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A newly enacted California law provides a tax break to borrowers whose mortgage debt was forgiven through a foreclosure, short sale, or loan modification. The bill landed on Gov. Schwarzenegger's desk and he inked his approval just days before the April 15th tax deadline. The state's Franchise Tax Board says the new provision will cost California about $34 million in tax revenue, but will provide relief to approximately 100,000 borrowers in the hard-hit state.

The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) announced Monday that it has named Gail Cardwell as SVP of commercial/multifamily -- a position she previously held. Cardwell rejoins MBA from the Manufacture Housing Institute (MHI), where she served as the president, CEO, and principal spokesperson for the organization.

Can appraisal management companies (AMCs) help appraisers? The Fort Worth, Texas-based property valuation management firm Axios Valuation Solutions says, ""The answer may surprise you, and it's a resounding yes."" The company says AMCs provide an invaluable service to America's mortgage lending industry as a buffer against lender pressure, a partner in the quality control process, and a work opportunity resource for appraisers.

In an announcement Tuesday, Real Estate Disposition, LLC (REDC), a real estate auction company based in Irvine, California, said it sold 100 percent of the San Lorenzo condominiums it auctioned in the Little Havana area of Miami this last weekend. In just two-and-a-half hours, the company auctioned a total of 65 condos at 110 percent of reserves and 88 percent of retail before a crowd of 375 potential buyers.

In the latest of a string of homeownership preservation events offered by HOPE NOW, representatives from more than a dozen mortgage servicers and several local HUD-approved housing counselors were on hand last week in Nevada to assist more than 2,300 struggling homeowners who attended workshops offered in Reno and Las Vegas.

Halo Portfolio Advisors, LLC has contracted to provide home retention services to a hedge fund operating in the distressed mortgage arena. Halo says its services will improve the performance of the fund's portfolio by providing workouts for non-performing loans using loan modifications, short sales services, refinancing, credit repair, and unsecured debt settlement.

In another win for Standard & Poor's and Moody's Corp., U.S. District Judge Jed Rakoff dismissed a lawsuit claiming the companies defrauded investors who relied on their ratings before buying $63 billion of investment-grade mortgage-backed securities. This isn't the first lawsuit investors have filed against the two credit ratings agencies. And it isn't the first one to be dismissed either.

Florida's Ocwen Loan Servicing has acquired the residential mortgage servicing rights on 38,000 loans with an aggregate unpaid principal balance of $6.9 billion. Sources confirm Saxon Mortgage Services, the Texas-based subsidiary of Morgan Stanley, as the seller.

Following the severe flooding in Rhode Island, HUD recently instituted a 90-day moratorium on foreclosures of Federal Housing Administration (FHA)-insured mortgages in four counties across the state, including Kent, Newport, Providence, and Washington. While the foreclosure suspension is only mandated for FHA-insured mortgages in these counties, Rhode Island's Attorney General, Patrick Lynch, is asking all lenders to consider voluntary moratoria on non-FHA mortgages as well.

Last November, the board of commissioners of Cook County, Illinois, agreed to include a $3 million amendment in the county's budget in order to create a mortgage foreclosure mediation program. The program, which applies to Cook County residential properties that are owner-occupied, single family homes or individual condominium units and owner-occupied residential properties with four units or less, officially launched on Monday.