure, matches homeowners who are behind on their mortgage with certified housing counselors. Lawmakers have authorized $250,000 for the statewide initiative to help distressed homeowners negotiate loan modifications or other workouts with their lenders.

The California Foreclosure Prevention Act officially went into effect on Monday. The measure was signed into law by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger last February, and institutes a statewide 90-day foreclosure moratorium.

Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott welcomed state and local authorities, law enforcement officials, prosecutors, and other Texans from the real estate industry to the Office of the Attorney General’s (OAG) Mortgage Fraud Summit in Austin on Monday.

Waltham, Massachusetts-based Pro-Teck Services recently issued a statement endorsing the Broker Price Opinion (BPO) Standards and Guidelines (BPOSG) introduced by the BPO Standards Board late last month.