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Last week, Rep. Barney Frank called for the nation's four largest banks to take a loss on secondary mortgage debt, such as home equity loans, which he says have no real economic value considering the state of the housing market. An influential group of investors, representing holders of some $100 billion in mortgage securities, is throwing its full support behind Frank's proposal, but the coalition is concerned that unless Treasury provides further guidance, the banks will shun the idea because it could result in ""catastrophic"" losses.

Foreclosure filings issued to U.S. homeowners have fallen for the second straight month. According to new data released by RealtyTrac Thursday, default notices, scheduled auctions, and bank repossessions were reported on 308,524 properties in February. That's a 2 percent decrease from January, when foreclosure activity dropped by 10 percent. February's numbers are still 6 percent above the level reported one year earlier, but RealtyTrac says it's the smallest annual increase the company has tracked since January 2006.

GMAC Financial Services has auctioned off $250 million of problem mortgage assets, using Citigroup Inc. as its broker on the deal, according to a report from American Banker. GMAC reported in February that its $5 billion loss during the final months of last year was largely the result of legacy assets in its mortgage operations. A regulatory filing by the company this week also revealed that its CFO, Robert Hull, has resigned, effective at the end of this month.

New York-based Lend America and its senior-level strategist and VP, Michael Ashley, have been permanently banned from doing business for the Federal Housing Administration, according to recently released court documents. Ashley helped build Lend America into one of the most lucrative FHA loan producers, but federal attorneys say all the while he's been in violation of an earlier industry ban, when he plead guilty to wire fraud conspiracy in 1993.

An activist group who says its purpose is to investigate and prosecute government corruption is in a federal court battle to get its hands on documents detailing the political contributions made by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The organization says its been trying to get access to the GSEs' records since May of last year but has been denied by the companies' regulator, who is shielding the documents under claims that the government-controlled firms are private corporations. No. 2 on the GSEs' list of campaign contribution recipients is President Obama.

Marking the sixth straight month of declines, national house prices fell 2.3 percent in January, according to the latest IAS360 House Price Index (HPI) released Wednesday by Denver-based Integrated Asset Services, LLC (IAS). The culprit? IAS says unusually severe winter weather in large regions of the country may have added to housing market woes. The January numbers resulted in the largest single-month decline in the IAS360 in more than a year.

Fairway Independent Mortgage Corporation reported this week that it more than doubled its mortgage sales in New England in 2009. Mortgage loan volume for the company's New England offices grew from $295 million in 2008 to $720 million in 2009 - a 244 percent increase.

At a public hearing scheduled for Tuesday, March 16, 2010, the Nevada Supreme Court will consider amendments to the rules governing the state's Foreclosure Mediation Program (FMP). If the amendments are approved, this will be the third set of rule changes since the FMP was enacted on July 1, 2009.

On Wednesday, the National Association of Realtors (NAR) and DocuSign unveiled the DocuSign Realtor Edition, an exclusive online eSignature service designed specifically for Realtors. The new Realtor Edition allows NAR members to electronically sign agreements with buyers and sellers, which saves Realtors time and provides client convenience.

Fitch Ratings warned Tuesday that the still-weak financial fundamentals of the nation's lenders have cemented its rating outlook for the U.S. banking sector as negative. The New York-based agency did note, though, that many of the factors that have been putting downward pressure on banks' ratings, including lending and liquidity, are easing. However, commercial real estate exposure, particularly for regional banks, as well as consumer mortgages are expected to weigh heavy on lenders' earnings into 2011.