REO

Default management and residential valuation provider Integrated Asset Services, LLC (IAS) has named former Lehman Brothers executive Paul E. Sveen as its new CEO. A 25-year veteran of the industry, Sveen spent 19 years with Lehman, where he held executive leadership roles in the firm's structured finance and securitization businesses, and at Aurora Loan Services, Lehman's largest residential mortgage company.

Brock & Scott PLLC announced Tuesday the expansion of its practice into Florida with the opening of a new office in Ft. Lauderdale. The firm provides legal representation in the areas of default law, including foreclosure, creditor bankruptcy, evictions, and REO; collections; and real estate services. With the addition of its Florida practice, Brock & Scott's coverage area now extends to six states.

PMI Mortgage Insurance Co. is seeing signs of strengthening in markets the firm classifies as ""distressed,"" enough so that the private mortgage insurer is relaxing its requirements for loan-to-value (LTV) ratios and minimum credit scores. PMI also announced that it has removed four markets from its ""Distressed Markets List,"" however the mortgage insurer plans to add the entire states of Arizona and Florida to the list in July. The company's analysts have also updated their forecast for sales of existing homes and price projections.

Urban Lending Solutions Appraisals LLC (ULSA) recently licensed the use of new appraisal management software from FNC, a real estate information technology firm. ULSA is a subsidiary of Urban Lending Solutions, a provider of loan modification services, underwriting, valuations, and other real estate information solutions in the mortgage business.

Home sales in the Phoenix metro are heating up thanks to the popular foreclosure market, according to ForeclosureDeals.com. The site reports that there were more than 10,000 home sales in the Phoenix area in March with nearly 1,500 of those sales foreclosure homes. The company says foreclosure properties there offer discounts from traditional home prices as high as 50 percent or more, making them popular with buyers. Lenders also report higher than normal turnout at foreclosure sales and auctions in Arizona as a whole.

The research firm Delta Associates says distress in the commercial sector is maintaining its plateau. The company's analysts report that despite a $5 billion increase in the volume of commercial properties in foreclosure and lender REO over the last two months, the level of distress has remained in the $175 billion to $190 billion range since the spring of last year. They warn that the months ahead, though, could test the staying power of the stabilization seen thus far.

Bay National Title Company, a Florida-based firm formerly known as Bay Title & Escrow, recently announced the acquisition of Criterion National Real Estate Solutions of Jacksonville, North Carolina. Both firms specialize in providing title insurance and settlement services to the REO and foreclosure industry. The management of Criterion has been retained by Bay National.

Bank of America has assembled what you might call a ""Dream Team"" of default servicing executives to head up critical areas within its Legacy Asset Servicing unit. Collectively, this new team has more than 70 years experience working with distressed borrowers. The nation's largest mortgage servicer has brought in a former default and loan servicing exec of JPMorgan, someone who previously ran all of Wells Fargo Home Mortgage's default operations, and a top executive from Fannie Mae's national servicing operation.

Auction.com and loan sale advisor Archetype Advisors will auction $1 billion of Nevada commercial REO properties and non-performing notes May 17-19 in Las Vegas. It is the largest commercial real estate (CRE) and note auction of its kind in U.S. history, according to a statement from Auction.com says the unprecedented volume of distressed real estate to be featured represents the bottom of the market for Nevada, and in particular, Las Vegas.

With the housing crisis still taking its toll, the nation's homeownership rate slipped further during the first three months of this year. The U.S. Census Bureau reported Wednesday that the homeownership rate dropped to 66.4 percent at the end of the first quarter. It's fallen back to a level not seen since 1998. Analysis of the numbers shows that the housing bust, elevated foreclosures, and a diminished ""American Dream"" have more than reversed the increase in homeownership gained during the boom.