REO

More than 300 attendees gathered at the InterContinental New Orleans June 3-5 to participate in the Loan Management & Servicing Seminar presented by USFN—America’s Mortgage Banking Attorneys.

Pleasanton, California’s SmartZip, Inc. has announced the public beta launch of its Web site, SmartZip.com, and the introduction of SmartZip Score, analytics-based investment ratings for residential properties, including foreclosures.

Rainbow City, Alabama’s RealtyBid.com and Clearwater, Florida’s ValCom, Inc., have teamed up to give away a house in a different state every month through a new promotional campaign called The House Game.

Lender Processing Services, Inc. (LPS), a Jacksonville, Florida-based provider of technology and services to the mortgage industry, announced Tuesday the launch of its proprietary Home Price Index (HPI).

National Home Auction Corporation (NHA), a now-defunct real estate company specializing in the marketing and auction-style sale of lender foreclosed properties, filed a lawsuit against Real Estate Disposition Corporation (REDC) in an Orange County Superior Court on Friday.

Investors are zeroing in on the distressed housing market in Arizona. According to the research firm MDA DataQuick, nearly 4 out of every 10 homes sold in the Phoenix area in April were snatched up by absentee buyers, which typically constitute investors or vacation property purchases.

The volume of defaulted real estate coming onto the market nationwide has reached unprecedented proportions, with more than 40 percent of homes for sale representing lender real-estate-owned properties.

Habitat for Humanity Greater San Francisco has begun acquiring bank-owned homes as part of its new Neighborhood Revitalization Program. The nonprofit organization says its program is the first of its kind to combat the foreclosure crisis in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Foreclosure filings fell six percent during the month of May, according to the U.S. Foreclosure Market Report released by RealtyTrac on Thursday. Despite the monthly decline, the nation’s foreclosure numbers are nearly 18 percent higher than they were in May 2008.

Dallas-based MRG Document Technologies (MRG), a provider of mortgage technologies to banks, credit unions, and other lenders, recently announced that Michael O’Leary has joined the company as a senior mortgage consultant.