News

Foreclosure starts fell dramatically in all five West Coast states tracked by Foreclosure Radar, further confirming suspicions that a foreclosure wave may not arrive. ""The continued decline in Foreclosure Starts clearly shows that even though servicers are now apparently in compliance and clear to move forward with foreclosures, they are still in no rush to foreclose on the majority of delinquent borrowers,"" said Sean O'Toole, CEO of ForeclosureRadar.

First time claims for unemployment insurance fell to 339,000 — the lowest level since February 2008 — for the week ended October 6, the Labor Department reported Thursday. The drop was far steeper than market expectations of 370,000 initial claims.

Foreclosure filings were reported on 180,427 U.S. properties in September, according to RealtyTrac. The total number of filings last month was down 7 percent from August, down 16 percent from September 2011, and was the lowest monthly total recorded by RealtyTrac since July 2007. The foreclosure tracking company says the national decrease in September was driven primarily by sizable declines in non-judicial foreclosure states such as California, Georgia, Texas, Arizona, and Michigan.

Three mortgage relief companies are in hot water after the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) charged them with using deceptive tactics to prey on distressed homeowners. The FTC filed three separate suits against Prime Legal Plans, American Mortgage Consulting Group, and Expense Management America for allegedly violating its Mortgage Assistance Relief Services (MARS) Rule, which prohibits certain practices commonly used by fraudulent mortgage assistance companies.

To adapt to changing needs due to growth, Platinum Data announced it has selected Nima Oreizy as the new chief technology officer.

The long-running legal proceedings between MBIA Insurance Corporation and Countrywide Home Loans (acquired in 2008 by Bank of America) turned into a blame game Friday as the companies battled over liability for insurance losses on bad loans.

Equifax and its customers reached separate settlements with the FTC, agreeing to pay a total of $1.6 million for improper sale of consumer credit information. The FTC alleges Equifax sold more than 17,000 lists of people who met specific criteria, such as being late on their mortgage payments. Equifax is said to have sold the lists to Direct Lending Source, Inc., which in turn sold the lists to other third parties. The lists included information such as credit scores and detailed how many days past due consumers' mortgage payments were.

The nation's economy generally expanded modestly from mid-August until the end of September, the Federal Reserve said in its periodic Beige Book report issued Wednesday. The report, the last Beige Book to be issued prior to Election Day, painted a mixed regional picture, with a leveling off of economic activity in New York and a slowing in the pace of growth in Kansas City. Residential real estate proved to be a bright spot amid an otherwise pedestrian report.

Inflated appraisals were identified as one of the causes of the housing bubble, and now undervalued appraisals are viewed as a reason for a stalled recovery. In a National Association of Realtors survey related to home appraisals over the past three months, 11 percent of Realtors said a contract was cancelled because a home was appraised at a value below the negotiated price. One reason for the low values, according to the NAR, is because some appraisers are not taking into account the difference between distressed and non-distressed homes when making comparisons.

NeighborWorks America provided more than $100,000 in grants to help bring stabilization back to communities affected by Hurricane Isaac. The grants went to areas in Louisiana and Mississippi.