News

McLean, Virgina-based mortgage giant Freddie Mac has hired a team of lawyers to investigate the company’s own lobbying efforts. Under scrutiny is a campaign that tallied $2 billion, and according to an Associated Press:http://www.

Freddie Mac released the results of its Primary Mortgage Market Survey (PMMS) on Thursday, showing increases in mortgage interest rates for all types of loan products covered in the study. Frank Nothaft, Freddie Mac’s VP and chief economist, attributed the rise in mortgage rates to higher bond yields this week, amid reports of continuing record jobless claims and a downward revision of economic growth in the fourth quarter of 2008.

On Thursday, Freddie Mac announced the official launch of its new REO Rental Initiative, giving qualified tenants and former owners the option to lease their recently foreclosed properties on a month-to-month basis.

According to a report issued Wednesday by two nonprofit organizations, the financial sector invested more than $5 billion in political influence over the past decade, with as many as 3,000 lobbyists winning deregulation and other policy decisions that led directly to the current financial collapse.

Foreclosure.com, based on Boca Raton, Florida, announced that it has doubled the size of its agent services department in response to high volume and demand for programs that help connect buyers and sellers in the distressed real estate marketplace.

The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) released its Mortgage Delinquency Survey for 2008 on Thursday, which showed that Americans fell behind on their mortgages and banks seized homes at a record pace in the fourth quarter of last year.

The National Auctioneers Association (NAA), headquartered in Overland Park, Kansas, released the results of its 2008 industry survey this week. The report showed an increase in revenue from residential real estate sold at auction.

In an effort to help reduce the surplus of vacant homes sitting on the market, Hudson & Marshall has developed the Alliance Network Program to attract more buyers and tenants in search of affordable housing to its auctions.

As part of the administration’s Financial Stability Plan, on Tuesday, the Department of the Treasury and the Federal Reserve Board announced the launch of the Term Asset-Backed Securities Loan Facility (TALF).

The Treasury Department released guidelines on Wednesday that will enable servicers to begin modifications of eligible mortgages under the administration’s Homeowner Affordability and Stability Plan – announced by President Barack Obama just two weeks ago.