REO

New home sales regained all the ground they lost in June, jumping by 13,000 to an annualized rate of 372,000 in July, the Census Bureau and HUD reported Thursday. Economists surveyed by Bloomberg expected the report to show a sales pace of 362,000.

In a release Wednesday, the association accused FHFA of ""moving ahead with its REO bulk sales pilot initiative in a highly secretive manner, despite vehement opposition from California congressional members, the negative economic impact to the state's housing market, and cost to taxpayers."" In response to what the C.A.R. calls ""FHFA's failure to implement the REO initiative in an open and transparent manner,"" the organization has filed a request for details through the Freedom of Information Act.

Existing homes sale rose to an annual rate 4.47 million in July, the National Association of Realtors reported Wednesday. Economists had expected the sale pace to be 4.51 million. The increase 100,000 was less than half of the 250,000 drop in the sales pace registered for June.

LOGS Network announced Monday that default mortgage servicing veteran Jason Roberts has joined the firm as SVP of business development and acquisitions.

Integra Group Real Estate found a reason or two to celebrate recently. According to a release, the firm posted a 28 percent increase in REO property transaction volume over the first half of this year.

A lawsuit against eight companies in the mortgage industry alleges the defendants used fraudulent mortgage documents to process foreclosures on Ohio homeowners and charged the foreclosed homeowners inflated, unfair fees. According to the lawsuit, the companies were involved in ""abusive foreclosure practices"" that involved preparing, executing, and notarizing fraudulent court documents and assignments of mortgages used to initiate and prosecute foreclosures.

In Colorado, foreclosure filings were on the rise year-over-year in July, while foreclosure sales were down, according to a report from the Colorado Division of Housing. Foreclosure filings, which represent the beginning of the foreclosure process, spiked up 14 percent to 1,976 in July from 1,733 a year ago the same month. Foreclosure sales, which represent the time when the foreclosure process is completed, fell 23.7 percent to 865.

Overall, foreclosure activity declined year-over-year and month-over-month, but foreclosure starts told a different story in July, according to RealtyTrac's foreclosure market report. Foreclosure filings, which include default notices, scheduled auctions, and bank repossessions, fell 3 percent month-over-month and decreased 10 percent from July 2011. Fewer homes were lost to the foreclosure process as well, with lenders completing the foreclosure process on 53,654 U.S. properties. The figure is a 1 percent decrease from June and a 21 percent decrease from a year ago.

First-time claims for unemployment insurance fell 6,000 for the week ended August 4 to 361,000, the Labor Department reported Thursday. Economists surveyed by Bloomberg had expected 367,000 initial claims. The prior week's total was revised up to 367,000 from the originally reported 365,000.

CitiMortgage announced the launch of the Home Rental Program, a program designed to provide an alternative to foreclosure and allow eligible borrowers to stay in their homes. Under the program, the eligible borrower transfers ownership of the property to a vehicle established by Carrington Capital and its joint venture partner, Oaktree Capital Management, L.P. A lease will then be established for the property at a manageable monthly payment.